As soon as the sky got bright, twelve Sky-12 reconnaissance aircraft took off from Shandong Rongcheng Airport, Qingdao Airport and Shanghai Naval Airport. After circling for a while, they lined up in a row and roared towards the eastern sea.
According to intelligence, the Japanese naval fleet set off from Nagasaki Naval Port four days ago carrying and escorting the Independent Sixth Division, the Eighteenth Division and other troops, totaling about 60,000 people. According to the speed of the main battleships of the Japanese Navy, they should have arrived in China's territorial waters by now. However, in the past three days of searches, no trace of the Japanese naval fleet was found.
The Japanese naval fleet is heading towards China and will not disappear out of thin air. Logically speaking, they must be somewhere on the Yellow Sea. However, the Air Force's search found nothing. What does this mean? It shows that the reconnaissance aircraft developed at a huge cost are superficial and the newly formed air force is useless. It will even greatly reduce the confidence of the domestic people in winning this war!
The new Air Force Commander He Yingqin was also a little anxious and angry.
As we all know, the Air Force has achieved brilliant results in the past few years and is one of Sun Yuanqi¡¯s trump cards for internal and external conquests. Therefore, it has recently become the third largest military branch after the Army and Navy. Originally, He Yingqin wanted to take this opportunity to show off his prowess and rename the Air Force as the Ministry of Air Force. He would naturally become the first Air Force Chief in China and the world. Unexpectedly, he was hit in the head just halfway through his sweet dream. Do you think he could not be annoyed?
But he was depressed, but he couldn't easily get angry at the pilots, because searching for a fleet the size of a mustard seed on the vast sea was an extremely difficult task. What's more, why don't the pilots want to discover the Japanese fleet early? So he could only stay in the headquarters all night long, check the photos brought back by the reconnaissance plane with the staff, and then eliminate the possibilities bit by bit on the military charts. Finalize new investigative paths.
Of course, the workload of pilots and investigators is even worse than that of staff officers who work overtime and stay up late. Although Sun Yuanqi has set up flight schools in Sichuan and Shanxi respectively, the time is still short, and the requirements are extremely high. Qualified pilots are still rare, especially those who have long flight time, rich experience and can be put into actual combat, they are priceless. . This results in sea searches having to be done in shifts. And the hard work of the pilots is far beyond the capabilities of the ground staff!
For example, the low temperature caused by high speed and high altitude. It's the hottest weather right now, and the ground personnel are wearing single clothes, waving cattail fans, and sweating profusely while hiding in houses. But the pilots, wearing leather jackets and sitting in a sealed cockpit, were still shivering from the cold. Especially when they look at the brighter sun in the sky but are frozen stiff, most people can't help but have crazy thoughts coming from the bottom of their hearts!
Another example is the threat of aircraft destruction and human death. Although Jingshi University and the Aviation Technology Research Institute have been developing aircraft for more than ten years. It has a relatively complete set of detection technology. It represents the highest level in the world today, but when this huge, roaring machine really flies into the sky, no one knows when and where problems will occur, and if problems occur, it will basically destroy the machine and kill everyone. In the past ten years, there have been countless accidents involving aircraft crashes and fatalities, and it is estimated that there will be no such incidents in the future. Therefore, pilots must always be extremely careful and pay attention to whether the flying attitude is correct and whether the roar of the engine is abnormal. , whether the fuel tank has enough fuel, etc. Very easy to get mentally tired.
The investigators sitting in the cabin and looking out were not at ease either. In addition to being very cold, they also needed to pray to the gods and Buddhas in the sky that nothing would happen to the plane. They also had to hold telescopes to constantly search the sea for traces of the Japanese fleet. Looking down from a high altitude has the feeling of "looking at Qizhou Nine Points Smoke from a distance". Ships with a displacement of less than 10,000 tons are not much bigger than ants. Even if the Japanese navy is deployed in full force, it can only be a single line at most. They are just ants arranged in an S shape and sometimes a B shape. Who would care about ordinary people?
And now is the brightest and dazzling season of the year. The sunlight reflected on the sea is like a big glass mirror, with light shining everywhere, making people dare not open their eyes easily. Japanese naval ships use high-quality anthracite imported from Shanxi, China. This fuel with few impurities causes the ship to keep spewing white smoke from its chimney during the entire voyage. If you are not paying attention, you will think it is clouds in the sky. However, a little negligence may make this large-scale search operation fall short, so everyone can only try to open their red and swollen eyes and try their best to find traces of the villains.
Feng Xianshu, Hu Xiao, and Dong Zechen all just graduated from the Sichuan Flight School this summer. They were first assigned to the newly established Third Reconnaissance Brigade of the Hunan Aviation Regiment. Before they had time to familiarize themselves with the situation, they were transferred to the Shanghai Military with the regiment. Airport, executing the Japanese reconnaissance team. They had been deployed four times in the past three days, and all of them were exhausted. But whenever he thinks that his mission is related to the victory or defeat of the war, aHe mustered up his energy again and took the initiative to apply for a search mission.
