Chapter 48: Chǔ Zǐ Xiù

  Colonel Peck was amazed to see the dozens of fighter jets lined up neatly on both sides of the runway, and even among them were several Spitfire fighters. After all, the Spitfire fighter is now the highest level of fighter in the world.

  The Spitfire fighter was formally equipped with the British army in August 1938. It has an all-metal structure, single wing and single seat, and is installed with a Rolls-Royce Merlin water-cooled piston engine, four-blade propeller, maximum speed of 571 km/h, ceiling of 10,360 meters, maximum range of 805 kilometers, climb rate of 870 m/min, armed with eight 7.7mm machine guns, has armor protection, aerodynamic shape is perfect, transparent bubble cockpit provides pilots with good visibility. The Spitfire fighter has a fast speed and good maneuverability, it was the only aircraft in the British army that comprehensively exceeded the performance of the German BF-109 fighter at that time, and was recognized as the best fighter in Europe during World War II. However, the production of Spitfires is relatively complex, and maintenance is also more complicated. Colonel Park couldn't imagine how Chinese people could repair these planes within two days using simple tools in the airport's repair depot, he thought these planes would have to be transported back to the factory for major repairs after all they were not mechanical failures but combat losses from bombing.

  "Major Park, our ground crew has repaired 6 Spitfires and 15 Hurricanes. The rest are beyond repair, but we've salvaged all the useful parts. It looks like you can now officially write off those original planes." Colonel Ryu came to see Major Park early in the morning specifically to tell him this. Over the past two days, more than a hundred ground crew members from China had played a crucial role, disassembling usable parts from the damaged planes and assembling several good-as-new fighters.

  "Wow, you Chinese are incredible!" Major Pike exclaimed while inspecting the planes. The planes were already painted and coated, with the insignia of the British military on them, and the Chinese Aviation Unit had also added a dragon emblem on the tail wing.

  "Hey, you're not going to regret it, are you? You said at the time that once it's fixed, it would be returned to our squadron. Look, we've already finished repainting," Liu Zhesen said to Packard. In fact, repairing this thing wasn't a difficult task for these ground crew members from China. On the Chinese battlefield, it was often impossible to send planes back to the repair factory for maintenance. In many cases, the ground crew had to do the repairs themselves, so even though half of the new recruits were on their first trip to England, the ground crew still worked through the night to assemble dozens of usable fighter jets from the damaged ones.

  "Oh, of course. That also saves me a lot of time. If there's anything else you need help with, just let me know and I'll do my best to cooperate with you." Pike nodded, and so the 21 aircraft were officially equipped for the Chinese Aid Britain Aviation Team.

  "It turns out that there are things that need to be bothered with. Fuel and ammunition, these two items need to be in place as soon as possible, I think large-scale air battles may begin soon. You know, the Chinese have their own way of forecasting the weather." Thanks to the overcast skies for the past two days, the Chinese Aviation Squadron in Britain used the original 10 Hurricane fighters for adaptation training without any German planes coming to harass them. One of the ground crew members had rheumatism and had been suffering from severe leg pain every day since arriving in this godforsaken place in Britain, but there were signs of improvement this morning, it seems that the weather will clear up in the next two days.

  "Oh, you Chinese are really amazing. I just received a report from the Air Defense Command, and the meteorological experts say that the weather will clear up this afternoon. Let's get ready to take off! Don't worry about fuel and ammunition, the airport originally had some reserves, and since you've repaired so many fighter jets, I'll immediately apply for resupply. Is there anything else?"

  "Also, can you help us get some large-caliber aircraft machine guns or cannons? You know, in China we've already phased out small-caliber machine guns. These weapons have to be within 100 meters to be effective. Although the Hurricane and Spitfire each have eight machine guns, the number cannot make up for the lack of caliber.

  Liu Zesheng then made a second request. Now Britain is similar to China, facing large-scale bombing by the enemy, small-caliber machine guns are slightly insufficient against today's bombers. The firepower of fighter planes can't even compare to the defensive firepower of bombers. Facing the powerful German air force, Liu Zesheng dare not be careless."

  "I can get the aircraft machine guns, but in that case, we'll have to reduce the number of machine guns. Are you sure your mechanics can handle this modification?" Colonel Pike was originally a fighter pilot and knew the importance of firepower. The US-aided planes had already begun to be equipped with large-caliber machine guns, and he thought it was only a matter of time before they made the switch.

  "There shouldn't be a problem, we've done it this way in China before. The machine guns on the I-16 planes were all replaced by Chinese mechanics themselves. However, if you can help find some mechanical equipment, I think the progress will be faster." Liu Zesheng continued to say.

  "So, you should have other requirements, right?" Major Pike heard that Liu Zhe Sheng had just mentioned the second requirement and guessed that there should be other requirements.

  "This is it, haha. Can you help us find a Chinese chef and some rice? To be honest, many of us have been having stomach problems after eating your country's food for the past few days, which has affected our combat effectiveness."

  Liu Zhesen and these pilots had mostly received training abroad or under the guidance of foreign experts, so they could accept Western food. However, those ground crew members who saw milk bread in the morning, beef and bread at noon and night thought it was disgusting. The beef was even bloody, which was unacceptable.

  Later, Major Pike really found a few Chinese chefs in London and made delicious Chinese dishes, which greatly improved the combat effectiveness of the Chinese Aviation Squadron. Since then, the British people stationed at the airport, including Major Pike, fell in love with Chinese food after trying it once.

  Major Pike not only served as the airport commander of the Aviation Squadron but also opened a Chinese restaurant with these Chinese chefs in London after the squadron withdrew in 1942 and made a fortune.

