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Heroes of the Eastern Skies
Heroes of the Eastern Skies
	poster
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	筧橋英烈傳
Simplified Chinese	笕桥英烈传
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Jiǎnqiáo Yīngliè Chuán
Directed by	Chang Tseng-tse
Written by	Ho Hsiao-chung
Starring	Liang Hsiu-Shen; Lee Ching
Cinematography	Lin Hung-tsung
Edited by	Wang Chi-yang
Production; company	Central Motion Pictures Corporation
Release date	7 July 1977;
Running time	100 minutes
Countries	Taiwan, R.O.C.
Languages	Mandarin; Japanese

Heroes of the Eastern Skies (Chinese: 筧橋英烈傳; pinyin: jianqiao yinglie zhuan; lit. 'Heroic Martyrs of Jianqiao'), is a Chinese war drama filmed in Taiwan, R.O.C. and based on the true story of a small group of Chinese flying aces in 1937 at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War, specifically depicting events in the Battle of Shanghai, Battle of Nanking and the Battle of Taierzhuang; the movie was released on 7 July 1977 in commemoration of the 7/7 Incident which sparked the start World War II in Asia.^[1]

The movie recounts the combat actions between the Chinese Air Force and the invading air power of Imperial Japan with the flashpoint of the airwar set at Jianqiao Airbase, It won 6 awards at the 14th Golden Horse Awards, including Best Film and Best Director (Chang Tseng-tse).

Cast

Liang Hsiu-shen as Colonel Gao Zhihang (died 21 November 1937 in history). He was the commander of the 4th Air Force Group based in Jianqiao Airfield. He led his group of pilots and maintenance crew to receive new Polikarpov I-16 fighter aircraft at the Lanzhou Donggang Airbase, and while at a refueling stop en route back to frontline action in Nanjing, Colonel Gao and his group were suddenly attacked by a Japanese raid, and he was killed along with his crew chief Feng Qianqing by falling Japanese bombs while on the ground in Zhoujiakou airfield.^[2]^[3]
Feng Hai as Lieutenant Shen Chonghui (Zh-Wiki - died 19 August 1937 in history). A man with few words, he was killed when he crashed his plane into a Japanese warship, causing significant damage to the ship; in actual history, he did not hit the enemy ship, and was MIA along with his backseat gunner 2Lt. Chen Xichun, and both later declared KIA)^[4]
Yu Tien-lung as Lieutenant Yan Haiwen (Zh-Wiki - died 17 August 1937 in history). He parachuted from his plane and was surrounded by Japanese soldiers demanding his surrender, but while evading capture, he shot a few soldiers and saving the last bullet for himself, shouting "No captives from China's Air Force!", and shot himself in the head. He was buried with special honors by the Japanese army.^[5]^[6]
Chiang Bin as Second Lieutenant Li Yougan (Zh-Wiki - died 18 September 1937 in history). He is shown in the movie being strafed by Japanese fighters in mid-air under his parachute after bailing-out from his burning Hawk III, but in the real-life events, 2Lt. Li Yougan was KIA during an attack against Japanese warships on the Huangpu in Shanghai that day, and shot-down by heavy anti-aircraft fire;^[7] Lt. Liu Lanqing (劉蘭清) of the 17th PS, 3rd PG equipped with P-26/281 Peashooters, led by Chinese-American volunteer fighter pilot Capt. John Huang Panyang (not shown in the movie) was in fact a victim of such a heinous mid-air strafing-attack during an air battle over Nanjing on 19 September 1937.^[8]
Chin Han as Major Liu Cuigang (Zh-Wiki - died 26 October 1937 in history), China's top-scoring fighter-ace at that point in time. The movie depicted his death as he crashed his plane into a Japanese tank. In actual history, his death was due to an accident while flying to Taiyuan city to assume command of air operations at the Battle of Taiyuan from the wounded 28th Pursuit Squadron commander Captain Chan Kee-Wong (another Chinese-American volunteer air force combatant) of fighter operations on the northern front.^[9]^[10]
Lee Ching as Ye Rongran, Gao's wife.
Sally Chen as Xu Xilin, Liu's wife.
Terry Hu as Zheng Qiuxia, Li's wife.
Ming Hu (胡銘, actress Terry Hu's younger brother), as fighter pilot Liu Zhesheng
Carter Wong as a Japanese pilot.

