SINO-JAPANESE AIR WAR: 1937-1945 - The Longest Struggle

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Starting with the Japanese aggression in July 1937, it soon accelerated into a full-scale war with the Chinese Kuomintang government. The Chinese Air Force was to suffer large losses during the whole conflict with Japan. During the first weeks of the war the Chinese lost almost all of their medium bombers. This was a pattern that would be repeated again and again.

Not getting much help from the outside world, the Kuomintang government, led by Chiang Kai-shek, soon signed a treaty with the Soviet Union to receive armament, including a large number of aircraft and Soviet volunteers to fly some of them.

This difficult relation with the Soviet Union lasted until 1941, when the USA became the main supplier of armament to China, including the short-lived but famous US voluntary group called the Flying Tigers.