The expeditionary force began to dominate Southeast Asia by recruiting defeated soldiers

The brutal Battle of Guadalcanal almost drained the Japanese naval aviation force dry.

In the vast ocean, the vast distances meant that the elite Japanese pilots flying Zero fighters often had to fly for several hours to reach the front line (the Zero fighter had a fuel tank with a range of 3350 km and could take off from the rear islands to fight on the front lines of Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands).

Zhang Chi didn’t know if those Japanese vultures were flying the planes while wearing diapers, but even if we didn’t consider the pilot’s excretion problem, the long flight would make the pilot extremely tired, right?

The Zero fighter is not a four-engine large bomber like the United States' B-17 and B-29, which can be driven by a captain and co-pilot in rotation. After flying for several hours, would a single Japanese pilot really have the energy to fight a dogfight on the battlefield?

As the Japanese naval aviation power gradually declined, his question was destined to be unanswerable.

However, the Japanese Army's Air Force is still "very spirited" so far.

As the plane of Japanese Navy Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was shot down by a P-38 Lightning fighter the day before, on April 18, the Japanese Southern Army decided to take advantage of this celebratory opportunity to launch an air raid.

27 Ki-49 Hundred-Type 'Dragon Swallowing' heavy bombers loaded with bombs (which are only medium-sized compared to the White Eagle, with a bomb load of only 1 ton) took off from Yangon, a major coastal city south of Bago, escorted by 13 Type 1 fighters, preparing to launch a massive bombing against Zhang Chi's control area to demonstrate their presence.

After all, the Locust Nation’s army was beaten like a rat in a bellows in the mountains on the ground, so they have to regain their face from the air, right?

However, the devil's surprise attack was exposed at the very beginning.

The huge fleet was discovered by Allied spies as soon as it took off from Yangon. The news was immediately transmitted to the India-Burma Theater Command and Zhang Chi's 212th Division through a covert radio station.

Although the bomber fleet of more than 40 fighter planes could only be regarded as a tactical raid on the eastern battlefield of Europe, it was considered a strategic bombing for the Japanese army. Therefore, these planes immediately attracted Zhang Chi's high attention.

凄厉的防空警报在新望萍基地和 212 师其他各部驻地内拉响，212师独立航空队的36架P-40和16架F4U-4B战斗机则立刻紧急升空，开始执行前出拦截。

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The interception operations of air forces are different from general operations to ensure air superiority on the battlefield. Their core purpose is to intercept and destroy enemy bombers, and prevent or at least interfere with enemy aircraft from dropping bombs on important ground targets on their side.

However, at this time, no radar was deployed in the area controlled by Zhang Chi, or even in the White Eagle Force in the India-Burma theater. Therefore, from the intelligence, Zhang Chi only knew that the Japanese had taken off a large fleet of aircraft, but did not know the other party's current specific location.

However, even without radar, Zhang Chi still has ground observation posts available.

The guerrillas of the branch south of Pegu all took action. News of the enemy aircraft being shot down one after another was transmitted to the Xinwangping base via radio waves, and then passed on to the independent aviation team fighters that were already in climbing formation through the airport tower.

With the intelligence, the Falcons of the Independent Air Force could wait in advance at their leisure along the attack route of the Japanese bomber team.

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As the saying goes, "The devil is one foot high, but the road is ten feet higher." Since the enemy will send interceptors to intercept our bombers, we naturally need to send fighter jets to escort the bombers.

In this regard, the tactics of the countries involved in World War II were different.

The wealthy United States White Eagle's heavy bombers can even try to fly without escort, relying on the 12.7mm self-defense machine guns inserted all over their bodies and dense box-shaped formations.

As for the fighter planes that were supposed to be escorting the convoy? They were also carrying 1000-pound bombs and were ready to join in the bombing.

P-47、P-51、F6F、F4U等一票白鹰海空军主力战斗机都能下挂1000磅重磅炸弹，主打二话不说就是个炸。

The conservative Johns implemented an escort tactic that was almost equivalent to attacking both fighters and bombers together.

As for the Hans country, its elite fighter pilots were not willing to escort the bombers at all. When they encountered the enemy, they would often disband their large formations and fight head-on with the enemy fighters.

However, no one cared about the life and death of the Hans bombers that were supposed to be protected, which made the bomber troops suffer.

As for Fuso's air force, since Fuso's bombers, whether army or navy, generally only have 7.7mm self-defense machine guns, its need for fighter escort is more urgent.

After years of fighting on the domestic battlefield of Qianguo, and after repeated encounters with the Qianguo Air Force, the Russian Air Force Volunteer Team to Aid China, and the White Eagle Flying Tigers, the Japanese gradually developed their own escort tactics.

此刻，13架中岛一式Ki-43‘隼’战斗机正在3500米的高度上飞行，他们的任务是掩护其后10公里距离上，正在5500米高空中飞行的27架百式Ki-49‘吞龙’重型轰炸机。

Once intercepted, these low-flying fighters will actively engage in combat with enemy interceptors, rendering them unable to threaten the bomber fleet in the rear, thereby covering their breakthrough at high altitude.

This tactic was often very effective in the early stages of the war when facing the fighter jets of China and Russia that had low top speed and average climbing performance, such as the Hawk III, I-15, and I-16.

It can fully attract the attention of intercepting fighters, leaving the rear bomber team more time to find gaps in the interceptor's firepower, thereby increasing its breakthrough success rate.

However, this tactic can only be successful if it maintains surprise. Once it is exposed in advance and is intercepted in the air by the enemy in multiple batches from multiple airspaces, those bombers with only 7.7mm small water pipes will be in big trouble.

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On April 19, the weather was clear and cloudless, a perfect day for bombing.

First Class Air Sergeant Wen Yuanling was sitting leisurely in the cockpit, flying a green-painted Type 1 fighter in a four-plane formation.

At this point in time, the Nakajima Type II Ki-44 'Zhong Kui', as an interceptor, had just been put into service and was mostly deployed for domestic defense.

There is no doubt that the Type 1-B fighter plane he is flying is the most advanced fighter plane of the Locust Country Army. Wen Yuan Lingtai feels very proud to be able to fly this latest aircraft. This is the proof that he is the most elite pilot of the army with three kills.

After taking off from Yangon, the fleet made several turns and had just passed over Myitkyina. Wen Yuan Lingtai looked at the cloudless blue sky and the green land beneath his feet and couldn't help but sigh, "The sky is so quiet, and there are no American or British fighter jets..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Wen Yuan Lingtai saw in the rearview mirror (the plane really had a rearview mirror to prevent being bitten by the tail) that the bombers behind him were arranged in neat rows like geese and were suddenly turning into big orange fireballs one after another.