220 Air Battle over Lanzhou

220 Air Battle over Lanzhou(Date: From 12^th to 23^rd February 1939)

In the wake of Wuhan Campaign in 1939, the Chinese War against Japanese Aggression entered its second phase. At the time, the ROCAF was short of planes and its personnel were waiting to be trained adequately. All units were fighting and undergoing trainings concurrently while Japanese forces were trying to decimate our air assets by raiding our basing in Lanzhou, Gansu Province. Within the year of 1939, Japanese forces raided Lanzhou 39 times, all confronted by ROCAF planes, and ROCAF knocked down over 20 Jap planes. The biggest victory was happened from 12^th to 23^rd February with 15 kills, and the air battle in this timeframe is summarized as follows:

Air combat on 12^th February 1939

At 1200 hours on 12^th February, the headquarters of the 1^st Military Zone in Lanzhou was informed by a phone call from the headquarters of the Air Defense Command that 26 hostile aircraft headed west via Haiyuan of Gansu, and ordered 25 planes from the 17^th SQ and the Soviet Volunteer Group (SVG) to scramble. At 1255 hours, the first Japanese formation of 8 twin-engine light bombers were coming in the skies over Lanzhou airfield from the its north, but the distance between confronting formations was long. The Japs released bombs and sped up to evade while Pilot Hsu Ji-xiang (Hua-jiang) was in hot pursuit from Lanzhou to Jingning. He and 4 other SVG planes also joined together to engage, but couldn’t reach the targeted plane after one round of engagement. At 1340 hours, while planes of the 17^th SQ were landing, 12 bombers of the same type were coming in again from Lanzhou airfield’s west. Deputy Cmdr. Ma Guo-lian, 17^th SQ, led 3 wingmen to engage, but his formation was too low. After one round of engagement, the Japs were long gone. They tried hard to chase Japs till Liupan Mountain of Gansu, but they ultimately returned to base after concerns over fuel low.

Photo: ROCAF Ace Hsu Hua-jiang and his Polikarpov I-15

Air combat on 20^th February 1939

At 1350 hours 20^th February, the headquarters of the 1^st Military Zone was informed by successive calls from the headquarters of the Air Defense Command that 30 hostile aircraft were going to raid on Lanzhou from the east via Pingliang, Jingning, Guyuan, and Jingyuan, and ordered 30 planes from the 15^th SQ, 17^th SQ, and SVG to scramble.

The first formation of 6 hostile aircraft were spotted at 1450 hours entering the skies over Lanzhou airfield from its northwest. SVG caught up with the first formation, and engaged instantly. At the same time, planes from the 17^th SQ also spotted Japanese planes, and did a half barrel-roll to descend and engage. In an instant, the flight lead of the formation was shot down by Cmdr. Cen Ze-liu, 17^th SQ, and #3 in that formation was knocked down by Deputy Cmdr. Ma Guo-lian while #2 was killed by Pilot Guo Yao-nan. Pilot Lee De-biao, Pilot Chen Chong-wen, and Pilot Chang Tang-tian from the 15^th SQ joined the dogfight, and but didn’t score.

The second formation of 12 Japanese planes was entering the skies of the airfield from its west at 1505 hours. Planes from the 17^th SQ and the SVG flew to intercept immediately. Cmdr. Cen initiate his attack head-on from below at 3,000 m, and a Japanese plane was shot and gave out smoke. Pilot Zolotaliaov (transliterated from Chinese characters) was wounded by three bullets, but he managed to land safely at the headquarters of the General Pursuit Group. In addition, Pilot He Jue-min was lightly wounded and crash-landed at Xigucheng.

Per phone calls from the Air Defense Command in Xian, there were only 21 Japanese planes on their way back from the east. ROCAF planes knocked down Japanese planes at Liujiagou of Majia Mountain, Yuzhong County, Bashigou at the junction between Gaolan County and Yuzhong County, Fanjiaquan, Shijiaping, and Changjiawan respectively. Two more crashed in Jingyuan, and one crashed at an unknown location.

Photo: A Japanese Type 96 (A5M) pursuer

Air combat on 23^rd February 1939

At 1104 hours on 23^rd February, the headquarters of the 1^st Military Zone in Lanzhou was informed by a phone call from the headquarters of the Air Defense Command that 18 hostile aircraft were divided into two formations to raid on Lanzhou from Guyuan and Jingning respectively, and ordered 31 planes from the 15^th SQ, the 17^th SQ, SVG, and the General Pursuit Group to scramble.

The first formation of 9 Japanese heavy bombers released more than 20 bombs at Pingliang, and headed east to leave the scene.

The second formation of 9 Japanese pursuers approaching the skies over Hueining to provide cover, and then headed Baoji to evade pursuit.

The third formation of 20 Japanese planes was entering the skies over Lanzhou at 1340 hours from its northeast, and ROCAF planes engaged instantly. After 15 minutes of dogfight, the SVG managed to shoot down three Japanese planes, and then returned to Lanzhou to patrol. ROCAF planes from the 17^th SQ strafed the Japanese formation heavily. About 10 seconds during the fight, Deputy Cmdr. Ma Guo-lian and Pilot Chen Gui-min damaged one plane, which was burned and crashed-landed. After 5 minutes, two more were knocked down, and 4 Japanese planes were seriously damaged and fled. The rest of the SVG, loitering over with no sight of hostile aircraft, flew to Donggucheng for refueling. After seeing the intensified dogfight, Pilot Yu Ping-xiang led the 15^th SQ joined the foray, and after about 10 minutes they knocked down two Japanese planes which crashed at a location close to Taosha.

Photo: A Japanese military flag with multiple names unearthed from the wreckage of a Japanese plane

Photo: Debris of a Japanese plane shot down by ROCAF

Result:

Fifteen Japanese planes were shot down.

Photo: Aces in the air battle over Lanzhou—Ye Bin-chi, Wang Han-xun, Cen Ze-liu, Guo Yao-nan (front row from the left); Ye Si-jiang, Hsu Hua-jiang, Ren Zhao-ji, Chang Guang-pu, Chen Gui-min (rear row from the left)