One day ago.
The Secret Aviation Base Research Office of the First Independent Anti-Japanese Detachment of the Eighth Route Army in Northwestern Shanxi.
Kong Jie came to inspect the transformation of the combat aircraft of the aviation force. Dong San, the director of the logistics department of the first team, director of each scientific research office, and agent of each factory, and Doolittle, who is currently the temporary command captain of the first aviation team, were there. Accompanying the introduction.
"Old commander, these are the Type 97 fighter jets we seized from various Japanese airports. We have basically repaired all the faults on the aircraft and it can be put into combat directly.
In addition, we also made some special modifications to these fighters.
Considering that these fighter jets have trouble communicating with each other during combat, we installed a radio inside the aircraft. We used the aircraft radio used by Lieutenant Colonel Du and the US military. The effect is not comparable to that of the rags of the little devils.
In addition, we installed a certain amount of bulletproof steel plates in important parts and replaced them with purified aviation fuel and high-quality lubricants. "
"This is the fuel tank of the aircraft. The Japanese's closed fuel tanks are often easily hit by fire, and once hit, it often means the plane crashes.
So we replaced it and installed an automatic fire extinguishing device used in tanks, which can reduce the crash rate of the aircraft to a certain extent.
In addition, we replaced the 7.7 aviation machine gun with a 12.7 aviation machine gun and installed armor-piercing incendiary bombs, which are much more powerful when used in air combat. "
Dong San made an introduction on the side, "With the use of high-quality aviation fuel and lubricants, our aircraft is faster than the Japanese aircraft, which is also our advantage.
Coupled with the improvement of our defense and firepower.
The performance of our modified fighter jets can crush the little devils! "
Doolittle smiled and nodded. These Chinese, who should be called military talents, are indeed smart. Although they do not have enough industrial level to produce aircraft independently, they can flexibly apply them during transformation and display their special wisdom. This made him particularly admired.
This is probably the wisdom of the Chinese people.
Talking about the upcoming formal confrontation in the Licheng area between the aviation unit first established by the Eighth Route Army and the aviation unit that the Japanese army may arrive at any time.
Doolittle's face showed absolute territory, confidence mixed with unconcealable excitement at the same time.
He vowed to say, "Kong, I will make these damn Japanese soldiers deeply appreciate the power of our Eighth Route Army aviation unit!"
Kongjie was very happy, and he was even more happy that Doolittle used the word "we".
What does this mean?
This shows that Brother Du is assimilating, hehe.
Doolittle then introduced the general situation of the construction of the next aviation unit:
"Currently, our aviation force mainly consists of three Type 2 Zhongkui fighter jets, plus 12 Type 97 fighter jets captured from the Japanese army, and six Type 1 Falcon fighter jets."
Among them, the two Zhongkui fighter jets can be said to be the most advanced ones currently used by the Japanese army, with the best performance and the most powerful combat effectiveness.
Duan Peng and his commando team members secretly robbed the fighter plane from the Japanese temporary airport during the battle between Zhejiang and Jiangxi.
The fighter squadron composed of these three Type II Zhongkui fighter jets can be said to be the most elite flying team in the secret aviation force so far.
The best fighters naturally have to be handed over to the most talented pilots, so these Type II Zhongkui fighters are basically handed over to Doolittle and the elite pilots of the US military led by him.
On the one team side, there were also several outstanding pilots who also participated in the battle.
Kong Jie follows the principle of trusting people without trusting them.
Since Doolittle is willing to stay and help, and he has this talent, Kong Jie will naturally provide the corresponding stage.
In addition, for the Type II Zhongkui fighter jets, the team's processing plant has also made some special modifications. In addition to using newly developed lubricants, as Dong San said before, adding automatic fire extinguishing devices to the fuel tanks and adding some bulletproof In addition to changes such as steel plates.
Compared with the original Type II Zhongkui fighter of the Japanese.
The biggest difference between the modified Eighth Route Army Zhongkui fighter jets is that the four aviation machine guns have been replaced by four 20mm aviation cannons.
