Matsushita Jūzaburō was the duty company commander of the squadron today. When he learned that enemy planes were attacking, he immediately issued an attack order to all the Japanese soldiers in his squadron.

　　Upon receiving the order, the twelve Japanese fighter pilots in his squadron quickly rushed towards their planes.

　　Although Company Commander Matsushita Jūzaburō reacted quickly, he was still slower than the Special Forces Aviation Brigade, which was diving from the sky to bomb.

　　Lin Fan's plan to bomb the Japanese Fifth Fleet involved organizing the bombers into squadrons of twelve, with each squadron commanded by a captain, focusing their bombing on a single warship.

　　Each squadron captain would decide on the bombing target. Xiao Jianying, leading his squadron, targeted the Japanese aircraft carrier "Kaga."

　　He immediately reported his squadron's first target on the channel specifically reserved for Mao Wenxing and the other captains.

　　Xiao Jianying wasn't the first in his squadron to drop bombs on the Japanese warships. Lei Qiang was the first to dive down.

　　Lei Qiang was a student from the third batch of trainees at the Special Forces' flight school in Guangde. He had originally been a sophomore at Zhejiang University. During the school's relocation, he decided to join the resistance.

　　After many twists and turns, he joined the Special Forces and was soon selected for the Special Forces' aviation school, where he studied flight theory in Guangde.

　　This bombing raid on the Japanese Fifth Fleet was his first time on the battlefield.

　　The anti-aircraft guns on the Japanese warships fired at the sky, and the twin-mounted 13.2mm anti-aircraft machine guns on the "Kaga" incessantly strafed the diving planes.

　　Lei Qiang's bomber also had four machine guns, but it was still too far from the Japanese warships to open fire.

　　However, he could see the machine gun bullets forming lines of fire as they shot out, drawing arcs in the sky.

　　The bomber, fully loaded with bombs, wasn't very maneuverable. Lei Qiang still managed to steer the plane slightly off course and continued to dive toward the Japanese warship below.

　　This was something he couldn't tolerate under any circumstances. Fighter planes were light, fragile, and agile. If they were allowed to take off, they would pose a serious threat to the bombers.

　　He had to shoot it down before it could gain altitude.

　　Lei Qiang increased the speed of his bomber, closely following the fighter that had just taken off from the aircraft carrier deck. All four machine guns concentrated their fire on that plane.

　　Just as pilot Tezuka Ryunosuke took off from the aircraft carrier deck, before he could even soar into the sky, he felt the plane shaking as bullets struck it from behind.

　　The bullets, coming from behind, pierced the thin fuselage, hitting the cockpit, the tail, and the fuel tank.

　　Fighter planes never prioritized defense. They were designed purely for offense. This attack from the rear left the fighter he was piloting unable to retaliate.

　　Tezuka Ryunosuke could only fly downwards, trying to create some distance. But he forgot that he had just taken off from the "Kaga" and wasn't at high altitude.

　　As he flew downwards, he crashed into the "Kinu" cruiser. The fighter collided with the cruiser's island, not immediately disintegrating. Instead, one wing broke off, and the remaining fuselage careened across the cruiser.

　　This was a disaster for the Japanese soldiers on the "Kinu." Tezuka Ryunosuke's crash knocked out at least ten of the 25mm cannons that were firing at the sky.

　　The "Kinu" was one of the Nagara-class light cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.

　　It was commissioned in 1922. The ship had a standard displacement of 6,460 tons, a length of 162 meters, a beam of 14.17 meters, and a draft of 4.8 meters. Its propulsion system generated 90,000 horsepower, giving it a top speed of 36 knots.

　　The ship was armed with seven 140mm guns, six 127mm guns, thirty-eight 25mm guns, and two 610mm torpedo tubes. It had a crew of 440.

　　Lei Qiang, who had been chasing Tezuka Ryunosuke's fighter, immediately changed his target and strafed the "Kinu" cruiser with heavy fire, while simultaneously ordering, "Drop the bombs!"

　　One by one, 800 kg bombs were released. His bomber was carrying a total of twenty 800 kg bombs. He had already dropped four over the "Kaga."

　　This time, he dropped three more bombs, strafing the "Kinu" before pulling up his plane, preparing to adjust his position and resume bombing the "Kaga."

　　He didn't know if his bombs had hit their target.

　　However, he could hear his captain's excited voice in his headset: "Hit the target! Continue!"

　　Although he didn't know who had dropped the bomb that hit the target, it was still something to be happy about.

　　While Lei Qiang was chasing Tezuka Ryunosuke's fighter, two more bombers had already swept over the "Kaga," diving to bomb the Japanese warship.

