On the morning of December 8, 1941, at the same time as Pearl Harbor, the Japanese army began to attack Hong Kong, and on Christmas Day, December 25, Hong Kong fell. At that time, Lung Kai-ming had just finished his first year at the Hong Kong Government College of Technology. His father's job was gone and his university career was over, and in June 1942, he fled to Macau with two other students. Later, they heard that Guangxi University in Guilin was accepting overseas Chinese students for free, so they decided to go to Guilin. At that time, Guilin was known as "Little Hong Kong" and was full of Hong Kong people who had fled the city. Guangxi University was on vacation, and to their disappointment, the school did not accept free overseas Chinese students. Long Qiming had to wander aimlessly around Guilin with his friends. However, Long Qiming's destiny changed in the midst of his wandering. "We saw an advertisement from the China Aviation Commission for "Air Force Cadets in the U.S.", which required a college degree, not necessarily a university degree, so we signed up and each paid 400 yuan in application fees." In the next exam, mathematics, science and chemistry, English, Long Qiming feel very easy, but the last door "party doctrine" but he was difficult. "Party doctrine is equivalent to the current politics, the test of the Three Principles of the People and other things. We had never been exposed to this in Hong Kong, so we couldn't answer it at all. The invigilator kicked me out of the exam room on the spot." I thought it was hopeless, but I didn't realize that the admission list was announced on the day of "Double Ten Day", and all three Hong Kong students were admitted. The next day, Long Qiming went to report, six days later, the plane took them to the group of students in the United States Airline received Chongqing, landing in the coral dam airport. It was the first time he had ever been on an airplane.
In June 1943, Allied pilots were in short supply because of the tensions of the war. After only three months of advanced training in the United States, Lung Kai-ming, along with 21 other members of the team, returned to China to engage in actual combat. Prior to this, Lung Kai Ming, a former Hong Kong athletics champion, had been at the top of his class. In the beginner's class in Kunming, the training program was for 20 hours of flying, but he flew for only 5 hours and 06 minutes, and the instructor signed him out of the class right away. In the intermediate class in India, the required flight time was 50 hours, but this time Long Qiming graduated early again with 30 hours. Long Qiming's outstanding performance was also supported by a family feud. His parents were killed in Guiyang by the Japanese army while fleeing to Kunming. His most urgent wish at that time was to fly a fighter plane and fight the Japanese army face to face. However, after returning to China, Long Qiming did not enter the fighter fleet as he wished, but was incorporated into the formation of the U.S. China Aid Air Force to carry out the China-India air mission, crossing the "Hump Route". The airplane was swaying in the air at a height of more than 3,000 meters, surrounded by the snow-capped mountains of the Tibetan Plateau. It was a day in 1943, on the "Hump Route", which was considered a journey of death. The Yunnan-Burma Highway had been cut off by the Japanese army, and supplies were extremely scarce. This transportation route was the only "blood vessel" for China to receive foreign aid. At the age of 20, Long Qiming was too young to be able to take on such a heavy responsibility, but after three months of advanced training at the Thunderbird Base in Phoenix, Arizona, he was already the pride of the Chinese army. At that time, the airplane did not have air pressurization equipment, the cabin was cold and lacked oxygen, but the extreme tension of the flight made the sweat soaked through his underwear, and the sweat on his face turned into frost in a flash. Suddenly, a high mountain flashed out in front of him. Long Qiming pulled the joystick, the airplane just can not climb up. Long Qiming called the captain Ryan with him to pull, but the plane still can not go up, the eye is about to hit the mountain! The plane from the front of the mountainside up to 600 meters, but Raines is still laughing, Long Qiming said in despair, what are you laughing, we are almost finished. I didn't realize that at the last moment, Rains lifted the joystick, relying on the power of the airflow, the plane climbed up, and quickly rushed out of the mountain pass.
62 years later, at his home in Chongqing's Dadukou Renovation Village next to a small garden, Long Qiming still has palpitations. He flew over the "hump route" for 2,100 hours. The flight line of the Hump Route has ups and downs, and every flight may be the "last one". This is where Long Qiming's air force career began.
The Hump Route
The Hump Route is the most dangerous flight route in human history, with an average accident rate of more than 80 percent.
At that time, Long Qiming and one to three different U.S. pilots formed a group, took off from Wujiaba Airport in Kunming every day, crossed the "Hump" to DINJAN or KEBRUKA ASSAM in India's Yasanam Province, and then returned via the "Hump" after being loaded with supplies. After loading the supplies, it will return via the "Hump", and it takes about 6 hours to make a round trip. In this route, the transport aircraft flying over the Tibetan Plateau, Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau peaks, can not reach the necessary height, can only be in the canyon through, the flight line ups and downs, like the hump. In addition, there are often strong changes in airflow when the airplane is flying, and it is difficult to find flat ground for forced landing in case of accidents. Even if the pilot parachuted, it would be difficult to survive the fall into the deserted jungle. Many U.S. pilots referred to this route as the "Death Ride" and the "Widow's Ride." "Before each flight, they made a solemn cross on their chests and prayed, then inspected the airplane very carefully and double-checked the crew's readiness. They all knew that every flight could be the 'last,' but they would never allow their lives to ride on needless mistakes in their work."
