Flying Tigers player Wang Yanzhou
preface
In March 1982, Xia Liangbai, the united front work minister of Rizhao County, Shandong Province, led a working group to Rizhao Sunjia Village to investigate, the research team came to the village, the village cadres were busy working, at this time, an old man who poured water next to Xia Liangbai caught his attention.
This old man had a different temperament, definitely not just a farmer, and the clothes he was wearing looked familiar, and after some talking, Xia Liangbai was surprised. The farmer remained anonymous for 23 years and never mentioned his past to anyone. So, who is this person?
(1) Deeply hiding the name of merit
In 1983, Xia Liangbai, director of the United Front Work Department of Rizhao County, came to Sunjia Village to inspect, and this time, they did not have any special tasks, the main purpose was to come to the grass-roots level to see the living conditions of the villagers today.
When the village cadres saw that the leader had come here, they invited Xia Liangbai and his party to the brigade, and on the way, Xia Liangbai constantly inquired about the situation in the village.
When they came to the brigade, Wang Yanzhou was also here, and the village cadres saw him and asked him to quickly summon the leader to boil water and pour tea. Subsequently, Wang Yanzhou busied himself with pouring water for the leader's tea. After the hot water was boiled, Xia Liangbai and a group of people gathered there to chat, and Wang Yanzhou quickly came forward to make tea and pour water for the leaders.
Wang Yanzhou's military uniform photo
However, inadvertently, Xia Liangbai did not speak, but just kept staring at Wang Yanzhou, the old man had a unique military temperament, and he was also wearing a pair of air force zipper pants. From his every move, it can be seen that he is not an ordinary farmer.
Therefore, through his years of experience in reading people, Xia Liangbai must have been a soldier. Unable to contain the curiosity in his heart, Xia Liangbai still decided to talk to the old man.
“
This old man, I see that the pants you are wearing are a bit like the clothing of the Air Force, and your running behavior has a military atmosphere, have you ever been a soldier? ”
Before Wang Yanzhou could reply, the village cadre next to him smiled and said:
"Leader, Lao Wang has been a soldier there, he has been with us for more than twenty years, and he has always been farming."
Since he had been working as a farmer here for more than twenty years and still had a military temperament, he must have done something before.
Wang Yanzhou
Finally, in the conversation with Wang Yanzhou, Xia Liangbai learned that
This old man named Wang Yanzhou participated in the war against the Japanese Kou and the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and was even a pilot of the founding ceremony and was examined by Chairman Mao and state leaders.
After hearing Wang Yanzhou's experience, Xia Liangbai was shocked, but he still wondered: Why didn't Wang Yanzhou appeal to restore his identity? In this regard, Wang Yanzhou smiled lightly and said: I have been here for too long and have become accustomed to such a day.
But with such a hero, Xia Liangbai believes that he should not live his life in obscurity. Therefore, Xia Liangbai said to Wang Yanzhou:
"You have contributed to the country and should not be buried like this." After returning to the county, I will write materials for you and give them to the relevant departments to confirm your identity. ”
Subsequently, after Xia Liangbai finished his work in the village, he returned to the county and handed over information about Wang Yanzhou to his superiors. Finally, after investigation, what Wang Yanzhou said was true, and his identity was also true.
In the past twenty years, Wang Yanzhou has not mentioned his achievements in that year and has made a living by cultivating land. It wasn't until many years later, when Xia Liangbai discovered, that he knew that this old man had a good past. So what kind of achievements did Wang Yanzhou have before?
(2) Uncover the past
Wang Yanzhou was born in October 1920 to an ordinary peasant family in Sunjia Village, Rizhao, Shandong Province. But in fact, Wang Yanzhou's family is not much poor, in 1937, Wang Yanzhou's father had a lot of land property, so Wang Yanzhou had the opportunity to study private school.
At the age of 15, Wang Yanzhou left Rizhao to qingdao to become an apprentice, and he was just an ordinary young man at that time. But his time in Qingdao was also the moment when Japan was most arrogant about China. Just in Qingdao, he witnessed the scene of the Chinese people being oppressed by the Japanese, and this situation also stimulated wang Yanzhou's patriotic enthusiasm.
