He used up his last drop of fuel and landed safely, shooting down enemy planes after shooting down the "Double Ace Pilot" of the US military | parachuting | US military

At exactly 10 a.m. on July 27, 1953, representatives from China, North Korea, and the United States officially signed the Agreement on a Military Armistice in North Korea, which took only 10 minutes to complete. From then on, this arduous and arduous battle that lasted for two years and nine months ended with the great victory of the Chinese people in resisting US aggression and aiding Korea. This hard-earned victory is a manifesto for the Chinese people to stand firm in the East after standing up.

Forgetting history means betrayal! Moving forward, we cannot forget the path we have taken; No matter how far you go, no matter how brilliant the future is, you cannot forget the past you have walked through.

70 years have passed, and it is difficult to accurately reconstruct how the Volunteer Army spent over a thousand days and nights under continuous artillery fire. But if we try to connect history with the present, the memory fragments of those who have experienced it firsthand, and the precious objects that have been refined over time are stitches. This re woven picture of war may add another aspect of this victory, which belongs to everyone in 1953.

Behind those seemingly "marginal" cultural relics and historical materials, we have salvaged hidden details and stories, which may come from a letter, a book, or a military blanket, a manuscript In short, it is about the battlefield, about emotions, and about this great victory.

There are always some spirits that transcend time and space and remain fresh over time. Looking back at 1953, victory belonged to every Chinese person at that time. Standing in 2023, victory still belongs to every Chinese who inherits and carries forward the spirit of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea.

If that jackal comes, it will be welcomed with a hunting rifle

"If I fly forward for another 10 seconds, I definitely won't be able to return to the airport." 70 years later, Han Decai picked up two airplane models and gestured, trying to recreate the scene of North Korea flying in the air at that time. Looking back on that day, he used the word 'fear'.

On April 7, 1953, after shooting down the American "Double Ace Pilot", Han Decai piloted the MiG-15 and landed. The plane slid to the south end of the runway and automatically stopped because the fuel on board was depleted. He had to use the remaining speed to slide off the runway. That year, he was under 20 years old.

"He is not tall, sturdy, and full of youthful energy!" In the Air Force Special Museum of the Anti US Aid to Korea Memorial Hall, there is an old newspaper that once described Han Decai in this way on a yellowed paper. This article was published in the September 20, 1952 issue of the Air Force News of the Volunteer Army Air Force, calling him the "Young Eagle".

In July 1933, Han Decai was born into a peasant family in Fengyang County, Anhui Province. At the age of 16, he registered to join the military and was transferred from the army to the air force. After more than a year of training at the Fifth Aviation School of the People's Air Force, the 43rd Regiment of the 15th Division of the Air Force, where he belonged, served as the second batch of volunteer air force forces and was ordered to stationed at Dagushan Airport.

At that time, most of our military pilots had a flight time of about 20 hours, while the United States was hundreds of times longer than us. When entering the battlefield for the first time, it is widely recognized that one's skills are inferior to those of others, but "technology can be changed, everything depends on human factors, and people are the key.". When he said these words, he clenched his fist, just like the soldiers at that time "all holding their breath, hoping to charge into battle.".

Newborn calf, double kill in one battle

When Han Decai landed at Dagushan Airport, he was 19 years old. Due to his young age, everyone in the army called him "Xiao Han".

"We once thought about taking off from a North Korean airport, but we couldn't stay and were all bombed out." Han Decai remembers going to the front line to fight, and the airports were all set up domestically. However, North Korea's airports were newly repaired during the day, bombed again at night, repaired at night, and bombed again during the day, deeply trapped in the US military's repeated attacks.

Han Decai is on the battlefield

Dagushan Airport, located in a wilderness more than 20 kilometers away from the outskirts of Andong, is a newly renovated field airport. A piece of grass mat, combined with steel plates with concave and convex holes that were fastened together, made up the runway.