As a result, the Japanese's Type II Zhongkui fighter has been comprehensively improved in firepower, protection, speed, reliability, etc., and can fully serve as the sharp knife of the Eighth Route Army Air Force.
When the next time the two sides compete in the air, the Japanese army will most likely discover with shock that the Zhongkui fighter jets from their empire have been captured by the Eighth Route Army, and their combat effectiveness has increased a lot!
Of course, the specific effect of this modified fighter jet can only be confirmed after it is officially put into combat.
Kong Jie was quite confident about this.
This is just like the modification carried out by a team after capturing the Japanese tanks. Later, they also fully utilized the advantages of the modified tanks in the battle with the Japanese armored forces in western Inner Mongolia.
This is the wisdom of the Eighth Route Army.
In addition to the most elite aviation sharp knife, the Type 2 Zhongkui fighter squadron, there is also the Falcon squadron, which is mainly composed of six Type 1 Falcon fighter jets.
The modification of the fighter jet is basically the same as that of the Type 2 Zhongkui fighter.
This is the second elite aviation unit besides the Type 2 Zhongkui fighter squadron.
Then there is the flight team composed of 12 Type 97 fighter jets.
The establishment of a total of three flying groups is the basic force of an aviation force currently under construction. Together with some light bombers, there are nearly 30 aircraft.
As for some classic and vintage aircraft, they will not participate in this battle.
In Kong Jie's words, "That is a fighter plane that simply lets the pilots we have trained so hard to die!"
Therefore, most of the old aircraft seized by a team were sent to Yan'an. Just this, the leaders of Yan'an were so happy that they almost couldn't open their mouths from ear to ear.
Speaking of which, although the Japs had absolute air supremacy when fighting the Eighth Route Army, the power of the Japs' air force was only relative to that of the Chinese army.
A Japanese flying team has three squadrons, and the number of fighters ranges from 24 to 36 aircraft.
If calculated in this way, the number of fighter jets owned by an aviation unit can basically be equal to that of a Japanese flying team.
Of course, it is unrealistic for just a flying team to compete with the powerful aviation force owned by the Japanese army.
Therefore, when sending a team of aviation troops to participate in the war, Kong Jie clearly stated in the military meeting:
"The aviation force that our Eighth Route Army has worked so hard to build cannot be destroyed in one battle, so you remember, you are allowed to participate in the war this time, but the premise is that we still focus on infantry-to-air combat.
As for our aviation team, we must have good timing when taking action.
We have to wait until the ammunition loaded by the Japanese is almost used up, and many fighter planes have been destroyed by our air defense forces. At this time, we can take the opportunity to take action.
In other words, it is to launch a wave of harvest, kill the Japanese fighter jets, and at the same time promote the military might of our Eighth Route Army aviation unit! "
Doolittle smiled. He did not expect that Kong Jie's request would be so easy.
For an excellent pilot like him, there was no pressure at all in such a battle.
The pilots and soldiers of a team participating in the meeting were all extremely solemn.
Something else happened not long after.
Doolittle, who had always been well-educated, humorous, and able to get along well with the soldiers, turned out to have fire in his eyes. He went to Kong Jie angrily and complained as soon as he met him: "Kong, please restrain your subordinates. They are too cruel." Don’t take your own life seriously!”
Kong Jie looked confused, "Brother Du, what's going on? Don't be anxious, speak slowly!"
Doolittle informed the situation immediately.
It turned out that some pilots from one team refused to carry parachutes and other escape equipment when they participated in the war.
This made Doolittle very angry. He believed that the pilots did not value their lives at all.
After hearing this, Kong Jie felt that this was not bad.
In his opinion, all pilots are treasures, so he immediately called the commander in charge of the training of a team of pilots - Dai Minsheng.
Dai Minsheng came from Yan'an. Many years ago, he was responsible for aviation research and preliminary pilot training in Yan'an.
Although due to the simple conditions, the Eighth Route Army pilots studying in Yan'an had never flown an airplane at all. Many of them had never even seen or touched an airplane. They could only understand it through pictures. Perceive through imagination.
It was under such simple, difficult and unbelievable conditions that Dai Minsheng relied on his early flying experience and solid knowledge of aviation to reserve a group of pilot talents for the Eighth Route Army in advance.