Although he was only a small apprentice at that time, at that time, the seeds of defending his family and defending the country were quietly born in his heart. Since then, his life has undergone tremendous changes, and here I have to say wang Yanzhou's cousin, it can be said,
His cousin Wang Yande was Wang Yanzhou's leader.
At that time, Wang Yande was a company commander of the Kuomintang 29th Army, and at the recommendation of his cousin, Wang Yanzhou came to a military training regiment in beipingnan of the Kuomintang 29th Army for military training.
This military training regiment is specially aimed at newcomers, although it is not a regular military school, but it is directly under the 29th Army, so it is also quite valued.
At that time, Tong Linge served as the head of the military training regiment of the regiment. The regimental commander was also a passionate patriotic general at that time, and once said:
"If the central authorities order the anti-Japanese resistance, if Linge does not take the lead in the way, the monarch and others can go to Tiananmen Square, gouge out my eyes, and cut my ears."
From this, we can see Tong Linge's patriotic enthusiasm, for the Japanese invasion, Tong Linge saw the hatred in his eyes, and he was determined to drive the Japanese army out of China.
After the outbreak of the Lugou Bridge Incident, on July 28, 1937, Tong Linge led the military training corps to prepare to enter the Nanyuan of Beiping to resist the Japanese army.
Tong Lin Pavilion
At that time, it was the first time that the military training regiment went to the battlefield and the first time they took a gun, so in the face of the severe situation on the battlefield, although they felt afraid, they still went to the battlefield with a hard scalp.
Planes hovered back and forth overhead, and enemy tanks on the ground bombarded and exploded, never stopping. In the sound of the explosion, many people in the military training regiment fell one after another, and some people whose arms and legs were broken were accompanied by miserable cries... The first time he saw such a scene, Wang Yanzhou knew the cruelty of war.
Although this was Wang Yanzhou's first time on the battlefield, the burning patriotic enthusiasm in his heart dispelled all his fears, and he was determined to perform well in this war and strive to deliver a fatal blow to the enemy. In this war, due to the first time on the battlefield, the heroic Wang Yanzhou was still wounded.
After several rounds of fighting with the enemy, the defensive line of the position was successively breached by the Japanese. Seeing that there were very few people left in the military training regiment, Feng Hongguo, the leader of the military training regiment, decided to disband the military training regiment on the spot in order to avoid greater sacrifices.
On the way to evacuate, Wang Yanzhou and his classmates asked several classmates to help him hold his feet and dig out the bullets with two branches. Wang Yanzhou and his classmates escaped and came to Xi'an.
At this time, Wang Yanzhou had experienced a battle, and his state of mind had undergone a huge change, the previous life was not what he wanted, and becoming a soldier was what he wanted to do most at present.
Therefore, in the summer of 1938, Wang Yanzhou took the 16th admission examination of the Whampoa Military Academy, and then successfully entered the Whampoa Military Academy for formal military training.
Photo of Wang Yanzhou
Once in December 1940, three days before Wang Yanzhou graduated, he saw an advertisement for admissions to the Jianqiao Air Force Officer School on the streets of Xi'an. Wang Yanzhou thought that in that war, the Japanese army bombed wildly above their heads, if one day he could also fly a plane to bomb the Japanese army, thinking of this, Wang Yanzhou could not wait to sign up, even his cousin did not say. He was also successfully admitted to the Air Force School with his study experience in the military academy.
Jianqiao Aviation School was supposed to be in Hangzhou, but has now moved to Kunming due to the war. Although they had come to Kunming, the Japanese army still came here occasionally to bomb, so their training could only fly and stop, and the course was often disturbed.
Wang Yanzhou studied in Kunming for almost a year, and in the course of a year of study, Wang Yanzhou showed extremely high talent and was deeply appreciated by the instructors.
In 1941, Wang Yanzhou, who had excellent results, was sent to the United States for more systematic training.
In the two years of learning flying skills abroad, Wang Yanzhou learned various flying skills and was able to fly a variety of aircraft, at which time his flying skills had reached a certain height.
