May 12, 1940, the third day after the outbreak of the Battle of France.

The 6th Army, under German Army Group B, breached the Dutch canal defense line and pressed directly toward the Hannut region of Belgium. Meanwhile, the main force of the Allied coalition—the French 1st Army—also arrived in Belgium. These two elite forces immediately clashed in the Hannut area.

General Reichenau's 6th Army commanded two panzer divisions and seven infantry divisions. The French 1st Army commanded two armored divisions and six infantry divisions. Each side possessed over 600 tanks; thus, the first battle in human history involving a total of over 1,200 tanks erupted.

At the same time, the French Foreign Minister was awaiting a reply from the Chinese government. There were currently three Chinese aviation groups in France, and the French government desperately hoped to take over command of these units. However, these three groups had arrived under the pretext of protecting the fleet evacuating Chinese nationals, making a transfer of command completely impossible.

France was, after all, a Great Power, and had not considered so many contingencies in the past few months. At that time, France could produce over 200 fighter aircraft of various types per month; in a few months, France could produce 1,000 fighters. However, within two days of the war starting, the French Air Force was losing over a hundred fighters daily. The skill of the German Luftwaffe pilots was clearly superior to that of the French, and after just three days of combat, the French Air Force was already stretched to its limit.

Yesterday, the French Foreign Minister had formally expressed the need for Chinese assistance to the Chinese government via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Chinese government authorized the Chinese Ambassador to France to negotiate the issue of air force cooperation. The Ambassador explicitly stated, "If a Chinese aviation unit appears on the battlefield, someone will inevitably claim that China has entered the war. Such false information would undoubtedly bring very unfavorable consequences to the Chinese government."

The French Foreign Minister was furious at the time, demanding loudly, "Does China not trust France?"

The Chinese Ambassador to France answered without concealment, "We do not trust Britain!"

For a moment, the French Foreign Minister fell silent. Given the British character, let alone announcing China's entry into the war, if a single Chinese fighter appeared over the battlefield, the British would have the audacity to declare that China had declared war on Germany!

The silence did not last long before the French Foreign Minister attempted to provide a diplomatic rationale for China. "What if the French government frames it as China dispatching a military advisory group, or as Chinese volunteers arriving in France? How does that sound?"

This involved 300 fighter jets, which were crucial to France at this moment. Seeing the Chinese Ambassador still looking hesitant, the Foreign Minister even added, "In Europe, Germany's dispatch of the Condor Legion did not constitute an act of war."

The so-called Condor Legion was the force Germany sent to participate in the Spanish Civil War. This precedent did not exactly fit the state-on-state war between Germany and the Western European Allies. But to win the war, the French Foreign Minister was coming up with every reasonable or unreasonable justification. The pressure the Luftwaffe was exerting on the French Air Force was simply too great.

The justification itself didn't matter much; China had no intention of sending five groups of aircraft to France just to watch the show. China and France had discussed the possibility of Chinese participation over the past few months, and the biggest point of divergence was who would hold command over China's five fighter groups.

Command authority was a critical issue. If command was given to France, it would mean China relinquishing ownership of these five fighter groups. A French military command holding authority could apply military law to the Chinese air force. If it came to military law, theoretically, if a Chinese fighter group failed to execute a French command, France could execute Chinese personnel for failing to fulfill combat missions. Although this was only a theoretical scenario, the Chinese government had absolutely no reason to hand over the power of life and death over its own air force to France.

After some negotiation, the French Foreign Minister stated, "France will accord the Chinese Volunteer Army the utmost respect."

The Chinese Ambassador to France borrowed the slope to get off the donkey and said, "I will convey the French government's attitude to my government."

By the afternoon, the Chinese Ambassador invited the French Foreign Minister for a meeting. The Minister immediately took a car to the Chinese Embassy. Upon arriving near the embassy, he saw long queues in front of several adjacent buildings. There were quite a few Chinese in the line, but even more French people.