Nearly every voyage had a crash at the 'hump'. Comrades seen in the mess hall before takeoff are likely to be gone by night. One day we were all drinking and partying and laughing together, and the next day someone was gone forever, separated from the world.
On this route, the U.S. Army*** lost more than 1,500 airplanes and nearly 3,000 good pilots, a loss rate of more than 80 percent. Before and after the cumulative total of 100 transport aircraft of the Chinese aviation company, surprisingly, has lost 48 aircraft, sacrificed 168 pilots, the total loss rate of more than 50%, but the actual loss rate is even higher.
A drop of gasoline is a drop of blood
It was said at the time that "a drop of gasoline is a drop of blood", but if you consider the 80% accident rate on the Hump route, gasoline is more expensive than human life. For the sake of valuable war materials, Chinese and American pilots flew over the Hump Route in a suicidal manner, regardless of their safety.
On one occasion when he went to India to load oil, he ran into the bombing of the Japanese army, and the moment he touched the ground, the needle of the airplane's fuel gauge pointed exactly to 0 1943 was the toughest year of the war against terrorism, and because the channel of foreign aid was basically cut off, the domestic supplies came to the point of extreme scarcity.
"All the gasoline was brought back by us, and one plane carried more than 20 barrels of gasoline. When we flew there we loaded people, and when we came back we mainly loaded gasoline. An airplane was required to carry 3750 kilograms, but it was often overloaded some to 4 tons. Gasoline was absolutely scarce at that time. Many cars in Chongqing and Kunming burned charcoal because there was no gasoline, and the cars were all blackened by charcoal. Only some military vehicles burned gasoline and alcohol. So the slogan at that time was 'a drop of gasoline a drop of blood'." Long Qiming said. Because gasoline was so tight, even the transport planes used oil within their means. Long Qiming driving a transport aircraft a **** has eight tanks, the total amount of fuel is 880 gallons, under normal circumstances, the hourly consumption of fuel is 80 gallons, full fuel can be flown for 11 hours. And each time it returned to India from Kunming Wujiaba, the fuel used on the road was counted just right, and the excess was siphoned off. "Each time I returned from India with a full tank of fuel, 300 gallons were used on the road, leaving 580 gallons; when I returned from Kunming, only 400 gallons were left. When the weather was good, the flight took a little over 2 hours." But in reality, not every time the luck was so good, "Once in Kunming pumped the airplane's fuel a lot. But when I was about to arrive at the airport in India, the tower said that the airport was being bombed by the Japanese army and issued a directive not to let me land. The transporter had no resistance, and the only way to escape then was to run away. The Assam province in northern India is full of tea plantations, and the terrain is flat. The airplane circled over the tea plantations and flew lower and lower, and I saw that I had run out of fuel! I was ready to risk a forced landing." In the nick of time, a message came from the tower to lift the alarm. Long Qiming pulled the stick, but the plane was out of fuel and couldn't get up. Finally, the plane wobbled and glided to land at the airport. The moment it touched the ground, the plane's fuel gauge was pointing at 0. After the plane slid by inertia for some distance, ground troops towed the plane to the tarmac by car.
In view of the preciousness of the aircraft, Chinese and American pilots do not choose to parachute under normal circumstances, especially Chinese pilots would rather **** with the aircraft to survive, after experiencing a number of accidents of oil shortage, in order to save the aircraft that may be in an accident, the pilots are firmly opposed to continue to pump oil.
Participating in the air war
In April 1944, after 2,100 hours of flying on the Hump, Long Qiming, who spoke fluent English, along with five other Chinese pilots, was transferred to the U.S. Air Force's 14th Air Force, led by General Chennault, and became the youngest member of the Flying Tigers. "There were six Chinese pilots in the bombing group, but the entire group, including the ground crew, consisted of several hundred Chinese. Later on, every airplane was equipped with Chinese people, because in the past, when the airplane fell, the people did not understand the situation, and would kill the Americans as the enemy. The SDU then hung a small flag on the back of each pilot's shirt that read, 'Come to China to fight the foreigners, please rescue the military and civilians'." This piece of silk cloth, called the "blood banner" by the pilots, helped many American pilots who were lost, had accidents, and were shot down by the Japanese army and forced to land or parachute in China to be rescued by Chinese soldiers and civilians. After joining the Flying Tigers, Mr. Long mainly carried out bombing missions against Japanese targets in Tengchong, Yunnan, Lashio, Burma, Lihuang, Anhui, and Hankou, Hubei. At that time, the air force of the Japanese army was already weak, and Guam and other Pacific islands had been occupied by the United States. The Japanese army bases at Lashio, Mizina, and Rangoon no longer had much counterattack power. Nonetheless, thrilling battles occurred from time to time. "Our planes flew to an altitude of 3,000 meters and then swooped down directly to 200-300 meters, so the Japanese anti-aircraft guns had no time to aim, so they were hitting with machine guns. That day I was flying a B25 bomber, and when I saw the bonobo army base I dived down and dropped all 12 bombs I was carrying in two batches. The plane was so low that I could hear the enemy's machine guns firing. When I got back to the base, I realized that I had been shot 14 times in the tail of the plane, and if I had hit the fuel tank, I would have been finished." Long Qiming said that compared to the Japanese army, the U.S. Army's airplanes were larger and had fierce firepower, but were inflexible in turning around. The airplane fuselage is triple plywood, and there are steel plates behind and on both sides of the seat. The Americans are more advanced, and there is a protective layer on the outside of the fuel tanks, which bullets usually can't penetrate. The protection of pilots, and the Americans advocate for the people are inseparable, the Americans often say "10 planes are worth a pilot".
