Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi was piloting a Mitsubishi A5m "Claude" fighter plane.

Manufactured by Mitsubishi, it began service in 1936. This aircraft was equipped with a Nakajima Type 3 engine, producing 640 horsepower, with a maximum level flight speed of 454 kilometers per hour.

Its total range could reach 1,200 kilometers.

It had only one pilot seat and was armed with two fixed, forward-firing 7.7mm machine guns. It was the main combat aircraft in the entire air squadron.

In Umura Ryosuke’s squadron, five others flew the same aircraft as Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi.

Squadron Leader Umura Ryosuke and Tagawa Kazuma were piloting new aircraft that had just been urgently deployed this year:

The A5m2 carrier-based fighter, a model with a faster flight speed of 426 kilometers per hour, but a shorter range of only 740 kilometers.

It also carried two 7.7mm machine guns and had a single crew member.

Squadron Leader Umura Ryosuke ordered, "Nagato, we'll go ahead! Matsutsuki, you follow behind."

After giving the order, he immediately accelerated, chasing forward at maximum speed.

In reality, the flight speeds of these two types of fighters weren't significantly different.

However, Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi, who was leading the way, flew erratically over the Yangtze River, watching the busy freighters in the river.

He also saw the small fishing boats on the river, and some fishermen simply ignored the planes flying low overhead.

They calmly cast and hauled in their nets, just like they would at home.

Looking at the fishermen on the river, Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi suddenly thought of his grandfather.

He had grown up with his grandfather. His father had gone out to sea to fish when he was very young and disappeared during a typhoon.

His mother had left too!

Leaving him to grow up with his grandfather, he passed the naval aviation school entrance exams.

And had been flying fighter planes ever since.

His grandfather had died last year. Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi had no relatives left in this world.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel fortunate: a lone wolf, he didn't have to fear that his actions today would bring misfortune to loved ones.

Now his thoughts began to return to his body. He began to imagine the consequences of his desertion: going back? Certain death.

Kotaro Obote's body was probably still warm!

Defecting?

Maybe he could defect!

This idea flashed through his mind, but was immediately rejected: defecting to a country that was always losing battles was pointless. He might as well fly on like this, to the source of the Yangtze River.

If he died, then he would die on the road of exploration!

Having already resolved himself to death, Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi stopped his tears.

He slowed down, looking intently and greedily at the scenery during the last moments of his life.

Squadron Leader Umura Ryosuke and Nagato Tagawa, flying in pursuit, finally spotted Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi twenty minutes after passing Nanjing.

After spotting Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi, Squadron Leader Umura Ryosuke didn't call out.

There was no longer any need to call out to someone like this.

Squadron Leader Umura Ryosuke switched channels and gave Nagato Tagawa an order: "I'll dive down and attack. You intercept from above.

No need for warnings, destroy him directly."

Before diving, Squadron Leader Umura Ryosuke specifically checked the fuel gauge. It was still half full.

If he could end the battle in two minutes, he could definitely make it back.

After giving the order, Squadron Leader Umura Ryosuke immediately dove down. He was too high up.

Although he had reduced his altitude after leaving Nanjing, he was still flying at less than five thousand meters.

But compared to the plane flying slowly along the river below, this altitude seemed unreachable: even the machine guns on his plane couldn't reach it.

The scream of the plane diving startled everyone on the river.

Many people on both banks of the Yangtze River were also watching this plane falling from the sky.

They were near a city, and many ships were busy at the docks.

The noise from the plane had long startled everyone. They all looked at the three planes that had suddenly appeared in the sky.

Piloting his fighter, Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi was completely unable to hear his teammates chasing behind him due to the plane's loud noise.

He looked at the people on the docks and the dense ships on the river, playfully waggling his plane's wings as a friendly greeting to these people.

He flew even lower, closer to the docks, so he could see more clearly.

At this time, he still didn't realize that danger was approaching, and the crisis was right behind him.

His plane was flying too close, and the people below began to panic.

Afraid that the plane was in trouble and about to crash, they all started running.

Just then, Squadron Leader Umura Ryosuke, having completed his dive, caught up with the plane in front. Seeing that the distance between them was less than two hundred meters,

Squadron Leader Umura Ryosuke pressed the launch button. The two 7.7mm machine guns immediately spat out two long tongues of fire.

Firing flatly at Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi's fighter.

Completely unprepared, Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi suddenly felt the fuselage shaking.

Not knowing what was happening, Chiyo instinctively accelerated, turned, and pulled up.

This series of evasive maneuvers was completely unconscious.

He had no idea what was happening behind him, and he couldn't see it either.

Now he was a lone stray dog, and no one would tell him what was behind him.

But he would soon find out: behind him was a fighter.

He had already seen the two long tongues of fire as the bullets streaked past the plane.

The little bit of leisure that Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi had just cultivated disappeared in an instant: I just want to quietly look at the scenery and then die alone.

You won't even grant me this small request!

Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi, who was already furious to the extreme, was completely beyond anger.

He had already spotted Umura Ryosuke on his tail.

