The night was getting darker and darker, and there were no stars visible when looking up. There were various signs indicating that the weather might turn bad, although there was no further news from the weather station.
Zhuang Xiaoying came to the bridge and saw Li Hai standing in front of the cabin window with his arms folded. It was dark outside and he couldn't see anything. What was he looking at?
Not long ago, Zhuang Xiaoying witnessed the sinking of the Toowoomba with her own eyes. For the first time, she felt so deeply the disaster caused by the explosion of the ammunition depot. According to incomplete statistics, only more than 40 crew members of the Toowoomba survived...
As the most well-known and popular new military reporter in the country, although Zhuang Xiaoying is a newcomer who has been working for several years, she has traveled to many armies and has seen all kinds of big scenes.
However, when Li Hai told her that the scene of sinking after being attacked by anti-ship missiles or torpedoes was almost the same as the tragedy of the Toowoomba accidental explosion, her understanding of the war became deeper.
That cannot be explained by a brisk live-fire training video with naughty background music.
A volley of long-range fire will bleed the covered target.
Zhuang Xiaoying came to Li Hai and asked in a low voice, "The Alada was seriously damaged. It should be difficult for it to return to the port, right?"
Glancing at her, Li Hai said, "There is little hope, unless the supply level reaches out to them. Obviously, the supply level will not do that."
Smiling, Li Hai said, "They deserve it."
Zhuang Xiaoying deeply agreed, "It would be better if it sank halfway."
After a pause, she asked, "What should we do?"
"Guard the Luojing Waterway and buy time for the main force." Li Hai said solemnly, "Your interview team will withdraw to Xinyoun after dawn. Can you use these few hours to properly interview our soldiers? "
Zhuang Xiaoying shook her head and said, "Our interview team is not going anywhere. We will stay on your ship and return to Hong Kong together when the mission is over."
"You interview our soldiers first." Li Hai did not argue with her. There was no point in arguing. When the time came, we had to evacuate.
He took out a list and handed it to Zhuang Xiaoying, "Every soldier on the list must be interviewed. I think you should do a series of character reports, tens of thousands of words in length."
"That's not easy. Besides, I mainly focus on videos and rarely write text reports." Zhuang Xiaoying took over the list.
Li Hai said, "Two-pronged approach, you think of a way, I know you have a way."
"Okay, I'll think of a way." Zhuang Xiaoying agreed readily without any prevarication.
Text reports alone are not enough, and video reports alone are also not strong enough. If you can only choose one of them, then traditional text reports are undoubtedly more powerful.
Of course, it would be ideal for both forms of reporting to be carried out at the same time.
With just one word from Li Hai, Zhuang Xiaoying may have to use up all her personal network resources.
A series of reports on typical characters requires a lot of resources to be invested. Li Hai can't just rely on words, he must have something practical.
He said, "Follow me."
He led Zhuang Xiaoying away from the bridge and went to the communications room. Chang Haizhou was waiting there and asked directly, "How to write a message?"
Li Hai pondered for a moment and said, "Let's just say that the ship's interview team of the military newspaper wants to do a series of typical character reports, tens of thousands of words of character documentary, the publicity time may be as long as three months, and I hereby ask the captain for instructions. "
"Okay." Chang Haizhou immediately drafted the message without any hesitation.
If the captain does not have the authority to approve, it needs to be reported to the higher-level political department, and I am afraid it will eventually go to the Fleet Political Work Department.
The report cable did not mention funding throughout, but anyone with a discerning eye could see that what Li Hai wanted was funding.
There is a big difference between applying after you return to Hong Kong and applying now. When you apply for a one million fund, it is normal for your superiors to give you a discount and approve you for seven or eight hundred thousand. But if you apply now, your superiors will definitely consider the number 53. The ship is still on the front line. Not only will the full amount be approved, but sometimes more money will be granted.
While the military newspaper interview team on board the ship is still there, we can apply for follow-up publicity funds in one fell swoop. After the mission is over and we return to Hong Kong, we can start the full rollout, which will be conducive to the merit evaluation of the officers and soldiers. To say the least, if they unfortunately die, We can also leave some portraits to the world as much as possible.
Not long after the telegram was sent, the ship administration called directly. As Li Hai expected, they not only approved the application, but also made it clear that the fleet would report the deeds of the No. 53 ship to the Navy Headquarters and publicize it as a model for the entire military.
The result far exceeded expectations, and Li Hailongyan was delighted.
After discussing some details with Zhuang Xiaoying, Li Hai and Chang Haizhou returned to the bridge.
Chang Haizhou whispered, "I have confirmed that the remaining fuel is not enough to support our return to the port, and the ammunition is only half the base."
"Can I go back to Musa Airport?" Li Hai asked.
The lack of fuel was expected, and Li Hai was not surprised by it.
Chang Haizhou shook his head slightly, "That's quite embarrassing. We will most likely have to wait for the supply ship to arrive."
Li Hai said, "The fleet supply ships are all outside, and the nearest one is a three-day voyage."
"Yes, our logistics support ships are too few." Chang Haizhou said with emotion.
Li Hai waved his hand and said, "The difficulties we face are far more than these."
Seeing Li Hai's solemn expression, Chang Haizhou became serious.
Two Anzac-class frigates unexpectedly withdrew from the confrontation. The pressure on our own side was reduced sharply, and everyone was more confident in successfully completing the mission.
Li Hai's mood did not change much, and his face was even more serious than before, which was puzzling.
"The Discomfort has no back-up supply level." Li Hai said.
"There is no return supply level..." Chang Haizhou would be unable to grasp the point for a while.
Li Hai said, "There is no problem with the self-sustainability of the Discomfort, but the three poker levels are inseparable from the supply level. If you are the commander of the strike group, what will you do when the supply ship is in danger?"
