Chapter 220: Air Battle Over Chongqing

At the same time, at three thousand meters altitude, the Japanese Army's 'Falcon' model fighter's lead pilot, Army Aviation Captain Nishizawa Hiroyoshi, was calmly observing below through the cockpit canopy.

He possessed a pair of hawk‑sharp eyes, and among the Japanese Army's aviation he was praised as the "King of the Added Falcon", with a kill record of ten aircraft.

"Enemy aircraft detected, twelve, P-40 'War Axe'. Two C-47 transports, appear to be carrying important persons," Nishizawa said in a tone as calm as a weather report, "They are diving down. Be careful not to be fooled by their firepower. The agility of the 'Falcon' is our lifeline. Yamada, Kobayashi, your two squadrons flank from both sides to draw away their escort fighters. I will lead my unit to tear through their defensive line from the front and attack their lead aircraft!"

"Ha!" Second Lieutenant Yamada and Warrant Officer Kobayashi answered in unison over the radio.

Nishizawa's tactics were clear and deadly. He knew the P-40's weaknesses: its bulk and poor turning performance. He intended to use the 'Falcon's' maneuverability to perform a lethal death dance in the air.

In the sky, an asymmetric hunt and counter‑hunt erupted in an instant.

William led from the front; he yanked the control stick, and the P-40 let out a roar, its nose diving down like a falling meteor, charging straight at Nishizawa's formation.

With only a brief encounter, he shot down four Japanese aircraft, the results were unmistakable.

However, Nishizawa did not engage. He tilted a wing lightly, the whole aircraft like a leaf lifted by wind, turning with an astonishingly small radius to evade William's thrust. At the same time, Yamada's and Kobayashi's two squads, like two sharp daggers, plunged from both sides into the Expeditionary Force flight group's attack formation.

In an instant, the sky became a huge, chaotic meat grinder.

A P-40 pilot, Jack nicknamed 'Cowboy', had just finished a diving shot and hadn't had time to pull up when the airframe shuddered. His wingman roared over the radio, "Jack! Two 'Flies' are behind you!"

The system's soldiers also gave themselves various code names and were becoming more humanized, but for their commander Jiang Anguo, there were only two words: loyalty!

Absolute loyalty!

Jack yanked the left lever, trying to roll away. But Yamada's 'Falcon' clung to him like a maggot on a heel bone, biting tightly. A cruel smile curled at Yamada's mouth as he aimed at the P-40's massive engine compartment.

"For the Emperor!" Yamada snarled.

"Rat‑tat‑tat!" The 'Falcon's' two 7.7 mm machine guns spat fire, and although the bullets were small, they precisely hit Jack's engine. A plume of black smoke erupted, and the P-40's power began to drop.

"Dammit! I've been hit!" Jack roared over the radio.

At that hair‑trigger moment, another of William's wingmen, pilot Hank nicknamed 'Old Eagle', dived from high altitude. He did not attack Yamada directly, but fired a long string of deadly 12.7 mm rounds at Yamada's wingman, Warrant Officer Kobayashi.

Kobayashi's cockpit was instantly shattered; he didn't even have time to scream before the out‑of‑control plane plummeted to the ground.

"Kobayashi!" Yamada let out a grief‑filled roar, abandoning the chase of Jack, he swung his nose toward Hank.

The battle in the sky had become a pure duel of individual skill, courage, and hatred.

Nishizawa Hiroyoshi acted like a calm hunter, searching for his prey amid the chaos. He set his sights on William. Piloting the 'Falcon', he performed a startling maneuver, deliberately exposing his aircraft to William's line of fire as if it were a mistake.

William did not hesitate to pull the trigger. Six machine guns fired simultaneously, the stream of bullets like a death‑whip, lashing hard toward Nishizawa's plane.

However, just before the bullets could hit, Nishizawa abruptly lifted his nose and fully pressed the right rudder.

The P-40's bullets skimmed just under his wing. His 'Falcon', using that move, executed a perfect stall maneuver, turning around instantly, appearing at William's six o'clock, and gaining altitude advantage.

"Farewell, American sky thief," Nishizawa muttered coldly, his finger moving to the fire button.

"William! Watch your six! It's a Japanese aircraft!" a fellow pilot shouted desperately over the radio.

William shivered all over; he snapped his gaze to the side and saw the 'Falcon' painted with a conspicuous plaster patch already locked onto him. He could even see the cold, youthful face inside the opponent's cockpit.

It's over! A chill swept William's heart.

At that moment, a dark silhouette streaked in like lightning from the side—it was the engine‑damaged pilot Jack! His plane was on the verge of crashing, but he summoned his last strength, piloting the soon‑to‑be‑scrapped P-40 to ram Nishizawa's aircraft hard.

"For China!" Jack let out his final roar.

"Boom—!"

A deafening blast, the two aircraft collided violently in mid‑air.

Jack's P-40 disintegrated instantly, and Nishizawa's 'Falcon' lost half a wing, spiraling down amid black smoke.

Nishizawa Hiroyoshi, the 'King of the Added Falcon', at the very last moment of his life, stared in disbelief at the mutually doomed P-40, unable to comprehend why that American was so mad.

The lead aircraft's fall caused Japanese pilots' morale to collapse instantly. They attacked like madmen, but the formation was already in chaos.

Another P-40 was swarmed by three 'Falcon' fighters; the pilot performed a dizzying array of evasive maneuvers, but two fists cannot match four hands. Soon his left wing was hit, black smoke billowed, and the fuselage began to tilt violently.

"I'm bailing out! Repeat, I'm bailing out!" the pilot's voice crackled over the radio, tinged with desperation.

He struggled out of the cockpit and pulled the parachute open.

The white canopy blossomed in the sky.

But at that instant, a deranged 'Falcon' fighter turned and swept fire at the defenseless pilot.

"Bastard!" the surviving pilot shouted furiously over the radio.

Bullets struck the descending pilot; the canopy shuddered violently in the air, then drooped helplessly.

People on the ground who saw the scene let out a chorus of gasps, followed by a death‑like silence. Immediately, that silence was replaced by volcanic‑eruption fury.

"Beast!"

"Little Japan is a beast!"

A mother clutched her child tightly, tears streaming, yet she cursed the sky with the most venomous words. Her husband had died in the Japanese Army's cold‑blooded massacre of parachuting airmen.