The hero we want to talk about today is not good, he is the anti-Japanese hero Chen Shengxin, let's start with the hero's hometown!
Speaking of Lianjiang Pukou, here by the mountains and the sea, Zhong Ling Yu xiu, humanities gathered, according to legend, during the Song Dynasty, a court minister passed by Pukou, accidentally found that the terrain of Pukou actually appeared pumpkin cave-like, which is the emperor's cave. After Emperor Gaozong of Song received the news, he was horrified and immediately issued a decree ordering Xiangshi to destroy it immediately. Xiang Shi did not stop and rushed to pukou to break the hole. Looking down from Yunju Mountain, Pukou was indeed like a pumpkin, and the thirty-six hills around it were like green leaves on the vines, and it was once again certain that the pumpkin cave was the Dragon Vein of Tianzi. Xiang Shi hurriedly passed on the holy decree that within five days of the county, a kiln would be built on each mountain, so that the green leaves could be burned and the melon could not be formed. The dragon vein is broken, and it is impossible to produce an emperor to save the Zhao Dynasty. As a result, the thirty-six kilns towered in the large and small mountains of Pukou, so Pukou was also known as the Song kiln. In this land, there is also a generation of famous generals chen di who are famous for resisting the Wu Dynasty, and Chen Shengxin was born in such a magical place.
Chen Shengxin's ancestors were diligent in farming for generations, and their grandfather's family gradually prospered. Sheng Xin was intelligent and studious, and entered a private school to study. In 1928, he went to Fuzhou Sanmin School to attend junior high school, and in 1931, he transferred to Fuzhou Middle School (now Fuyi Middle School). Sheng Xin is tall, has a bold temperament, and is both good at character and learning.
After the "918" incident, Chen Shengxin, as the head of the school's anti-Japanese propaganda team, often went deep into the rural streets of Dongmen, Guling, and Hengyu to publicize the anti-Japanese resistance. He also often published poems in local newspapers and periodicals to express patriotic feelings, and also participated in various sports competitions, exercised his body, learned knowledge, and was prepared to serve the country from the military.
In 1933, Chen Shengxin was admitted to the Jianqiao Central Aviation School, this school is not good, this school was on a par with the Whampoa Military Academy at that time, the first principal Chiang Kai-shek, in fact, the first phase of this school is the original Whampoa Military Academy Phase VI Aviation Department, this is a rich second-generation school in China, they are the richest officials and eunuchs of the Republic of China, some are from top schools, some are returned overseas Chinese, some were born of famous families, the Republic of China's talented female Lin Hui because everyone knows it! Her third brother, Lin Heng, was a student of the tenth term of the school, as well as Mao Bangchu, a distant relative of Chiang Kai-shek, the son of Yu Dawei, the "father of military engineering" in China, and Zhang Boling, the president of Nankai University. But they voluntarily became human shells, they are the first generation of fighter pilots in Chinese history, the real proud sons of heaven, during the War of Resistance, most of them were martyred, the average age is only 23 years old, this is the real rich second generation.
Not all "rich and handsome" have the opportunity to enter this school, and it should be known that many of the students who applied for the aviation school came out of Yanjing, Tsinghua, St. John's and other famous schools, and their cultural quality and character quality were very high. They are full of patriotic enthusiasm and are always ready to die for the country. However, there are very few students who can be selected, according to the records at the time, the first, second, third and fourth stages of the test takers reached more than 10,000 people, after the physical and cultural examination screening, only 400 people passed, accounting for 4% of the total test takers. You think that 4% can become pilots, wrong, flight cadets in flight training has a high elimination rate, they have a daily half-day flight training, half-day theoretical study, learn theoretical courses are: flight principles (including aerodynamics and flight principles), aircraft engines, aircraft construction, navigation, air force tactics, radio communications, English, sports and engine science factory internships. In the end, a third of the trainees were eliminated and could not become pilots, so those who could really become pilots were very top-notch!
Achieved the ambition of being an aviation soldier. He once said to his classmates: "The reason why the great powers dare to bully the mainland is only by virtue of their advantages in sea and air, so I applied for the air school and expected to kill the enemy in the air." On the day he will go to Zhejiang, he bid farewell to his classmates and give Shiyun: "Shusheng repays the country and hates no way, and now fortunately Hagi repays the self-conscious light, I expect to kill the enemy and swallow the three islands, and the deep hatred will never be forgotten." And inscribed on the "Classmates' Record": "... Asked when to shake hands again, to stay until the yellow dragon Hu'er left. During her time at the Air Force School, Chen Shengxin braved hardships, studied diligently and practiced diligently, and achieved excellent results. In June 1935, after graduating from the fourth phase of the Expulsion Section of the Air Force School, he stayed on as a probationary officer. On December 1 of the same year, he was appointed second lieutenant pilot and incorporated into the Fourth Group, the best of the nine brigades in the Air Force at the time, flying a new American-made Hawker twin-engine fighter.
At that time, it was the most accomplished brigade in the history of the Chinese Air Force, the strongest unit in the Chinese Air Force, Gao Zhihang, who was the captain of the Fourth Brigade, and even Mussolini praised such an excellent pilot as Gao Zhihang, and in the whole of Europe, only one or two could be found, which shows how excellent the pilots of the Fourth Brigade are.
