Lianyun Airport, located northeast of Dasha River, may be the first real airport in China, or even the world. Unlike airports in other countries in this era, which were just flat grasslands, Lianyun Airport has a dedicated hard runway and apron.

, and hangars made of steel beams and asbestos tiles are distributed at both ends of the airport.

Almost every day, from early morning until night, planes take off and land here. In the middle of the airport is a three-story building. This building is where the Jiangsu Army Air Force is located. It is both a barracks and a school.

It is also a dormitory. Those pilots who transferred from the Blue Sky Aviation Club to the Jiangsu Army train and study here almost day and night. Of course, more people here are "rookies" who have just received training.

"Maintain formation, 02, pay attention..." []

Next to a Type 1 Combat Attack aircraft in the hangar, two pilots each held an aircraft model. They were conducting ground drills in the formation there. The pilot standing in front of the lead aircraft conveyed orders from time to time.

Although the Jiangsu Army Air Force currently only has 68 aircraft, of which only 60 are Type 1 combat attack or Type 1 water attack aircraft, it has an aviation force composed of 123 pilots and 1,364 ground crew members. In terms of personnel size alone,

This is perhaps the most disciplined aviation force in the world.

Of course, in terms of the number of aircraft, it is far inferior to aviation powers such as France and Germany. But most pilots here know that when it comes to the performance of aircraft, the land combat attack aircraft and water attack aircraft owned by the Jiangsu Army Air Force are undoubtedly

It is the most advanced aircraft of this era.

“The plane is great, but the people are terrible!”

Zhu Binhou, who was wearing a lieutenant colonel officer's uniform, looked at the training formation in the air through the telescope and muttered to himself, of course he, the chief officer of the Army Air Force, would not say this out loud, but speaking of the matter, these

Pilots, even those who have completed sea attack training, will only be third-rate, or at best second-rate pilots when they get to Europe.

Although he did not doubt that no air power could stop the Jiangsu Army Air Force in the air, he knew that this was simply due to the advantages of aircraft. The aircraft manufactured by Lianyun were at least 15 years ahead of Europe.

But the quality of pilots needs to be improved. But now, the performance of the aircraft can only make up for the quality of the pilots. Fortunately, Japan is not an air power, and no country has real fighter jets. At least in the next year,

The Jiangsu Army Air Force is still the most powerful air force in the world.

"Yueyang, do you think we should open an aviation school?"

When the third squadron returned, Zhu Bin, who put down his telescope, asked the Air Force Chief of Staff. He was Feng Ru's student. Like him, both of them were immediately fascinated by this guy who could fly freely in the sky.

Unlike his fellow apprentices who chose aviation manufacturing, he chose flying, and the Type One Combat Attack was developed under his suggestion.

"If we could have opened an aviation school half a year or even three months earlier, we wouldn't be like now, just waiting in Lianyun!"

"There is no way, we can't complete the training, it's useless for us to go there, and we also waste the opportunity to attack with one attack,"

As he spoke, Zhu Binhou's face was full of regret. He dreamed of proving the power of aircraft to the world through actual combat. Whether it was combat attack or water attack, advanced aircraft combined with powerful torpedoes were the nemesis of battleships.

, but unfortunately, most of the pilots in the air force are rookies and cannot accurately complete the water attack mission at all. After the two squadrons transferred to Qingdao, the remaining four squadrons have been training.

"I hope we can catch up with the Battle of Qingdao!"

While speaking, he raised his head and looked in the direction of Qingdao. Qingdao had been silent for several days, and there was not even an artillery battle. In his opinion, this was undoubtedly the calm before the storm. Maybe there would be a violent storm next, but

By then, will the air force be able to engage in actual combat?

Ilqis Airport was built during the German occupation of Jiao'ao. It is also the only airport in Qingdao. It is said to be an airport, but in fact it is just a flat and carefully manicured grassland.

The weather in September still has a hint of midsummer. It is only early in the morning, and even before six o'clock, there is already a hint of heat in the breeze.

"damn it."

Zhu Xiangcai, a former mechanical student at Dehua University, a member of the aviation club, and now a lieutenant of the Jiangsu Army, had just shot down an "enemy plane" in his dream, when he was suddenly brought back to the real world by the barking of a military dog.

When he opened his eyes and saw the tent, he couldn't help but feel a little angry.

Ten days ago, after the brigade was stationed in Qingdao, he had been eager to fly a plane, drop bombs on the Japanese troops, and sink Japanese ships with torpedoes. But now, except for a few air-conditioning flights, he even canceled it.

Routine training, and the troops also issued strict orders to prohibit approaching the enemy without receiving orders.

As for the reconnaissance mission?

Um!

It was carried out using a Merkades reconnaissance aircraft and an Aljos reconnaissance aircraft left by the Germans. As for the Attack 1 attack fighter, well, it stayed at the airport to nest.

