At the very moment when the outlines of the island flashed through the breaks of the clouds, 28 heavy-loaded SB bomber with the Chinese Air Force insignia muffled the engines and simultaneously went down. Ahead, on the course, a panorama of Taipei opened, and three kilometers to the north - the peacefully sleeping Matsuyama airfield.
Japanese air base on about. Formosa (Taiwan) served as the main transport hub and rear base of the Imperial Air Force fighting in China. The Matsuyama airbase, located far behind the front line, was considered invulnerable to Chinese aviation: reinforcements arrived here and new squadrons of samurai were manned here. Aircraft were delivered directly by sea. New aircraft arrived in boxes, which were carefully unloaded ashore and delivered to the hangars of the airbase; there they were finally assembled and flown around before sending the machines into the interior of mainland China. Large stocks of spare parts, ammunition and aviation fuel were concentrated at the airbase (according to some reports, a three-year supply of fuels and lubricants intended for military operations in China).
… And a group of Chinese bombers was already heading for a combat course. The territory of a huge air base was growing before the pilots' eyes - red circles were already visible on the wings of aircraft standing in two rows. Chinese pilot Fyn Po looked around and noted with satisfaction that not a single enemy fighter had ever taken off. The anti-aircraft guns were silent: the Japanese clearly did not expect a raid and took them for their own. The plane swayed slightly. The pilots watched the dropped bombs and saw how fountains of explosions burst out in the middle of the parking lot. "Well done, Fedoruk hit," flashed through my head when Fyn Po drove away the car with a descent towards the sea. And the following groups, led by Yakov Prokofiev and Vasily Klevtsov, entered the target. The Japanese airbase was hiding behind a thick blanket of smoke, anti-aircraft guns crackled in impotent rage, trying to reach the planes leaving for the North. Not a single Japanese fighter managed to rise to intercept - on that day, February 23, 1938, General Fyn Po and his loyal comrades completely burned the largest Japanese airbase Matsuyama.
View of modern Songshan Airport from Taipei 101 skyscraper.
This place was bombed by our pilots in 1938.
The raid had deafening consequences: Chinese Air Force planes operated by Soviet pilots dropped 280 high-explosive and incendiary bombs on the airfield. More than 40 prepared aircraft, many sets of aircraft and most of the airfield property were destroyed on the ground. The governor of the Japanese province of Taihoku (Taiwan) was removed from his post. The commandant of the airfield, like an honest samurai, made himself a seppuku. Panic began in Tokyo - it was decided that Chiang Kai-shek had strategic and naval aviation, which could affect Japanese plans and affect the outcome of the war.
SB bombers, having made an unprecedented in history 7-hour air raid at a distance of over 1000 km, without fighter cover, successfully refueled at the secret jump airfield and returned to Hankow by evening without a single loss. To ensure the maximum range, the entire flight took place in the most economical mode, in thin air - at an altitude of more than 5000 meters. Without oxygen masks, in complete radio silence - with the full strain of human forces and the capabilities of technology.
Upon arrival, General Fyn Po (Captain Fyodor Polynin) reported to the Air Force command on the successful completion of the raid. Soon, the Chinese comrades organized a chifan (banquet) in honor of the Soviet pilots, which was attended by the top leadership of the Kuomintang.
“As the leader of the group, Sun Mei-ling (Chiang Kai-shek's wife) seated me next to me. She proclaimed the first toast to the Soviet volunteer aviators, to the successful raid of our bombers on the largest enemy air base. In the midst of the chifan, waiters dressed in black tailcoats brought in a huge cake. It was written in Russian with colored cream: “In honor of the Red Army. To the volunteer pilots”.
- From the memoirs of F. Polynin.
If for the leadership of China the authorship of the feat was obvious, then the rest of the world was tormented by doubts. The Japanese, rightly believing that Soviet pilots were at the controls of the bombers, sent a note of protest to Moscow through their ambassador, Segimitsu, but were sent to their islands. The Soviet Union never advertised the amount of military aid to China and kept the names of the volunteer heroes a secret.