Historical accuracy

In the movie, Col. Gao is accurately depicted recuperating in Lu Shan from serious injuries sustained from an aerial combat engagement, but is seen listening to a radio broadcast announcement of "heroic martyrs of our air force Yue Yiqin, Zheng Shaoyu, Tan Wen, Shen Chonghui giving their lives for our nation", to which the convalescing Col. Gao furiously reacts to by throwing a cup and lamenting how he must wait while his brothers are fighting and dying; while Tan Wen and Shen Chonghui were in fact KIA while Col. Gao was convalescing, Yue Yiqin died over a week after the death of Col. Gao himself, and Zheng Shaoyu died in April 1942.^[11]

The depiction of Hawk III pilot Li Yougan getting shot down by Imperial Japanese A5Ms and then being strafed to death while descending in his parachute, was a lionizing of 17th PS, 3rd PG P-26/281 fighter pilot Liu Lanqing (劉蘭清) who was in fact killed when strafed to death mid-air after bailing-out in his parachute in an air battle over Nanjing on 19 September 1937;^[12] Li Yougan himself was actually KIA while getting shot-down by anti-aircraft fire on 18 September 1937 during dive-bombing/strafing attacks on Imperial Japanese Navy warships in the Battle of Shanghai.^[13]

Awards and nominations

1977 - 14th Golden Horse Awards

Won - Best Feature Film
Won - Chang Tseng-tse, Best Director
Won - Ho Hsiao-chung, Best Screenplay
Won - Lin Hung-tsung, Best Cinematography
Won - Wang Chi-yang, Best Editing
Won - Hsin Chiang-sheng, Best sound recording
Nominated - Liang Hsiu-shen, Best Actor

References

^ Sun, Lianggang. "Shanghai 1937: Where World War II Started". Shanghai 1937: Where World War II Started.
^ 徐 (Xú), 2016, pp. 354-355. 高烈士志航~冯烈士幹卿
^ 蒋, 泽枫. "高志航牺牲日期考辨_杂志论文_兰台世界杂志". www.zz-news.com. Retrieved 2020-12-12. ... "敌机再次进入，一阵疯狂扫射之后，只见一弹坑东侧50米处仰卧一人，杨、于二人急绕弹坑跑过去，见是一位苏联顾问已被机枪打穿腹部。这时，站长也跑来，派车将其送往医院抢救。我一面向南京政府发电报报告，一面派人整理高志航、冯干卿的遗体，并停柩于周家口镇王家花园后面一住户的空屋之内... "
^ 徐 (Xú), 2016, pp. 310-312. 沈烈士崇诲~陈烈士锡纯
^ 徐 (Xú), 2016, p. 309. 阎烈士海文
^ 蔡, 乔治. "第五大队第二十五中队阎海文". www.flyingtiger-cacw.com. Retrieved 2020-12-12. ... 阎海文躲在坟后举枪射击，又有几个日兵应声倒地。这时，他检查了一下枪膛，见只有两粒子弹了，他抬手又打死一个鬼子... 敌人在一步步逼近，死亡也一步步向他走来。阎海文擦了擦枪上的尘土，缓缓地站起了身...「砰！」枪响了，一股殷红的鲜血，伴着英雄洒落在脚下深情的土地上……当天下午，日本兵列队脱帽，向刚树立的一座新坟，上书"支那空军勇士之墓"致敬，为敌人的勇士举行葬礼，这是他们的第一次。一个多月后，在东京新宿繁华的闹市区，"支那空军勇士阎海文"公展竟吸引了成千上万的日本人，参观的东京市民络绎不绝...
^ 徐 (Xú), 2016, p. 324. 李烈士有干
^ 徐 (Xú), 2016, p. 325. 刘烈士兰清
^ 徐 (Xú), 2016, pp. 348-350. 刘烈士粹刚
^ 网易, 丘智贤 (2018-02-02). "广东队长太原击落日本驱逐之王三轮宽". news.163.com. Retrieved 2020-12-12. 1937年9月21日，击落日军著名飞行员三轮宽的我空军第二十八队队长陈其光(照片) - 支那事变殊勋录刊登之日本陆军航空兵中佐三轮宽(照片)
^ Chai, George. "十四航空隊中美空軍混合團 CACW". 中國飛虎研究學會. Archived from the original on 2014-04-18. Retrieved 2020-10-24.
^ Cheung, 2015, pp. 52/63. Lt. Liu Lanqing was hit within minutes of the commencing action in the large air battle over Nanking, and while bailing-out, he was quickly encircled by three E8Ns and strafed to death...
^ "劉烈士蘭清". air.mnd.gov.tw (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2020-11-25. 民國二十六年九月十九日八時許，日軍以艦上輕轟炸機、水上偵察機、單翼驅逐機約三十架空襲南京，我機二十一架自句容、南京各地起飛迎擊。九時許，第十七隊副隊長黃新瑞率波因機五架，在句容上空與敵水機八架遭遇，展開格鬥，互有傷亡。烈士駕一七○一號機與敵纏鬥中，負重傷。跳傘後復被敵機三架追蹤射擊，墜於江寧縣境西成鄉陣亡。

Bibliography

Cheung, Raymond. OSPREY AIRCRAFT OF THE ACES 126: Aces of the Republic of China Air Force. Oxford: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2015. ISBN 978 14728 05614.
徐 (Xú), 露梅 (Lùméi). 隕落 (Fallen): 682位空军英烈的生死档案 - 抗战空军英烈档案大解密 (A Decryption of 682 Air Force Heroes of The War of Resistance-WWII and Their Martyrdom). 东城区, 北京，中国: 团结出版社, 2016. ISBN 978-7-5126-4433-5.