On August 14, 1937, Chinese Air Force pilot Chen Shengxin and his comrades-in-arms flew a fierce air battle with 9 Japanese bombers in Hangzhou City, and our army shot down 6 enemy planes. The next morning, the Japanese Air Force's Kisaratsu Brigade was not willing to be defeated, and 10 Japanese planes once again invaded our airspace in Hangzhou, and the Fourth Brigade attacked with a squadron of aircraft and intercepted the enemy planes over the Qiantang River. The enemy plane tried to break into the air over the Jian Bridge in the shape of a glyph, and our plane immediately struck at the enemy plane. Chen Shengxin, determined to be invincible and regard death as a homecoming, bravely took the lead, first controlled the dead end of the enemy plane, and used heavy machine guns to strafe at the enemy plane. Within minutes, he shot down two enemy planes alone, and Dong Mingde shot down one enemy plane. At that time, Chinese and foreign newspapers reported one after another, calling Chen Shengxin a "hero of air combat" and a "hero of the anti-Japanese war". The myth of the "invincibility" of the Japanese "air force ace" Kisarazu Brigade was shattered.
A few days ago, I visited the former residence of Chen Shengxin, located at No. 146 Puxi Road, Pukou Town, Lianjiang County, built by his grandfather in 1900. The former residence sits south and faces north, from the main entrance courtyard wall to the backyard 26 meters deep and 29 meters wide. It covers an area of 770 square meters. The gate courtyard and the gate gate square are Qing Dynasty arched buildings, and the gate square is painted with clay sculptures of double lions playing balls, and the gold paint on the blue background is still faintly visible. On both sides of the door was a small garden, which is no longer visible. At that time, there was also a large longan tree growing in this garden, and the young Chen Shengxin often read books and read poems under the tree. The entrance is a patio, paved with two feet wide and one foot long strip of stone, neat and orderly, flat and beautiful. Left and right draped and there is a ring gallery, the main seat of eight fans and seven rooms, the middle of the main hall, carved beams and paintings, engraved with landscape flowers and birds pattern, very beautiful. The left and right compartments are divided into eight rooms, the fir door leaf, partition fan, window ledge are exquisitely carved with flowers, birds, insects and fish, and in the middle of the lobby hangs a plaque with Chiang Kai-shek's handwritten "Heroic and Commendable" in four big characters.
Today's old mansion is no longer the style of the past, and the young man who met in the courtyard did not know what a hero the owner of this house was! Even the elderly in their 60s around me do not know our national heroes, and I am deeply saddened.
Through the smoke and clouds of history, the indomitable years of bloody struggle and survival of the dead are still shocking, but the scenes of that year suddenly appear in the mind:
After the fame of World War I, the brilliant achievements of our great hero Chen Shengxin continued, and on August 25, 1935, Chen Shengxin and 24 comrades-in-arms were ordered to fly a plane to attack the Japanese artillery positions in Dachang, Shanghai, and the Japanese troops who landed at Chuanshakou. The enemy planes resisted desperately, but we still shot down 6 of them. In the fierce battle, Chen Shengxin fought hard, the plane was shot more than 10 times, the left foot was pierced by bullets, and still endured the pain of flying to the designated place to land. In the subsequent Battle of Hankou, he led his troops to fight bravely and repeatedly annihilated the enemy who attacked. In September 1938, Chen Shengxin was promoted to vice captain of the 21st Detachment for his outstanding military achievements. In March 1939, he was ordered to lead the aircraft to defend Wuhan, fought fiercely with 38 enemy planes in the air, and after shooting down 12 enemy planes, Chen Shengxin was seriously injured and hospitalized, and returned to the team in November, and was promoted to the captain of the 21st detachment. On December 30, he led the plane to participate in the Battle of Liuzhou Air Conference, and with the brilliant result of shooting down 8 Japanese aircraft without any casualties on our side, he created an unprecedented victory in the history of Sino-Japanese air combat, which made the Japanese Air Force frustrated.
Because Chen Shengxin had good command and fought bravely, the whole team was transferred to the mountain city of Chongqing to be responsible for defending the air defense of the capital during the war. On April 29, 1940, the Japanese long festival was held, and Chen Shengxin predicted that the Japanese plane would sneak into Chongqing on this day, and led the team to wait in a strict position and calmly respond to the battle. In the next three months of air combat, a total of 31 enemy aircraft were shot down, writing a glorious page in the history of the continental air force. On September 13, 40 Japanese aircraft invaded Chongqing, and Chen Shengxin led his troops to bravely take off to fight, the battle was unprecedentedly fierce, and the losses on both sides were heavy. His plane was hit 87 times by enemy bombs, wounded in the palm of his hand, and still fought to the end. In May 1941, Sheng Xin was ordered to lead a team to India to receive Soviet-supported E-15 fighters and American B-25 and P-38 fighters, and then returned to Gansu for recuperation. On the 20th, 34 Japanese aircraft attacked Lanzhou, and he led the planes to bravely meet the battle, shooting down 2 enemy planes alone, and all 5 planes under his command returned safely. On December 1 of the same year, Chen Shengxin was promoted to deputy captain of the fourth brigade, acting as the captain of the brigade, promoted to lieutenant colonel, and was awarded the three-star medal. After taking over the new post, he felt a great sense of responsibility and said to all the pilots: "The Fourth Brigade is the brigade with the most achievements in the history of the Chinese Air Force and the strongest unit in the Chinese Air Force. The pilots were touched by Sheng Xin's generous statement and were determined to kill the enemy and serve the country.
On August 3, 1942, Chen Shengxin piloted the American P-43 Type 1221 fighter plane for test flight, hovering over Chengdu Shuangliu Airport, and unfortunately died in the line of duty due to mechanical failure. The commander-in-chief of the Air Force ordered mourning and conferred the title of martyr, and the Nationalist Government issued a commendation: "Chengdu Resisted The War of Resistance, died in the line of duty, loyalty to the country, special and dignified style, eternal mourning and glory", Chiang Kai-shek also inscribed a plaque "Heroic and Commendable" to present. Chen Shengxin's heroic life was worthy of the title of anti-Japanese national hero.
Our happiness is not easy to come by, we must not forget history, remember our hero - Chen Shengxin.