Soviet pilots fought under Chinese names

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Soviet pilots on the I-16, who voluntarily participated in the conflict between China and Japan, 1938 © / RIA Novosti

The song "Phantom", known to the present generation by the group "Chizh & Co", sounded for the first time among courtyard performers in the cities of the Soviet Union at the height of the Vietnam War.

At that time of secrecy, there were rumors that Soviet pilots were fighting in the sky of Vietnam under false names with the Americans. Very quickly, the "pilot Li Xi Tsin" turned into a folklore image of a hero, whose feat is not officially covered.

However, "Li Si Tsin" does not sound in Vietnamese at all, but in Chinese. The history of the origin of this pseudonym is three decades older.

Special mission in China

In the 1930s, Japan was actively expanding in China, which led to periodic military clashes with the official authorities of this country. In July 1937, Japan's full-scale aggression began.

The Soviet Union had, to put it mildly, a difficult relationship with the then Head of China Chiang Kai-shekHowever, Moscow was interested in the Japanese getting bogged down in a war with China. The longer this confrontation lasted, the less opportunity the Japanese had to attack directly on the USSR.

In the fall of 1937, China turned to the USSR with a request to supply military aircraft, as well as to send volunteer pilots. By October 21, 1937, 447 people had been trained to be sent to China, including ground technicians, aerodrome maintenance specialists, engineers and aircraft assembly workers. The first group included squadrons of SB bombers and I-16 fighters. Until 1939, two squadrons of bombers and a squadron of I-15 fighters were also sent to China. The total number of Soviet volunteers in China exceeded 700.

Feat of Comrade Fyn Po

In November 1937, 7 I-16 fighters in a battle with 20 Japanese aircraft over Nanjing shot down two fighters and one bomber without loss. This was the beginning of the successful combat work of Soviet pilots in China.

One of the most notorious episodes of that war was the Soviet air raid on the Japanese airbase on the island of Taiwan on February 23, 1938. During the bombing, up to 40 Japanese aircraft were destroyed. Bomber group commander captain Fyodor Polyninknown in China as Fyn Po.

Aliases were required. After all, the USSR did not officially wage a war with Japan, so the pilots operating in China, like other military specialists, bore Chinese names.

Likewise, Soviet pilots and tankers took part in the Spanish Civil War, operating there under Spanish names.

In 1940, two books, Wings of China. Notes of a Military Pilot "and" Notes of Chinese Pilots "attributed to Chinese authors. They talked about battles with the Japanese in the skies of China, and among the names of the aces sounded such as Hu Be Nho and Lee Si Tsin, which were more familiar to the Russian ear Gubenko and Lisitsyn.

The real authors of the books were Soviet writers Yuri Zhukov and Yuri Korolkov … They communicated with Soviet pilots who fought as volunteers in China, and based on their memories, they wrote about the battles in the form permitted at that time.

Soviet pilots on TB-3 in China. Photo: RIA Novosti

"Soviet pilots were dressed in the uniform of Chinese People's Volunteers"

Li Xi Cing's "reanimation" took place in the early 1950s when the Korean War broke out. In this conflict, the Soviet pilots had to face not the Japanese, but the Americans.

Hero of the Soviet Union Evgeny Pepelyaev, who shot down 20 American planes in the skies of Korea, recalled: “We were forbidden to fly over the sea, where the American fleet dominated, it was forbidden to approach the front line, so that, if shot down, we would not fall into enemy territory and be taken prisoner. The Americans were aware of all these prohibitions and skillfully used them - for example, when it got very hot, their planes always left us in the direction of the sea, where we could not pursue them … We had to fly with Korean identification marks and in Chinese uniforms. Kozhedub personally selected pilots who had either front-line experience, or well mastered the most advanced jet fighter at that time, the MiG-15. Soviet pilots who participated in the battles were dressed in the uniform of Chinese people's volunteers, Chinese names and surnames such as Si-Ni-Tsyn or Li-Si-Tsin, and the "MiGs" were adorned with Korean identification marks. Such measures were taken so as not to provoke condemnation of the Soviet intervention in the affairs of Korea by the UN and the world community."

The Soviet air group was commanded by the legendary Ivan Kozhedub, three times Hero of the Soviet Union. Ivan Nikitovich himself spoke about camouflage and secrecy: “I had a different surname. Li-Si-Tsyn. Is it okay? However, all this "disguise" was sewn with white thread. When the battle began, they communicated, of course, in Russian: "Pasha, cover, I will attack …"

During the Korean War, Soviet pilots, together with air defense fighters, destroyed a total of 1,250 enemy aircraft. More than 120 Soviet pilots were killed in these battles.

In Vietnam, Soviet pilots did not participate in battles. Except on special occasions

Well, what about Vietnam, to which the song "Phantom" is dedicated? There, during the war, a group of Soviet military specialists operated in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, through which 6359 generals and officers and more than 4500 conscripts and sergeants passed from 1965 to 1974.

The core of the group was made up of anti-aircraft specialists, but there was also an Air Force group that trained Vietnamese pilots. Officially, Soviet pilots were strictly forbidden to participate in hostilities. But how well was this rule followed?

It is reliably known that there were no significant losses among Soviet servicemen in Vietnam, which allows us to conclude that our pilots did, for the most part, train the Vietnamese.

But there was an episode in which the Soviet pilot, the MiG, and the notorious Phantom appeared.

Among those sent to Vietnam was senior test pilot of the V. P. Chkalov Air Force Research Institute Hero of the Soviet Union Colonel Vasily Kotlov … He trained Vietnamese pilots in the use of air-to-air missiles. Kotlov performed the next flight on a two-seat MiG-21US, controlling the actions of the Vietnamese pilot. Suddenly, an American Phantom appeared in the sector where Kotlov's plane was located. An experienced tester, guiding the actions of his student, led him to an attack, during which the American was shot down.

For this battle, Kotlov received a diploma from the Vietnamese government and the title of "Honorary Citizen of Hanoi".

It can be said that the legend of the pilot Li Xi Tsin combined the real feats of dozens, and maybe hundreds of Soviet pilots who fought in the skies of other countries.