走近中國抗戰(zhàn)飛行員的搖籃

曉今

世界上沒有一所軍校或一支部隊(duì)，會(huì)在大門口豎上這樣一塊牌子，寫著這樣一些文字——我們的身體、飛機(jī)和炸彈，當(dāng)與敵人兵艦陣地同歸于盡！

這個(gè)牌子曾經(jīng)出現(xiàn)在中國杭州的筧橋，出現(xiàn)在中央航空學(xué)校的門口，它書寫的是這所學(xué)校的校訓(xùn)。

浙江省檔案館珍藏著一本黑皮封面的《中央航空學(xué)校通訊錄》，那里面有一張張發(fā)黃的老照片，有一個(gè)個(gè)近年來已經(jīng)漸漸為人熟悉的名字：高志航、劉粹剛、李桂丹、沈崇誨、閻海文、樂以琴、陳懷民……那是一個(gè)個(gè)把名字寫在天空和大地的壯士，那是中華民族抗擊外寇的千古英雄。

20世紀(jì)30年代初的中國，內(nèi)憂外患，九一八事變之后，東北淪陷，日本發(fā)動(dòng)全面侵華戰(zhàn)爭的野心已經(jīng)昭然若揭。

就在這個(gè)時(shí)候，一所全新的航空學(xué)校在杭州筧橋誕生了，這就是中央航空學(xué)校。它是國民政府貫徹孫中山先生“航空救國”的思想，落實(shí)“無空防即無國防”的具體措施之一，因?yàn)楹竺孢€相繼辦起了防空學(xué)校等。中央航校在很長一段時(shí)間里由蔣介石親任校長，正如他之前親任黃埔軍校校長一樣。與此同時(shí)，宋美齡擔(dān)任航空委員會(huì)的秘書長。讓一個(gè)毫無軍方背景的人擔(dān)此重任，就是希望通過她的影響力，能讓中國的航空事業(yè)能迅速發(fā)展，特別是希望能夠得到美國的大力支持。

為什么選中杭州筧橋

筧橋地處杭州的東北郊。這里自古繁華，名人賢士輩出，文化底蘊(yùn)深厚。

據(jù)《杭州地方志》所載，民國二十六年前，即1937年抗戰(zhàn)全面爆發(fā)之前，筧橋就已是一個(gè)商業(yè)集市，民居密集，街市興旺，商業(yè)街從當(dāng)時(shí)的筧橋火車站起至迎賓橋，長達(dá)兩千米，街上有“九車十八當(dāng)”，僅油車鋪就有9家，當(dāng)鋪18家，酒館、茶店、米鋪和飯莊林立。

更為重要的是，筧橋在清朝末年時(shí)就有屯兵的兵營，即一些書上所稱的“大營筧橋”。同時(shí)筧橋還是中國第一個(gè)植物園——國立第三中山大學(xué)（即民國時(shí)期的國立浙江大學(xué)）農(nóng)學(xué)院的誕生地。1927年，中國著名植物學(xué)家鐘觀光教授受聘為國立浙江大學(xué)教授，奉命籌建植物園。而比這更早的是，1911年建立的浙江農(nóng)事試驗(yàn)場，場址也在筧橋。所以簡單地說，筧橋有兩個(gè)特點(diǎn)，一是管天空的，那主要是為了國防建設(shè);二是管土地的，那是跟吃飯穿衣有關(guān)系的。

中國之大，為什么要將培養(yǎng)飛行員的航空學(xué)校辦在杭州筧橋呢？這是當(dāng)時(shí)國民政府多方考慮的結(jié)果。

杭州之外，當(dāng)時(shí)還分別有兩個(gè)備選地：洛陽和南昌。有人可能也會(huì)問，為什么不是北上廣呢？比如北京就有南苑航校之基礎(chǔ)，上海在當(dāng)時(shí)就已經(jīng)是國際大都市，廣州也有航空學(xué)校的基礎(chǔ)，但因?yàn)槟抢锏牡胤絼萘μ珡?qiáng)，所以中央政府辦的航空學(xué)校必須另辟陣地。南京當(dāng)時(shí)是首都，上海是海港，離日本太近，因此當(dāng)時(shí)只有三個(gè)備選地：杭州、洛陽和南昌。

洛陽后來辦過航校的分校，但秋天風(fēng)沙遍地，會(huì)給飛行訓(xùn)練帶來諸多困難，而南昌當(dāng)時(shí)辦校的政治、氣候并不理想，所以最后由蔣介石親自選定了杭州。

杭州城市生活條件較好，交通便利，離上海也近，滬杭鐵路及浙贛線都在筧橋設(shè)有車站。而蔣介石本人又多少有點(diǎn)家鄉(xiāng)觀念，他是希望能有更多的浙江學(xué)子來報(bào)考航校。再加上筧橋本來就有兵營駐扎，邊上又有喬司機(jī)場可作備用。

1932年至1937年期間，筧校的中央航校培養(yǎng)了一大批飛行員，這期間一共招了十二期學(xué)員。其中，第十二期招進(jìn)來不久，他們就往大西南撤退了，后來在印度繼續(xù)辦學(xué)，也有成批送往美國訓(xùn)練的?？箲?zhàn)勝利之后，航校又遷回筧橋。美國駐華大使司徒雷登到杭州給父母掃墓時(shí)曾去訪問過航校。

