also received five P-43s with five more promised. At this time, the CAFT consisted of 56 operational fighters, including P-40Bs, P-40Es and a few P-43s in four squadrons (the 16th, 74th, 75th and 76th) and eight B-25Cs of the 11th Bomb Squadron at Kunming, Guilin, Hengyang and Yunnan. On 3 September, a P-43 flown by Lieutenant Martin Cluck of the 75th Squadron had to abort a reconnaissance mission due to mechanical trouble, Japanese fighters attacked him at low altitude near the air base and riddled his P-43. Cluck landed safely and escaped from his aircraft, but the P-43 was destroyed by Japanese strafing. One P-40 was also destroyed on the ground. On 27 October 1942, 12 P-43s of the Chinese Air Force flying from Taipingsi, Sichuan, escorted nine A-29 Hudsons in a raid on Yungcheng, Shanxi. They destroyed one Japanese aircraft on the ground without suffering losses. In November, a mission of A-29 Hudsons was flown with escorts of P-66 Vanguards. In November, another bombing mission were flown escorted by P-43s. On 27 November, a bombing mission of A-29s was joined by Soviet SB bombers; in this mission one A-29 and three SB bombers were lost due to bad weather. On 30 December, three P-43s and six P-40s from the CATF flew an escort mission to Lashio, Burma; the P-43s provided top cover to the P-40s, enabling the P-40s to claim one of the six Japanese fighters encountered. 1943 On 10 March 1943, Claire Lee Chennault was promoted to Major General, taking command also of the 14th Air Force, that was newly formed on 5 March 1943. On 19 March 1943, the CATF was incorporated into the United States Army as the 14th Air Force. The 10th and 14th Air Forces became the major American combat forces in the China-Burma-India theatre. The 14th Air Force took on the name of Flying Tigers. In the eight-month operations of the CATF from July 1942 to March 1943, they shot down 145 Japanese planes and 85 probables, and flew 65 bombing missions; they lost 16 P-40s and one B-25 Mitchell bomber. In May 1943, the Japanese launched a ground offensive advancing into the area of Dongting Lake in northeastern Hunan and the region of the Yangtze River feeding to the lake. The objectives of the offensive were to secure the communication line and capture the fertile Chinese "Rice Bowl" region. To counter the