Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 967 The Great Exercise

One day in February 1919, the Pacific Ocean.The fleet aircraft carrier "Huangshan", the flagship of the First Fleet of the Pacific Fleet of the Chinese Empire, drew a clear arc on the sea and was about to turn its bow to cross the Tsushima Strait.Seven or eight large and small escort ships surrounding the "Huangshan" are also closely following and moving in the same direction.

The wide and flat flight deck of the "Huangshan" has already been crowded with dozens of planes, large and small: among them, the first ten or so light ones are either empty or have only two small bombs hanging under the wings. [-] or [-] more bloated ones in the rear, each with a black torpedo mounted under the belly.

The entire formation quickly completed the turn, and the strong sea wind swept across the "Huangshan", blowing the signal flag on the top of the starboard ship island.

With the sound of a siren, a new signal flag was raised, and the takeoff commanders and deck crews were busy on the deck. The propellers of the plane hummed.Two more whistles sounded, and the air grille in front of the standby fleet was lowered, and the wind was finally able to sweep across the flight deck unhindered. The crew carefully pushed forward for a short distance, and the wheels touched a red line in front of the deck.

Immediately, a take-off commander who squatted halfway in front of the pilot aircraft against the strong wind gestured to the pilot in the open cockpit: he turned his wrist twice in the air, and pointed his two fingers towards his eyes. Indicates that the pilot is to report the engine turn.The pilot gave a thumbs up, indicating that the takeoff standard was met.The takeoff commander also gave a thumbs up to show "understand", then waved the signal flag in his hand, and played the semaphore "request takeoff" to the aviation bridge on the upper part of the island.After three consecutive whistles, the final signal flag was hoisted on the masthead: "Take off immediately"

The plane with blue, red and yellow circles painted on its wings began to glide on the wooden flight deck. In the blink of an eye, the plane left the deck and floated leisurely into the air. In fact, the red take-off line is far away from The front of the deck is only forty or fifty meters away.The lead aircraft turned right immediately after takeoff and began circling over the mothership.Immediately after the lead plane, the second, third, and fourth planes jumped up from the deck one after another, and also hovered over the mothership, forming a formation with the other planes that took off first. formation.The unfinished formation continued to circle round and round, waiting for follow-up aircraft to join.

The formation above the mothership is getting bigger and bigger, and correspondingly, there are fewer and fewer aircraft on the mothership deck.When the last plane on the deck of "Huangshan" jumped up from the runway, the take-off commander on the starboard front of the deck finally stood up and signaled to the aviation bridge: "Take-off operation completed."

On the aviation bridge, a young lieutenant colonel wearing a golden braid pressed the pocket watch in his hand, showing displeasure: "Nineteen minutes and thirty-seven seconds, it's still too slow."

Another major general with high cheekbones and a calm expression said slowly: "The standard requirement is 8 minutes, and we will gather all the operation officers later and continue to study ways to save time."

"Yes, Commander"

The major general known as the commander-in-chief is Chen Jinrong, commander of the First Fleet of the Pacific Fleet. At this time, he is personally leading the newly incorporated "Huangshan" fleet aircraft carrier and its escort formation to conduct aviation operations at the exercise ground in the northern Pacific Ocean. and carrier-based aircraft attack drills.Chen Jinrong looked at the big torpedo plane in the rear struggling to climb up and catch up with the formation, raised his military cap and waved it above his head: "You must return safely."

"With Captain Gao leading the team, everything will be fine." The lieutenant colonel at the side said confidently.

Chen Jinrong nodded, and ordered decisively: "Clear the deck immediately, and prepare to launch the second attack wave!"

In the sky, the first attack wave composed of 24 "Fenglei" fighter jets and [-] "Lanxiang" dive bombers finally completed the formation. Before turning to the target, they first passed the mothership with a whole team approaching above.

Watching the aircraft fleet going away, the sailors waved their military caps one after another. This is a blessing for safety and a hope for victory.

The whistle sounded again, the flag on the mast was lowered and raised again, and the flight deck of the "Huangshan" became busy again.

The two elevators located at the front and rear of the central axis of the flight deck move up and down at full power, continuously sending fighter planes loaded with ammunition in the hangar to the deck.

The first to be delivered were a few "Falcon" reconnaissance planes, followed by a small group of "Fengyun" transport planes. These planes were pushed to the front of the take-off line as soon as they got on the deck, and they were filled with fuel in a hurry. Release the plane quickly before it reaches the deck.