"We must return support." Chang Haizhou said subconsciously.
He gradually grasped the key.
"The Discomfort did not return support, which shows that compared with rushing to the waters of Dolan Island, a supply level can be sacrificed." Chang Haizhou said.
Li Hai nodded slowly, "Yes, the situation we face is far more difficult and dangerous than expected. Sooner or later, the Discomfort will find our traces."
"Understood, what we have to face next is probably a swarm of carrier-based fighter jets." Chang Haizhou knew what Li Hai was worried about.
The air defense capabilities of the No. 53 ship are almost zero - the double 37 guns and Haihongqi 7 can hardly threaten the F/A-18E/F "Super Hornet" carrier-based fighter jets.
This ship was not built for air defense.
"Musha Air Station, I can only rely on my old comrades." Li Hai said in a deep voice.
Chang Haizhou reminded, "The location of Luojing Waterway has exceeded the combat radius of the Musha Air Station resident brigade."
"I hope Xue Da can think of a way." Li Hai said.
Chang Haizhou knew that the captain of the permanent aviation brigade at Musa Air Station was Xue Zhengrong, who also served as the station commander. He was Li Hai's old comrade and superior, the son of the famous Air Force general Xue Xiangdong, and the Air Force legend Li Hai. The closed disciple of Zhan.
What solution does Xue Zhengrong have to solve the problem of combat radius?
Lehi had little hope for this.
When conducting air superiority operations, the J-8HG can only carry one auxiliary fuel tank, which is installed on the belly pylon, which can only extend the combat radius to a maximum of 200 kilometers.
The distance from Musa Airport to Luojing Waterway airspace is 1,200 kilometers.
Only two types of fighter jets in the Chinese army can reach this distance - the J-11 series and the J-20 series.
Li Hai's desire for an aircraft carrier has never been so strong. Only in this situation can he feel the significance of an aircraft carrier more deeply.
At this time, Li Hai and others did not know that Dang Weimin had led four J-15 heavy-duty carrier-based fighter jets to Musa Air Station, with the purpose of supporting the 53rd Task Force in the Duolan Island-Luojing waterway. Fighting in the area.
Even the J-15 will not stay in the air for more than ten minutes after flying into the Luojing Waterway airspace, which is already the limit.
Just when Li Hai was having a headache for air support, the maintenance hangar of Musha Air Station was brightly lit, and he saw a fighter jet that looked like a J-7E parked there quietly, with more than a dozen ground crew members handling it.
Dang Weimin and Xue Zhengrong followed closely at the scene.
There are thirteen five-pointed red stars painted on the side of the cockpit of the aircraft. Only a few people know what these five-pointed red stars represent, and on the vertical tail is a Chinese character written in official script - Zhan.
Underneath this word is a number that is daunting to many enemies - 037.
It turned out that the aircraft was the famous J-7EGGH-PLUS-PRO-2018 multi-purpose two-seater fighter jet. This aircraft was once the vehicle of the legendary pilot Li Zhan. It was later transferred to the Navy and became the vehicle of Li Hai. After Li Hai was transferred, The aircraft stayed at Musha Air Station as a training aircraft for training new personnel, and continued to exert its residual heat.
The maximum takeoff weight has been changed from 12 tons to 17 tons, from a single seat to a two-seat, from a single engine to a double engine, from light to medium... In fact, the appearance of this aircraft is not much similar to the J-7E. It's so special, it can only be said to be a spiritual resemblance.
Previously, the aircraft was undergoing a new round of improvements and modifications - J-7EGGH-PLUS-PRO-2020 model.
Dang Weimin looked at this multi-purpose two-seater medium-sized fighter jet, the only one in the Chinese army's combat sequence that enjoyed the treatment of a regular regiment, and said with emotion, "I never imagined that in the end we would still have to rely on this old guy to be the main force. .”
"She has a conformal fuel tank. It has a maximum combat radius of 1,000 kilometers just by carrying fuel inside the aircraft, which is similar to the J-15 you use. At the beginning, considering ground-to-sea operations, the mounting capacity of the auxiliary fuel tanks was limited." Xue Zhengrong He was quite proud. The Flying Shark Squadron that came over to support him was not able to steal his main attack, which was gratifying.
After a pause, Xue Zhengrong pointed to No. 037 and said, "Change the relevant oil circuits, rewrite the program, and optimize the counterweight. It will be no problem to increase the combat radius to 1,500 kilometers with three auxiliary fuel tanks. "
Dang Weimin said, "Lao Li and I knew that No. 037 was very special when we were posted here, but we never imagined that her potential would be so great."
Xue Zhengrong said, "No. 037 will serve as the command plane, my crew will fly it, and you will lead the Flying Shark Squadron in the assault."
"Completely understand." Dang Weimin nodded.
The J-15 cannot carry auxiliary fuel tanks, but it has the ability to refuel in the air.
An IL-78 tanker has already taken off from the inland airport and rushed here. This Lishu Air Force tanker needs to transfer to the shore-based airport to replenish fuel before it can rush to the Alasu Sea to perform its mission. The whole process takes more than ten hours.
Li Hai couldn't wait more than ten hours.
Therefore, Musa Air Station cannot count on tankers for the time being.
The Hongyou-6 equipped by the navy has been transferred to Xingwang Island Airport, but because this tanker has a limited fuel capacity, they need to resupply before they can come over to perform the "nanny" mission.
The support object of the IL-78 is the J-15, and the support object of the H-6 is the J-8HG. The current situation is caused by the inability to unify the fueling and receiving.
On the contrary, No. 037 can accept oil replenishment from the above two types of tankers.
Chapter 249 is revising the application to lift the ban...
(End of chapter)