After the war broke out, although the people of Paris felt uneasy, they did not feel as if the sky was falling, nor did they have the passionate excitement toward war seen during World War I. Overall, the French people did not want to fight this war, though there was no defeatist sentiment either.

The French Foreign Minister knew what this long line was about. The wealthy French were very uneasy about the war, and those with investments or business in China wanted to choose to go abroad temporarily to avoid the storm. Especially since France knew that China had sent a large fleet to France to evacuate its nationals. According to reports by French journalists over the past two months, this fleet included 20 cruise liners.

Given the relationship between China and France over the past decade, a large number of French companies had investments in China. During wartime, each cruise liner could provide 10,000 berths; that meant 200,000 berths. Whether they wanted to leave France or not, a large number of French people were applying for passports first.

Turning his face away to avoid looking at the winding queues, the French Foreign Minister suppressed the bitterness in his heart and entered the Chinese Embassy. Upon meeting the Chinese Ambassador, before they could even exchange pleasantries, and while the Ambassador still held his hand, the Ambassador said, "My government has agreed to the request for our three fighter groups to become a Volunteer Army."

The French Foreign Minister was stunned for a moment, then immediately hugged the Chinese Ambassador. This news was too good! Although he knew China would definitely support France, he hadn't expected China to be so straightforward.

On May 13, the Chinese Volunteer Army to Aid France against Germany, having streamlined its command structure, received its first mission: to transfer to airfields near Paris. The Volunteers had just arrived in Paris, and before their logistical supplies even arrived, they received their first combat mission on May 14: to proceed to the Hannut region to participate in air combat.

By this time, the battle in the Hannut region had entered its latter half, and France claimed to have repelled the German 6th Army's fierce attack. Colonel Feng Chengzhi, the interim commander of the Chinese Volunteers, was not so optimistic about the French claims. He immediately convened a meeting. This Volunteer Army had 300 fighters, meaning 300 combat personnel. All personnel attended the meeting.

The Chinese pilots had entered aviation schools after graduating from high school and mostly held bachelor's degrees. Feng Chengzhi laid out his views completely: "Based on previous intelligence, Germany possesses a tactical air force; every large-scale land battle involves air force participation. Although the French Army has attached armored units to regimental-level combat units, they use their air force in a concentrated manner.

"In the coming battles, we must not trust France's description of the war situation. The current crop of Frenchmen can no longer understand this brand-new kind of war."

Most of the pilots in attendance could understand Colonel Feng Chengzhi's view. This wasn't because the Chinese pilots' understanding of war exceeded that of French generals, but because the tactical training Chinese pilots received in China was inherently air-ground integrated or air-sea integrated. Since 1934, both Chinese Army and Navy tactics included air support, and the Air Force was already an indispensable part of Chinese military tactics. Facing the unfolding war, the Chinese Air Force could understand the enemy German forces, but conversely could not quite understand their ally, the French forces.

After some discussion, seeing that his comrades basically understood what he was saying, Colonel Feng Chengzhi continued to present his viewpoint. "Comrades, headquarters requires that before sorting, everyone must obtain instructions from headquarters. This is not because the French Army has subjective malice, but because headquarters will provide an understanding of the battle based on a more comprehensive situation. Of course, we will also do our best to teach these analytical methods to you, to help you understand the immediate situation more deeply."

Since it concerned their own lives, the Volunteer pilots expressed their agreement. Feng Chengzhi then analyzed the combat order issued by the French side. "France claims to have repelled the German 6th Army at Hannut in Belgium. If it were our army, we would immediately pursue to create a breach. But the order our army received is to counter German bombers in the region south of Hannut. For World War I, this situation was common. But for the German army, this is impossible. Therefore, headquarters believes that the German 6th Army is currently conducting a new offensive. After our army arrives in the Hannut region, we will encounter German fighters. German fighters are fighting for air superiority with the Allied forces, and we will face intense air combat..."