It was no longer realistic to shoot down enemy planes, and sleeping was meaningless. Zhu Xiang had no choice but to crawl off the cot with a grumble. Maybe rolling would be more appropriate. The empty wine bottles on the ground in the tent were from a few drunkards in this team.

Last night was a success. These days, apart from having fun together all day long, I really don’t know how to pass the boring time and space.

"damn it……"

Listening to the sound of cannons in the distance in the tent, Zhu Xiang couldn't help but curse again. This must be the coastal artillery attacking the Japanese warships trying to get closer. These days, the forts have reported many achievements, and they are even sold in Shanghai.

The "Cape Cape Fortress" is rolling cigarettes for no other reason than they sank the cruiser Chiyoda. Although it was an old ship before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1891, and although it was sunk by the Japanese army after heavy damage, it was still the first in the history of China's modern coastal defense.

The results of the Great War.

Sink the cruiser... If we are dispatched, we can sink the battleship!

With this muttering in his mind, Zhu Xiangcai continued to brush his teeth and wash his face... After washing up, eating a few steamed buns and drinking a glass of milk, the hour hand hadn't reached six-thirty yet. It seemed like today was another long and boring day.

Just as he was thinking about the empty cup, the squadron leader appeared behind him.

"Lieutenant Zhu Xiangcai!"

"have!"

Following the squadron leader's shout, Zhu Xiang reflexively threw the empty cup on the table, turned around, stood up, and stood at attention.

"Take a break."

After performing a military salute and receiving a return gift from Zhu Xiangcai, because he had just been incorporated into the army, he naturally had to strictly demand his subordinates according to the standards of a soldier. Li Fei seemed quite satisfied with his subordinate's quick response, so his tone relaxed.

"Today is September 2nd. Counting the days, the Japanese landing force should be arriving soon, probably in... this area."

Li Fei pointed to a small area circled with a pencil on the map he carried with him. In fact, it was just a sea.

"You fly over there today, find out the enemy's maritime formations, and fly that Dawu!"

The Big Bird in Li Fei's mouth refers to the German-made Mercados reconnaissance aircraft. It is a monoplane. The entire aircraft is completely in the shape of a bird, so it is nicknamed "Big Bird".

,

"How far is this...?"

Zhu Xiang just stared at the pencil circle. When he heard that he was going to fly the Big Bird again, his whole scalp went numb. The Big Bird was not a good aircraft. For him who was used to the Fighting Attack 1 aircraft, the Big Bird was simply a piece of junk. Although

Now Big Bird has switched to special aviation gasoline produced in Lianyungang, which will not cause engine explosion, but Big Bird's thing...

"About a hundred kilometers. Your reconnaissance plane has a sufficient range. The Big Bird's fuel tank has been enlarged. A hundred kilometers is no problem at all."

"yes!"

Although the answer was decisive, Zhu Xiangcai was not happy in his heart:

Flying a Big Bird for 100 kilometers, plus aerial search, is almost 300 kilometers... That thing is not strong!

Seemingly sensing Zhu Xiangcai's unhappiness, Li Fei added another sentence.

"This task is very important to our army's operations, and I don't want to hand it over to someone I don't trust to carry out it."

This sentence was indeed just right, and the unhappiness in Zhu Xiangcai's heart was immediately wiped away.

"no problem!"

"Go get ready...we'll leave in thirty minutes."

Looking at his energetic men, Li Fei nodded with satisfaction...

It took Zhu Xiang more than an hour to fly the Mercados reconnaissance aircraft to 2,000 meters. Although such a high altitude is relatively safe, even if there is an accident, he can still glide for more than a dozen times.

Kilometers, the higher you fly, the more likely you are to make an emergency landing at the place closest to land.

The Danlei 100-horsepower aviation engine made a boring roar, but it was not harsh. Although a new type of fuel was used, in order to prevent the engine from malfunctioning, Zhu Xiangcai still controlled the throttle at 60% and kept the airspeed indicator steady.

It stopped steadily at 65 kilometers per hour.

As soon as the cold wind blew, Zhu Xiang, who had just set off with full of pride, couldn't help but blame himself for why he had to carry out this dangerous mission. The reason why it was dangerous was all because of this big bird. Compared with the Water Attack Type 1 aircraft, this big bird was simply useless.

It's not even an airplane. It has wooden frame beams, cloth skin, and a small and pitiful engine.

Although it is a two-seat aircraft, in order to install a radio, the aircraft has now been converted into a single-seat aircraft.

"No target occurred in sea area 032!"

Through the throat microphone, Zhu Xiang transmitted the situation of the sea area he had just searched back to the base. Before he got a reply from the base, he saw a black smoke cloud appearing on the sea in the distance.

That's...a fleet, yes! It's a huge fleet.

"Fly lower!"

When this idea came to his mind, Zhu Xiangcai lowered the control stick and lowered it to 500 meters to carefully observe this fleet. Yes, it was the Japanese fleet.

"The Japanese fleet was discovered..."
Chapter completed!