To be more precise, it's early morning, before dawn.
Before the dawn in northern China, there is no twilight, only starlight.
16 all-metal fuselage fighters painted with the blue sky and white sun flag were lined up on the side of the loess runway. There were no aerial bombs hung under the belly of the aircraft. This was to reduce the weight of the aircraft. Auxiliary fuel tanks were hung under the wings. All supplementary ammunition was
It is two 12.5mm machine guns supplemented to the aircraft.
Because this time they will go to the Niangziguan battlefield 630 kilometers away, which is beyond the combat radius of the "35 Thunderbolt" fighter aircraft. Without carrying enough fuel and minimizing the load, they will not be able to fly back even if they win the air battle.
Yan'an Airport.
Even so, the fighting time left for them on the battlefield is only 20 minutes. Beyond this time, they will still have to abandon the plane.
In other words, if the Japanese army did not arrive at the battlefield as Liu Lang expected, even if it was half an hour late, this time Liu Lang used his personal connections for almost five years to fly more than a dozen fighter planes from the southeast 1,100 kilometers away.
The biggest trump card of being transferred to northern Shaanxi on the side of Shanxi and then making a long-distance raid to Niangziguan is a joke.
The only role they can play is to return within 20 minutes of wandering at an altitude of 4,000 meters above the battlefield. Otherwise, the sixteen fighter planes will have to break their wings and run out of fuel in the Chinese sky.
There are some airports closest to Niangziguan, one is Yangmingbao Airport occupied by the Japanese, and the other is Taiyuan Airport in Taiyuan City where the old man from Shanxi stayed. However, even though Taiyuan Airport is Chinese territory, if you go anywhere
, it is estimated that the result is the same as Roubaozi beating a dog. The Shanxi old man even wants to secrete the friendly mountain artillery, let alone the aircraft that can make his eyes turn green.
However, this is not what Zhou Dapeng and the pilots have to consider. Since Liu Lang said that the battle will start before 8 o'clock, then they only need to execute the military order and arrive at the battlefield after 8 o'clock, and only arrive from 160 kilometers away.
It takes 25 minutes to reach the battlefield and kill the Japanese planes. Cut off the last life-saving straw for the Japanese army in the encirclement.
Now, before arriving on the battlefield to fight, the first thing they have to face is how to take off at six o'clock in the morning with only starlight, and fly to the battlefield across a long distance of 630 kilometers under the guidance of only one general direction.
In this era, taking off and flying long distances in such a pitch-black night is something that Zhou Dapeng and others have never experienced. Looking around the world, few people have done it.
They have no future radar, no wireless guidance from ground towers, no electronic navigation, they have nothing. Even the eyes in front of them are as black as their black eyes.
They don't know whether they will hit the mountains at some point, nor do they know that when the dawn really shines into their eyes, they will have flown tens or even hundreds of kilometers away from the battlefield. But they must reach the battlefield, and they will not reach it.
The battlefield is a place where there are hundreds of times the number of casualties than the number of pilots, even if only one fighter plane can reach it.
Taking off in such a dark night is almost a suicide. Not only Zhou Dapeng, who is experienced in flying, understands this truth, but also the rows of red soldiers who stand on guard at the airport.
However, under the solemn eyes of the red warriors, the pilots wearing flight jackets and flying caps led by Zhou Dapeng stood in line and saluted the mechanics who were also lined up in neat lines and led by the maintenance chief engineer Heng Yu.
After the mechanics responded with tears in their eyes, they filed into the cockpits of their respective planes and started the planes. The two planes were lined up in a row, and the engines were roaring at the other end of the runway, preparing to take off.
"Raise fire, light up!" followed by the roar of a major battalion commander in charge of airport security.
Nearly 400 red warriors standing on both sides of the airport runway raised their left hands high at almost the same time. The torches made of pine oil in their hands emitted little lights on both sides of the runway, forming a line.
Array of starlight.
Starlight on the ground.
This is the only thing the red warriors can do for these fearless pilots, lighting the way to the battlefield.
"Salute!" shouted again.
More than 400 people raised their right hands at the same time and saluted the red military salute to the eagles who were about to fly into the sky. That was the only way they could express their respect to these fearless eagles in the sky.
That is a courtesy from Chinese soldiers to Chinese soldiers.
Zhou Dapeng and his wingman were in the cockpit and returned the salute to the red soldiers at the same time. Then, they resolutely pushed the accelerator lever and stepped deeply on the accelerator.
Numbered 001, seven red stars had been painted on the fuselage, indicating that Zhou Dapeng had shot down seven enemy planes. The aircraft accelerated and slid for several hundred meters amidst the roar of its engines, then took off with its head held high and jumped into the sky where only the stars could shine.
Two aircraft in one round, a total of eight rounds, all sixteen aircraft jumped into the high altitude. After flying half a circle around Yan'an City, they formed a "goose" formation with Zhou Dapeng and his wingmen as arrows.
