I am Mr. Lang, an engineering boy who loves to read history.
Some time ago, after the United States unreasonably demanded the closure of our Consulate General in Houston, my country reciprocally requested the United States to close its Consulate General in Chengdu. Although passed away from amidst the loud singing and cheerful sound of firecrackers of the Chengdu people, the United States insists on "selling miserably" on the Internet platform based on the principle that I will continue to disgust you even if I am gone.
However, today’s Chinese netizens are no longer in the era when they believed whatever they said. The U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu and The U.S. Embassy in China posted on Weibo that they were “disastrous”. Below is a scene of Chinese netizens The sound of crusade. Seeing that this plan failed, the United States changed its strategy and began to sell sentiments. brought out the " Flying Tigers ", and it really worked. With , the attitude of our netizens has softened a lot.
A group of licking dogs echoed in unison below. It feels like New China was established with the help of the United States. Without the "Flying Tigers" of the United States, we would be gone. Mr. Wolf will have a group of sheep in his heart after seeing it. The camel is running wildly, and there is really no limit to licking the dog now. So I decided to write this article. Take a look at the "Flying Tigers" that have been seriously exaggerated over the years. The Flying Tigers only refers to the Chinese Air Force's American Volunteer Air Force to China.
The "Flying Tigers" are just a golden mercenary
The Flying Tigers, whose full name is the Chinese Air Force's American Volunteer Air Force for China, was under the instruction of Chiang Kai-shek. was recruited from Americans by American flight instructor Claire Lee Chennault . was created on August 1, 1941 for . It was named Flying Tigers because of its winged flying tiger team emblem, and it quickly spread among the military and civilians due to the need to boost morale during wartime.
Flying Tigers team emblem
Although this air force is named the United States Volunteer Air Force to China, compared with its previous Soviet Volunteer Air Force to China, the "Flying Tigers" does not have any voluntary meaning. First of all, this This unit was not sent by the U.S. government, and was even blocked by the U.S. government in the early stages of its establishment; Secondly, the members of this unit did not come to China voluntarily, but what attracted them was the super high treatment and extremely generous salary. salary.
On March 11, 1941, nearly four years after the all-out war of resistance against Japan, the United States finally relaxed its arms embargo against China and agreed to export aircraft to China at China's constant request. On May 6, China became a country that can obtain "lend" and "aid" from the United States. China finally had hope of establishing an air defense force after the Soviet Union's volunteer aviation fleet withdrew.
However, in terms of personnel composition, the United States still does not agree to directly send the US Air Force to participate in the war. The reason is to take into account the feelings of the Japanese government, mainly to do business with Japan, to appease Japan strategically, and to protect its own interests in Southeast Asia, so Even if there are planes, the pilots and ground support personnel still have to find their own solutions.
At that time, the few pilots that China trained before the Anti-Japanese War were all lost in the brutal battles in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War. Chiang Kai-shek originally invited Chennault to serve as an instructor to train Chinese pilots. However, Chennault suggested that retraining takes too long and cannot quickly form combat effectiveness. is not as good as directly hiring American pilots with driving experience . With a little training, combat effectiveness can be quickly formed.
Claire Lee Chennault
China finally agreed to this opinion, and Chennault returned to the United States to recruit pilots and ground crew. eventually attracted a large number of young Americans who wanted to make a fortune with super high salaries. It must be noted here that these Americans came to China just to make a fortune, rather than to defend the great ideals of China that was invaded and maimed by fascist Japan. Why do you say that? Take a look at what Chiang Kai-shek opened for these mercenaries You'll know the price.
The monthly salary of ground crew is 150-350 US dollars, the monthly salary of ordinary pilots is 600 US dollars, and the monthly salary of squadron leader is 750 US dollars. No matter who you are, as long as shoots down a Japanese plane, you will be rewarded with 500 US dollars. , and an additional 500 US dollars in annual travel expenses are provided. , and provide free food, clothing, housing, transportation and medical expenses, and ensure at least four days of paid leave per month. Chennault himself had a basic salary of US$1,000, plus countless various subsidies. His food, clothing, housing, transportation, and private translators were all paid for by Lao Chiang. After a simple comparison of
, you will know why is said to be a golden mercenary . For pilots serving in the US military at that time, the average pilot fee was 150 US dollars. After adding various subsidies, the top front-line pilots only reached the height of 650 US dollars. had just surpassed the lowest pilot in the Flying Tigers. And what about Chennault himself? Before he retired, as a captain in the Air Force, his monthly salary was only 110 US dollars. After coming to China, he could earn his previous year's salary in one month.
