afterglow

Chapter 615: Hangfa - Three Ways Ahead; Is There Anyone Alive?!
"It's really a pleasant surprise." Zhou Changfeng said with a smile: "I hope it can speed up the design of advanced fighter jets."

"It's hard to pass the beauty pass after all." The colonel staff officer said lightly.

At the beginning of the year, the Intelligence Department of the Grand Governor's Office sent a carefully selected Russian female agent, Daria Zimina, and they had high hopes for her.

The latter lived up to expectations, using her beauty and skills to charm a lieutenant of the Royal Australian Air Force and successfully dragging him onto the pirate ship...or rather, the paddle wheel!
In short, after the showdown, the lieutenant chose to obey under her coercion and inducement, and flew to the Ming army-occupied area while conducting adaptive training in the new Spitfire F-VIII (medium altitude) fighter.

The Ming army was so excited that they prepared to transport this almost brand new Spitfire fighter back to their homeland. To avoid damage from retaliatory bombing by the enemy, the plane was first transferred to Moresby and then to Surabaya.

Since the outbreak of the war, the imperial court has made many efforts to enable the aviation industry to catch up with the world's advanced level.

In addition to increasing funding and spending heavily, the reorganization and adjustment of leadership bodies also have an important impact.

The newly established Aviation Science and Technology Committee integrated the previously scattered government offices and was under the jurisdiction of several departments, including the Experience Department, Materials Research Institute, Instrument Research Institute, Engine Research Institute, and Fluid Mechanics Research Institute.

Centralized and unified guidance and management have greatly improved the R&D efficiency of various sub-technologies.

In addition, the proposal on accelerating the development and production of wartime aircraft, which had been drafted by the cabinet, was promulgated after being improved.

According to this wartime law, the Aviation Science Council had the power to interfere with the research and production arrangements of private aircraft-related companies during the war.

Now the main fighter jet of the Ming Air Force is still the successor model of the Type 109. Just like the Germans are holding on to the Bf-9200, the mature, reliable and well-produced Type has always been the backbone of the Ming Air Force. After all, it only takes an average of working hours to produce one aircraft.

The Type E (E) uses the 1160 horsepower Type 600 liquid-cooled engine. It is a domestically produced and improved version of the DB. However, due to the inherent defects of the inverted V-shaped engine, it was not developed further. Only more than Type E aircraft were manufactured before production was discontinued.

The Ming army pilots had a fair opinion of the Type E, but the ground crew complained a lot, mainly because the liquid-cooled engine was more troublesome to maintain and they had a serious lack of experience in maintaining liquid-cooled engines.

The Type F optimized the layout of its internal equipment and was equipped with a Type 1380 1820 hp nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, almost squeezing out the potential of the technology source, the R-.

“雕”系列发动机的发展历程为：莱特R-1820-25→雕四式（960匹马力）→雕六式（1200匹马力）→雕八式（1380匹马力）。

The Type J will replace the Type D and become the main force on all fronts. So far, more than 600 aircraft have been built, and mass production is being carried out at a rate of more than 400 aircraft per month.

The Geng type (G) is basically the same as the Ji type, but it is equipped with a 1250 horsepower liquid-cooled engine from the Tobii II. This is a domestically produced and improved version of the 12Y, and the shape of the nose has changed.

Although the Type E equipped with the domestically produced DB600 could not be considered a success, the Ming Air Force did not give up on liquid-cooled engine fighters and subsequently focused its development on the Hispano-Suza 12Y.

Objectively speaking, the overall performance of these types of fighter jets is not bad, and they are completely sufficient to deal with Wildcats and Tomahawks. It's a pity that Mustangs and Corsairs are too powerful, and there is nothing they can do.

The Sx-102 high-performance liquid-cooled engine fighter developed by Shangxing Company was originally planned to start mass production in February, but the Mustang and Corsair suddenly appeared. The Ming Air Force believed that the Sx-102 was not enough to meet future needs and required it to be re-engineered.

The next plan of the Ming Air Force is to further exploit the Type 102 and replace it with a more powerful engine, while waiting for the Upstream Company to complete the improvements on the SX-.

Excluding jet engines, the development routes of aviation engines are divided into three categories:

The first route is the major modification of Chengdu Cube Engine Company's "Diao" series single-row nine-cylinder star engine. They are currently perfecting the double-row eighteen-cylinder star engine based on it. The engineering test version can stably output 2080 horsepower.

The second route is to overhaul the "Juan" series double-row fourteen-cylinder star engine of Yingtian Jinbu Power Company. They added four cylinders to make it an eighteen-cylinder star engine, and the engineering test version outputs 1900 horsepower.

The third route is to improve the "Kite" series V-shaped twelve-cylinder liquid-cooled engine, which is under the charge of the Aviation Science and Technology Association Engine Research Institute. The engine will increase the intake pressure, use direct injection, and add four valves to improve ventilation efficiency.

