Hangzhou August 15th 1937

August 15^th 1937 Hangzhou:

Col Kao Chi-Hang, Group Leader of 4^th Pursuit Group, had just taken over Hawk IIIc IV-1 and was soon airbourne with his wing man Lt Tan Won. They were after a flight of Japanese G3M2 bombers heading for Jianqiao Airfield north east of Hangzhou.

They spotted a lone G3M2 and headed off to intercept it.

Signalling his wingman to bank left, Kao banked right. They would divide the fire of the bomber.

The bomber crew had not spotted either Hawk and continued directly towards their target. Both Kao and Tan closed in and from above engaged the bomber.

The bomber took some damage but Tan took the brunt of the return fire as both upper turrets each engaged one of the Hawks. Passing by the bomber the turrets swung round and fired a burst at each Hawk.

Both Hawks reversed and sped after the slow bomber. The bomber banked right throwing off Kao’s Hawk by the turn.

Lt Tan Won pressed home the attack from above, whilst Kao turned to close.

Lt Tan Won again pressed home the advantage; neither turret was in range...yet.

Banking left the bomber caught Lt Tan Won, still closing, in his trap which allowed both turrets to engage. Kao was closing fast.

The bomber continued its turn to the left but both Hawks were now in range.

The stricken bomber plunged into the banks of the Qiantang River the crew having no chance to bail out.

Lt Tan Won just made it back to Jianqiao Airfield in his badly damaged Hawk (10 damage), Col Kao Chi-Hang landed shortly after with slightly less damage (3 damage).

What actually happened:

On 14 August 1937, the IJNAF Kanoya Kokutai dispatched nine Mitsubishi G3M1 Model 11 long-range bombers under the command of Lieutenant Commander Nitta to attack the Schien Chiao Airfield near Hangchou and nine under the command of Lieutenant Commander Asano to attack the Kwang-teh Airfield. The Japanese planes took off from Matsuyama Airfield in Taipei at 14:50 (local Japanese time), each carrying two 250kg bombs.

The raid was soon spotted by the Chinese and the Chinese intelligence reported that a number of Japanese bombers had taken-off from an airfield Taiwan, crossed the Formosa Strait and were heading north over Chekiang in the direction of Hangchou. At this time, Hangchou was only defended by a handful of Hawk IIIs flown by instructors from the Central Chinese Aviation Academy since reinforcements from Chou Chia-Kou hadn't been able to fly in due to bad weather. Colonel Kao had previously flown from Nanchang to Schien Chiao to await the 4th PG's Hawk III's, which were flying in from Chou Chia-Kou in the Honan Province and which was under his command. The three squadrons of the 4th PG encountered heavy weather en route, with heavy rain and low visibility. 

However barely had the warning been received when a number of Hawk IIIs from the 21st and 23rd Squadrons of the 4th PG landed. The newly arrived fighters were hurriedly re-fuelled but this was far from complete when the air alarm started due to the arrival of Lieutenant Commander Nitta's bombers. Colonel Kao rushed to his aircraft no. IV-1, which had just been landed by Captain Mao Ying-Chu. Ordering Mao to go get another aircraft, Kao jumped into IV-1 and, without waiting to be refueled, took off immediately. He joined up with Lieutenant Tan Won who had just spotted Nitta's flight (No.1 Shotai) of 3 G3Ms.

The Japanese came in at the low "attack" altitude of 500m, which made it easier for the Chinese to intercept them right after the take-off. The Japanese dropped their bombs on the airfield doing little damage. Tan opened fire on the No.3 G3M in Nitta's Shotai. However, the much more experienced Kao noted that Tan had opened fire from out of effective range. Kao then bore in himself and closed in also on the No.3 Japanese aircraft. He first silenced the two Japanese gunners and then closed in to 20m(!) firing steadily at the left engine. The wing tanks on the left wing caught fire and the G3M crashed burning near the town of Ban Shan near the airfield.

Kao then spotted the 3rd Shotai and attacked the No. 2 aircraft between Schien Chiao and Chien Tang River. Again, Kao bore in to close range firing at the fuselage and the left wing on the G3M, putting the left engine out of action. Kao’s engine was then hit by return fire forcing him to return to Schien Chiao.