The life of the Flying Tigers is full and intense. One day, the team was taking a bath when the alarm suddenly sounded. Long Qiming and the others immediately rushed outside -- not to escape, but to carry parachutes, striving to be the first to jump onto the plane and engage the Japanese army. At that moment, it was too late for everyone to get dressed, and they all went into battle naked. Long Qiming said that for every SDU member, the greatest joy was to hit the target of the Japanese army. Every time they succeeded, their honest American comrades would excitedly shout "Hit target!
August 25, 1945, the "pinnacle of glory" and the "Flying Tigers" captain piloted the first plane landed in Wuhan to accept the surrender of the Japanese army In July 1945, on the eve of the victory of the war, Chennault and his American comrades left China after eight years of fighting to return to the United States. 8 years of fighting in China back to the United States, Chongqing thousands of people spontaneously came to see off Chennault and the SDU team members, the crowd lifted the sedan like a sedan chair, after a few hours to carry the car all the way to the center of the square. A Chinese ground crew member who had followed the SDU for many years said: Since Marco Polo, no foreigner has been able to win the hearts of the Chinese so much. Long Qiming can never forget the hundreds of days and nights in the "Flying Tigers" that were exceptionally tragic and full of combat bravado. He treasured this experience as the "first glory" of his life. And this splendor, and in August 25, 1945 reached its zenith. On that day, Long Qiming and Major Hill, the leader of the Flying Tigers, took off from Liangshan, Sichuan Province, and landed in Wuhan to accept the surrender of the Japanese army. "At that time, although the bonobos had surrendered, the bonobos in Wuhan had not recognized it, and the bonobos surrounded 11 of us with guns. The bonobo army said they would not surrender to the United States, only to China."
Long Qiming told the bonobos that the Allied forces included China, Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union, and that the Allied forces had been ordered by the commander-in-chief to come over and accept the surrender of the bonobos. At this point, the bonobos wilted, called for instructions and surrendered. At the end of September, Long Qiming and his comrades arrested the Japanese and paraded them through the streets, just as the Japanese army paraded the Chinese through the streets back then. At this moment, Long Qiming's mood felt soothing and painful. Long Qiming has been sick since July 7, 2014, when he underwent a minimally invasive surgery at the Heavy Steel General Hospital for pneumothorax. After that, he never recovered and had to be hospitalized twice more.
On September 6, 2014, because of the worsening of his condition, Long was again transferred from the General Hospital of Heavy Steel to the First Affiliated Hospital of Heavy Medicine. Long Qiming's supervising doctor, Pu Xia, said Long Lao's lungs were seriously infected and could cause respiratory failure, infectious shock and multi-organ failure at any time. "We are trying everything we can to provide him with anti-infection treatment."
Long Qiming is being treated at the First Hospital of Heavy Medicine on September 18, 2014 in Heavy Medicine.
At noon on Sept. 21, 2014, the hospital issued a critical illness notice.
September 25, 2014, 91-year-old Long Qiming is currently the only surviving Flying Tigers in China who is critically ill and admitted to the hospital . On the morning of September 25, 2014, Long Qiming's family issued a statement saying that the statement that "the old man's treatment is in urgent need of outside help" is inaccurate and has caused some misunderstanding in the community. They have the ability to solve the old man's treatment costs. Long Qiming's family also said that they would no longer accept donations. The donations received previously will be used to cover the medical expenses of the old man, and if there is any money left over, it will be used to help other war veterans. Come and listen to what Long Qiming's eldest daughter-in-law has to say.
Long Qiming's eldest daughter-in-law: because we have never appealed for social contributions. We have always borne it ourselves. Including nutrition. Medical expenses. In addition to the state underwriting part. After the report came out. It will objectively put a pressure on the children. So the donation action stopped there. In December 2014, Long Qiming's daughter, Long Yulan, introduced her father's illness received donations from caring people from all walks of life, and the family decided to transfer 60,000 yuan of the donations to the China Social Aid Foundation's Care for War Veterans Public Welfare Fund for the purchase of 200 winter coats to be distributed to war veterans who have difficulties in life. The remaining money will still be used for other actions to care for war veterans, which is also the father's wish.
In addition, Long Qiming's sons and daughters donated some of his father's relics to the Chongqing Flying Tigers Exhibition Hall, including Long Qiming's flight logs, China Airline passes, photographs, paintings and clothing.