The prototype Kite 1400 in the experimental workshop has been able to output 1700 horsepower in the test, and 94 horsepower when using water injection afterburner, this is the case when using domestically produced 3-grade aviation gasoline. If it is filled with C1880 fuel imported from German society, it can even output horsepower.

The China Aviation Industry Association said all three engines could be put into production within a year.

These results were actually beyond Zhou Changfeng's expectations. He originally did not have high expectations for the Ming Air Force. He thought that it would be successful if it could cover the rear transportation lines in the future. Now it seemed that there was still some hope of competing for air supremacy on the front line.

Nothing happened in the next few days. Except that Xia Xiaoshi caught a cold and had a fever, which made Zhou Changfeng worry for a while, everything was fine.

At noon on March 3, the 10th Squadron of Type arrived in the waters of the Gilbert Islands.

Washington firmly believed that the Ming army would counterattack and repeatedly suggested that the Pacific Fleet wait and see.

The politicians' basis for this is that the Battle of Tarawa had a great impact on the Chinese. From the fact that they quickly prepared to make a movie, it can be seen that they are very concerned about their reputation and like to pursue symbolic meaning, and they will definitely not give up.

This time, the politicians were right.

The Pacific Fleet Command issued an order requiring submarines in good condition operating in nearby waters to temporarily accept the command of the TF-44 task force.

Raymond Spruance set an elaborate trap - using the four aircraft carriers in the task force to attract the attention of the Ming army, pretending to retreat, and launching a surprise attack by submarines when the enemy was relaxed.

He did not want to risk his four aircraft carriers to participate in the war, because they would not be able to gain any advantage against the Ming army's two aircraft carriers and Nauru's shore-based aviation.

Obviously Raymond Spruance was more stable. If the commander was William Halsey, he would probably order the entire army to attack without hesitation.

The Ming army detachment was very vigilant and approached the Gilbert Islands cautiously.

During this period, the Ziwei Youyuan and Tianshi Zuoyuan continued to launch reconnaissance planes to search for the location of US aircraft carriers.

Not long after, the US fleet was discovered. All four aircraft carriers were there, but the distance was beyond the combat radius of carrier-based aircraft.

The 216th Squadron of the Type A sent a message back to Rabaul: "At 12:20, the enemy fleet's position has been confirmed. All four aircraft carriers are there. The distance is 520 kilometers. There is no threat. Keep an eye on it."

The Ming fleet sailed towards Tarawa Atoll while keeping an eye on the American fleet in the distance.

Little did they know that five US submarines were quietly approaching from multiple directions.

3月10日下午15：47，紫微右垣号的一架侦察机发现美军舰队正朝着东北方向航行，以14节航速远离。

Finding that the enemy seemed to have no intention of engaging, the Ming fleet immediately began preparations for landing, but the reconnaissance operation was not stopped in case the US aircraft carriers launched a counterattack.

At 18:30 that evening, after dark, the five US submarines quietly surfaced, continued to approach the Ming fleet and search for advantageous positions.

According to the agreement made two days ago, they should attack together at dawn to cause maximum damage.

However, the U.S. submariners were used to hunting alone and were not used to this wolf pack tactic. In order to avoid being detected by the Ming fleet, all five submarines maintained radio silence, communication was poor, and they were unaware of each other.

At 3:11 in the morning of the next day, March 3, the soft, cold white moonlight of the crescent moon sprinkled on the surface of the Pacific Ocean. Looking out from the periscope, the shadows of Ming army warships could be vaguely seen in the distance.

Suddenly, a loud bang was heard, and the American submarine soldiers clearly felt the vibration of the explosion.

The captain of the USS Albacore (SS-218) mistakenly thought that the other submarines had taken action on their own in order to compete for the victory, so he ordered the torpedoes to be launched while complaining.

In fact, it was just the Ming army's minesweeper trying to detonate the explosives remaining on the beach.

Six slender torpedoes emerged from the launch tubes one after another and sailed at a low speed in the dark night towards the Tianshi Zuoyuan, which was more than 6,000 meters away.

The improved Mk14 heavy torpedo no longer has reliability issues. Its warhead is filled with 292 kg of black aluminum explosive (HBX-1), and the power of the underwater explosion is 145% TNT equivalent.

At 3:24, two loud "bangs" startled everyone. The Tianshi Zuoyuan exploded twice in succession!

Two huge holes were torn in her left hull below the waterline, large enough for a truck to pass through, and high-energy bubbles also caused internal fires.

After the successful attack, the Bluefin Dive immediately dived to the maximum safe depth and sailed away from the place at a slow speed.

At the same time, the other four submarines had similar ideas as the Albacore, but only one aimed carefully before firing, and the other three just hastily fired torpedoes in the general direction in a hurry.