At 5:00 AM on May 15, the 4th Group of the Chinese Volunteer Army took off and headed toward the Hannut region of Belgium. China's J-9 fighters were equipped with turboprop engines and used aviation kerosene. Since other countries in the world used gasoline-fueled radial engines, the three Chinese aviation groups used the radial-engine J-8 fighters to facilitate access to aviation fuel.

The air combat performance of the J-8 fighter was similar to that of the J-9, but its range was only 2,400 kilometers, which could not compare to the J-9 fighter's maximum of 4,800 kilometers. Fortunately, France's territory was small; taking off from airfields near Paris, even flying to Amsterdam was only 430 kilometers. A range of 2,400 kilometers was sufficient in the Western European theater.

The French military had obtained the parameters of the Chinese J-8 fighter. Upon receiving the notification that the Chinese Volunteers could conduct a 3-hour air superiority patrol and combat mission in the Hannut region, the French command raised no objections.

At 6:00 AM on May 15, the 4th Group arrived in the airspace south of Hannut. Soon, the J-9 fighters responsible for reconnaissance sent a telegram: "Large numbers of German troops discovered advancing south."

The first thing the Chinese Volunteer pilots thought of was Colonel Feng Chengzhi's analysis. It seemed Colonel Feng's analysis was correct; although France had withstood the German 6th Army's assault, it was the French Army retreating, not the Germans. In other words, the Chinese Volunteer pilots were about to face the German Luftwaffe covering the German Army's advance.

Less than 10 minutes later, the J-9 reconnaissance flight sent back another message: "German fighter formation discovered at 3 o'clock."

At 6:23 AM, a German fighter squadron coming to drive away the Western European Allied forces clashed with the Chinese Volunteer Air Force, sparking the first air battle between China and Germany.

At 6:30 AM, another three German Air Force squadrons arrived at the battlefield. Around 200 fighters began a full-scale dogfight. In the sky, pilots exerted their air combat skills to the limit; everywhere one looked, fighters were climbing and diving. The pilots on both sides used everything they had learned in their lives to circle with their opponents, striving to seize better combat positions and launch fatal attacks on the enemy.

At 6:31 AM, the first casualty appeared. The plane flown by Luftwaffe Captain Wilhelm von der Leyen was hit by Chinese Air Force pilot Wang Xuhu with 11mm machine gun fire. The bullets struck Captain von der Leyen's engine, destroying it. Captain von der Leyen did not have time to bail out and crashed into the Belgian earth along with his smoking fighter.

At 6:35 AM, Lieutenant Zhang Yong's plane came under joint attack by two German fighters. The fighter lost control and crashed. Lieutenant Zhang Yong was critically wounded.

Planes were constantly being hit, crashing, or breaking off from combat with damage to return to base. The anti-aircraft machine guns and flak cannons of the German 6th Army on the ground stopped to cover the continued advance of the German Army. The entire German 6th Army continued to push southwest, launching attacks on the retreating French and Belgian armies. They did not pause in the slightest due to the fierce battle in the air.

After the Chinese Volunteer Air Force had fought the German Luftwaffe for 40 minutes, at 7:05 AM, another three German Air Force squadrons arrived on the battlefield. The Chinese Air Force had no choice but to withdraw from the battlefield and return to the airfields in Paris.

In this fierce air battle, 13 German Bf 109 fighters were shot down and 27 damaged. Four Chinese J-8 fighters were shot down and 22 damaged. In terms of aerial kill ratios, the Chinese Volunteer Air Force gained a huge advantage. However, in just one day of fighting, the Volunteer Air Force lost one-tenth of its fighters. Meanwhile, the loss of 40 fighters was negligible for the 5,000 aircraft of the German Luftwaffe committed to the Western European campaign.