But the award did not remain a draw for long - a day later she found her "hero". All the laurels of glory for the daring raid on Taiwan were appropriated by the American Vincent Schmidt. An experienced pilot with 20 years of experience, a hero of the First World War and the Spanish Civil War, he arrived in China at the head of an international group of volunteers and now willingly gave interviews about how he and his guys defeated the Japanese base. The deception was revealed pretty soon - confirmation came from Japan that the strike was carried out by Soviet-made bombers, such as SB, and the American volunteers had absolutely nothing to do with it. Instead of trying to make amends for the unpleasant embarrassment, attributing it to translation difficulties and lack of knowledge of the Chinese language, Vincent Schmidt demanded an apology for slander from the Chinese leadership, and then resigned and left for Hong Kong. The 14th Squadron of the Chinese Air Force, consisting of international volunteers, was soon disbanded due to its complete uselessness, and the Americans were sent home.
As the Chinese bombers raced across the China Sea on Wednesday on their first daring raid on Japanese soil, they were led by the fearless veteran of many wars, Commander Vincent Schmidt, head of the international volunteer squadron. Commander Schmidt is an American. Together with him, in the raid on Taihoku, in which 40 Japanese aircraft at their airfield, a radio station and other airfield equipment were destroyed, there were an unknown number of foreign and Chinese aviators, including Russians.
- The Hong Kong Telegraph, February 25, 1938.
Forgotten victories of Russian weapons
The participation of Soviet military specialists in hostilities on the territory of China in the period 1937-41. still remains a taboo page in the history of our country. Unlike the PRC, where they remember well all the events that took place at that time and honor the memory of Russian volunteer pilots who fought in the skies of China. The Chinese have erected several memorials in memory of the exploits of the Red Army pilots. The military history museum of the city of Nanchang, where the Soviet bombers were based, has a special exposition dedicated to the raid on Formosa.
In the period 1937-41. The Soviet Union handed over to China 1,185 combat aircraft (777 fighters, 408 bombers), as well as 100 training biplanes. Dozens of tanks and 1,600 artillery systems were delivered. 5 thousand Soviet citizens - military advisers, engineers, technicians, volunteer pilots - paid a business visit to China on a business trip. F. Polynin himself later recalled that when he signed up as a volunteer, he assumed that they would be sent to Spain, but instead of the hot sky in southern Europe, the pilots fell into a bloody mess in Asia. According to official figures, 227 Soviet pilots laid down their heads in defense of the freedom of the Chinese people.
Fyodor Petrovich Polynin
The daring raid on February 23, 1938 is just one of the high-profile operations carried out by Soviet pilots in the skies of China. Other feats include the May 20, 1938 "raid" on the sacred land of Japan. Operating from an airfield in Nanjing, Soviet TB-3s swept over the island of Kyushu like a whirlwind, dropping dozens of boxes with anti-war leaflets. The operation caused shock among the Japanese command. The response was a Japanese military provocation, which escalated into a massacre at Lake Hasan - there the opponents fought with open visors, not hiding their titles and names.
In March 1938, the pilot Fyn Po distinguished himself again - again a combat sortie to a maximum range of 1000 km, with refueling in Suzhi. This time the bridge over the river was destroyed. Yellow River.
April 1938 Soviet and Chinese fighters engaged a large group of enemy aircraft over Wuhan. The Japanese lost 11 fighters and 10 bombers. On that day, there were losses on our side as well - 12 aircraft did not return to their airfield.
