In this case, the reaction time left for the Russian pilots was too short, and they were fatally attacked almost in the blink of an eye.
Not to mention that there were some fighter jets in front and on both sides of the formation that didn't even notice the surprise attack from behind.
The opponent has already seized the opportunity, and it is not clear how much surprise force the opponent has. At this point, it can be concluded that the defeat is almost certain.
It's important to save your life!
Lieutenant Mikhail knew very well that continuing to entangle at this time would never yield good results. He complained about the cunning and insidiousness of the Ming army while decisively flying away.
He pulled the throttle to the bottom and pushed the stick as hard as he could. Under his control, the I-16 nimbly dived diagonally downwards, and broke away from the entire formation in the blink of an eye.
Now the Russian fighter jet formation has actually been disrupted, and the scene is a mess - some pilots who refused to admit defeat launched a desperate counterattack; some people crawled out of the out-of-control fighter jets covered in blood and parachuted; some people fled in panic...
The No. 1147 fighter jet piloted by Zhao Xuwu was in the middle and rear position. When he and his wingman launched the attack, the airspace here was already in chaos.
As it should be, the Ming army aircraft began to disperse, cooperating in pairs, each looking for suitable targets to attack.
An I-16 tried to evacuate to the southwest, but was targeted by Zhao Xuwu.
The Russian fighter finally escaped from the messed up fleet. Before the pilot could take a breath, he was hit from behind.
Zhao Xuwu's wingman seemed to be eager to perform a meritorious service and opened fire early. Although he had indeed entered the effective range, the hit rate at this time was actually very low.
A series of bullets mixed with tracer bullets passed by the enemy plane, and it immediately began to try to maneuver to avoid the incoming fire.
Compared to his wingman, Zhao Xuwu was relatively more experienced. He steadily caught the enemy aircraft in front of him and waited until the distance was reduced to less than 400 meters before shooting.
Since the machine gun installed at the root of the wing will be slightly tilted inward, allowing the ballistics to converge at a distance, it is inappropriate to go too far or too close.
Several rounds of 12.8mm all-metal armored bullets and tracer bullets hit the panicked I-16, and one of the tracer bullets hit its left wing unbiasedly.
The I-16 fighter jet adopts a structure of mixed steel and wood frame with fabric skin. The tracer bullet directly ignited the left wing. In just a few seconds, the flames turned into raging fire and enveloped the entire left wing.
Due to the loss of lift, the entire aircraft gradually tilted to the left, dragging black smoke into the distance, and the pilot had to abandon the aircraft and escape.
A figure could be seen falling quickly, and then a group of white umbrella flowers suddenly bloomed, and the pilot landed safely.
Zhao Xuwu was so happy that he couldn't help but beam with joy - he finally shot down the first one this time!
During the sneak attack on the first day of the conflict, he damaged a landing bomber and destroyed two fighter jets parked on the ground, but these cannot be counted as air combat results.
Now, he finally achieved his first air combat result.
With a smile on his face, Zhao Xuwu looked around, trying to find a new target while assessing the current situation.
At this time, he saw the situation in the distance on the left front - it was an I-16 that was accelerating away, as if trying to escape.
So why bother asking? Chase!
And the person he was chasing was none other than Lieutenant Mikhail, who ran away decisively when he saw the situation was not going well.
The Type 36 B is already faster than the I-16, not to mention the former's speed and height advantages.
As the distance between the two parties narrowed, Mikhail, who was constantly observing his surroundings while escaping, soon realized that the danger was approaching.
But the actions he can take now are actually very limited, because the Ming fighter jets coming to chase him have full advantages, and it is extremely difficult to escape.
Zhao Xuwu, who looked solemn, manipulated his phone slightly, put the target into the aperture of the reflex sight, and then lightly pressed the button to fire a short burst.
The so-called reflex sight is also called a red dot sight. It was born very early and can be traced back to the European War. However, it has only gradually become popular today. In later generations, there are also various small red dot sights installed on rifles and pistols. Tools, widely known by people.
The Ming Dynasty began to apply it on a small scale on the Type 36B fighter jets, while Tsarist Russia's progress was basically the slowest among the great powers. To this day, almost all aircraft still use telescopic sights—— That is, a long tube-shaped magnifier.
[Telescopic sights and reflex sights]
Zhao Xuwu's early firing was not out of impatience, he was simply trying to feint his shot to scare his "prey" to see if he could make it exposed.