Of the four pilots of the shot-down Chinese fighters, three fled south immediately after crash-landing and were lucky enough to escape German capture. Only Lieutenant Zhang Yong was captured due to severe injuries. Although Lieutenant Zhang Yong received all-out treatment from German military doctors, his injuries were too severe, and his heart stopped beating at 11:04 AM. He was the first Chinese soldier to die in China's Anti-Fascist War.

The French government did not immediately pay tribute or express condolences for the Chinese Air Force's losses, because throughout the entire day of May 15, the Allied Air Forces sortied in full force and lost 284 aircraft of various types.

Of the 284 Allied fighters lost, 117 were lost in the northern Belgian region. Another 167 were shot down by the dense concentration of over 300 German anti-aircraft guns while bombing the pontoon bridges over the Meuse River near Sedan, which had been seized by German Army Group A.

On May 10, Kleist's Panzer Group of German Army Group A stormed into Luxembourg within hours; the country surrendered in less than a day. German armored forces, spearheaded by Guderian, crossed the Ardennes Forest region—considered impassable to armor by the Allies—within 48 hours, seized the famous WWI battlefield of Sedan in one stroke, and began forcing the crossing of the Meuse River.

It was not that France hadn't considered the possibility of Germany using armored forces to traverse the Ardennes, but the French high command judged German actions based on their own understanding of military affairs. The French Army had its own armored divisions, but the French Char B1 was a heavy tank with slow speed; such an armored force indeed could not traverse the complex terrain of the Ardennes. French light tanks were distributed to regimental units, and such troops would only cause massive congestion if they tried to cross the Ardennes.

Moreover, Manstein had achieved the ultimate in deception. Although his plan had been meticulously war-gamed by the German General Staff, when the campaign was actually launched, the operational steps were significantly different from Manstein's plan. However, Manstein's concept regarding the crossing of the Ardennes was completely retained. Manstein believed that absolutely no German air cover should be dispatched while German armored forces were crossing the Ardennes. Initially, Manstein's plan had been rejected several times precisely because this desperate decision really scared the General Staff.

When the Battle of France was executed, it was precisely such decisions—completely contrary to military common sense—that prevented the British, French, and Belgians from forming an accurate judgment, even though they learned that a large number of German armored vehicles had appeared in the Ardennes region.

Furthermore, German Army Group B rapidly breached the Dutch and Belgian canal defense lines. In particular, a massive battle involving over 1,200 tanks and more than 3,000 aircraft erupted in the Hannut region. With such a scale of high-tech equipment massed on a key attack route, even if someone had the wild imagination to say this wasn't the main direction of the German attack, no normal general could support such a view.

After German Army Group A broke through the Meuse River, they immediately began attacking westward. In the blink of an eye, they cut off the connection between eastern France and the front line. Eastern France was where the Maginot Line was located; the troops stationed there were not elite, and they also had to deal with the fierce attacks of German Army Group C, making it impossible to divert forces. But by the 15th, German Army Group A had begun to slice through France like a sharp blade, causing the French forces to lose their ability to coordinate.

Large numbers of French troops were immobilized in the Maginot Line, unsure of how to act. The armored forces of German Army Group A, driving straight west, were outflanking the most elite Allied forces in the Western European theater. Their infantry, after taking Pervitin, marched continuously day and night without sleep or rest under the stimulation of battlefield amphetamines, striving to reach the key points taken by the armored forces as quickly as possible to rapidly fulfill the operational arrangement of infantry filling the battle line.

To cut Army Group A's throat—the Meuse River crossings—the Allies dispatched a total of 400 fighters and bombers attempting to destroy the crossings. However, they suffered a crushing blow, losing 167 aircraft. After paying such a huge price, the result was merely damaging three of Germany's dozen or so pontoon bridges. Within three hours after the Allied air forces had to stop their bombing missions, these three pontoon bridges were repaired.

That night, after receiving the latest battlefield news, a Major General in the French General Staff wept in public. No one mocked this Major General, because the French General Staff realized that the war had only been going on for five days, and they seemed about to lose it.