Now his eyes were only on Umura Ryosuke!

He was now a little higher than Umura Ryosuke, which was the advantage he had gained by fleeing first.

So, still turning, Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi stared intently at the enemy who had disrupted his path to reincarnation.

He struggled to control the smoking fighter, trying to latch onto the culprit who had attacked him.

Squadron Leader Umura Ryosuke had already hit his target. Now he just needed to keep from being bitten back by the target.

Time was on his side. He only needed to hold on for a few minutes, and Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi's fighter would fall apart.

From high in the sky, Nagato Tagawa watched Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi's fighter, already hit and smoking from the tail, still struggling desperately like a trapped beast.

He immediately aimed at the target from the air and accelerated into a dive. Before the plane arrived, the machine guns had already begun firing.

He was at a high altitude, so even if the machine guns' range wasn't enough, the force of gravity could provide enough power to pierce the fragile fuselage of the plane below.

Provided that he aimed accurately!

Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi, filled with anger, hadn't fired a single bullet when he discovered that another plane had locked onto him.

In an instant, his face full of anger turned into a bucket of cold water.

Before being attacked by these two fighters, he only had one thought: to die!

After being attacked by the two fighters, his thought suddenly changed: he didn't want to die like this.

He wanted to struggle!

Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi only had one thought in his mind: I can go die on my own, but you can't send me to my death!

He no longer thought about pursuing Umura Ryosuke's tail. Taking advantage of the turn he was making, he aimed the nose of his plane straight towards the mountainside by the river.

He wasn't flying very high to begin with, and carefully passed between two mountain peaks.

Nagato Tagawa also turned in the air, following the smoking target.

Nagato Tagawa was at a high altitude, and didn't need to demonstrate superb technique to squeeze through the gap between the peaks.

He just followed closely from above, constantly strafing with his machine guns.

Umura Ryosuke escaped the predicament of being chased, and also closely followed.

He was chasing Nagato Tagawa's fighter.

Squadron Leader Umura Ryosuke didn't pull his fighter up too high. Nagato Tagawa alone was enough for the high altitude.

He searched at low altitude, but below him was only a forest that was green to the point of being black, with mountains and canyons everywhere.

He couldn't see the shadow of Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi's fighter at all.

His eyes searched nervously ahead: Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi, who had just rushed into the mountains, had disappeared.

"Nagato, have you spotted Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi?"

Nagato Tagawa's response came immediately: "Northeast direction, he's diving into the canyon again."

Nagato Tagawa had stopped machine-gunning at this point.

The cunning Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi had actually used the valleys and peaks to completely escape his attack range.

The trees in some of the valleys were so lush that they could completely cover Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi's fighter.

Fortunately, Nagato Tagawa successfully predicted Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi's exit from these valleys both times.

Although Nagato Tagawa hadn't been able to hit him either time.

Squadron Leader Umura Ryosuke had caught up with Nagato Tagawa. The two planes, one high and one low, cooperated in the pursuit.

The black smoke that had originally been coming from the tail of Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi's fighter disappeared after five minutes.

This made the pursuit even more difficult.

Squadron Leader Umura Ryosuke's plane flew over the mountains and rivers, and his heart was blank: Where did the target go?

Where did the target go?

Nagato Tagawa was also searching nervously in the high altitude.

Suddenly, his eyes widened: "Captain, be careful! The target is behind you!

The target is behind you!"

He had no idea how Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi had managed to maneuver through these mountains.

He had actually gotten behind Squadron Leader Umura Ryosuke, and two strings of machine-gun bullets hit Umura Ryosuke's plane's fuel tank hard.

Immediately igniting the entire fighter.

Turning his head, Umura Ryosuke saw that the middle of his fighter was on fire, and there was no way to save it.

There was no time to hesitate, he immediately pressed the ejection button.

Nagato Tagawa then began to rush towards Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi's fighter.

What he didn't expect was that Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi didn't run away. He was actually flying his plane towards Squadron Leader Umura Ryosuke, who was floating in the air.

How much hatred was this?

Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi rushed towards Squadron Leader Umura Ryosuke. Nagato Tagawa, who was pursuing from the high altitude, was afraid of injuring Squadron Leader Umura Ryosuke by mistake with his fire.

He had to pause his shooting.

The anger in Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi's heart soared to fill the entire sky when he saw Squadron Leader Umura Ryosuke.

He didn't fire, he actually gently grazed Squadron Leader Umura Ryosuke with the left wing of his fighter.

Following behind him, Nagato Tagawa saw the fighter shake violently, and some fragments and debris from the fighter splashed out.

At the same time, Nagato Tagawa saw an object in the air, spraying liquid and falling straight towards the forest below.

He quickly checked: Fortunately, Squadron Leader Umura Ryosuke's parachute was still floating well in the air.

When he got closer, he saw a terrifying scene:

Only the upper half of Squadron Leader Umura Ryosuke's body remained.

The lower half must have been the object he had just seen in the distance.

The squadron leader's upper body was still spraying blood, and he was shouting, "It hurts! It hurts!"