The calm Mikhail did not lose his composure. He was sure that the other party could not pose a threat to him at this distance - unless God was on the other side.
He still maintained the course steadily, and mentally thought about how to make reasonable evasive actions after waiting for the distance to close.
The speed difference between the two sides was about twenty kilometers per hour. About thirty seconds later, he looked back again and saw that the Ming fighter jets chasing him had approached a distance of about five hundred meters.
Mikhail immediately putted and then hit the stick to the right, and the aircraft began to spiral downwards under his control!
When Zhao Xuwu from behind saw this, the corners of his mouth raised slightly. He felt that the enemy colleague in front must be frightened.
Defensive downward spiral? court death!
The Russian army in the Far East is equipped with the I-16-10, which has an empty weight of about 1,400 kilograms, while the empty weight of the Type 36-B is about 1,750 kilograms. The descent and dive speed of the latter is obviously higher than that of the former.
At the same time, Type 36 B has a good foundation. After all, the early models focused on horizontal maneuverability in design, so their hovering performance is not bad.
Under the control of Zhao Xuwu and Mikhail, the two fighter jets circled and descended one behind the other, one to the left and one to the right. The trajectory they drew in the sky was a double helix shape like DNA.
However, during this process, because the direction keeps changing, it is almost impossible for the aircraft behind to attack the aircraft in front.
The two sides were entangled from an altitude of 2,600 meters to about 700 meters. During this period, Zhao Xuwu seized the fleeting window and opened fire, but failed to score a hit.
Suddenly, very quickly, Lieutenant Mikhail turned the stick to the left and changed into a spiral descent maneuver.
Due to the considerable acceleration, he could only turn his head to observe the situation behind him with all his strength.
To his delight, the Ming fighter jets that were chasing him corrected their downward spiral and continued to bite his tail.
At this moment, he skillfully performed a defensive barrel roll, followed by a second and third one - this is a typical deceleration maneuver that can quickly reduce his own speed.
Zhao Xuwu, who was behind him, was about to aim and fire. He was shocked when he saw this and was completely confused by the situation.
Because the reaction speed lags for a few seconds, and the greater weight of the entire machine makes the Type 36 B have greater inertia and is less likely to slow down, so he inevitably jumped to the front.
In an instant, the offensive and defensive momentum was abnormal!
But Zhao Xuwu was not a vegetarian. He leaned against the back of the chair, tensed his body, took a standard anti-overload posture, and controlled the aircraft to circle to the right as much as possible.
The exaggerated instantaneous acceleration made him dizzy, and the colors in front of his eyes quickly faded into gray!
The horizontal maneuverability of the I-16 fighter jet was also good, and Mikhail did the exact same maneuver without hesitation, trying to cut inside the Ming army fighter jet.
Such a large circle would cause a loss of speed, and even if the engine was running at full load, it would not be able to make ends meet, so after a while both sides invariably switched to a stable circle.
When circling stably, the acceleration of the engine output is exactly equal to the deceleration during circling. At this time, there will be no loss of speed and it is a stable state.
The two planes kept circling like this, you circling me and I circling you, as if they were getting better at each other.
The current altitude is too low, only more than 600 meters, and the gravitational potential energy is limited. There seem to be very few maneuvers that can be performed?
"What are you doing, Guaba?! Get him!" Zhao Xuwu asked loudly where his wingman was while thinking about how to reverse the current situation.
The wingman had not joined the spiral descent before. He had been observing the situation nearby, and when he saw that the situation was not good, he immediately came to help.
So just four seconds after Zhao Xuwu asked loudly, two fire whips were drawn from the side.
"Da da da da——"
Being condescending, he forced Lieutenant Mikhail to give up and continue the circling contest with a dive attack.
The latter had no intention of fighting, so he pulled the throttle to the bottom again, then turned around and accelerated to escape.
Unconvinced, Zhao Xuwu was unwilling to let this guy go. After a beautiful turn, he chose to continue chasing the escaping I-16.
Mikhail's mentality was a bit broken. He was annoyed and annoyed by this candy-like opponent.
Let’s keep a line in our lives so that we can meet again in the future! Why bother with such a stubborn fight?
He simply changed his mind and made a decisive decision to steer the plane due west - there was the Angarsk Hydropower Station, and the Russian army deployed many air defense units.
You have a wingman as a foreign aid, and I also have a foreign aid!
Because he was fully focused on chasing the I-16, Zhao Xuwu almost forgot about his current situation.