　　The second plane to take off from the Ōno Hideki aviation squadron was piloted by Yoshikawa Shota, but he wasn't as lucky as Tezuka Ryunosuke. Before he could even take off, a bomber in the sky shot off half of his wing. The plane veered off course, crashed through the railing on the right side of the aircraft carrier, and plunged into the sea.

　　It also took several Japanese soldiers who were directing operations on the deck with it into the sea. In a way, it had contributed its last bit of strength to the battle.

　　Standing on the deck directing the planes, Fujikawa Kame no Suke watched a plane fall into the sea. He simply glanced in that direction, then immediately waved his flag, guiding the next plane onto the deck, preparing it for takeoff.

　　At this moment, the aircraft carrier was surrounded by towering waves caused by the bombs exploding all around, and many bombers were still diving down toward the warship.

　　Fujikawa Kame no Suke knew that the Kaga could be hit at any moment. All he could do was get as many planes airborne as possible before it happened.

　　The Japanese soldiers on the Kaga weren't the only ones busy. In the hangar below deck, Commander Yamada Shota was roaring, "Hurry! Get the fighters up there!"

　　He was directing his men to push the fighters out of the hangar, onto the elevators, and then up to the deck.

　　Although they didn't know the exact situation of the battle outside, judging from the violent shaking of the warship, things weren't looking good.

　　Such violent shaking could only be caused by bombs exploding in the sea, causing the seawater to surge and shake the warship.

　　On the other side, the Japanese ammunition depot was also a scene of frantic activity. The anti-aircraft guns on the deck were urging them to send ammunition up.

　　When Lei Qiang flew over the "Kaga" again, he saw that the aircraft carrier was already ablaze. However, Japanese fighters were still emerging from the inferno, then staggering and plunging into the sea. But one plane managed to escape the deck, although a Special Forces bomber was chasing it closely, strafing it relentlessly.

　　Lei Qiang smiled. This tactic was exactly the same as his own earlier. In the midst of the chaos, he took the time to survey the entire harbor.

　　The entire harbor was now a sea of fire, filled with smoke. Most of the warships were engulfed in flames.

　　But even though the Japanese warships were shrouded in smoke and blazing fiercely, they still had cannons and anti-aircraft guns firing wildly into the sky.

　　Lei Qiang received Captain Xiao Jianying's order: "Launch a second round of bombing on the Japanese Kaga!"

　　Lei Qiang began to dive again. The machine guns began to strafe, and the bombs were dropped once more. This time, he had no enemy planes to chase. After dropping four bombs, he immediately pulled the bomber back up.

　　The bombers in his squadron followed closely behind, one after another, dropping bomb after bomb on the Japanese aircraft carrier.

　　Xiao Jianying had already seen three more bombs explode on the Japanese warship.

　　"This Japanese warship is really tough. It's already been hit by five bombs and it still hasn't sunk," Xiao Jianying thought to himself.

　　He didn't know that the "Kaga" aircraft carrier had been converted from a heavy cruiser. In terms of armor and toughness, it was second only to battleships.

　　The best weapon to completely sink it would actually be torpedoes.

　　Now Lin Fan also realized the Special Forces' weakness in naval warfare: they hadn't designed aircraft-launched torpedoes!

　　But these weren't important to the Special Forces Aviation Brigade right now. What was important was to suppress the Japanese Fifth Fleet's anti-aircraft fire and drive away the Japanese air force reinforcements.

　　Company Commander Inukai Naoki led his entire aviation company from Guangzhou Airport, flying towards Humen Fortress.

　　They had received orders to reinforce the Fifth Fleet stationed at Humen Fortress. The order had come suddenly, and Inukai Naoki found it very difficult to understand: how could the Fifth Fleet be attacked while in its home port?

　　Regardless of whether he understood or not, Inukai Naoki led his entire company out. As his company took off, an alarm sounded over the entire airport.

　　He could see that all the pilots at the airport were rushing towards the tarmac, indicating that they had also received orders to take off.

　　The distance from Guangzhou to Humen Fortress was very short. After Inukai Naoki led his eighteen fighters into the sky, pilot Saionji Taichi asked over the radio, "Company Commander Inukai! What's the situation today?"

　　He voiced the question that was on the minds of all the Japanese soldiers in the company. None of them knew the objective of this mission.

　　Inukai Naoki said loudly, "The order is to reinforce Humen Fortress!"

　　"Doesn't Humen Fortress have the Fifth Fleet? What kind of force would dare to attack the Fifth Fleet?"

　　In the minds of these Japanese pilots, there was always the idea that the naval fleet was an invincible presence, and that no force would dare to attack them. What kind of attack had the Fifth Fleet suffered that required them to provide air support?