Arrange and fly northeast.
This is a small suggestion that Liu Lang made to the "Aviation Volunteers" and flight instructors when he was still in the United States. In the early days of the war in the past time and space, there were serious problems with the formation method of British and French air force fighter jets. For aesthetic reasons, (also because
Airborne radio was still a new thing at the time) They were accustomed to using a relatively dense wedge-shaped formation of three aircraft. This formation method brought many problems. For example, when being attacked, the fighter planes made an emergency turn to dodge, and could easily collide with their own people.
Because of its experience in Spain, the formation form of the Third Reich Air Force was more reasonable: the Third Reich fighter jets used a two-plane formation as the smallest combat unit, consisting of the lead aircraft and the wingman. During combat cruise, the two aircraft were separated by about
200 yards, with the wingman behind, so that the lead aircraft can concentrate on searching without worrying about the visual blind spot behind it. In combat, the wingman is responsible for covering behind the lead aircraft when it attacks. And each two-aircraft formation can form a
A four-machine formation that covers and supports each other.
Later, this formation method based on two aircraft received rich rewards and was quickly followed by other countries. In fact, the Chinese Air Force at this time adopted the method learned from German instructors, using long-range
The dual mechanism of aircraft and wingmen is completely ahead of the Japanese three mechanisms. If the number of aircraft had not been too different, I am afraid that those who shed tears in the sky would have already been the top brass of the Japanese army, navy and air force.
Yes, there were not only 15 planes taking off from Yan'an at this time, but also one that flew quietly from Chengdu Airport in Sichuan. It was one of the eight aviation volunteers who stayed at Chengdu Airport.
One is also the plane Zhou Dapeng prepared for his new wingman companion.
Fifteen planes are not the regular combat formation of the "Air Volunteer Army". Their original intention was just to fool Comrade Zhou Dapeng and Liu Lang after they exchanged secret messages with each other and the all-pervasive Japanese spies.
The field went back to Sichuan for repairs, not to fight.
In fact, in addition to Hengyu leading the mechanics who set off half a month ago with sufficient spare parts and ammunition that needed to be replenished by the Huashang Group to be transported to Yan'an by truck, there was also a plane flying to Yan'an alone to transport 15
The fighter aircraft were replenished to form a combat formation of 16 aircraft.
The sky is still pitch black, and the starlight and the faint fish belly white in the east cannot provide the pilot with a clear view of the road ahead. Flying in such an environment is a great psychological test for the pilot, especially now when flying at a altitude of less than 1,000
At a altitude of meters, you never know whether you will hit a mountain at the next moment.
Shaanxi and Shanxi are not plain areas.
Of course, this is not the scariest thing. The flight formation can fly the aircraft to an altitude of 5,000 meters at any time, reducing resistance while ensuring absolute safety. As long as there is enough fuel, you can fly as far as the sky and the earth.
Now, the most terrifying thing is the fear of not being able to fly accurately in the right direction. A slight mistake may lead to being tens or even hundreds of kilometers away from the battlefield. This is fatal for an aircraft formation with limited fuel for long-distance attacks.
The reason for maintaining an altitude of 1,000 meters was specifically pointed out by Liu Lang in the message. Although Zhou Dapeng did not understand Liu Lang's suggestion that lowering the flight altitude would only have disadvantages but no benefits, he still did so out of trust in Liu Lang.
Done.
There was no noise on the radio, except for the huge roar of the aircraft engine, but Zhou Dapeng seemed to be able to vaguely hear the heavy breathing of his teammates.
They are nervous. Anyone who heads to an unknown battlefield at a speed of 300 kilometers per hour in such an environment for the first time will be nervous.
No matter what, he had to lead the formation to the battlefield at about 8:10. Zhou Dapeng, who was not very confident, glanced at the altimeter that remained intact and the odometer that had flown 60 kilometers, and silently encouraged himself.
Even if all the planes crashed because they ran out of fuel, he still had to complete this miraculous combat mission.
"001, look, what's below?" Zhou Dapeng's thoughts were interrupted as his wingman exclaimed.
Zhou Dapeng turned his head slightly and looked down at the dark place. Zhou Dapeng was suddenly stunned.
Under the wings, there were actually sparks.
Moreover, it is not one place, but many places. Looking at it, it looks like a long dragon, winding all the way to the front of the plane.
"That's..." Zhou Dapeng couldn't believe his eyes.
If it is really what he thinks, happiness should not come too suddenly.
"Yes, 001, it must be, that is the northeast. Flying in this direction is the battlefield. We no longer have to worry about losing our way." The wingman pilot cheered confidently.
"Haha! Everyone, listen to my order, follow me, follow the fire, and fly at a cruising speed of 280 kilometers." Zhou Dapeng also laughed and gave the order over the radio with a relaxed look.
"Long live!" the pilots cheered continuously on the radio communicator.