In fact, it doesn't matter if the salary is higher. After all, they are here to risk their lives. If the salary is not high and no one comes, they must not be able to count on the international morality of the United States. The United States is still busy doing business with Japan to make money. But high wages must also match the technical level, but there is no such thing. uses "stragglers" to describe the soldiers recruited by Chennault, and is not an exaggeration at all.
Flying Tigers members
When the Flying Tigers was first established, there were more than 200 people, including more than 100 pilots and more than 150 ground staff. Only a handful of these pilots have experience in flying fighter jets, Most of them have only had the experience of studying in an aviation club or flying transport aircraft and reconnaissance aircraft in the US military. For the new fighter planes that Chiang Kai-shek spent huge sums of money to buy back, -40, they can't drive at all.
In order for these pilots to take to the skies and fight, they must have strict training. This is actually similar to the training cycle of selecting pilots from China's remaining air force. However, under Chennault's suggestion, was in an extremely difficult situation in China. He spent millions of dollars to bring back a group of mercenaries who didn't have much technical content.
So the so-called "volunteer" in this American Volunteer Air Force to China, , is not what you understand at all. These members of the Flying Tigers neither came on their own initiative, nor did they come with the same salary as soldiers in the United States. Instead, they came to China with high wages that ordinary people could not match. To put it bluntly, the Flying Tigers are a mercenary army, and this mercenary army also enjoyed treatment that was unimaginable to the outside world in China, which was extremely difficult at the time.
The super high treatment of the "Flying Tigers"
Why calls the Flying Tigers the golden mercenaries , not because of how high their level is, but because they are created by China with real gold. After the Flying Tigers came to China, despite the extremely difficult domestic conditions at the time, they still tried their best to provide high-quality services to the Flying Tigers. The treatment enjoyed by the Flying Tigers can simply be described as luxurious.
Huang Renlin, who served as the director of the Field Service Corps, mainly served the US military in China.
was responsible for receiving Flying Tigers members. It was Huang Renlin who was later praised by Marshall as "China's Chief Welcome Envoy and Hospitality Expert", but Chennault refused everything Huang Renlin arranged for him. Instead, he provided a list himself and asked Huang Renlin to complete it. The treatment requirements were so luxurious that Chinese soldiers of the same era could not even imagine. The specific list of is too large, so I will only briefly summarize it here.
Pilots arrange single rooms, which must have enough space to place single beds, desks, wardrobes, hangers and other personal items ; ground staff provide double rooms. Except for the desk, which is replaced by a large one, all other items are equipped with double rooms. The distance between two beds should not be less than 4 feet, and each barracks must have an independent reading and writing room. This standard is beyond the reach of the US military, and many frontline anti-Japanese generals do not receive this treatment.
You think this is the end, of course not. Each camp must be equipped with independent bathrooms and toilets, The bathrooms must have separate showers and bathtubs, the number is one shower and one bathtub for every ten people ; the toilets must also be separate single rooms, number There is one toilet for every five people.
In terms of catering and entertainment, the serving more than 200 people has a total of three kitchens and six canteens. All catering must provide Western food, and the daily supply of meat, eggs, and milk must be sufficient, and there must be corresponding water purification devices. To ensure drinking water safety. Finally, it is also required that no matter where the troops are transferred, the entertainment facilities must be equipped with game tables, card tables and table tennis tables . Bars for the entertainment of soldiers are indispensable.
Members of the Flying Tigers even have the leisure to keep a leopard as a pet
As for Western food, how luxurious is it? breakfast consists of omelettes, ham, toast, American pancakes, cream, jam and American coffee, while lunch and dinner consist of vegetable soup, four kinds of vegetables, meat and desserts. There is also English afternoon tea, which offers a variety of snacks and sandwiches. Ice cream, beer, whiskey and bubble gum are also must-haves. As for these things, the Chinese soldiers who fought hard on the battlefield had never even seen or even heard of them, let alone eaten them.
The specific food standards for this mercenary stipulate the various ingredients required by each person every day: 18 ounces of meat, 4 eggs, 20 ounces of vegetables, 10 ounces of potatoes, 2 ounces of dried vegetables, 12 ounces of flour, pork 2 ounces of oil, 6 ounces of sugar, 0.5 ounces of salt, 11 ounces of fruit, 1 ounce of peanuts, 0.4 ounces of tea and various spices. cheese, milk, cream, coffee, baking powder and spices must be imported from the United States.
Such a rich meal, what is Chennault's opinion of it? He said: "The food of the field service group is not appetizing, but it is enough to sustain life. This also increases the number of bombs we drop like rain over the Japanese enemies." As for the food of Chinese soldiers, they often only have staple food There are no vegetables. As for meat, even the members of the Flying Tigers said that the meat they eat in one meal may be as much as Chinese soldiers eat in a month.
