novelaction Chapter 289: Advantages of the Q-5 and Disadvantages of the J-5
Chapter 289: Advantages of the Q-5 and Disadvantages of the J-5
Although Kawabe Masamitsu issued the order to go out quickly and the Mandalay Air Division did not take much time to go out, its fighter jets were propeller-powered after all, and their flying speed was far slower than that of Xu's army's jets.
In addition, the air distance between Mangshi and Guigai is only 90 kilometers, and it only takes about 8 minutes for Xu Jiajun's Air Force to reach Guigai at cruising speed.
The air distance between Mandalay and Guigai is 240 kilometers. Even if the Japanese planes fly at full speed, it will take at least 20 minutes to arrive. Moreover, they set off after the arrival of Xu's Air Force. So when the more than 5 fighter planes of the Japanese 300th Flying Regiment arrived in Guigai, Xu's 36 planes had already completed the bombing of the rear of the 6th Division.
Although there are certain advantages to striking last, there are definitely advantages to striking first.
But at this moment, in the sky above Guigai, 24 bombers had just left, and only 12 attack aircraft were still hovering here, each with two sets of 57mm rocket launchers hanging under their wings, with not a single rocket missing!
Since I'm making bait, I have to catch a fish before I leave.
The Japanese didn't know that the H-5 and H-6 had detection radars. When their fighter jets approached about 10 kilometers above Guigai, the bomber brigade had already captured them clearly.
So he left the battlefield before the Japanese, and the timing was just right. Even if the Japanese noticed something was wrong, they were already on the battlefield and couldn't escape.
"Brothers, our air force has always been bombers causing trouble since its establishment. Not long ago, our fighter planes also fought a good battle and shot down dozens of Japanese planes!
Now it's our turn as the attack aircraft squadron. You all need to hold the Japanese back and don't let them escape! But be careful, we are not fighter planes after all, and our air combat performance is relatively weak. Aim at the Japanese planes and avoid missing them. Fire 4 rockets each time!"
The captain of the attack aircraft group issued an attack declaration. He had been holding back his anger for a long time and was determined to rewrite the theory that attack aircraft were incapable of air combat.
However, it is true that as a ground attack aircraft, the Q-5's air combat performance in all aspects is not weaker than that of propeller fighters. Coupled with rockets, it still has certain advantages if a real fight comes.
Therefore, the three squadrons of 12 J-5s dispersed and kept a certain distance, still using their powerful mobility and high speed to fight the Japanese planes.
In an instant, the Japanese machine gun shells filled the entire sky, and rockets would occasionally fly towards a Japanese plane in groups of four.
Most of the Japanese planes were hit by the second rocket, and very few were hit by the first or the last two. But no matter what, as long as the plane was hit by one rocket, it would definitely die!
Even several pilots changed their attack methods from time to time, switching between rockets and machine gun shells, which actually improved the hit rate of the machine guns a lot.
Having personally experienced the combat advantages of the J-5, the squadron leader immediately changed his strategy: "All squadrons should change their rockets to two-shot bursts. If there is no hit, quickly use machine guns to replenish!"
As the captain, his mind must be clearer than that of his teammates. It only took him two minutes to come up with the most cost-effective attack method.
Sure enough, each aircraft changed its combat style, utilizing its super-strong climbing rate of 150 meters per second and supersonic performance, which greatly saved ammunition while keeping the hit rate unchanged!
Five minutes later, more than 5 Japanese fighter planes were destroyed!
Of course, the Japanese's human wave tactics also played a role. After several changes, two J-5s were accidentally surrounded by hundreds of fighter jets.
No matter how powerful the performance of the Q-5 is or how fast it flies, it still needs a road. How can it fly without a road?
One of the J-5s accidentally collided with several Japanese planes flying towards it while dodging a group of Japanese planes. Both sides were destroyed and exploded in the air!
Although another J-5 took advantage of the gap to fly out of the encirclement, its wings were also hit by dozens of 20mm cannon shells and it lost the ability to continue fighting. It could only start afterburner flight and leave the battlefield at supersonic speed.
