At dawn on 20 November, the sky over the Strait of Malacca was clouded with war clouds, and two unexpected situations occurred in succession, which changed Tang Qiuli's overall campaign deployment, and the fleet of the Independent Division became a magnet of great attraction, attracting Japanese air forces from several quarters, and a small-scale battle confined to the Strait of Malacca by the fleet became the largest naval and air battle in the South Pacific.

The Japanese army successively invested in the air force and the naval fleet, so that Tang Qiuli's inner fighting spirit was high, the unknown Japanese fleet is not terrible, if they want to rush to the Strait of Malacca theater, there is not enough time for more than ten hours, and the formation of carrier-based aircraft is the longest hand that can be extended, then a big fight, to the maximum consumption of the Japanese army's aviation and carrier-based aircraft strength.

Knowing that the fleet was currently progressing smoothly, Tang Qiuli's attention was on the first fighter echelon commanded by Le Yiqin, and he picked up the intercom, "Le Yiqin, where is the current position of your fleet, did you encounter the Japanese fleet?" ”

Le Yiqin replied: "Report to the division commander, the radar shows that in about ten minutes, our aircraft group will be able to encounter the Japanese aircraft group from Taiwan, and the Japanese fighter plane is about 350 or so, which is equivalent to the strength of our aircraft group. ”

Tang Qiuli understood Le Yiqin's intentions, the two echelons of fighters included all the forces of the first and second groups of the southern flight, and they could form an absolute advantage over the Japanese fighter group coming from the direction of Taiwan, exceeding the two-to-one ratio of troops.

Japanese carrier-based aircraft that could follow. It is also a large fleet of more than 180 fighters, and the number of fighters is only slightly less than that of Le Yiqin's fleet combined. In Tang Qiuli's plan, the two carrier-based aircraft flight regiments of the fleet belong to the campaign reserve, and they will not be used until the critical moment, not to mention. Also against the Third Fleet of the Japanese Navy.

At this point, Le Yiqin must be reminded, Tang Qiuli said: "Le Yiqin, your opponent." Not only the Japanese fighter group from Taiwan, but also the Japanese carrier-based aircraft group that came through the airspace over the Sulawesi Sea, about 180 planes, the radar station reported, about 40 minutes or so. You can arrive at the airspace of the Strait of Malacca, you make a table of dishes, two groups of guests come, be careful of anti-guests. ”

Tang Qiuli just reminded Le Yiqin of the general battlefield shape. For the specific air battle arrangement, he let Le Yiqin, a veteran who fought from the Northeast all the way, arrange it. What's more, Tang Qiuli thought to himself. In terms of experience and ability to command air combat, he is not better than Le Yiqin, and he is very glad that he was careful at the beginning and let the entire Southern Flying Group be dispatched, otherwise, he would be very passive now.

Hearing Tang Qiuli's briefing, Le Yiqin laughed, and said indifferently: "Please rest assured, the division commander, our table is big enough, and we can entertain another wave, my specific deployment is like this, the second echelon is divided into two, half of the fighters will join the first echelon, and form a troop advantage over the Japanese fighter group on the Taiwan side, and the other half will go out to the airspace of Kalimantan Island and take the initiative to meet the carrier-based aircraft group of the little devils, is it okay, please ask the division commander for instructions?" ”

Tang Qiuli smiled and said, "Le Yiqin, when did you become modest?" You have become an old fritter in air battles, what other instructions do I have, I only ask for one thing, no matter how you fight, you must ensure the success of the fleet's actions against the Japanese Third Fleet, in addition, the fleet's two carrier-based aircraft flight regiments, as reserves, are assigned to your command, and all the winged families of the independent division abroad are handed over to you! ”

Le Yiqin heard the weight of the division commander's words, and knew more clearly how heavy the burden on his shoulders was, if this battle was not fought well, it would affect the overall situation, firstly, the fleet would be hit hard, and secondly, the third fleet of the little devil was also very likely to take the opportunity to slip away, as for the loss of the Southern Flying Group, it would be immeasurable.

Le Yiqin put away his big grinning tone, and said solemnly like never before: "I, Le Yiqin, promise the division commander that even if the Southern Flying Group is exhausted, I will not let one of the little devil's fighters appear in the sky above the fleet, and the little devil wants to eat my plane, and these miscellaneous people haven't grown this good set of teeth." There is no passionate tone, let alone high-sounding words, only the courage to fight to the death, and the confidence to win.

Tang Qiuli's heart was hot, and he only said two words: "Take care!" "For such commanders, there is no need to say anything more, fighting has become the only important way in their lives, the flames of war accompany their youth, Le Yiqin is like this, Feng Jiwu is like this, and all the officers and soldiers of the independent division are like this, including themselves.

Putting down the intercom, Tang Qiuli didn't seem to be able to calm his mood, the heat in his heart, rushing and roaring in his veins, turned into a desire to fight, making his passion uncontrollable, the unprecedented air battle is about to begin, and this will be the decisive air battle that will determine the air supremacy in this region.