"Commander, do we really need to be so cautious in actual combat? According to the information so far, no country has been found equipped with aviation weapons capable of destroying large ships of our army, and no other country has been equipped or is building a fleet comparable to our army. Aircraft carrier. Now we are sending long-range reconnaissance planes to search in a large area, and we are also sending fighter jets to directly cover the formation. If these forces are included in the attack fleet, won't the overall combat power of the fleet be strengthened?" Chen Jinrong asked this question. That young lieutenant colonel, Gui Yongqing, staff officer of the First Fleet.

Chen Jinrong folded his hands on his chest, calmly watching the busy work on the deck: "Not finding anything doesn't mean nothing. The lag and omission of intelligence must be taken into account. We can't know anything we want to know at the first time. Correspond Therefore, we must also consider the leakage of our intelligence, leading to the other side to take effective countermeasures. Absolute self-confidence is poison. The task of the staff is to think about all possible situations, and according to various changes Factors: formulate countermeasures one by one, either complete the combat mission at the minimum cost, or withdraw from the battle at the minimum cost, no matter how the situation changes, there are adequate ways to deal with it. Pinning the hope of victory on self-righteous subjective assumptions is not the same as a gambler What's the difference? War is not a gamble. The situation on the battlefield changes rapidly, and it is common for the plan to not match the reality. If you don't make comprehensive preparations and have the confidence to advance and retreat freely, you only think about winning or losing. Not a qualified Imperial Navy officer."

After hearing this, Gui Yongqing bowed slightly: "What the commander said is very true, I have been educated in a humble position."

At this time, a pair of delicate and healthy figures on the deck came into Gui Yongqing's sight.Although both of them were wearing flight suits, they did not cover up their unique female figures, and the flight caps were still held in their hands, and the two ponytails were dangling behind their small heads, which was very conspicuous.

"Look, the flower of the First Fleet has come out." A new captain and staff officer exclaimed in a fuss.

Another staff officer said disapprovingly: "Stop yelling, be careful that the commander turns around and gouges out your eyes."

Gui Yongqing asked Chen Jinrong without thinking: "If the commander really fights, can women also fight?"

Chen Jinrong said "Yes" expressionlessly, then raised his binoculars and glanced at the two "flying roses": "If you didn't go to battle during the war, why are you training with your colleagues now? Their skills are first-rate , there is no doubt about it.”

The two protagonists who were discussed by a group of old and young men on the aviation bridge were running from the flight deck to the ship island without knowing it. , Wherever he went, he still caught the surprised eyes of many recruits.

The tall, mature female lieutenant was named Gao Xinxin, the niece of Gao Zhihang, the captain of the Fleet Aviation Squadron.The shorter, more immature-looking female second lieutenant was named Liu Yun, and she was a pilot of the First Fleet Attack Squadron.

Holding their flight caps, the two hopped across the scattered refueling pipelines beside the deck, and quickly hid in the shadow of the island.Panting slightly, Liu Yun put the flying cap on his shoulders: "My sister was too anxious, so I said it wasn't that one. When I went down to look around just now, I saw it was in the innermost part of the former hangar, and it didn't come up so fast. "

Gao Xinxin leaned against the ship island, and drew something on the wall with her fingertips: "No, I have to draw a striking mark for my baby some other day, but I am wrong, I am really not reconciled."

Liu Yun also leaned on the ship island: "But even if we come up, there's no need to hurry over there. The brothers still have a lot of things to do, such as setting up seats and cheering up."

Gao Xinxin stared intently at the exit of the front elevator, "That's my baby, no matter how serious the brothers are, they still can't do without me."

"Sister, I read in a magazine that women who are obsessed with machinery will not be able to marry." Liu Yun expressed concern.

Gao Xinxin rolled her eyes: "It doesn't matter, why do women have to marry?"

Liu Yun blinked: "If you don't want to marry someone, do you want to marry an airplane?"

"You don't care about me. The holidays of your brothers and sisters are coming soon. Didn't you say that your sister-in-law introduced you to men last time?"

"It's really cunning, deliberately changing the subject"

Liu Yun pouted dissatisfiedly, and immediately stretched his waist again: "However, it's great to be able to take a vacation. This time, besides going home, I also want to go to the capital and visit those sisters in the same class. Don't know how they fare in the department"

"It is indeed a good thing to take a vacation. If there is no war this year, I will have a long vacation to take."

Liu Yun turned his head in doubt: "If there is no war, will there be a war this year?"

Gao Xinxin plucked Liu Yun's ponytail: "I don't know, my uncle said that there may be a war coming this year. So just say it casually, who knows."

Liu Yun lowered his head and kicked the rubber hose next to his feet: "Sister, if there is a real fight, will you be afraid when it's your turn to fight?"

Gao Xinxin smiled faintly: "Silly girl, I won't know until then, hey, my baby is here, it should be right this time!"

The whistle sounded, and the second attack wave of the "Huangshan" was about to be released.

(End of this chapter)