The iconic Flying Tiger
This is actually nothing, but when Sino-US exchange routes are seriously blocked and support supplies need to fly over the hump route to reach China, you will find that a certain aircraft, What carries is not the weapons, ammunition or medicines that are urgently needed on the front line, but food exclusively for the mercenary Flying Tigers. How ironic this is. By diverting supplies used by frontline soldiers to fight the enemy and importing food for these heavily paid mercenaries, are they defending China or harming China?
Accommodation and food have been arranged. A group of young people who were just eating, drinking and having fun in the United States came to China to find gold. It is their nature to live happily, and supporting entertainment facilities are indispensable. Long before the Flying Tigers arrived, Lao Jiang had prepared various sporting goods for them to use when they formed softball, volleyball and tennis teams. movie screenings are also a must, and they all show the latest movies produced in the United States. Of course, films are still imported from the United States, which takes up space for frontline supplies.
As for dance parties and the need for the opposite sex, they are indispensable to this group of mercenary masters. When was serving in the United States, most of them retired from the army hastily because they could not maintain military discipline. But this time they came to China as "saviors", so of course they can enjoy themselves without worrying about anything else. When they arrived, China did not take this into consideration. This caused disaster for the women around the station. They were harassed from time to time. It is unknown whether there were more serious illegal incidents.
Chinese women surrounded by members of the Flying Tigers
After all, such blatant illegal incidents are not good. Chennault also strictly controlled the team members to harass civilians, so this group of mercenaries moved to the red light district around the station, indulgently, and even Nearly half of them were infected with sexually transmitted diseases, and could not even perform combat missions.
In order to solve this problem, Chennault came forward to discuss the solution with Chiang Kai-shek. In the end, the Chinese side sent medical staff to accompany representatives of the Flying Tigers. went to India and Guilin successively, and selected 12 and 13 women who had stumbled in the two places respectively, Then they were transported to Kunming by plane so that they could serve the Flying Tigers. Chennault said this: " boys must have this, and for them, clean is better than dirty."
Such a dehumanizing thing is almost the same as the Japanese invading army, nothing more than this flying tiger The team was invited with a lot of money, but the Japanese army invaded by themselves. Regarding this phenomenon, after the Flying Tigers were disbanded, the newly established 23rd Group of the 10th Air Force was affiliated with the U.S. Army. Regarding this matter that violated military discipline, Stilwell learned about it and personally ordered a thorough investigation and deported all the women. However, the original Flying Tigers mercenaries have left at this time. This matter seems to be solved, but in fact it is no longer a problem. From the establishment to the disbandment of
, this golden mercenary army, which was like a gold-swallowing beast, squandered China’s 8 million US dollars in less than eight months. You must know that this is just a team with only more than 200 people and more than 70 people. The salary and treatment level of a small force with only one plane were absolutely unique in the world at that time. The performance of the mercenaries hired for such a large sum of money can only be regarded as average. After all, they only achieved a mediocre performance in the face of a group of bombers without fighter escort.
A group photo of the members of the Flying Tigers
Written at the end
I know there will be people who will argue with me, saying that they are not here for money. Even if there is no money, they will come. The money is just given to them by the Chinese government to thank them. We Still have to thank the Americans. But unfortunately, with , you must have been slapped in the face with me, or it was slapped very loudly.
On July 3, 1942, the United States, which had already participated in the war, understood the importance of China in this war, so it decided to disband the American Volunteer Air Corps to China and form the 23rd Group of the 10th Air Force under the U.S. Army. Flying Tigers The team officially ended his mission. After , the mercenaries of hurriedly left, leaving only a very small part of . Why?
Because after being assigned to the US Army, their allowances were the same as those of ordinary pilots, and there was no special treatment. is originally a mercenary who fights for money. Of course, will not continue to fight if the money is gone. This is the naked reality of . Of course Chennault and a few ground crews stayed, because Chennault soared into the sky with the Flying Tigers, and served again and was directly promoted to the rank of brigadier general, and those few ground crews were Chinese.
You are such a golden mercenary. You, the United States, have the nerve to talk to me about your feelings. Although I know you are used to being shameless, you can't treat us as fools. We hire you with a high salary, and you come to make money. This is nothing. One is willing to fight and the other is willing to suffer. This is a fair transaction. So we are all adults, so we can just talk about money. Why do we have to talk about relationships? Besides, there is no emotion at all.
Slogans protesting the US military after the "Shen Chong Incident"
Later Wolf Jun will update: The "Shen Chong Humiliation Incident" in which the US military stationed in China insulted a female student at Peking University in 1946, please pay attention to
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