Group photo of the Flying Tigers
Just when he graduated, Wang Yanzhou was faced with the choice of where to go after graduation.
The first way is to stay in the United States to teach, and it can be said that if he stays in the United States, his life is the best, not only with a higher salary but also without having to go to war. The second way is to return home.
In this regard, Wang Yanzhou did not hesitate to choose the latter, he believes that when he first learned flying technology in order to drive the Japanese out of China, and now China is still fighting, how can we abandon our original goal and ignore the country?
After returning to China, Wang Yanzhou was assigned to the "Flying Tigers", which was a mixed regiment of the Chinese and American Air Forces founded by Chennault.
Subsequently, Wang Yanzhou was assigned to the eight squadrons of the three major teams, and since then, he has begun his brilliant flying career on the battlefield.
(c) Ace pilots in the air
Although China already had air power at that time, there was still a big gap compared with the Japanese army. Moreover, the Japanese army was also very arrogant about Wang Yanzhou's flying team, often bombing them and pulling out their airfield flags.
For the behavior of the Japanese army, Wang Yanzhou was always waiting for the opportunity, and he thought that one day he would be able to destroy their prestige. Soon, Wang Yanzhou's opportunity came.
Japanese aircraft
On June 2, 1942, Wang Yanzhou flew p-40 fighter jets to prepare to escort the bomber formation to bomb the Zhengzhou Railway Station occupied by the Japanese. When Wang Yanzhou was on his way back from a bombing mission, an accident occurred.
The plane's engine suddenly stopped turning
This made Wang Yanzhou very nervous, but he always maintained his composure, while maintaining the gliding height to look for the landing point, on the other hand checking the various instruments in the cockpit, he found that the left fuel tank was out of oil. After finding the problem, Wang Yanchang changed the fuel tank switch and immediately raised the altitude of the aircraft, preparing to catch up with the departed comrades again.
Wang Yanzhou took a group photo with the fighter plane
Wave after wave of unevenness arose, and just as he returned home, he once again encountered a crisis. At this time, he found a black spot in the left front, which he thought was the aircraft of his comrades, and when he slowly flew in, he found that it was a large Japanese transport aircraft.
Wang Yanzhou thought that at this moment, he finally had the opportunity to show his skills, and he immediately started the plane and was ready to fight at any time. At this time, as the two planes flew closer and closer, the Japanese army also found Wang Yanzhou, but the Japanese plane was only a transport plane and did not have any weapons, so when they found Wang Yanzhou, they turned around and ran.
And Wang Yanzhou had a hard time encountering such an opportunity, how could he easily escape, he immediately pulled the operation box, a big turn flew to the right rear of the transport aircraft, and then, after aiming, six machine guns opened fire together, hitting the enemy's fuel tank with only 18 bullets. For a moment, the enemy's transport plane emitted a puff of smoke, and then it landed quickly, falling heavily to the ground, making a loud noise.
After defeating the plane, Wang Yanzhou returned happily and reported the incident to the leaders of the Air Force. Early the next morning, a Captain America told him the good news.
The plane he shot down yesterday was a plane carrying 7 Japanese officers. Because of this battle, the Sino-AMERICAN Mixed Regiment gave Wang Yingzhou a first-class merit.
Japanese Zero fighter
In the subsequent War of Resistance Against Japan, Wang Yanzhou shot down three More Zero fighters and one Tojo fighter.
Throughout the War of Resistance Against Japan, Wang Yanzhou shot down five Japanese fighters and crossed the Hump Route 8 times.
Although this is only a single number, the risk of fighting in the sky is still very large, and once injured, it will not be a minor injury, so Wang Yanzhou, who can defeat five planes, is already a very powerful pilot.
This hump route, part of the Himalayas, averages four or five thousand meters in height, with a maximum of seven kilometers. During World War II, more than six hundred planes crashed and 1,600 pilots were killed.
Therefore, Wang Yanzhou was able to cross the hump route 8 times, and he was also a highly skilled pilot.
(4) Joining the Communist Party
After the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Wang Yanzhou was transferred to the Ninth Theater Headquarters of the Kuomintang Air Force in Jinan for his outstanding performance in the war.