"If there is a battle, fight; if there is no battle, train" was a requirement issued by the Joint Administration at that time. When there is no enemy situation, soldiers will fly to the Korean theater of war to explore the terrain. From the Yalu River to the Qingchuan River, all that Han Decaimu could reach were towns and villages shattered by black smoke, bullet pits, and bombing. A strong sense of mission was etched into the minds of Han Decai and his comrades along these scenes.

Han Decai and his comrades at the airport

"Enemy planes are right below you, we've detected them and hit them hard!" On the morning of March 24, 1952, Han Decai's squadron flew to the side of the Tieshan Peninsula, and the sound of a joint report came in his ears.

When Han Decai first entered his sight, the enemy plane was only the size of a leaf, floating above the water surface. At that time, they had already flown to the vicinity of the Qingchuan River, and the enemy's target was very obvious, blowing up the Qingchuan River Bridge and damaging the transportation line.

The enemy aircraft gradually grew larger, with fuel tanks dangling from the wing tips. In Han Decai's words, this is the fuel pick F-80, with a maximum speed of only 900 kilometers per hour. "Using the MiG-15 to hit it is like an eagle catching a chick.".

However, rapid change is the norm on the battlefield. Soon, four enemy planes joined the battle on the right front.

"The first time I encountered this situation, I was extremely nervous." This day was Han Decai's first aerial combat, and the situation before him clearly exceeded his expectations. Ignoring the report, he turned his nose and fired at the enemy plane with the aim of scaring them away. When attacking enemy planes, Han Decai, as a wingman, lost contact with the captain. At present, he is the only one left to face four enemy planes.

"I have the advantage of speed, and with one person's mobility, although my skills are not high, I have strong maneuverability." As a newborn calf, there is always a fearless spirit. Soon, he got into a fight with four enemy planes, and when he got closer, the white helmet on the enemy's head was clear at a glance.

At a distance of about 400 meters, Han Decai quickly aimed at one of the enemy planes, and the shell hit its left wing. In just a few seconds, he watched it roll and fall into the sea.

Almost at the same time, the shell whizzed past the side of Han Decai's cockpit with a string of flames, causing him to feel a violent vibration of the fuselage. "Fortunately, the force was not significant," he said. At this moment, another enemy aircraft was charging forward from under Han Decai's left wing. He quickly pulled up the fighter jet, turned to the upper right side of the enemy aircraft, and closely watched its every move.

700 meters, 500 meters, 400 meters, enemy planes are getting closer Seizing the favorable attack angle, Han Decai pressed the firing button again, and several shots hit the connection between the enemy plane's wings and fuselage, hiding the fuel tank and engine here. In an instant, the enemy plane exploded in the air, breaking into small and large fragments, and falling into the sea.

After landing, Han Decai noticed that the horizontal tail of the aircraft had been punched by the enemy, the size of a fist, and the impact point had deviated by another centimeter before hitting the control stick.

Shooting down two planes at once, Han Decai achieved first-class merit and was quickly promoted to the rank of deputy platoon.

There is a newspaper in the Air Force Special Hall of the Korean War Memorial Hall, which was published in the Air Force Daily on September 20, 1952, praising him as a "young eagle". Photography/Li Zhihong

30 seconds to capture the ace

"Pull it up, quickly pull it up! The enemy is firing at you!" The tower commander's hurried and loud voice penetrated into Han Decai's earphones.

At the end of 1952, Han Decai's division moved to a mountain ditch more than 20 kilometers north of Fenghuang Mountain to the west of Andong. On this day, Han Decai's mission was to cover the landing of other aircraft over Dabao Airport.

A few minutes ago, the red warning light under the airplane dashboard came on. In the aerial battlefield, the warning light on means that the fuel consumption is less than 300 liters. If calculated based on a fuel consumption of 60 liters per minute, the fuel consumption at this time can only support Han Decai to fly for another five to six minutes.

He looked around and saw no other enemy planes besides the long one in front of him.

When he turned around to look towards the airport, he found two planes in the valley, one in front and the other at a distance of only 200 meters, both wearing camouflage colors and flying at low altitudes, making it difficult to distinguish whether they were enemies or friends. Quickly, the plane in front turned away and followed closely behind, changing the slope and charging towards the long plane.