　　The distance from Guangzhou Airport to Humen Fortress wasn't far. While these Japanese pilots were discussing and guessing, a squadron of fighters suddenly swooped down from the sky.

　　Without a word, they opened fire on their fighter company.

　　In the air, Mao Wenxing received Captain Pan Yongshan's report: they had engaged the Japanese fighters!

　　He was leading thirty-six fighters, patrolling in this direction, protecting the safety of the entire Special Forces air fleet.

　　Pan Yongnian and his fighter squadron had already been flying in circles in the air. In the distance, the sea was filled with smoke.

　　Although he couldn't see the specific situation of the battlefield, Captain Pan Yongnian patrolled in the high sky with his entire squadron. At this moment, they spotted the Japanese fighter squadron flying over.

　　Captain Pan Yongnian immediately ordered a squadron of fighters to fly over and intercept the Japanese fighters.

　　Chang An in his squadron was the first to see the Japanese planes flying at low altitude. He heard his captain's order to attack over the radio.

　　He immediately lowered his plane, locked onto a Japanese fighter, and dove down. When they charged out, the pilots of Inukai Naoki's squadron were caught off guard and only then realized that there were Special Forces fighters attacking in the sky.

　　The Japanese in Inukai Naoki's company were all shouting in alarm: "Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

　　Company Commander Inukai Naoki ordered loudly, "Engage! Engage!" All twelve fighters in his company were under attack. The evasive maneuvers made by these Japanese fighters were all similar.

　　Pilot Saionji Taichi drove his fighter fiercely downwards, while simultaneously increasing the throttle, preparing to descend rapidly about 500 meters before flying laterally, thus shaking off the pursuer behind him.

　　As the Japanese planes fled, Cui Yongqiang piloted his fighter closely, his eyes fixed on the enemy plane. He was now flying a Special Forces-developed Long Teng-1 fighter, which had a 25mm cannon installed in the front.

　　Seeing his opportunity, Cui Yongqiang pressed the firing button, and a string of shells flew out, accurately hitting the Japanese fighter in front of him.

　　With a "boom!", the Japanese fighter exploded into a ball of fire, bursting like fireworks in the sky.

　　The plane that pilot Saionji Taichi was flying had already been hit by many machine gun bullets. Just as it was descending rapidly and preparing to turn, he suddenly felt the plane shake violently.

　　Then he felt a sudden lightness, and the entire plane disintegrated! The Japanese pilot, who didn't even know what was happening, was struck by the flying wreckage, and Saionji died silently in the air.

　　His plane exploding mid-air wasn't an isolated incident. In less than a minute, more than half of the fighters commanded by Inukai Naoki had been shot down.

　　The remaining fighters were also under constant attack from the aircraft of Pan Yongshan's squadron, who held the superior position.

　　Captain Pan had already ordered over the radio: "After destroying the Japanese fighters, immediately return to your combat positions. There is another Japanese air group coming up behind this one."

　　Cui Yongqiang had just destroyed a Japanese fighter. Upon receiving the order, he made a beautiful turn in the air and immediately climbed back into the high sky, rushing toward the Japanese planes that were newly entering the battlefield.

　　This time, Pan Yongshan's fighter squadron could no longer hide. The Japanese air group following behind had already spotted them.

　　This time, both sides could only engage in a head-on confrontation.

　　Most of the twelve fighters in Inukai Naoki's company had already been destroyed. The remaining few fighters were also damaged, and they were being pursued by Special Forces fighters.

　　Company Commander Inukai Naoki piloted his fighter, constantly performing various tactical maneuvers, trying to shake off the fighter pursuing him.

　　But the fighter behind him was like chewing gum, sticking to him tightly. Machine gun bullets rained down on the fighter he was piloting. After a while of struggling,

　　black smoke began to pour out from the tail of his fighter, and the propeller stopped turning.

　　At this moment, the engine stalled in the air. Company Commander Inukai Naoki quickly tried to reignite it in the air. He tried once, twice, three times, but all failed.

　　At this point, he could only think about lowering his altitude and attempting to make a forced landing.

　　Xie Huaqiang, who was chasing behind him, clearly wasn't going to give him that opportunity. In Xie Huaqiang's opinion, the plane in front was too slippery.

　　He had ambushed it, but the plane had been twisting and turning in the air, and hadn't taken too much damage. If the plane's engine hadn't suddenly stalled,

　　he would probably have had to chase it for a while longer before finishing it off. Now, it was good that the enemy's engine had stalled, and it could no longer run around.

　　He aimed his cannon and opened fire on the enemy plane, which was already gliding toward the ground:

　　"Boom!"