However, at that time, he was named a battle hero and was also a star in the team, but at this time, Wang Yanzhou was not only unhappy but also very depressed. Because, at this time, Chiang Kai-shek had already pointed his gun at the Communists.
Moreover, in the name of Wang Yanzhou's Kuomintang taking over victorious victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the local government began to embezzle and expropriate all kinds of money from the people.
Military and civilians in the Liberated Areas
However, Wang Yanzhou, who also came from a peasant background, knew the suffering of the people today. So, for his future, he feels very confused, is this really what he wants?
After this, Chiang Kai-shek provoked a civil war, and Wang Yanzhou thought: Now that the War of Resistance Against Japan is over and we have driven the Japanese out of China, how can we now fight our own people? Such an outcome was not what he wanted to see.
Later, by chance, Wang Yanzhou ushered in a turning point in his life.
On the afternoon of April 20, 1946, Wang Yanzhou flew an ambulance from Xuzhou to Jinan, when the weather was very good, and the scenery under the plane could be seen from the window. But at three o'clock, the weather suddenly changed, visibility became extremely low, and Wang Yanzhou relied on his years of flying skills to safely land in a wheat field in Qinghe County, Hebei Province. And this is also the liberated area of our army.
Seeing the unfamiliar environment around him, Wang Yanzhou thought of a rumor circulating in the Kuomintang Air Force:
If a pilot falls into a common area, those who fly transport planes will be beaten with a hundred sticks, and those who fly fighter planes will be skinned alive.
The life of the people in the Liberated Areas
Thinking of this, he was panicked, he did not know how the PLA would treat him. The landing of the plane greeted the soldiers and civilians in the surrounding liberated areas, and at this moment he was ready to die at any time. Unexpectedly, when the militia in the Liberated Areas found him, they arranged for him to go to a family to eat and rest, and after some questioning, the soldiers and civilians learned that he had once shot down a Japanese plane, and later, the Liberated Areas not only did not scold him, but also were very enthusiastic about him, making him a meal and beckoning him to rest.
Here, Wang Yanzhou found that the officials here are honest and honest, the people live happily, although it is not rich here, but the people and things here make him feel very comfortable, and the entire People's Liberation Army exudes great vitality.
After staying here for a few days, Wang Yanzhou liked it here, and his thinking changed dramatically, so he began to have the idea of wanting to stay here.
When Wang Yanzhou's cousin learned that Wang Yanzhou was in the People's Liberation Army, he found Zhou Enlai and begged him to release him. But for this,
Zhou Enlai said that there is no problem of not letting go, and those who leave are farewell and those who stay are welcome.
In his later years, Wang Yanzhou
Subsequently, Wang Yanzhou immediately expressed his willingness to stay. After coming to the Liberated Areas, his superiors arranged for him to serve in units such as the Mudanjiang Aviation School and participated in the training of the first generation of air force pilots in New China.
After the founding of New China, Wang Yanzhou was selected to join the founding ceremony flying formation and became one of the 17 pilots who flew over Tiananmen Square to be inspected by party and state leaders.
This moment was Wang Yanzhou's most excited moment. He was very honored to have the opportunity to be reviewed by leaders of the country such as Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou. This year, Wang Yanzhou was only 29 years old.
At the founding ceremony, the 17 aircraft of the People's Air Force were divided into 6 formations and passed over Tiananmen Square
Later, in 1951, Wang Yanzhou followed the troops to participate in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and in a battle,
With his superior combat ability, he shot down the most advanced F-86 fighter in the United States at that time, and injured one, this time he was awarded the second class.
Since that time, Wang Yanzhou has become a person in history who has not only shot down Japanese aircraft but also shot down American aircraft, in addition to him there is another named Xing Haifan.
After the end of the Korean War, Wang Yanzhou was transferred to the Ninth Division of the Air Force, returned to local work in 1957, and returned to his hometown of Rizhao in the summer of 1961 to become an authentic farmer. Since then, everything in his past has been sealed off for 22 years.
In 2005, Wang Yanzhou was solemnly invited to Zhongnanhai to participate in the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.