Tengchong position
Tengchong is located in the southwest of Yunnan Province, which in turn is located in southwest china. It is clear that it is a frontier and important gateway to South and Southeast Asia, and has had a profound impact throughout history.
Strictly speaking, Tengchong is only a county-level city managed by Baoshan City, and the coordinate range on the map is very small and even unknown. However, it is one of the very few places in China's county-level divisions to have an airport, and the name of the airport is still very loud, but anyone who knows a little history understands the status and meaning of the four words "Hump Airport".
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Next, with great reverence, we look back at history and the "Hump Route" that made outstanding contributions and great sacrifices during the War of Resistance Against Japan. It is a daunting and awe-inspiring route, and it is still called one of the most difficult in the history of world aviation and war, and there is absolutely no one.
After the "September 18 Incident," Japan soon occupied the northeast region of China and launched a criminal war of aggression against China. In this context, the sino-Japanese national contradictions have risen to become the main contradictions in society.
In the face of Japan's step-by-step aggression, north China also became precarious, and patriotic generals Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng jointly launched the "Xi'an Incident." With the peaceful settlement of this incident, the anti-Japanese national united front led by the Communist Party and the Kuomintang initially took shape.
After the "Lugou Bridge Incident" in 1937, the all-out War of Resistance began, and the war of resistance of the whole nation also began. In order to boost the morale of the Chinese people, Chiang Kai-shek, on behalf of the Nationalist Government, delivered the famous "Lushan Speech":
As soon as the war began, there was no distinction between the north and the south, and no one, old or young, had the responsibility to defend the territory and resist the war, and all had the determination to sacrifice everything. Only by sacrificing to the end, and only by resisting the war to the end, can we win the final victory!
In August 1937, the Nationalist government in Nanjing held an emergency national defense conference to discuss strategic issues and military deployments in response to Japanese aggression. Faced with practical financial and technical difficulties in the construction of large-scale railways and roads, they had to be shelved for the time being. However, in order to ensure the supply of materials to the rear area, the construction plan of the Burma Road was officially launched in this context.
Chiang Kai-shek and Long Yun
Soon, Wang Gangsheng, vice minister of the Ministry of Communications of the Nationalist Government, arrived in Kunming on orders, organized experts from all walks of life to conduct on-the-spot investigations, and also held specific discussions with Long Yun, the "king of Yunnan", on many matters related to the construction of the Yunnan Burma Highway.
Through the unremitting efforts of the Nationalist government and the Yunnan government, the main structure of the Yunnan Burma Highway was finally determined. Starting from Kunming, the whole section passes through Anning, Xiaguan, Baoshan, Lameng, Longling and Qiding to Lashio and Yangon in Myanmar, with a total length of about 1146 kilometers.
In November 1937, the Nationalist government allocated 2 million yuan despite the unfavorable war, requiring Long Yun to preside over the construction of the Burma Highway within one year. Despite many contradictions with Chiang Kai-shek, he still put the interests of the nation first in front of the great enemy and immediately mobilized and requisitioned 150,000 people's strength to step up construction.
By the end of August 1938, the Burma Highway was completed and opened to traffic three months ahead of schedule, becoming a major artery to ensure the War of Resistance. During this period, a total of 11 million cubic meters of earthwork construction, 1.1 million cubic meters of stone construction, and the construction of 243 bridges and 1789 culverts were completed.
In October 1938, with the successive fall of Guangzhou and Wuhan, the War of Resistance Against Japan entered a stalemate. Since neither China nor Japan was able to change the war situation in a short period of time, it entered a period of endless material consumption, and the importance of the Burma Road became more and more obvious.
Faced with the difficult operation of the war machine, Japan urgently needed to break the US sea blockade and economic blockade in order to achieve "war to feed the war", so it decided to take a desperate risk. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Navy sneaked into U.S. Attack Pearl Harbor, triggering the Pacific War.
At the beginning of the Pacific War, the Japanese army won successive victories, except for Thailand, and occupied almost all southeast Asian countries and regions. In addition to Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia, even Myanmar and India have become its targets.