A few minutes passed by, and unknowingly, we were deeper and deeper into the enemy's territory, and at the same time, we were far away from the initial fighting airspace.
"Siguai, come back quickly. Stop chasing. We've already passed Yicheng (Irkutsk)!" the wingman pilot, two kilometers away on the left rear, reminded eagerly.
"Don't talk!"
Zhao Xuwu was constantly trying to aim, while Mikhail was twisting left and right repeatedly to interfere with his aim.
Finally, he seized a good opportunity and opened fire immediately, and a series of 12.8mm machine gun bullets spurted out!
The damage effect of the large-caliber machine gun bullets containing more than 13,000 joules was considerable. Seven or eight bullets caused part of the main structure of the fuselage of the I-16 to break, and the I-16 was severely damaged on the spot.
Realizing that the plane was out of control, Lieutenant Mikhail chose to abandon the plane and parachute without any psychological burden. Anyway, the area below was his own control area.
At the same time, the air defense sirens on the ground also sounded.
Two heavy anti-aircraft artillery batteries and three light anti-aircraft artillery batteries stationed at the hydropower station were ready, and the Tsarist Russian soldiers watched the scene in the sky intently.
Mikhail, wrapped in a towel and wearing underpants, strapped on his parachute pack and climbed out of the cockpit.
The fighter jet fell uncontrollably, pulling out a stream of intermittent black smoke in the sky, and white umbrella flowers bloomed below.
"Ha! Sun thief ah (Beijing flavor)! Run? Run again? After all, I am the better one."
Zhao Xuwu smiled disdainfully, and then prepared to turn around.
But the next second, countless firepower shot from the ground covered the airspace.
"Boom! Boom!"
The 76.2mm high-explosive bomb that exploded nearby erupted into clouds of black and gray smoke, and dense fragments flew in all directions.
String after string of 20mm high-explosive bombs shot into the sky like sharp arrows, seeming to pierce the sky.
Damn it! That guy actually brought himself into the pit!
While surprised, Zhao Xuwu immediately fully pulled the "throttle" and moved the lever slightly to the side, steering the Type 36 fighter to accelerate and fly diagonally forward.
When encountering anti-aircraft fire, it is not advisable to turn, climb, or dive on the spot. These actions will expose the aircraft to enemy fire for a longer period of time.
The best option is to maintain the heading, accelerate and fly away, interspersed with some small deflections to disrupt the enemy's aiming advance.
After finally escaping this place of right and wrong, he changed his course and flew towards the territory of Ming Dynasty.
"The one named Zhao?! How is the situation?!" the wingman pilot asked eagerly.
"We're out, everything should be fine..." As he said that, Zhao Xuwu suddenly felt a wet feeling in his ears.
He subconsciously reached out and touched it. It seemed like water?
But when he brought his hand to his eyes again, his eyes widened instantly when he saw the hand full of red liquid.
At this point, the pain gradually came.
He turned to look to the side and saw that the side glass of the hatch had been broken in several places. He guessed that the previous fragments had penetrated the hatch and scratched the back of his neck.
Immediately afterwards, Zhao Xuwu felt the plane begin to tremble uncontrollably, and wisps of gray smoke floated from the nose engine.
One bad thing happened one after another, and soon he noticed that the fuel gauge was decreasing at an unusually fast rate.
In fact, the damage suffered by this aircraft was not light - in addition to the wings and fuselage being penetrated by fragments in several places, a cylinder of the engine was also smashed.
Moreover, the side of the cockpit was hit by two fragments. Fortunately, the Type 36 B had a bulletproof steel plate installed here to block this fatal attack.
After truthfully reporting the current situation, Zhao Xuwu controlled the aircraft to climb quickly, hoping to reach a higher position before the fuel leaked out, so that it could float farther even if it was gliding without power.
Compared with a liquid-cooled engine that leaks coolant and collapses after being hit, an air-cooled radial engine has better survivability.
For example, the carved four-type nine-cylinder radial engine used in the 36-type B type does not matter if one cylinder is broken. The remaining eight cylinders can still work normally, but the stability is much worse.
At this time, Zhao Xuwu had mixed feelings - depressed, troubled, and happy.
I was depressed because I was unlucky again; I was annoyed because I was severely cheated by the Russian pilot; I was happy because I scored two kills.
Although my grades were mediocre in the past and I was considered a mediocre person, maybe I could become the first ace among the students of my generation? That really becomes a dark horse.
But before that, he had to get back alive.
(End of chapter)
