Chapter 360

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

Over Huangchuan, four BF-109 Fighters of the Youth Corps maintained two-ship formations, cruising at high altitude.

"Our fighters have reached the attack starting point!"

"Proceed to the target location, attack important Japanese Army facilities inside Cheng Nei!"

"Watch the low clouds at ten o'clock; enemy aircraft are using the clouds to approach under cover." The lead pilot's voice came through the radio.

Just then, dense black spots appeared on the distant skyline; the Japanese Army Air Force's fighters were making a comeback.

Leading them was a Type 97 Fighter bearing special identification markings on its fuselage.

Hefei Aviation Base had almost emptied its nests; Baron Tokugawa Yoshitoshi launched all sixty-five remaining fighters.

The Japanese Army Air Force had originally intended to intercept Baron Tokugawa Yoshitoshi, but underestimated his resolve.

Baron Tokugawa Yoshitoshi climbed directly into a Type 97 Fighter, quickly donning his leather flight cap and goggles.

Over the past two months, he had neglected sleep and meals to familiarize himself with this newest fighter of the Empire.

This Type 97 Fighter was his own exclusive fighter, and it had an exclusive name: Baron Hell.

Machang, Anqing, Huangchuan... the Air Corps suffered heavy losses.

General Hata Shunroku's rebuke tore away the last fig leaf of the Air Corps. Self-respect.

Before takeoff, he issued a death order to all pilots: "Gentlemen! Today's battle concerns the honor of the Empire's Air Force, and the lives of tens of thousands of our Army comrades in Huangchuan!

My personal aircraft will lead the charge; you must all fight to the death with me and retake air superiority over Huangchuan!"

Having said that, he directly started his 'Hell Baron' fighter, flew into the sky, circled above the airfield, and waited for his subordinates to join the action.

The Japanese airmen had no choice but to follow Baron Tokugawa Yoshitoshi's pace.

Before takeoff, squadron commanders repeatedly warned the pilots: "Protect Baron Tokugawa's personal aircraft! He is the pioneer of the Army Air Force!"

Upon observing the incoming Japanese fighter group, the Youth Army's fighter squadron immediately issued an alarm:

"Falcon calling Nest! Large-scale enemy aircraft group sighted, direction northeast, altitude approximately four thousand meters, number over sixty, approaching Huangchuan's main battlefield! Request support!"

The alarm spread quickly.

Shrill combat alarms sounded at airfields everywhere; the remaining BF-109s, Soviet Air Volunteer Group's I-15s and I-16s took off urgently, formed formations, and pounced toward Huangchuan.

Large-scale air combat erupted again over Huangchuan; the howl of engines and the scream of machine guns once again filled the sky.

Over one hundred and fifty fighters tangled, chased, and fired in this airspace; from time to time a fighter trailing thick smoke crashed, exploding into a fireball on the ground.

The fighter group led by Baron Tokugawa Yoshitoshi attempted to engage the Soviet I-15 and I-16 groups in the horizontal dogfights they excelled at.

Fighters from both sides were mixed together, circling, rolling, and biting each other's tails; machine gun bullets zipped through the air.

However, whenever a Japanese pilot thought he had locked onto a Soviet fighter, or slowed down and had his posture locked while tangling with an I-series fighter, a predator from above would silently descend.

A BF-109 dove down from the direction of the sun at extreme speed, its nose slightly lowered, its 20mm cannon and machine guns firing simultaneously; the searing trajectory instantly enveloped a Japanese Type 97 Fighter that was chasing an I-15.

That Type 97 didn't even have time to take evasive action before its wing was shot off, and it spun downward toward the earth.

In his cockpit, Baron Tokugawa Yoshitoshi watched helplessly as his Air Corps' fighters, like chicks hunted by an eagle, disappeared from the sky one after another.

Those BF-109s bearing blue-and-white emblems, like monarchs possessing absolute air superiority, calmly chose targets and then easily reaped them.

The Imperial Air Force he was proud of appeared so clumsy and powerless under the enemy's dual advantages of tactics and performance.

A cold sense of despair began to completely replace his fanaticism.

"No! The Imperial Air Force will not lose!"

Baron Tokugawa Yoshitoshi's eyes reddened; he shoved the control stick hard, his Type 97 Fighter executed a violent roll, shaking off an I-16 attempting to bite his tail, and then he spotted an I-15 Biplane Fighter turning to his front-left.

"It's you!" Baron Tokugawa Yoshitoshi gritted his teeth, deployed the flying skills he had painstakingly practiced, quickly seized an advantageous attack position, and pulled the trigger.

The two 7.7mm machine guns on the Type 97's nose spat tongues of fire; bullets struck the I-15's wing and fuselage, punching several holes; the I-15 shuddered, belched black smoke, and hastily dove to break away.

"Hit!" Baron Tokugawa Yoshitoshi's spirits lifted; this was his first kill of the day.

As the top ace of the Japanese Army Air Force, Baron Tokugawa Yoshitoshi indeed possessed formidable flying skills.

A Lieutenant General directly participating in air combat was truly rare.

After shooting down that I-15, Baron Tokugawa Yoshitoshi was about to pull up when his peripheral vision suddenly caught, to his upper right, a BF-109 swooping at him from an excellent angle, clearly having locked onto him.

"Come on! Let me see how good you are!"

Baron Tokugawa Yoshitoshi's blood surged; not only did he not evade, he instead yanked the control stick, attempting a sharp climbing reversal maneuver to seize the attack position and engage this BF-109 in an "ace duel."

"My Hell Baron fears no enemy!"

Under his rough handling, the Type 97 Fighter's nose jerked upward, climbing almost vertically, with a very large maneuver amplitude.

However, Baron Tokugawa Yoshitoshi overlooked one important point: he was already over fifty years old, and his body was no longer in the condition of his youth.

Under such violent overload maneuvers, powerful G-forces like an invisible giant hand ruthlessly pressed him into his seat.

Baron Tokugawa Yoshitoshi felt only darkness before his eyes; blood supply to his brain instantly became insufficient, and a wave of severe dizziness and nausea struck.

He tried to stay conscious, but his body would not obey; the last scene he saw before his eyes was that BF-109's cold cannon muzzle and the fuselage drawing ever closer...

Immediately afterward, he knew nothing, completely losing consciousness.

The Type 97 Fighter, deprived of control, stalled from its climbing attitude like a falling leaf, then entered a spiral, tumbling downward.

The BF-109's pilot, Liu Cuigang, was also stunned; he had thought this 'Hell Baron' was a tough character, but saw the fighter lose control outright.

The cautious pilot Liu Cuigang even thought this Hell Baron was deliberately exposing an opening to lure him into attacking.

"Feigning sleep to lure the enemy, huh?!" Pilot Liu Cuigang cautiously looked around, discovering everyone was fighting their own battles, with no one lying in ambush for him.

Who could have imagined that Baron Tokugawa Yoshitoshi had passed out in the plane because he was too old!

Finally, a Japanese Army airman noticed something was off—Tokugawa Yoshitoshi was continuously falling downward.

"Your Excellency, Baron!"

"Was the Hell Baron shot down?!"

Xiaolin Feicao piloted a Type 95 Fighter to approach and check, but saw Tokugawa Yoshitoshi's Hell Baron fighter intact, without any sign of injury.

Through the glass cockpit, they discovered Tokugawa Yoshitoshi was squinting his eyes and had fallen asleep unconscious inside the cockpit!