  After finishing the conversation with Major Park, Ryu Tae-seung began to organize the 55th squadron for large-scale coordinated training. For the first two days, there were not enough planes, so they had to train in batches. Today, they can finally start large-scale coordination. I believe that after the weather clears up, the German Air Force will definitely not let go of this airport, and we must immediately get familiar with these planes, especially those six Spitfire fighter jets.

  Liu Zesheng and Zheng Songting allocated the 31 aircraft into four small teams after a brief discussion. Six Spitfires formed one team, while the remaining 25 Hurricanes were divided into three teams. Since there were 32 pilots, one person would not be able to fly. Originally, Liu Zesheng was supposed to stay on the ground and direct, but he gave this important task to Zheng Songting in the name of training his ground command ability, and quickly grabbed a Spitfire fighter plane, eager to experience the world's top fighter plane.

  Liu Zesheng excitedly jumped into the cockpit of the Spitfire, feeling around. Although he was already very familiar with the shape of this aircraft during the repair process, he had never actually operated it before.

  As the tower issued a takeoff permit, Liu Zhe-sheng started the plane, and the four-leaf propeller made a loud roar under the powerful engine. Liu Zhe-sheng released the brake, and the Firefly surged forward, slowly sliding along the runway. After aligning with the runway, Liu Zhe-sheng pushed the throttle to increase the plane's power, and the well-maintained engine roared to life, accelerating the plane faster and faster. Liu Zhe-sheng then pulled back on the control stick, and the plane took off into the air. In mid-air, he performed several aerobatic maneuvers, feeling out the Firefly's performance. Next, he dove downwards, the plane speeding up and descending lower and lower, before suddenly pulling up, transitioning to a steep climb, exceeding vertical flight, and presenting an inverted flying posture. Finally, he executed a roll, returning to level flight. This was a complete Immelmann turn, and with the Firefly's excellent performance, this maneuver was completed in a very short distance, allowing the Chinese pilots on the ground to deeply experience the Firefly's powerful capabilities.

  Next was the formation drill. Under Zheng Songting's command, the planes took to the sky one by one and began to perform aerobatic stunts. Thanks to the onboard wireless radio on each fighter plane, as well as effective command and dispatch from the ground control station via wireless radio, the coordination between lead and wing aircraft became increasingly smooth. They covered each other in pairs, with four two-plane formations forming a small team that crossed attacked and covered each other.

  Major Park was stunned by the exquisite coordination on the ground. To know that at this time, the British Air Force generally adopted a three-aircraft V-formation, which was very inconvenient when turning during navigation, and single-machine combat in the formation was greatly restricted, especially the wingman at the end lacked protection and was easily attacked, and the formation was also prone to dispersal in melee. This is because the speed of aircraft has now doubled compared to World War I, and the intensity of air combat has increased dramatically, with thousands of aircraft often engaging in dogfights, and the problems of three-aircraft formations become apparent under such circumstances. In comparison, the dual-formation currently adopted by the German army is more efficient. The British also realized this problem, but it took too long to adjust from top to bottom, making it difficult to complete in such an intense battle situation. So Major Park was extremely surprised to see this skilled dual-machine formation tactic, which represented the highest level of formation tactics, and who knew that this tactic had already been adopted by that mysterious great power in the East.

  "How's that, our little guys are flying pretty well, aren't they?" Zheng Songting had finished the large formation practice and began to let each small team conduct tactical exercises separately, so he had some free time to chat with Pak standing in the tower.

  "It's absolutely fantastic, I swear our ace squadron isn't even as good as this, and you've just gotten familiar with the new planes." Major Pike exclaimed, who would have known that these Chinese people, who had only been in England for two days, could display such flying skills in the English sky.

  "Hehe, you know they all yearn for battle. Previously, they fought with the Japanese every day, now that they've been idle for half a month, they can't stand it anymore. I'm also getting impatient, Major Peck, you should hurry up and get us some fighter planes. I don't want to stay on the ground forever." Zheng Songting was furious that Liu Zhaosheng had snatched his plane, so he urged Peck to quickly get them some planes.

  "To be honest, the Fighter Command still has some doubts about your air force. I think if the performance is outstanding, the planes should arrive soon." Major Pike was also in a difficult position. If it weren't for his connections with the military, they might not have gotten their hands on the first 10 fighter jets, and the Chinese Aviation Volunteer Group would be facing an embarrassing situation of having no planes to use.

  At this time, Liu Zhesen, who had taken off a step earlier, had already landed. He ran quickly into the tower and excitedly said to Zheng Songting: "Do you know? It's simply great, this plane is a masterpiece! All its performance is much higher than I-16." At this point, Liu Zhesen, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, was so excited that he almost jumped up. Pilots always love planes, which made Zheng Songting envy him.

  "So how does it compare to the planes we used to fly?" Zheng Songting asked, not mentioning the J-11 by name due to Pak's presence.

  "The performance should be slightly higher, but the avionics system on our plane is more excellent." Because the J-1 was originally a sports plane that was then fitted with weapons and armor, its performance could not compare to the Vampire which was designed as a fighter from the start.

  "In addition, it is better than Japan's Zero. The Zero is more agile in low-speed operations, but it is difficult to counter the Spitfire at high speeds. Moreover, the Spitfire's engine is better, so its armor is also better than the Zero. Of course, due to the sacrifice of armor, the Zero has a slightly longer range." Due to Ryuusei having flown captured Zeros as well, he accurately grasped the characteristics of both planes.

  "It seems like we can make a big move tomorrow!" Zheng Songting said confidently.

  Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!