At first, the Ming fleet had no idea what was going on and thought it was attacked by coastal defense artillery. Later, they realized that an attack of this magnitude was more likely to come from a submarine.

At 3:29, the lookout of the Beiliu destroyer discovered a shiny track on the dark sea and immediately attempted to counter it.

However, many warships are now accelerating to perform evasive maneuvers, and the interference of propeller noise makes the Beiliu's hydrophone and sonar unable to function normally.

At 3:33, the stern of the Ji landing ship was hit by a torpedo and the ship lost power. Only the emergency generator was still functioning and soon a large amount of water began to flow in uncontrollably.

When performing evasive maneuvers in such a situation, a collision is inevitable.

At 3:38, the Dayuan freighter, in a panic, collided with the Zhiqing No. anti-submarine ship, and the latter's bow was almost broken.

This chaotic farce lasted for half an hour.

The anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Narcissus moved alongside the badly damaged Amaichi Sagaki, providing her with additional power and attaching steel cables to correct some of the roll.

In addition, one landing ship and two freighters of the Type 1 Squadron were sunk, and one freighter and one anti-submarine ship were damaged in accidents.

Since the cargo ship was loaded with a lot of coffins prepared for the remains of the soldiers of the Tarawa Defense Command, the sea was filled with coffins for a while.

The 140th Division on board the boat suffered a terrible misfortune. More than 200 people from the 418th Regiment and the division headquarters drowned, most of their weapons and equipment were lost, and the division commander himself drifted in a coffin filled with thick black oil for more than an hour before he was fished out.

After daybreak, the battered Ming army troops landed one after another.

The U.S. military withdrew the last batch of troops from Betio Island two days ago, leaving nothing for the Ming army except a large number of mines and booby traps.

The 140th Division had a lot of trouble trying to clear these explosives. They were both annoyed and depressed. They had originally planned to have a big fight with the enemy here, but they didn't expect that the real enemy they were going to face was the tricky booby traps that were everywhere.

The officers and soldiers were terrified, fearing that they would accidentally trigger the hidden bomb.

Fortunately, Betio Island was small and with a large population, it was basically cleared in two days. During this period, the 140th Division suffered more than 60 casualties.

While the army was struggling with mines and booby traps, navy sailors were searching for coffins that had been pushed ashore by the waves.

The political significance of retaking Tarawa Atoll outweighs its military significance, as can be seen from the dozens of war correspondents and 7,000 coffins that accompanied the fleet.

At first glance, it seems that coming from afar to carry out such a tedious task would make the officers and soldiers complain?

But the actual situation is just the opposite...

In the Forbidden City in Yingtian Prefecture in the capital, Zhou Changfeng reported to Zhu Lingjing the attack on the detachment fleet.

"We should still try our best to avoid political battles. Your Majesty, you see, the enemy knew that we were going to recapture Tarawa and set a trap for us. We suffered a great loss. Fortunately, the Tianzuo did not sink and we were rescued." He said thankfully.

Zhu Lingjing looked out the window with an expressionless face and replied indifferently, "It's worth it even if it sinks."

On the morning of March 3, the sun rose in the east, and its brilliant light spread across the sky and sea.

After capturing Betio Island, the US military collectively buried the remains of the Tarawa defenders, but it was very hasty and rough.

Thousands of army and navy officers and soldiers gathered at the largest burial area. This tiny island of only more than one square kilometer was filled with sadness and solemnity.

The military band of the Ziwei Youyuan played the national anthem and the navy anthem on time, and then the military band of the 140th Division played the army anthem.

In front of the cameras of many reporters, Brigadier General Yu Fengchang, commander-in-chief of the detachment, took three steps forward holding a pot of rice wine.

He said in a deep voice: "I am Yu Fengchang, the commander-in-chief of the 216th Squadron of the A-class. I would like to inform the heroic souls of all the officers and soldiers that while you were fighting, my comrades from the three armed forces of the navy, army and air force fought hard in the Aleutian Islands in the Beiyang, defeated the stubborn enemy, killed 5,000 enemies and captured more than 30,000 enemies. I dare not disappoint you. Now I have been ordered to recapture Tarawa and escort you home. Sorry, sorry, we are late."

Yu Fengchang, with a solemn expression, walked from right to left while pouring the pot of rice wine in his hand. Then he took the lead in clasping his fists and bowing, followed by thousands of officers and soldiers present.

At this moment, a sudden voice came from a distance.

A two-wheeled light motorcycle came speeding over, and a communications warrant officer jumped off the motorcycle excitedly. He didn't even bother to park the motorcycle, and just ran over in two steps.

Thousands of eyes focused on the warrant officer, who reported loudly, "There are survivors! Commander-in-Chief! There are still people alive!"

[Zhu Lingjing in her youth - After reaching the character star level, this site will provide you with a bonus, a customized character portrait. However, the actual installation is slow, and it is said to be a few months later. ]

(End of this chapter)