“醒村”里的一腔愛國熱血

2006年，航校舊址被列為全國文保單位。今天的筧橋航校舊址內(nèi)，有幾幢保存完好的西式建筑，這些建筑群被叫作“醒村”。醒含有“覺醒”“東方醒獅”之意。

走在醒村，可以看見建筑外墻呈奶黃色，高聳的壁爐煙囪，人字形的坡屋頂，陽臺(tái)的花飾鑄鐵欄桿在綠樹叢中時(shí)隱時(shí)現(xiàn)。醒村39號(hào)樓位于醒村的中間，為二層四開間西式別墅，最早被稱為“校長樓”，蔣介石在建設(shè)筧橋機(jī)場期間，經(jīng)常住在此樓辦公。醒村36號(hào)樓被稱“美齡樓”，是因?yàn)樗蚊例g在此住過。

據(jù)臺(tái)灣地區(qū)空軍司令、筧橋航校二期生賴名湯回憶：“當(dāng)時(shí)全國高等學(xué)府的環(huán)境與建設(shè)，北方算清華最好，南方就算航校最好。我們教職員宿舍也全部是西式洋房，分甲乙丙三種：甲村住的是美國顧問，其中包括飛行主任教官、組長等;乙村為一般教官;丙村為年輕單身教官，或初婚教官住所?！?/p>

眾所周知，筧橋航校當(dāng)時(shí)主要由美國教官來執(zhí)行訓(xùn)練，整個(gè)訓(xùn)練體制也是借鑒美國的體系。它主要的特點(diǎn)是嚴(yán)進(jìn)嚴(yán)出，淘汰率極高。這跟之前有的航校采用意大利的訓(xùn)練模式完全不一樣。

意大利是開門辦學(xué)，進(jìn)來出去都比較寬松，你只要能飛到30個(gè)小時(shí)就算畢業(yè)了。而筧橋航校的報(bào)考者首先必須是高中畢業(yè)以上的學(xué)歷，因此當(dāng)時(shí)是有不少大學(xué)在校生或畢業(yè)生投筆從戎的，像電影《無問西東》中王力宏扮演的沈光耀的原型就是三期生沈崇誨，他是清華大學(xué)畢業(yè)之后再來投考航校的，這在當(dāng)時(shí)的青年學(xué)子中不在少數(shù)。

但是光有一腔愛國熱血不夠，還得通過新生入伍訓(xùn)練的考核。這大約有一半的淘汰率，特別是進(jìn)入飛行科。它分初、中、高三個(gè)階段，每個(gè)階段需飛滿六十個(gè)小時(shí)，通過考核才能升入上一級(jí)，不合格則被淘汰，而且淘汰率在30%左右（這是指已經(jīng)考入飛行科的），這是美國教官的訓(xùn)練方式。所以，最后能成為正式飛行員的，往往都是精英分子，而那些淘汰下來的，只能轉(zhuǎn)崗做地勤。當(dāng)然，有的也會(huì)再去投考陸軍學(xué)校。每一屆的學(xué)員中，都有在訓(xùn)練中犧牲的，在《中央航空學(xué)校通訊錄》（包含一期到五期學(xué)員的信息）中有記載，比如那上面對(duì)陳嘉麟烈士的介紹——

“烈士字必達(dá)，浙江杭縣人，性活潑好運(yùn)動(dòng)，幼時(shí)讀岳飛戚繼光書，相（想）見其為人，輒為之神往，年十四，入蕙蘭中學(xué)，年十七入之江文理學(xué)院肄業(yè)，九·一八、一·二八事變，烈士聯(lián)合校中同學(xué)組織抗日會(huì)，向外宣傳，演劇，喚起國人，烈士盡力獨(dú)多……本年七月五日烈士駕諾斯羅泊機(jī)由杭飛贛，抵南昌空軍總站飛行機(jī)場時(shí)，因降落時(shí)觸及洼處，致機(jī)覆著火，烈士右眼上骨折斷，體又被燒灼，于是日下午三時(shí)四十五分畢命，年二十三。

家址：杭州忠孝巷滸街六號(hào)?！?/p>

這真是：出師未捷身先死，長使英雄淚滿襟。

1937年8月14日，筧橋上空爆發(fā)了著名的八一四空戰(zhàn)，這是中日空軍第一次在空中正面交鋒。

那一天是個(gè)臺(tái)風(fēng)天，第四航空大隊(duì)隊(duì)長高志航率數(shù)架飛機(jī)在空中狙擊日本木更津航空隊(duì)，他們是從新竹飛來的，共有兩個(gè)編隊(duì)共18架九六式轟炸機(jī)。這場空戰(zhàn)最終由高志航首開紀(jì)錄，在空中擊落一架日本轟炸機(jī)。第二架日機(jī)被李桂丹擊落，另外還有兩架拖著重傷飛向臺(tái)灣，一架迫降在澎湖海面，一架完全報(bào)廢，由此中國空軍獲得了4比0的勝績。不過，很長一段時(shí)間都被宣傳為6比0。

