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The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) committed air units to the struggle. They introduced their advanced long-range G3M medium-heavy land-based bombers. They also used their carrier-based aircraft. They expected to easily destroy the small, poorly equipped Chinese Air Force, but encountered unexpectedly effective resistance. The Chinese Air Force faced the increasingly sophisticated Imperial Japanese Army and Navy Air Forces. The Chinese engaged the Japanese in many aerial actions. This included the interception of Japanese bombers attacking Chiunese cities. Here the major Japanese tactic was terror. Unlike Europe, there were few factories producing war material in even the larger Chinese cities. The Japanese believed that these terror raids would convince the Chinese people in the denseless cities to surrender to the Japanese. Of course the suffering of the Chinese people was not about to affect Nationalist or Communist Commanders. And the bombing and other actions of Japanese barbarity only created a visceral hatred toward the Japanese that lingers in China and Korea even to this day. The air battles over China in the first year of the War were the largest aerial engagements fought since World War I. They were aerial battles, however, that the small Chinese Air Force could not sustain. The Chinese aviators put up a valiant defense, but were overwhelmed. It was first taste of combat for the Japanese air forces and a opportunity to hone their skills. It was also an opportunity for the Western powers to learn about Japanese air power. 【Hui】 Tragically, Western powers took little note of the growing Japanese power--especially Japanese air power. This include reports from retired Army Air Corps officer Claire Chennault who Madam Chang had hired to advise the Chinese Air Force. He arrived in China a month before the Japanese attacked (June 1937). 【Chennault】 The Japanese destroyed the Chinese Air Force (1937). The Japanese seized Chinese ports and large areas of northern and coastal China. There were great victories. And early on the Japanese turned to terror. The Rape of Nanking (December 1937-January 1938) was one of the most monstrous atrocities of history. But the Japanese invasion bogged down. There was virtually non infrastructure in the interior, Not only no railroads, but no roads and bridges. The Japanese did not have the industrial base to drive deep into China's rugged interior. So the Japanese began bombing interior cities with no goal other than to kill as many civilians as possible. Until Chennault returned with the Flying Tigers authorized by President Roosevelt (December 1941), Chinese cities had no defense against Japanese bombers. Madam Chang was the unofficial head of the Chinese Air Force. and would play a central role in the formation of the American Flying Tigers.
Chennault, Claire. Way of a Fighter (New York: Putnam's, 1949). Chennault had retired from the U.S. Army ir Corps, in large measure because he insisted on the impotance of fighter aircraft in an airforce dominated by the Bombers Boys. Chennsult would ultimately command the American Voluneer Group (AVG) -- the Flying Tigers. He had an answer to the Zero even before the Pacific War broke out. The authorities in Washington ignored his reports.
Hui, Samuel. "Chinese Air Force vs. the Empire of Japan". War Bird Forum..
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