Feng Xianshu put down the high-powered telescope, rubbed his stiff hands, rubbed his red and swollen eyes, and asked loudly: "Zhenyun, where are we now?" Affected by factors such as engines and airflow, it is necessary to speak loudly on an airplane. Otherwise you won't hear it at all.
Hu Xiao picked up the sextant and measured it a little, and drew on the map for a while before replying in a hissing voice: "A few minutes ago, we just flew over Keju Island on the southwest coast of North Korea. We will fly forward for a while. You should be able to see the Upper and Lower Taiwan Islands. Our mission this time is to patrol around Hong Island and Heishan Island to see if there is any trace of the Japanese fleet. It is estimated that it will take about twenty minutes before we can return!"
Dong Zechen also put down his telescope after hearing the sound: "Where do you think little Japan has gone? It is impossible for such a big target to quietly pass through our search network and directly approach our coast of China, right?"
Feng Xianshu replied hesitantly: "Isn't it possible? The Shandong coastal area is closely monitored by the four old aviation regiments of Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu and Shanxi. If there is really any movement, can it escape their eyes? What's more, before that, Do you have to go through our sieve again? There is no news from anywhere now. It must be that the small Japanese fleet has not approached our coast yet. It should still be somewhere on the sea between China and North Korea, but we have not yet Just discovered!"
Dong Zechen speculated again: "Is it possible for the Japanese fleet to temporarily rush to the Tsushima Strait to intercept the German and Austrian mixed fleet returning home? We have searched their whereabouts several times in the past two days. They are obviously going to the opposite direction. Heading towards the Ma Strait!"
"Impossible!" Feng Xianshu felt that Dong Zechen was good at everything, but he didn't like to use his brain to think. He often had whims. "Just think, the little Japanese military headquarters would be stupid enough to order three fleets to bring 60,000 landlubbers to fight against Germany and Austria. Are the coalition forces fighting for their lives? Those troop transport ships are slow in movement and lack equipment, which are often the easiest targets and the easiest to be sunk. If the Japanese military headquarters issues such an order, wouldn't it really be a suicide? So little Japan should still be there On the way to Shandong, it is impossible to change direction temporarily."
After saying that, he picked up the telescope again and looked down through the cabin glass, as if he wanted to immediately find out the whereabouts of the Japanese fleet. At this time, the plane had already passed by Shangtai Island and Xiatai Island, and in front of it should be Hongdao Island and Heishan Island, which are the furthest distances of this search. Since we are very close to the Korean coastline at this time, we can often find one or two fishing boats working on the sea, so we need to identify them carefully.
Just when Feng Xianshu tried his best to open his eyes to distinguish, he suddenly discovered that there were more than ten long white lines on the blue-black sea northwest of Hongdao and Heishan Islands, just like fingers stained with flour on the navy blue tablecloth. I wiped it on, and it was definitely not an ordinary small fishing boat that could leave such a wave mark, but at least a gunboat or cruiser with a displacement of hundreds or thousands of tons.
After confirming that he was not dazzled, Feng Xianshu loudly reported to Hu Xiao: "The whereabouts of a large-scale fleet have been discovered in the northwest waters of Hongdao and Heishan Islands. Please inform the pilots to investigate closely!"
Airplanes are a new thing. Before their large-scale use, people found that aircraft communication was a huge problem. Because the aircraft had nowhere to rely on in the sky, not only the pilots could not communicate with each other, but also the communication between the aircraft and the ground was difficult to solve. People have tried successively Flags, lights, sounds, etc., while pilots rely on gestures and shouts, all obviously have great shortcomings.
With the continuous breakthroughs in radio technology, people first thought of using airborne wireless phones, but the phones were easily interfered by engine noise. As a latecomer, Sun Yuanqi immediately thought of pilot helmets. By building microphones and earphones into the helmet to block the noise of the engine, the problem was easily solved. This also solves the communication problems between aircraft and land, and between aircraft and aircraft.
When Hu Xiao heard the news, he immediately became energetic and asked in a hoarse voice: "Please confirm whether the news is accurate!"
After hearing Feng Xianshu¡¯s report, Dong Zechen also looked northwest and shouted almost at the same time as Feng Xianshu: ¡°Confirm!¡±
Hu Xiao quickly put on his helmet and began to report: "The No. 1 aircraft of Shanghai's fourth reconnaissance team reported that a large-scale fleet was found in the northwest waters of Hongdao and Heishan Island at 11:05 am. Please ask the pilots of nearby reconnaissance teams to adjust their directions and assist. Investigate, please reply when you receive the message!¡±
Soon Hu Xiao¡¯s earphones heard excited replies from nearby investigation teams:
"Shanghai's Fourth Investigation Team Unit 3 has received the news, it's over!"
"Shanghai's Fourth Investigation Team No. 2 has received the news and is rushing to the relevant sea areas. Please report the specific coordinates of the target!"
"The estimated target position is around 37 degrees 78 minutes north latitude and 125 degrees 12 minutes east longitude. Complete."
"This is the No. 1 unit of Rongcheng's first investigation team. Our unit will be here soon.?Send the news back to the Shandong Border Defense Headquarters and ask your machine to conduct further investigation and confirmation work, completed. "(To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novels will be better and updated faster!