Upon seeing the tail wing of the aircraft, Han Decai realized that it was an F-86. Almost simultaneously, a cloud of white smoke came into his sight, coming from the nozzle of the long aircraft. The engine was hit.

The long plane did not choose to parachute. He used his remaining speed to climb and turn left, while the enemy plane did not abandon its target in front of him. Han Decai also followed suit.

At this point, the line connecting the three planes in the air forms a semi-circular arc, and the combined distance is only about 600 meters. Due to their close proximity, the enemy plane quickly noticed Han Decai. He gave up tracking and suddenly made a right turn, with a 300 meter high mountain range below.

Experience told Han Decai that it was impossible for an enemy plane to collide with a mountain. He raised his altitude and monitored the enemy plane. Sure enough, the enemy just fired a fake shot and quickly turned left.

Utilizing the high performance of the F-86's horizontal turning, the enemy repeatedly maneuvered with Han Decai, while he also took advantage of his altitude advantage and waited for the opportunity to aim.

"I pulled hard and aimed the aiming halo at the front upper part of the aircraft, shrank the halo, and then fired. The three shots shot in unison, as if an angry fireball was rushing towards the enemy plane, quickly devouring it. Han Decai judged that he had hit the enemy's main fuel tank.".

A few seconds later, a black dot bounced out from the rolling thick smoke. "The enemy has parachuted! Come and catch the prisoners!" Han Decai pressed the radio button and shouted, turning towards the airport. It was only when there were only 50 meters left that he lowered the landing gear. After landing on the runway, Han Decai found that the fuel on board had burned out. Later, he deliberately calculated that the entire process from fighting with enemy planes to shooting them down took less than 30 seconds.

Han Decai learned from the deputy division commander that the captured pilot was a dual ace pilot of the US military, with a flight time of over 3000 hours and more than 170 missions on the Korean battlefield.

"Are you afraid of death?"

At 8 pm that evening, Han Decai saw for the first time Harold Edward Fisher, a US prisoner who had been shot down by him.

A table was placed in the room, with the prisoner facing south and a soldier standing on either side. When he saw someone enter the room, he immediately stood up.

"He stood there trembling, with lingering palpitations at first glance." Looking at the person in front of him, who was 1.8 meters tall, he lowered his head and didn't even dare to look at the person in front of him. His ear was also injured, and Han Decai was originally full of anger, wanting to extinguish the arrogance of the US side. In the end, without saying a word, he turned around and walked out of the room.

"In the past, enemies used to hit us at airports. We shot down enemy planes, saw them hit bullets and caught fire, and it was the first time pilots had parachuted and become prisoners." Han Decai always remembered that on the way over 200 meters to the cafeteria that day, many people rushed over. "Some threw hats in the air, some threw gloves in the air."

Later, due to his two first-class achievements in the Korean War and the shooting down of five enemy planes, this pilot from the background of a cowherd was awarded the honorary title of "Second Class Combat Hero" by the Air Force.

In 1997, under certain circumstances, Han Decai met his old rival Fisher again, and at that time, Han Decai had become the Deputy Commander of the Air Force of the Nanjing Military Region.

In 1997, Han Decai met his old rival Fisher

"At that time, it was said that you were afraid of death. Are you afraid of death?" When they met, Han Decai mentioned the battlefield moments of the past. In his impression, the US military was afraid of shells and would parachute at the sight of flames. In sharp contrast, the volunteer army is unwilling to parachute because it means losing the plane. "If the plane is gone, how can we fight?".

Fisher asked, "Why do we have to die?" For the US military, going to the battlefield is just a task.

For a long time in the past, the US military relied on advanced weapons and equipment, possessing absolute naval and air superiority. They were complacent and seemed fearless, but the situation changed on the battlefield of the Korean War.

"We resist the United States and aid North Korea, defend our country, seek revenge for the Korean people, and bring glory to our motherland. This is a strong driving force, and enemies cannot and cannot exist!" Han Decai referred to this driving force as a powerful spiritual force.