Since then, the safety of the Burma Road has become more and more difficult to guarantee, and it has been constantly bombed by the Japanese army. In order to preserve this artery, the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the British army swore to the death, but after paying a terrible price, they still failed to keep the road, resulting in the situation of the War of Resistance becoming more severe.
In order to strengthen the anti-fascist alliance and to continue to contain a large number of Japanese troops in the Chinese battlefield, US President Roosevelt finally realized the seriousness. In 1942, China and the United States signed the Mutual Assistance Agreement on Joint Resistance to Aggression in Washington, D.C., and China officially became one of the recipients of U.S. aid to war.
After the Burma Road was cut off by the Japanese army, a large amount of aid materials could not be transported into China, and President Roosevelt ordered that the route be opened at all costs. In this context, the "Hump Route" is finally going to the stage of history!
The international shipping route runs from assam in India in the west to the Himalayas, Gaoligong, Hengduan, Nu, Lancang and Jinsha rivers in the east, and finally into China's Yunnan Province, with a total length of about 800 kilometers. Although the route is not long, the terrain altitude is around 5,000 meters, and the highest altitude is more than 7,000 meters. Moreover, at that time, the performance of the aircraft was not high, and the navigation technology was even worse, and it could only fly close to the mountains with slightly greater air density, meandering and high and low along the way, much like the camel's hump, so it was named "hump route".
When it comes to the Hump route, it is inevitable that the three words "Flying Tigers" and "Chennault" cannot be circumvented. He himself was not only skilled in flying, but also had a lot of research on the theory of air combat, and had published a book called "The Role of Defensive Pursuit", but unfortunately did not attract the attention of the military, and he was depressed in the US military for a long time.
In April 1937, at the age of 46, Chennault had to retire from the army and went to China to do business after receiving an invitation from his friend Hobruk. Because of his background in the U.S. Air Force, he attracted the attention of Song Meiling, known as the "Mother of the Air Force," and was hired as secretary general of the Aviation Commission.
After the "Lugou Bridge Incident," Chennault took the initiative to ask Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling for help, hoping to train pilots for the Chinese Air Force. Under his efforts, fighter planes belonging to the Nationalist government often fought against the Japanese and Koso over the Battle of Songhu.
Due to the neutrality policy of the United States, Chennault's identity seems very awkward, and neither the U.S. government nor the Nationalist government wants him to stay in China. However, he himself developed a strong affection for the country, according to his daughter Cynthia Chennault:
The experience in China completely changed my father's life. In just a few months, he has developed a deep respect for the Chinese people, and he has expressed deep admiration for their courage and perseverance in such a difficult environment.
After 1940, the volunteers of the Soviet Air Force to aid China were withdrawn one after another, and the Chinese Air Force basically existed in name only. In desperation, Chiang Kai-shek had no choice but to hold the mentality of "a dead horse as a living horse doctor" and asked Chennault to return to the United States to "solicit sponsorship."
With the tacit support of the Roosevelt administration, Chennault accepted donations in private names and purchased dozens of P-40 fighters, as well as recruited a large number of pilots and mechanics in the United States. In July 1941, he returned to China with 68 aircraft, 110 pilots, and 150 mechanics to prepare for engagement with the Japanese.
Chiang Kai-shek was overjoyed and not only fully funded the establishment of the American Volunteer Brigade of the Chinese Air Force, but also awarded the rank of Colonel Chennault. Soon, he organized the patchwork "volunteers" into 3 squadrons, the first team was called "Adam and Eve Team", the second team was called "Giant Panda Team", and the third team was called "Hell Angel Team", which did not have the appearance of a regular army at all.
On December 20, 1941, Chennault led this group of "rabble-rousers" to victory in the first battle in Kunming, shooting down 6 Japanese fighters and injuring 3 of them, which greatly boosted the morale of the people of the whole country. Since then, the Chinese people have affectionately called them "Flying Tigers", and this nickname has officially become a synonym for the American Volunteer Team.
