On 15th August 1937, 16 Japanese aircraft were going to raid Nanking, and they were confronted by 13 Boeing 281s, divided into several formations according to their areas of responsibility, of the 3rd Group from Jurong, Jiangsu Province. Qin Jia-zhu was leading 3 Boeing 281s, and he spotted the second formation of hostile aircraft. He engaged first by knocking down one bandit, which crashed into the southeast of Nanking, but his plane #1702 took a hit at its engine cylinders and crash-landed. Around 0700 hours on 23rd August, Cmdr. Huang Kuang-han, 22nd SQ, 4th PG led 19 aircraft from the 3rd, 4th and 5th PGs en route to Wusongkou to attack enemy troops, landing vessels, and transport vessels on shore. Seven Boeing 281s, led by Cmdr. Huang Pan-yang, 17th SQ, 3rd PG, took off from Jurong to escort airborne Curtiss Hawks. While approaching Wusongkou, these Boeing 281s encountered hostile aircraft, and knocked down 2 of them and damaged one. On the other hand, #1704 was seriously damaged, while Qin Jia-zhu perished along with his #1702, which involved in a tense dogfight over Wusongkou.