The Dawn of China’s Aviation Heroes

In the turbulent years leading up to World War II, a remarkable group of young men emerged as China’s first generation of combat aviators. These pilots, trained at the Jianqiao Central Aviation School near Hangzhou, would become legendary figures in China’s resistance against Japanese aggression. Among them stood Gao Zhihang, a name that would become synonymous with courage, skill, and sacrifice in the annals of Chinese military history.

The story of China’s early aviation forces is one of determination against overwhelming odds. In the 1930s, while Japan boasted one of Asia’s most advanced air forces with over 2,100 aircraft, China struggled to maintain a fleet of about 300 planes, most purchased from foreign nations. The Jianqiao school, often compared to the prestigious Whampoa Military Academy, became the cradle of China’s aerial defenders, producing pilots who would write some of the most heroic chapters in the nation’s modern history.

The Fateful Day: August 14, 1937

The stage was set for an epic confrontation on August 14, 1937, just one day after the outbreak of the Battle of Shanghai. Eighteen Mitsubishi G3M “Nell” bombers from Japan’s Kanoya Air Group took off from Taipei, each carrying two 250-kilogram bombs. Their mission: retaliate against Chinese airfields following China’s surprising aerial attack on Japanese positions in Shanghai earlier that day.

Japanese commanders, particularly Vice Admiral Kiyoshi Hasegawa of the Third Fleet, had grossly underestimated Chinese air capabilities. Their target was Jianqiao Airfield, home to China’s premier aviation training center. As nine bombers approached the airfield that rainy afternoon, they expected easy prey – Chinese aircraft reportedly low on fuel after transferring from Zhoukou in Henan province.

What followed shocked both sides. Chinese pilots, alerted to the incoming threat, scrambled their American-made Curtiss Hawk III biplanes with remarkable speed. In the ensuing thirty-minute dogfight, the supposedly inferior Chinese force achieved what seemed impossible – shooting down three Japanese bombers (initially reported as six) without losing a single aircraft of their own. The news electrified the nation, with Hangzhou newspapers rushing out special editions proclaiming the end of Japanese aerial invincibility.

The Making of a Legend: Gao Zhihang’s Journey

At the center of this historic victory stood Gao Zhihang, the pilot credited with downing the first Japanese bomber that day. Born Gao Mingjiu in 1907 in Tonghua County, Jilin province, his path to aviation glory was anything but straightforward. The young man from China’s northeast demonstrated extraordinary determination when, at just 15 years old, he wrote a letter in French to warlord Zhang Xueliang pleading for inclusion in a group of students being sent to France for flight training. His persistence paid off, and he returned in 1927 as one of China’s most skilled pilots.

Gao’s career nearly ended before it truly began when a flying accident left him with a badly broken leg. Displaying the same iron will that would characterize his combat career, Gao insisted on having the improperly set bone re-broken and reset without anesthesia to avoid nerve damage. The procedure left him with one leg slightly shorter than the other, earning him the nickname “Gao the Lame.”

The Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 profoundly affected Gao. Unlike many Northeastern Army officers who retreated south, Gao actively sought combat roles against the Japanese. Despite facing discrimination due to his Northeastern origins, his exceptional skills eventually won him recognition. By 1936, his dazzling aerobatic displays during celebrations for Chiang Kai-shek’s 50th birthday had made him a national celebrity.

The Battle of Shanghai and Its Aftermath

The August 14 victory marked just the beginning of an intense aerial campaign during the Battle of Shanghai. The following day, Japanese forces launched 45 aircraft from the carrier Kaga in a determined counterattack. Gao, now leading the 4th Pursuit Group, shot down two more enemy planes, with Chinese forces claiming a total of 17 Japanese aircraft destroyed that day. By August 16, the tally reached 25 Japanese planes lost.

These stunning losses devastated elite Japanese units like the Kanoya and Kisarazu Air Groups, which lost about half their new G3M bombers. The humiliation proved too much for Kisarazu commander Colonel Ishii Yoshio, who committed seppuku. For a brief, glorious moment, Chinese pilots had turned the tables on their technologically superior adversaries.

The Harsh Reality of Aerial Warfare

The early successes, while morale-boosting, couldn’t mask the fundamental imbalance between Chinese and Japanese air power. Japan’s 91 air squadrons and domestic aircraft production capability stood in stark contrast to China’s limited, entirely imported fleet that diminished with each sortie. Chinese pilots often faced odds of 10-to-1 or worse, knowing each flight might be their last.

Gao Zhihang embodied this desperate courage. On November 28, 1937, while preparing to fly newly arrived Soviet aircraft from Zhoukou Airfield in Henan, Japanese bombers struck. Despite two failed engine starts and bombs already falling around him, Gao refused to take cover, declaring, “How can a Chinese airman let enemy planes fly overhead?” His third attempt to take off ended in tragedy as bombs destroyed his plane, killing the 30-year-old ace with his hands still gripping the controls.

The Brotherhood of Sacrifice

Gao represented just one of many young aviators who gave their lives during China’s darkest hour. The “Four Flying Aces” of the Chinese Air Force – Gao Zhihang, Liu Cuigang, Li Guidan, and Le Yiqin – all perished within the war’s first year. Their stories read like a roll call of valor:

– Le Yiqin, the “Aerial Zhao Zilong,” died at 23 during the defense of Nanjing, his parachute failing after engaging dozens of enemy planes with just one wingman.
– Li Guidan, who scored the second kill on August 14, fell at 24 during the defense of Wuhan after downing three Japanese planes.
– Liu Cuigang, with 11 kills to his name, died at 24 attempting a night landing to save his precious aircraft.

Other names shine equally bright in this firmament of heroes. Shen Chonghai and Chen Xichun, ages 26 and 22, chose to crash their burning plane into the Japanese flagship Izumo rather than bail out. Chen Huaimin, 22, deliberately collided with Japanese ace Takahashi Ken’ichi during the “429 Air Battle” over Wuhan.

The Enduring Legacy

Perhaps no story encapsulates the spirit of these aviators better than that of Yan Haiwen. On August 16, 1937, the 21-year-old pilot found himself surrounded by Japanese troops after parachuting into enemy territory. With only a pistol, he killed five soldiers before turning the gun on himself, shouting, “The Chinese Air Force has no prisoners!” Japanese reporters covering the incident were so moved they erected a marker reading “Tomb of the Brave Chinese Airman” and wrote, “China is no longer the China of old.”

These pilots, mostly in their early twenties from privileged backgrounds, consciously traded comfortable futures for near-certain death. Their letters home reveal profound awareness of their fate. As Liu Cuigang wrote to his wife: “If I sacrifice myself for the country, I will have fulfilled my duty! Because living in China today, we cannot steal even a moment of life!”

By 1938, China’s first generation of elite pilots had been virtually wiped out. Yet their sacrifice laid the foundation for eventual victory. Statistics show Chinese forces destroyed 568 Japanese aircraft in flight and 599 on the ground during the war, at a cost of over 14,000 airmen and 1,813 planes.

The story of Gao Zhihang and his comrades transcends military history. It represents the indomitable spirit of a nation refusing to submit, even when outgunned and outnumbered. Their legacy lives on as a testament to courage in the face of impossible odds, reminding us that technological superiority alone cannot conquer determined defenders of their homeland.