Stan grinned as he looked across at O’Malley who had to wait his turn. O’Malley probably was frothing at the mouth. Suddenly the wild Irishman nosed over and was gone like a flash. Stan circled and went up into the sun, near a bank of clouds.
The P–40’s broke upon the Jap fighters like streaks of fire. They cut across the flight of Japs and in a few seconds the Kariganes had no chance to go after the bombers. Stan watched the fight below. There was no need to give any orders now. The Flying Tigers were lone wolves and when unleashed they would go it on their own.
Stan watched the red roof of the temple below. That was the only visible mark in the jungle, aside from the native village. As he laid over and circled downward he saw great mushrooms of smoke and flame rising from the woods. The Hudsons had located oil tanks and ammunition dumps as well as parked planes. The flames spread and enveloped the temple. They leaped over the tops of the trees. Stan saw wrecked bombers and men running madly away from the woods.
Stan passed up two Jap fighters and went twisting down in a tight circle, leaving a beautiful curl of smoke. He was looking for a certain P–40 carrying the army insignia of China and the serial number 9-P–89. He sighted plenty of P–40’s. The air was full of them. The Japs had gotten most of their fighters up and were making a stand. Stan judged they had forty of them in the air. But he could not locate Munson.
A circle of anti-aircraft guns had broken into full blast below. Stan laughed softly. That was just what Dern needed. He saw the Hudsons wheel and come back over. They nosed down inside the circle of gunfire, the spot that was marked out for them. One of them lifted, half-turned over, then tossed away a wing. It crashed into the flaming roof of the temple. The others went through the muck and down to the tops of the trees before they unloaded. Then they zoomed up to where the P–40’s were having a circus.
Stan dived into a fight near him. Four Japs were trying to corner a Flying Tiger that had been crippled. He lashed across one of the Karigane fighters and riddled it; then spun and dived on another. It burst into flames as his Brownings found its engine and fuel tank. The other Karigane dived and fled.
Stan saw, as he went up, that the P–40’s were kings of the air. He wondered who had shot Munson down. Cupping his flap mike, he called to his men:
“Temple Flight! Fighter formation! Disabled planes, head for base.” He had spotted two of his planes wobbling and fighting their controls. “Go in, disabled planes. Head in! Wilson speaking!”
The two fighters headed off on the trail of the bombers. Cupping his mike again, Stan ordered:
“Go down for ground strafing. Take out the guns on the ground!”