He said to Tang Qiusheng: "Brother Qiusheng, in the airspace of the Strait of Malacca, there is a big air battle that we don't need, after this battle, not only in the Indochina Peninsula, including Southeast Asia and the South Pacific region, the strength of the Japanese air force will be weakened to the lowest point, and we should also make some moves on the ground, Ito, this guy has been comfortable for too long, and also, it is time for Chutian and them to come out to breathe." ”

Tang Qiusheng nodded, he very much agreed with Tang Qiuli's order, in fact, in the past few days, he has been planning an operation, launching a substantial attack on Yangon, advancing the battle line to the periphery of Yangon city, luring the Japanese defenders in Yangon, and constantly fighting, in the battle, consuming the strength of the Japanese army, creating favorable conditions for the general offensive.

Originally, Tang Qiusheng wanted to wait until the end of the battle to capture the Japanese Navy's Third Fleet before taking an attack on Yangon, but now it seems that the battlefield in Southeast Asia has been divided into three parts, the air battle in the Strait of Malacca, the capture of the Japanese Navy's Third Fleet, and the attack on Rangoon, these three battlefields are relatively independent, but they all broke out around the central point of Yangon, and the plan of blocking or attacking the periphery of Rangoon was carried out a few days in advance or postponed, which had little impact on the overall war situation.

Tang Qiusheng said to Tang Qiuli: "Okay, I will arrange it immediately, and in about an hour, I can launch an attack on Yangon, Feng Jiwu and Li Honggang both complained, and if they continue to wait like this, the troops are about to come out of idleness, by the way, the commander of the Marine Corps, Han Tie, called, they have made all the preparations to capture Hainan Island, and they are waiting for the order of the division commander." ”

Tang Qiuli shook his head and said: "Call back to Han Tie, continue to make pre-war preparations, and wait for orders" and said to Tang Qiusheng: "The Japanese army on Hainan Island is already ripe fruit, and it will fall when you touch it, we can pick it at any time, now, it has been lively enough, or it will be carried out at the same time as the general offensive battle in Yangon, Brother Qiusheng, what do you think?" ”

Tang Qiusheng nodded and returned: "Hainan Island is an independent direction, the attack time is sooner or later, the problem is not big, besides, there is no fleet to cover the landing on the island, the casualties will be greater, and after the air battle in the Strait of Malacca and the settlement of the Third Fleet, it is safer, I have no opinion." ”

Tang Qiuli, commander of the independent division, was confident about the situation on several battlefields, and MacArthur, the commander-in-chief of the US Southeast Asian and Pacific Theater who was still on Kalimantan Island, stared at the situation in the Strait of Malacca, and was nervous, fearful, and excited.

He said to the chief of staff, General Stilwell: "The Chinese and the Japanese have gone crazy, concentrating all the land, sea and air forces in this area, putting on a decisive posture, my God, nearly two thousand fighters and bombers, and three fleets on both sides, incredible, these crazy Orientals, what are they going to do?" ”

The emergence of such a situation was originally what MacArthur wanted to see the most, but the development of the war situation, the military strength used by China and Japan, far exceeded his imagination, MacArthur was afraid, he played with fire between the two major forces in Southeast Asia, and moreover, this fire was a bit big, and if it was not done well, it would burn to his head, and the scale and intensity of the battle were beyond his control.

He gave a stern order to all the American troops, the planes went into the hangar, all the artillery temporarily withdrew from the position, and all the soldiers and officers of the troops were not allowed to go out of the barracks for a single step, that is, the bullets and shells of the warring sides, falling on the heads, also stood up, in a word, recognize the bear! Those who disobeyed the military order were severely punished, and Tang Qiuli, who was red-eyed, and the Japanese were hit with a casual blow, and MacArthur kept vomiting blood.

At about 6 o'clock in the morning, the Le Yiqin group encountered the Japanese 17th Air Force in the airspace 300 kilometers east of the Malacca Strait, and the air battle began, it entered a white-hot stage, and the Japanese 17th Air Force, which has always been stationed on the island of Taiwan, is known as one of the most elite air forces of the Japanese Army, naturally with an unstoppable arrogance, and has never fought with the aircraft group of the independent division.

The airborne radar of the fighters of the independent division once again exerted an incomparable advantage, discovering the enemy first, preemptively occupying a favorable height, and launching an attack before the Japanese 17th Air Force group.

From time to time, fighter planes exploded into clouds of smoke in the air, or dragged long black smoke and fell to the sea; the pilots of the Japanese pilots were first-class, but in terms of actual combat experience, they were much worse than the pilots of the Southern Flying Group; in less than 30 minutes of fighting, the Japanese 17th Air Force lost more than 80 fighters, and the first echelon of the Le Yiqin group also paid the price of being shot down more than 20 fighters.

If the dawn of November 20, 1940 is condensed together, from the Strait of Malacca to the sky over the South China Sea, from the sky to the sea, and then to the ground, a battlefield filled with gunpowder smoke has been formed, and the most fierce sea and air battle in Southeast Asia has been fought. ~！