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on the afternoon of october 15, 1955, the taoyuan airport in taiwan was busy as ground crews were preparing four f-86f fighters. these aircraft were from the fifth squadron of the kuomintang air force and were about to carry out patrol missions along the coast of the mainland.

the leader of the mission was lieutenant colonel liu shaoyao, and the other three were lü peiyuan, sun siwen and lin zuoshi. the four took off at around 3 pm and flew low towards the mainland.

▲f-86f fleet of the kuomintang air force.

▲pilots of the kmt air force participating in the air battle and chiang kai-shek. from left: lü peiyuan, liu shaoyao, wang shuming (air force commander), sun siwen and lin zuoshi.

turning our attention to the other side, these f-86fs were discovered by our military radar shortly after taking off, and the alarm was immediately transmitted to the 10th regiment of the 4th division of the naval aviation force stationed at luqiao airport in taizhou, zhejiang.

regiment commander zhang wenqing (no. 1, lead plane) immediately led four mig-15bis to intercept. the other three pilots were jiang guibao (no. 2, wingman), wang hongxi (no. 3, lead plane) and ge changtai (no. 4, wingman).

from the lineup sent by our army, we can see that the troops are considering using the old to bring up the new. regiment commanders zhang wenqing and wang hongxi both shot down and damaged enemy planes in the battle to intercept the kuomintang air force rt-33a on june 27 of the same year. they are veteran pilots with practical combat experience.

▲the mig-15bis of the 10th regiment of the 4th division of our navy aviation is preparing to attack.

after taking off, four mig-15bis flew to the target airspace according to the radar instructions. at the same time, they received the latest intelligence: enemy planes had flown over matsu island and were invading to the north!

captain sun siwen, the no. 3 aircraft of the kuomintang air force, recalled: "when we flew over matsu island and turned north for patrol, the radar station below reported that communist planes had taken off and asked us to pay attention."

now both sides knew of the existence of their opponents, and it was a relatively fair 4v4 battle. all eight of them opened their eyes wide and searched every corner of the sky: the side that discovered the opponent first in the air battle would have a greater advantage.

▲painting of our army’s mig-15bis.

at this extremely tense moment, captain zhang wenqing's plane had an emergency malfunction: a hydraulic pipe in the cockpit suddenly burst, and red hydraulic oil sprayed onto the windshield, completely blocking the view.

zhang wenqing immediately turned north to disengage from the emergency and issued an order that was later controversial: "no. 2 (his wingman jiang guibao) covers the evacuation, and no. 3 and no. 4 (wang hongxi and ge changtai) continue to perform the mission."

in this way, our army used the strength of two mig-15bis to deal with the four f-86fs of the kuomintang air force, and fell into a disadvantage in terms of numbers. at this embarrassing moment, four f-86fs appeared!

▲beginning in 1954, the united states provided more than 300 f-86 fighter jets to the kuomintang air force.

captain sun siwen, the no. 3 aircraft of the kuomintang air force, recalled: "at 3:50 p.m., i found two migs slightly lower to the right front, so i notified the leader. lieutenant colonel liu shaoyao ordered me to lead the wingman to attack, so my wingman and i threw away the auxiliary fuel tank and started the attack."

the intention of the team leader, lieutenant colonel liu shaoyao, was obvious: send two to fight our troops first, and the other two to provide cover and prevent our reinforcements from following behind. wang hongxi and ge changtai saw two f-86fs coming towards them and immediately engaged in a dogfight with them.

captain sun siwen recalled: "the migs were more agile than us. we fought with them for a long time, but neither of us could do anything to the other. so i changed my strategy, diving down first, and then suddenly pulling up. an enemy plane was just outside my right and turning left, so i just cut into its inner circle and got behind it."

▲several pilots of our army who participated in the war: zhang wenqing, wang hongxi and ge changtai.

the mig-15bis that captain sun siwen caught was actually piloted by ge changtai. using the high speed gained by the dive, captain sun siwen quickly entered the range. his first shot was slightly to the rear, so he immediately adjusted his position and fired again. he continued to recall:

"500 meters is the best shooting distance. as soon as i opened fire, the enemy plane started to emit smoke, very thick smoke, and then caught fire. the pilot was also very smart and parachuted immediately."

on the other side, when the regiment commander zhang wenqing wiped the stains from the cockpit and returned to the battlefield with his wingman, the battle was over. wang hongxi broke out after fighting with the enemy, while ge changtai was hit and parachuted to escape, but eventually fell into the sea and died.

▲the photo taken with a camera gun when sun siwen shot down ge changtai. it can be seen that ge changtai ejected and escaped.

due to mistakes in commanding the battle, the regiment commander zhang wenqing was criticized after the battle, and he felt guilty for a long time. from the perspective of hindsight, it is problematic. the focus of the controversy is whether he should have asked his wingman to leave the battlefield.

the hall master guessed that captain zhang's considerations were as follows, because air combat was based on two aircraft as a combat unit, if they were deployed in a 2+1 manner, then jiang guibao alone would be at greater risk.

if jiang guibao was assigned to wang hongxi's crew, a situation of one leader and two wingmen would be formed. however, the three-plane formation tactics were eliminated in the early days of world war ii, and it would probably not end well against an opponent with a more flexible formation.

▲the ground crew painted the victory mark on captain sun siwen’s plane.

after the battle, captain sun siwen became the first pilot to shoot down a chinese jet, which was immediately publicized. because the kuomintang air force had suffered a series of defeats at the time, the personnel department searched through boxes and cabinets to find a medal, which was awarded by air force commander wang shuming. a few days later, chiang kai-shek summoned several pilots who participated in the battle.