Don’t underestimate these “advance education”.
Just as an aviation force was officially created, Dai Minsheng arrived with a group of pilots he had trained.
After actually coming into contact with these aircraft, they quickly integrated the knowledge that was almost deep in their hearts in the past.
So much so that the speed of progress in flying shocked Doolittle and his entourage.
"Report!"
Soon, Dai Minsheng arrived. When he entered the headquarters, he saw Doolittle glaring at him.
Dai Minsheng had a wry smile on his face. He did not expect that this American would be so stubborn and would complain to the detachment leader.
Kong Jie asked directly: "Old Dai, tell me, what is going on?
Brother Du said that you refused to wear escape equipment when participating in the war.
Is this possible?
What if the plane is damaged or about to crash during the battle? Can you just wait for death on the plane? "
Doolittle snorted twice but said nothing.
Dai Minsheng smiled, and then his words became deeper. He explained: "Detachment leader, the specific situation is this. Aren't our Eighth Route Army afraid of poverty? In the past, let alone fighter jets or bombers, they even had a Not a single decent cannon, not a single tank.
Now we finally have our own aviation force and our own fighter planes.
When our soldiers train day and night, they even regard the fighter plane as their own life.
Our soldiers have said that fighter planes are our closest comrades and partners. If one day the fighter plane is damaged and crashes in battle, are we required to abandon our companions and escape alone?
No, everyone said, this is absolutely impossible!
Even if we die, we pilots should also die with our own fighters.
How can there be no one who doesn't die on the battlefield? How can there be no one who doesn't sacrifice?
If you prepare your escape equipment in advance when you get on the plane, can you still really face death and fight the little Japanese as hard as you can? "
The iron-clad words, the backbone of Chinese soldiers, as well as their national sentiments and patriotism are all vividly displayed at this moment.
Doolittle finally understood what these Chinese soldiers were thinking.
At this moment, he couldn't help but feel in awe.
If Doolittle and the US military pilots he led flew planes to bomb Tokyo and treated death as if they were home, they could be called heroes.
In Doolittle's view, perhaps in such a magical place as the Eighth Route Army base, heroes like them could be found everywhere.
These crazy brave Chinese people!
It's not that they don't cherish their lives, it's that they would rather put their lives far behind them for the sake of the independence of the nation and the prosperity of the country!
"Confused!"
Kong Jie cursed loudly: "Old Dai, you are an old comrade, why are you so stubborn?
How about considering death as home and sacrificing one's life for righteousness? Can that be the same as the situation in front of you?
The escape equipment equipped on the plane is to improve the survival rate of the pilots. How much effort and resources it takes to train a pilot!
If our fighter plane is destroyed by the enemy in the battle, it will already be a heavy loss for us. If you precious pilots are included in it, our loss will even be doubled.
Let me tell you, in my team, the principle at all times is based on our soldiers.
You go back and tell the other comrades.
It’s okay to be ambitious. It’s a good thing. Why don’t I turn around and applaud them again?
——If anyone is ambitious and unwilling to be equipped with escape equipment, then his qualification to participate in this war can be cancelled.
What I, Kong Jie, need, what our revolutionary path needs, what we China need, are not just soldiers who can win the war, but soldiers who can win the war and ensure that they can survive! "
De Mingsheng was scolded a lot, but he didn't say anything in reply.
Kong Jie has absolute prestige in a team, and the same is true for Dai Minsheng and his team.
If we say that for other frontline combat generals, everyone has respect.
For Kong Jie, a general who was able to engage in both economics and warfare, and who also understood technology, he could even put forward many theoretical ideas in the aviation field from time to time that astonished Doolittle, Du Dai, and others.
Dai Minsheng was particularly impressed and simply worshiped him.
In the end, Dai Minsheng returned honestly with Kong Jie's orders. With him as the leader as a lobbyist, Kong Jie believed that the other pilots would not be unable to turn around.
Then he comforted Doolittle.
Doolittle returned with satisfaction and actively prepared for this battle.
Kong Jie retracted his gaze and focused it again on the Licheng area on the map.
(End of chapter)
