| A6M Zero's first air-to-air happened on 9/13/1937 over Chongqing: 12th Kokutai Zeroes met 34 Polikarpov I-15 + I-16 fighters led by Maj. Louie Yim-qun and Maj. Zhèng Shaoyu; the Zeroes claimed 27 of the Chinese fighters, the Chinese lost 10 pilots killed and 8 wounded; Lt. Gao Youxin did latch onto the tail of a Zero and thought he shot it down, but in fact all Zeroes safely returned to base with 4 Zeroes damaged... both Major Louie and Zhèng survived the Battle. |