Umura Ryosuke saw Nagato Tagawa's plane, and a strange smile appeared on his face.

Umura Ryosuke, who only had half of his body left, was just thinking:

If Nagato Tagawa's coordination hadn't been a problem, they would have destroyed Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi when they were over the Yangtze River.

He wouldn't have died here.

He hated it!

Nagato Tagawa didn't immediately send him on his way when he discovered his condition, making him suffer in the air all this time:

He hated it even more!

Just then, Squadron Leader Umura Ryosuke suddenly thought:

When he had just started diving to attack Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi, the fuel could only support three minutes of combat.

If he couldn't complete the mission in three minutes, he had to return, otherwise he wouldn't be able to fly back.

So much time had passed now: Nagato Tagawa would not be able to fly back to the airport no matter what.

That's why he had a strange smile on his face towards Nagato Tagawa.

"I'll be waiting for you here!" Umura Ryosuke said silently.

Nagato Tagawa was only focused on firing at Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi at this time.

"This is a cunning man!" Nagato Tagawa thought as he fired.

Just after Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi had cut Umura Ryosuke in half, the entire plane dove towards the ground like it was crashing.

This one move perfectly avoided Nagato Tagawa, who had been chasing behind him.

At this time, Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi had not thought about it: what if the plane couldn't be pulled up after diving downwards at such a near-right angle?

He hadn't thought about such a problem: if he really couldn't pull it up, then he would just die!

Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi, who was determined to die, used a method of seeking death to perfectly avoid the pursuit of the plane behind him.

He managed to fly horizontally into a valley, skimming the treetops at the last moment.

Disappearing from Nagato Tagawa's sight once again.

Nagato Tagawa didn't fly into the high altitude this time. He just followed the plane in front.

Entering the valley in the same way, as soon as he entered the valley, a scene of forests swept past his eyes.

The plane was surrounded by cliffs with trees hanging over them. From time to time, a mountain peak would suddenly appear in front of him, heading straight towards him.

Nagato Tagawa concentrated on operating the fighter, closely following behind Chiyo Fuji.

When the plane in front turned, he turned with it, when the plane in front pulled up, he pulled up with it.

At the same time, Nagato Tagawa kept firing at Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi in front of him.

However, the valley was winding and secluded, and his shooting was ineffective.

Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi nervously watched the mountain peaks in front of him rush towards him, only to be thrown behind him one by one.

Gradually, he began to like this feeling.

He seemed to have forgotten that there was still a plane on his tail, thinking about shooting him down at any time.

Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi began to deliberately choose those valleys that looked very narrow to dive into.

The valley ahead was too narrow, and the plane couldn't pass through in level flight.

Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi had to make an emergency sideways flight, passing through this canyon that could be called a narrow strip of sky with the fuselage sideways.

Nagato Tagawa, who was following behind him, didn't have that much time and distance to react.

The plane in front of Nagato Tagawa blocked his sight. By the time he saw Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi's fighter flying sideways, he only had time to pull the plane upwards in an emergency.

The distance was too close.

With a loud noise, Nagato Tagawa's fighter crashed into the cliffs on both sides of the canyon at a speed of over 400 kilometers per hour.

The two wings broke off first, and when the force was transmitted to the fuselage.

The entire plane could no longer maintain its balance, and rolled over and crashed into the hard stone wall.

With a loud bang, the entire plane was smashed to pieces.

The huge crash that suddenly came from behind finally made Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi hear it.

At this time, he finally came back to his senses.

Recovering from his trance, he pulled the fighter up to a high altitude.

Then he turned back to check, and saw a huge plume of smoke rising from the canyon, like the smoke rising from a beacon lit in ancient times to warn of foreign invasions.

He waggled his wings, as a final salute to his comrade.

Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi began to return. He wanted to find the Yangtze River and continue upstream along it.

To pursue the source of the Yangtze River.

Matsutsuki Chie led five fighters, searching upwards along the Yangtze River. They tracked all the way up to Anqing.

Although Matsutsuki Chie didn't know what this place was, he knew that Squadron Leader Umura Ryosuke and the others could only fly this far at most.

If they didn't return after reaching here, they definitely wouldn't be able to fly back.

But his planes hadn't seen Umura Ryosuke and Tagawa Kazuma all the way up.

Where did they go?

With questions in his mind, Matsutsuki Chie led the five fighters back along the Yangtze River.

Some people say: Life is rarely satisfactory.

Others say: "Iron shoes worn in vain, nothing found, then comes the prize with little ground."

Matsutsuki Chie never thought that he would see Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi's fighter while returning.

The two sides were heading towards each other.

Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi, who already had combat experience, immediately turned, flew low, and used the cover of the mountainside by the river to rush into the mountains after discovering the fighter in front.

This fighter group, which had finally discovered Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi with great difficulty, immediately tracked him.

While tracking, Matsutsuki Chie contacted Chiyo Fuji Ryoichi: "Chiyo, have you seen Squadron Leader Umura and Tagawa?"