"All planes retreat, don't get entangled with the devils!"
The Japanese went crazy, especially when they saw that two Q-5s were replaced with just a few planes. They rushed towards the Q-5s without caring about their lives.
However, the captain has already ordered a retreat. Given the speed of the Japanese planes, chasing them is completely impossible!
"Great! We finally defeated Xu's air force, but I always feel like something is wrong!"
On the ground, seeing all the powerful 5 disappear in the air, Kanda Masatane couldn't help but be overjoyed, but then he fell into deep thought, and his heartbeat inexplicably quickened a lot.
"Oh no! These are bombers and attack planes. Their fighter planes have not appeared yet! Especially the bombers' retreat just now was too strange, as if they were running on time!"
He finally realized that something was wrong and wanted to report it to Hebian Zhengsan immediately, but the next moment, dozens of fighter jets appeared in the sky flying in an orderly manner from the direction of Yunnan Province.
Although he didn't know what model this was, it was obviously not the previous attack aircraft or bomber.
"It's an enemy fighter, damn it!"
At this point, the more than 200 fighter jets in the air had no way to retreat. Kanda Masatane was only the commander of the 6th Division, responsible for the ground defense of Kikai. He could only temporarily command the 15th Independent Mixed Brigade in addition to the headquarters, and had no way to issue orders to the air force.
The timing was just right. It took exactly 6 minutes from the time the H-5 captured the Japanese aircraft group leaving to the time the J-10 appeared.
This was also one of the reasons why the attack aircraft squadron retreated. Their primary purpose was to control the Japanese fighters above the Japanese positions and wait for the arrival of the fighter squadron. The secondary purpose was to conduct air combat to test the air combat performance of the Q-5.
The test results were naturally satisfactory. There was no pressure with 1 to 10, but if there were more, it would be a bit troublesome, just like what happened just now, the quantity led to a qualitative change.
No matter how fast the high-speed train runs, if there are no tracks on the ground, the train will be destroyed and people will die!
The artillery battle on the ground continued and never stopped because of the dense fighter planes in the sky. Of course, the Japs still did not change their original intention. So far, apart from seeing the planes of Xu’s army, no one from the ground troops has been seen.
Seeing one of his own fighter jets crashing in the sky from time to time, Kanda Masatane's heart was in his throat. Just when he was about to call Kawabe Masamitsu and ask him to cancel the air operation, he slowly hesitated again.
Because he found that these 36 fighter jets only had machine guns and did not have the kind of aerial rockets carried by previous attack aircraft, so their firepower was much weaker.
Moreover, the performance of these fighters does not seem to be as strong as the previous attack aircraft. Although no one has been lost so far, as long as they continue, the use of human wave tactics can slowly consume Xu's army's fighter jets.
Xu Le, who was far behind, and Wang Yuqi, who arrived by helicopter, were both observing the air battle carefully, and they both discovered the same problem.
Especially Xu Le, the J-5 was finalized and produced in 56, and the Q-5 was finalized and produced in 68. Although there is only a difference of 12 years, there is a gap of one era in terms of technological performance!
When he was in Yunnan Province, he was thinking about replacing the J-5, but after coming to Wanding again, he wanted to see again what the limits of the J-5 were and whether he could continue to use it, so as to save some military merit points for developing the navy.
But what happened now made him completely decide to replace the J-5. The aircraft's firepower was too weak, and it was unable to carry rockets. It only had high speed and high climb rate.
After only a short while of fighting with the Japanese, they have already figured out how to use low-altitude flying to lure the J-5 into the canyon area for combat.
In low-altitude and complex terrain, the high speed of the J-5 also becomes a weakness, and it will hit obstacles if it is not careful!
"Commander Wang, let the fighter squadron go back. The Japs lost a lot of pilots, and we can't afford the loss!"
"Staff Officer Fang, execute the backup plan. Let the enemy enter our airspace. All anti-aircraft battalions, take aim and fire!"