On May 16, Britain's new Prime Minister, Churchill, hurriedly took a plane to Paris. Upon seeing the ashen faces of French Prime Minister Reynaud and Allied Commander-in-Chief Gamelin, Churchill immediately realized the situation was far worse than he had imagined. Churchill hurriedly asked Gamelin, "Where is the strategic reserve?"

Gamelin shook his head and shrugged. "There is no strategic reserve to deal with the current situation!"

Churchill was dumbfounded; his lips moved, but he was completely unable to say anything more.

At that very moment, Lieutenant General Guderian was sitting in his command vehicle, ordering his troops to use loudspeakers to broadcast messages to the surrendering French troops: "Wait here and surrender to the German infantry behind us. We do not have time to take you prisoner."

Just as he finished speaking, Guderian suddenly heard a sensation coming from the sky. This was the unique intuition of an excellent soldier who had experienced a hundred battles. Guderian wasted no words; he pulled his adjutant and jumped off the command vehicle, shouting, "Get down!"

As he shouted, Guderian had already pulled his adjutant down onto the roadside. This happened to be a small slope, and Guderian and his adjutant rolled down it together. Just as the two fell into the ditch at the bottom of the slope, the sound of bombs landing and exploding came in succession from the ground above.

Now, both the attacking Germans and the surrendering French were in chaos. Fortunately, the Germans were well-trained, and the anti-aircraft machine guns mounted on the vehicles immediately prepared to return fire. But looking left and right, they only saw the receding backs of a few small planes in the sky.

Guderian and his adjutant crawled out of the ditch covered in muddy water. For a moment, Guderian couldn't figure out if the bombing was by the Allies or the Germans. During the Polish campaign, due to the German army's lack of battlefield experience, Guderian had been bombarded by German heavy artillery.

In the early stages of the Western European campaign, the German army also lacked battlefield experience, and Guderian, who always fought at the front, had been bombed by the Luftwaffe more than once.

Guderian felt that this bombing shouldn't have been the Allies, because if the Allies were bombing, it would be a bomber formation executing the run. It was impossible for one or two fighters to suddenly appear, drop bombs, and leave.

Moreover, the number of planes carrying out the bombing was small, so it was even less likely to be the Luftwaffe. Leaving aside that the Luftwaffe now had rich experience and, through tight communication links, no longer bombed their own people, the Luftwaffe sortied on a larger scale than the Allies. If the bombing mode was continuous small-unit bombing, the duration would be very long, not a "bomb and go" pattern.

Guderian didn't have time to think too much. He immediately returned to his command vehicle and commanded his troops to continue west, heading toward the Atlantic coast. The muddy water on his body didn't make Guderian look any more ragged; for the past week or so, Guderian had been commanding the march and fighting almost without sleep or rest. Changing clothes was completely out of the question. After marching continuously across the French plains in a greasy armored unit for several days, his body and face had long since become filthy.

As an excellent soldier, Guderian guessed right. The attack was not launched by British, French, or German fighters, but by two J-9 fighters of the Chinese Volunteer Air Force. The J-9 fighter now had one model and two variants. The J-9 was the two-seat model serving as an advanced trainer. Although it was a trainer, the combat capability of the J-9-1 was by no means inferior to any current fighter, so it became the primary model for various Chinese fighters. This two-seat fighter could conduct air combat and could also carry bombs for level bombing.

Of the two variants, the J-11 was a single-seat fighter. The H-5 was a two-seat bomber.

Just now, the Chinese Volunteer Air Force had gone to support the main Allied forces and was returning. A J-9 still had three bombs it hadn't dropped. Landing with a payload was very dangerous, so the Air Force required planes executing bombing missions to jettison their bombs before landing. So, seeing German armored troops on the return trip, they bombed them indiscriminately.

If they had known that a German Lieutenant General was down there, the J-9 would have definitely done something more, no matter what.