次日8月15日，日本又對(duì)杭州實(shí)施了報(bào)復(fù)性轟炸，高志航率空中勇士又一次擊落了數(shù)架日機(jī)。其中，他本人再擊落一架，只不過他的手臂也被日本飛行員的手槍射傷。最后，高志航單手把飛機(jī)降落，他沒有把傷情告訴任何人，而是自己單手開車到了梅騰更醫(yī)院（即今天的浙江大學(xué)附屬第二醫(yī)院）進(jìn)行治療，后來他被接到廬山進(jìn)行治療和休養(yǎng)，這一情節(jié)在《筧橋英烈傳》中有提及。

1939年9月，國民政府下令：8月14日為中國空軍節(jié)。由此，筧橋?qū)戇M(jìn)了中國抗戰(zhàn)史，筧橋航校也名副其實(shí)地成為中國空軍的搖籃。

1949年10月1日的開國大典，飛過天安門檢閱臺(tái)的21名飛行員中，有15名就是從筧橋航校飛出去的，他們或?yàn)橹泄驳叵曼h員，或?yàn)槠鹆x人員，他們?yōu)樾轮袊暮娇帐聵I(yè)作出了不可磨滅的貢獻(xiàn)。

Central Aviation School in Hangzhou

By Xiao Jin

The Central Aviation School in Jianqiao， Hangzhou is a glorious chapter in the history of Chinas national-defense modernization. In 1930， the national government decided to set up the school on the site of a sericulture academy in Jianqiao. In the spring of 1931， the school houses and the airport came into being. Airplanes were purchased and students were recruited. From 1932 to 1937， the school enrolled 12 groups of trainees. As the war broke out in 1937 on a full scale， the last trainee group was transferred to the southwest before the young pilots were fully trained. During this period， about 500 pilots graduated from the school in Hangzhou. For a long while Chiang Kai-shek was the principal of the school and his wife Madam Soong May-ling headed the Aviation Committee of the national government.

Many people of today may wonder why Jianqiao was chosen to be home to the school. Jianqiao is in the northeastern suburb of the city. Before Chinas War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression broke out on a total scale in 1937， Jianqiao had become a town of prosperity. Home to a railway station and an airport， Jianqiao had a 2，000-meter-long street which abounded with restaurants， wine shops， teahouses， rice shops， pawnshops， which constituted a whole chain of hospitality that catered to the railway and airport people there. In the last decades of the Qing Dynasty （1644-1911）， Jianqiao hosted a large military base. It was the most ideal place for an airport which needed vast open lands and space.

Back then， Luoyang in central Chinas Henan Province and Nanchang in Jiangxi Province to the west of Zhejiang were also considered for hosting the Central Aviation School. They were shortlisted after Beijing， Shanghai， and Guangzhou were ruled out for political reasons and national-defense precautions （Shanghai is too close to Japan）. Luoyang was ruled out largely because of the inclement climate. Nanchang was eliminated largely because it was far away from anywhere. Jianqiao was picked for a number of reasons： a native of Zhejiang， Chiang Kai-shek hoped to train pilots from Zhejiang who shared the native roots with him. Hangzhou was part of the Yangtze River Delta where people were comparatively well-off and well educated and it was connected with big cities such as Shanghai， Suzhou and Nanjing through a railway system. As the city was close to relatively well off cities and vast countryside， provisions could be much better and easily handled and trainers from the United States could live more comfortably at Jianqiao.

Trainers from the United States played a central role in the schools aviation education for young Chinese pilots. The adoption of the American training system meant that China ruled out the Italian system which had been used for a while and found ineffective. In the American training system， only 50% of the trainees could qualify for the pilot training course. The training course was divided in primary， intermediate and advanced levels. At each level， a trainee needed to fly for 60 hours and needed to pass a test to qualify for the next level. It was estimated that about 30% failed to pass the graduation examination. Those who graduated from the training course became elite pilots and those who failed to graduate attended other courses and became ground service people. Some left the aviation school and signed up with army military academies.

The most glorious and heroic moment of the school happened on August 14， 1937 when pilots in Jianqiao engaged in an air battle over Hangzhou and shot down four Japanese airplanes which invaded from Taiwan. In September 1939， the national government named August 14 as the Day of China Air Force to glorify the heroism. The address books of the school list names of the pilot heroes remembered in the history of Chinas resistance war against Japanese aggression.

On October 1， 1949， which was the first national day of the Peoples Republic of China， 21 PLA pilots flew over the Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Of the 21 pilots， fifteen were graduates from the Central Aviation School in Hangzhou. Some of them had joined the Communist Party secretly and some had defected to the Communists. They made contributions to the aviation undertakings of the Peoples Republic.

In 2006， the site of the aviation school was officially inscribed as a national cultural heritage for preservation. A number of the western-styled houses still stand on the site today. A two-story villa is now called President Residence， where Chiang Kai-shek took care of administrative affairs when the airport was under construction. Another house is called May-Ling Residence where Madam Chiang used to stay.