After nearly an hour of strong winds, heavy raindrops finally fell from the sky, and soon turned into a downpour.
A second lieutenant wearing a white summer uniform and blue-gray breeches, who was soaked in the rain, rushed into a tent and said urgently to two officers who were discussing matters: "Two officers...not good."
Now, our runway has been soaked into mud by the rain, but our plane for reconnaissance will be back later, what should we do now!"
"What?"
One lieutenant almost jumped up, quickly came to the second lieutenant, grabbed him by the collar and shouted angrily: "Why didn't you report it earlier?"
"Sir, it rained just now. We didn't expect it!" The second lieutenant's voice was filled with tears: "Those are two planes, and there are four female pilots from the reconnaissance squadron sitting on them."
"Can you tell them to change their route and let them fly back to Liantai Airport to land?" The person who spoke was another major, Lu Fangyuan, the battalion commander of the baggage battalion.
"No!" The second lieutenant shook his head: "They are flying a Baihe light reconnaissance aircraft with a range of less than 400 kilometers. In addition, they have been out for more than two hours, and the remaining fuel cannot reach Liantai County."
"You bastard,"
The lieutenant was so angry that he yelled, "I told you before that the weather was bad and I suggested you cancel the flight. Now it's fine. The runway has turned into a mud road. How can you tell them to land?"
The second lieutenant looked bitter. Although the White Crane reconnaissance plane did not have high requirements for the runway, it at least had to be on a dry road. If it was forced to land on a runway that had turned into mud, there would only be two results, either
The plane could not stop the car and it would run off the runway, or it would fall into a mud puddle and fall upside down.
No matter what the outcome is, there is only one consequence, which is the destruction of the machine and the death of people.
Thinking of this, the second lieutenant's face became paler. The reconnaissance squadron was originally a newly established unit. Due to its special nature, all pilots, observers, and telegraph operators in it were women.
It would be fine if they were shot down and killed by an enemy plane during the reconnaissance process. After all, there are no casualties in a war. But if the ground crew's negligence caused the plane to fail to land or failed to land and resulted in casualties, then the problem would be huge.
, maybe the captain of the team, Huang Huaimin, would personally go to Yangping Town and tear him into pieces.
Lu Fangyuan's face didn't look good either. After all, this track was built by the transport camp, and now it was soaked like this by the rain. He couldn't absolve himself of the blame.
Just when several people were worried, the lieutenant beside him suddenly remembered something.
"Sir, I have an idea."
"What can we do?" Lu Fangyuan and the second lieutenant asked in unison.
"Sir, didn't the regiment ask us to bring a batch of perforated steel plates to the baggage camp a few days ago? Once we lay these steel plates on the runway, wouldn't it be able to land?"
"Eh...yeah...why didn't I think of that?" Lu Fangyuan slapped his thigh, and his solemn expression immediately became excited. Before he could say anything more, he immediately took out the whistle around his neck and blew it hard.
.
"Beep beep beep... beep beep beep..."
"Everyone in the supply camp must assemble... assemble..."
Soon, the soldiers in the supply camp who were hiding from the rain in tents or houses all started to move. Trucks drove to the wasteland, and the soldiers unloaded heavy steel plates from the trucks in the heavy rain.
, then everyone shouted slogans and began to lay steel plates on the runway.
The full name of these steel plates is PSP perforated steel plates. Each piece is 3 meters long, 0.38 meters wide, and weighs 30 kilograms. There are two transverse grooves dividing each plate into three sections. There are a total of 87 holes on it, with buckles on the front and back.
The joining between boards.
Its advantage is that it is fast. Just use a bulldozer to level a piece of flat land, and then lay PSP perforated steel plates on it. A field airport was built in less than half a day. It can be called one of the most successful inventions of World War II.
In the Second World War in another time and space, the Americans relied on PSP perforated steel plates to build airports all over the world, and then relied on their strong air power to defeat the Axis powers.
Of course Gao Hongming would not let go of such a good thing, so he also bought some in the weapons store. However, since the current airports of the Liantai Flying Group are all permanent runways paved with cement, this kind of steel plate has never been of any use.
, this is the reason why Lu Fangyuan didn't think of it for a while.
The PSP perforated steel plate is worthy of its reputation as convenient and fast. With the concerted efforts of more than 500 soldiers from the supply camp, a runway 100 meters long and more than 10 meters wide was laid in less than half an hour.
Coincidentally, after they finished laying, there was a low roar in the sky, and two "White Crane" light reconnaissance aircraft appeared in everyone's field of vision.
"They are back. Everyone, get out of the way. The plane is preparing to land!" After Lu Fangyuan saw the plane, the soldiers quickly dispersed.
After waiting for a while, I saw two planes still hovering in the sky.
Seeing this, the second lieutenant of the flight group lost his voice and said: "It's broken... It seems that the visibility is too low due to heavy rain, and the pilot can't find the runway."
Hearing this, everyone's hearts skipped a beat. Logically speaking, they should light a bonfire now to indicate the target, but it's raining heavily right now, so there's no way to light a fire."
"Sir...smoke bomb!" someone shouted from the side.
Everyone immediately woke up as if from a dream.
"That's right...set off the smoke bomb quickly."
Soon, more than a dozen smoke bombs were thrown to both sides of the runway, and bursts of thick smoke immediately rose into the sky. Although it was still raining heavily, the effect of more than a dozen smoke bombs set off together was still obvious. Soon
The two "White Crane" light reconnaissance aircraft hovering in the sky immediately noticed it.
Without any hesitation, they lowered their noses and immediately rushed down the runway.
Seeing the reconnaissance planes rushing down one after another, everyone on the ground sweated for them, and Lu Fangyuan's heart was in his throat.
Although the PSP perforated steel plate is theoretically better than the earth track, after all, it is the first time to use it, and no one knows how effective it will be. Moreover, the weather is so bad now, if something happens, it will be a big trouble.
"squeak……"
Soon, the wheels of the first White Crane light reconnaissance aircraft touched the steel plate, making a dull friction sound. Then the aircraft slid for tens of meters and stopped smoothly, and then the second aircraft also stopped.
.
Seeing the two planes landing safely, a burst of warm cheers erupted from both sides of the runway.