In May 1942, the Japanese army began to invade Yunnan through Burma, and the southwest rear area became dangerous. In order to prevent the enemy from crossing the Nu River, Chennault commanded the "Flying Tigers" to attack continuously, repeatedly attacking the Japanese transport teams around Baoshan, Tengchong and Longling.
On July 3, 1942, Chennault disbanded the American Air Volunteer Corps at the behest of the U.S. military and formed the 23rd Group, which was part of the U.S. Army's 10th Air Force. Later, he was reorganized into the U.S. Army's 14th Air Force, and he himself was promoted to major general in the Air Force.
After Chennault took office, he strongly recommended that President Roosevelt continue to strengthen the air force in China, and finally received support from the White House. Soon, the air force under his direct command had nearly 1,000 aircraft, fully grasped the air supremacy of the China-India-Burma theater, and was still called the "Flying Tigers" by the Chinese people.
Since seizing air supremacy, the Chinese military and civilians no longer have to worry about being bombed by the Japanese army and no longer have to worry about the next "Baoshan Massacre." The war to regain the lost land in Tengchong was carried out under the condition that our army held absolute air supremacy, which was also the first time in the entire history of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. According to Peng Heqing, a war correspondent at that time, he recalled:
The large formation of the allied aircraft descended at a rapid pace, bombing eight times in the area of Laifengshan and Chengxiang, which was really painful! The blood debt that has raged on the enemy planes in the past seven years has also been retaliated against today.
Due to the excessive shortage of materials, the "Flying Tigers" not only had to carry out military tasks, but also shouldered the task of transportation. Because of the extreme harshness of the climate and terrain, Indo-China United Edward Alexander said in the report:
In addition to the terrain and altitude, the climate here is also very frightening, and it begins to freeze at an altitude of 12,000 feet.
Although the voyage was fraught with danger, nearly a hundred planes flew on the Hump route almost every day, and exhausted pilots sometimes had to make three round trips. On the one hand, a large number of weapons and ammunition, medical equipment, machinery and equipment and civilian materials are transported to China through this route; on the other hand, China also transports special minerals such as tungsten and tin and other strategic raw materials to the outside world through this route.
In addition, the "Hump Route" also carried out the rescue and transportation of personnel. According to statistics, British soldiers and refugees who were defeated in the Burma campaign were transported from Burma to China and around the world, strongly supporting the anti-fascist war around the world.
While achieving results, the price paid is also tragic. In the three years of the Hump route, more than 1,500 planes crashed and more than 3,000 pilots were killed, which has been called "the most tragic airlift of mankind". No wonder Time Magazine in the United States reported this:
Between the more than 800-kilometer-long deep mountain canyon and the Snow Peak Glacier, fragments of various aircraft are scattered along the way. On a sunny day, these aluminum flakes will sparkle in the sunlight, creating another name for the Hump Route - "Aluminum Valley".
The only regret is that Chennault did not fulfill his vow that "when the last Japanese left China, I would be happy to leave China." For political reasons, he was forced to resign on July 31, 1945, and regretted that he had not been able to participate in the Japanese surrender ceremony:
My only wish is to defeat the Japanese, and I really want to see the Japanese officially declare them defeated.
After retiring from the military, Chennault returned to China in December 1945, not only as a guest of honor by Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling, but also as a guest of honor, but also under full responsibility for the Air Transport Company of the China Refugee Relief Administration. Since then, he has lived in China for many years and married Chen Xiangmei, a female Journalist from China, and published his memoir, The Road of a Warrior.
In August 1956, Chennault was diagnosed with lung cancer during a physical examination and underwent surgery, but he still did not save his life from death. He died at a New Orleans Hospital on July 27, 1958, received the most solemn military salute from the U.S. military, and was buried at arlington Military Cemetery in Washington.
In 2015, the Chinese government awarded Chennault's widow the "70th Anniversary Medal for the Victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression" to highlight his great achievements during the War of Resistance Against Japan. In fact, whether it is the "Hump Route", "Flying Tigers" or "Chennault", they have witnessed the history of Sino-US friendship, mutual assistance and common resistance to the enemy. @Wenshi is not false