Heroes of the Eastern Skies

''Heroes of the Eastern Skies'' (; pinyin: ''jianqiao yinglie zhuan''), 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.

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.
* 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'')
* 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.
* 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; ''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.
* 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.
* 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.

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; 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.

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

See also

* Air Warfare of WWII from the Sino-Japanese War perspective
*'' Departed Heroes'', a 2011 Chinese TV series about Gao and others
* Development of the Nationalist Air Force of China; the combined effort of overseas Chinese volunteer pilots and former warlord air force units joining the central authority of the Republic of China Air Force for the War of Resistance/World War II against the Imperial Japanese invasion from 1937 to 1945

References

''Bibliography''

* Cheung, Raymond. ''OSPREY AIRCRAFT OF THE ACES 126: Aces of the Republic of China Air Force''. Oxford: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2015. .
* 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. .

External links

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{{GoldenHorseAwardBestFilm

Republic of China Air Force personnel
Chinese aviators
Military personnel of the Republic of China killed in the Second Sino-Japanese War
Chinese World War II flying aces
1970s historical films
Second Sino-Japanese War films
1970s Mandarin-language films
Films set in 1937
1977 films
Films about air forces
Taiwanese historical films