And how not to recall the devastating bombing of the Hankou airfield that happened on October 3, 1939! A group of 12 DB-3s under the command of military aircraft Kulishenko broke through to the target deep behind enemy lines, flying at an altitude of 8700 meters, in complete radio silence - and rained down a hail of bombs from a height on a cluster of Japanese aircraft. The place known as the "W base" has ceased to exist. According to Chinese intelligence, as a result of the surprise airstrike, 64 Japanese aircraft were destroyed, 130 people were killed, and the base's gas storage was on fire for more than three hours. Japanese data on losses look more modest - 50 aircraft burned down, seven high-ranking officers were among the dead, and the commander of the Japanese aviation, Admiral Tsukuhara, was wounded. Such a large damage from the relatively small number of aircraft in the strike group is explained by the successful time of the raid - at that hour the formation and the ceremony of receiving new aircraft were going on at the airfield.
Suddenly the silence was broken by loud screams from the flight control tower. And all of a sudden, without any warning, a terrible crash shook the air. The ground began to bounce and shake, the shock wave hitting his ears painfully. Someone screamed, although it was no longer required: "Air raid!"
… The roar of exploding bombs merged into one continuous rumble. A cloud of smoke rose over the airfield, I heard the whistle of fragments flying in different directions. Soon the storage of machine-gun belts with a terrible roar flew into the air in a cloud of smoke and fire. Then a series of bombs fell across the airfield. The explosions hit our ears painfully and covered us with earth …
And then I completely lost my head. I jumped to my feet and ran again. This time I rushed to the runway, now and then cautiously looking up at the sky. Overhead, I saw 12 bombers in clear formation, circling in a wide circle at least 20,000 feet. These were Russian SB twin-engined bombers, the main bombers of the Chinese Air Force. It would be pointless to deny the lethal effectiveness of their surprise attack. We were taken by surprise. Not a single person suspected anything until the bombs whistled down. When I examined the airfield, I was very shocked. Tall pillars of flame rose as fuel tanks exploded, and huge clouds of smoke flew into the air. Those planes that had not yet burned were riddled with many fragments, gasoline was gushing from the punctured tanks. The fire was thrown from plane to plane, greedily devouring gasoline. Bombers exploded like firecrackers, fighters burned like boxes of matches.
I ran around the burning planes like I was crazy, desperately trying to find at least one complete fighter. By some miracle, several Claudes, standing separately, escaped destruction. I jumped into the cockpit, started the engine and, without waiting for it to warm up, took the fighter along the track.
- Memories of the Japanese ace Saburo Sakai from the book "Samurai"!
(The veteran is mistaken, his airfield was bombed by DB-3. Sakai was the only one who managed to take off, but the Japanese failed to catch up with the Soviet planes).
The legend of the sinking of the aircraft carrier Yamato-maru on the Yangtze River stands apart - unlike reliable evidence of the bombing of Japanese airfields, the story of the aircraft carrier still raises many questions. In the names of Japanese warships, the prefix "… -maru" was never found. At the same time, this does not exclude the fact that the "aircraft carrier" was an alteration based on a civilian steamer and hung on the balance of the Air Force - there is evidence of the use of such "mobile airfields" on the major rivers of China, where there was no developed network of ground air bases. If all the cards fit properly, Soviet pilots could be the first to sink an aircraft carrier (even if it is as small and slow-moving as the Yamato-maru).
The story of the raid on Taiwan should be saved until Defender of the Fatherland Day, but I can't wait to tell you about it today. Indeed, what our military pilots were doing in China was very cool. Such victories are worth knowing, remembering the names of the heroes and being proud of them.
Obelisk to Soviet pilots in Wuhan
China's sensational raid on Formosa
Hankou, today
In contrast to Japanese reports of yesterday's Chinese aircraft raid on Formosa, Hankou claims the destruction of at least 40 Japanese aircraft at Taihoku airfield on the northern tip of the island.
A Chinese Air Force spokesman told reporters last night that the planes were in line on the airfield and the attack was so sudden that the Japanese were unable to take them into cover.
The Chinese message also announced the destruction of three hangars and a supply of gasoline.
The Chinese statement does not mention the number of aircraft participating in the raid and the location from where they took off.
The China Mail (Hong Kong), note dated February 24, 1938
High-speed front-line bomber SB with Kuomintang stars
