United We Stand

Before the full-scale Japanese invasion, the Guangdong Provincial Air Arm (廣東空軍) was amalgamated into the central government air strength in 1936, thus increasing the size of the CAF (Chinese Nationalist Air Force, or Republic of China Air Force) to a large extent. Trapped in the provincial warlord-Generalissimo struggling, the GPAA crewmen chose “Together, stronger” to fight the imminent Great Resistance War. Under partisanship, fliping side gained no benefit from their considerable skills, and these idealists didn't know how it's going to turn out.

However, June 30 first 4 O-2MC light bombers (5th sqn) and 3 Boeing 281 pursuers (2nd sqn) defected to Nanchang airfield to join the CAF. On July 18, 74 in IOC status among some 150 GPAA aircraft collectively swooped off the airstrip and headed for Nanchang via Qujiang and Shaoguan airfields. Eventually the 1st to 9th squadrons (6 from Guangdong and 3 from Guangxi) were reformed as the CAF 16th, 17th, 18th , 19th , 20th , 28th , 29th , 30th , and 31st Squadrons, respectively. In aeronautical equipment the CAF reflected foreign influences of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United States, and later the USSR.

Outfitted with mixed roster of international aircraft, "Prepared for all things" was the CAF force-fed mandate. With this extraordinary survivability, by the time all its groups were completely re-equipped with the U.S. front-line models, the conversion trainings for both operational and maintenance veterans were efficiently achieved.

Hope my image-enhanced drawings bring to life some less well-known CAF antique pursuit planes, including Boeing Model-281 (export version of P-26A), Nakajima Type 91, Fiat C.R.32, Gloster Gladiator Mk.1, and Vultee P-66 Vanguard - that no camera could have captured, very few living people could have witnessed.

The Dawn of Indigenous Aircraft Production

150 Northrop Gamma-2E single-engine light bombers were ordered by China in 1934, the first batch of them arrived in Shanghai in February of this year, including the various versions of 2 2Es, 7 3ECs, and 15 2EDs. In 1935 25 more kits were received by the Chinese Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company (中央飛機製造廠). Initially laid out at Jianqao, the China-US joint-adventure CAMCO was founded by an agent of Curtiss-Wright in China, William D. Pauley. After 5 years operation with the loan paid off, China would be the full-owner of CAMCO per contract. Most Gamma-2ECs in service with the 1st and 2nd Bombardment Groups were assembled here.

For graduating training the Chinese workers, these 25 kits were evenly divided into 5 batches. The final assembly training was done on the first 5 aircraft, which were directly built from fuselage, empennage, wings, and landing gears sub-assemblies. On the next 5 machines the workers learned from components to sub-assemblies fabrication. The 3rd batch was a shop practice for manufacturing process for basic components and parts, including welding and riveting, followed by the 4th batch which familiarizing parts machining and heat treatment. On the last 5 units, the workers performed the overall procedure from parts acquisition to final assembly.

Outside of the primary endeavor CAMCO, there was a secondary effort on indigenous aviation growth. Around 1932 an Italian contingent, under Gen. Roberto Lordi arrived in China to assist aircrew training and aircraft production. In 1935-37, the CAF Nanchang Aviation School in Jiangxi Province was run under the sponsorship of Italian. Beside the assistance in training, a Fiat-subsidized aircraft assembly plant began production at Nanchang in 1936. Instead of the original planed 6 Savoia-Marchetti S.M.81B bombers, only half were completed due to Benito Mussolini cut the official ties with China.

Military historians and enthusiasts will find the informative captions in my drawings useful for reference purposes: Chinese copies of Douglas O-2MC, Northrop Gamma-2EC, Polikarpove I-16-UTI(忠-28甲), I-15bis(忠-28乙), and Boeing/Stearman PT-17.

Curtiss Hawks in the Chinese Great Resistance War

Japanese had held the Chinese in low esteem ever since the 1st Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95. Among the few Chinese respected by the Japanese, military theorist Jang Bai-Li (蔣百里 1882-1938) was one of them. It was General Jang originated the strategic directorial, which eventually defeated the overpowering enemy in the 2nd Sino-Japanese War. In October 1936, this strategy was formalized in the Luoyang Conference in two folds, 1) Switching the expected Japanese invading spearhead from southbound to westbound, at Shanghai, 2) Protracting the war to deplete Japan, at all cost.

As the Chinese strategists had foreseen, their tactics of delay ensnared the invaders in a prolonged and costly battle of attrition on Shanghai. Ever since the Japanese front was diverted into inland, facing huge obstacles and a nearly insuperable supply shortage. Under this steep strategy, even the capital was replaceable if necessary, but the Chinese would not give up Nanking without a good fight.

Though the Chinese efforts to defense Nanking were fragmented and under-resourced, but both their army and air force inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese infantry and unescorted bombers. Before the improved Japanese fighters swept Chinese mixed air flotilla from the skies, the CAF committed the bulk of its Curtiss Hawk II and Hawk III squadrons into stiff resistance:

Do-or-Die of the Chinese Polikarpov

Thought the Japanese tactical sturdiness was admirable, but the question marks in their warfare strategy were many. In retrospect, their fanatic narrow-mindedness untreatably prevented a wise policy-making. Known as the Demon of Manchuria, in his 1950s’ memoir Violence of Showa, the class-A war criminal and Prime Minister Kishi Nobusuke pointed out Imperial Japan never had a greater strategic objective in the Sino-Japanese War. It was the Chinese always held the initiative, and the IJA was totally in passive status.

In 1937-38 China desperately needed Wu-Han as her only transit port for urgent evacuating the industrial equipments from coastal area to inland, and achieved this strategic goal by tieing down 370,000 IJA troops in the Battle of Shanghai. Over 90 poorly supplied Chinese divisions were sacrificed in Shanghai, but it sidetracked the enemy spearhead to a disguised dead end. During these valuable 13 months, numerous factories and personnel moved into the home front Sichuan via Wu-Han, for the future counter-offensive. When the invader approached Wu-Han in late 1938, the tri-cities was defended by still light equipped Chinese army, but supported by the regrouped and rearmed Polikarpov fighter squadrons.

Polikarpov were the most numerous fighters in China prior to Pearl Harbor and open American intervention. Since Stalin was anxious to help China to divert Japanese attention away from Siberia, two trade agreements were signed between China and Russia. China agreed to exchange strategic minerals and raw material for Soviet combat planes, artillery and tanks, valued at 50 million dollars. Soon the Soviet equipment poured into China after the Japanese attacks since 1937, three years before the Flying Tigers arrived in China.

This mini series graphically charts Polikarpov I-15bis "Chato", I-15ter "Chika", I-16 Type 10, and Type 17 sub-versions: