Chapter 53: Shooting Down Taurus Canis

  The battle was first sounded by the air force.

  For the past few days, both armies have been facing each other without rushing to attack. The Allied forces were frantically digging trenches, and even the British army drove away many Chinese men from Meixi to dig ditches. This situation was first discovered by a bomber squadron responsible for reconnaissance of the Allied forces' dynamics.

  Two H-5s flew over the Melbourne Allied Forces' position to conduct reconnaissance missions without fighter escorts. This had been going on for three days, and they were not worried about the dozens of Bulldogs in the Australian Air Force, with speeds of over 200 kilometers per hour, which couldn't even catch up to the tail gas of the H-5s. The fighter squadron had not taken off to attack the Bulldogs because the air force was following the commander's order: do not start a fight before the general offensive. Zhong Yi once joked about Colonel Conan's trench warfare tactics at a military meeting: Let the British help us loosen the soil, and next year's wheat will definitely grow better.

  But today, the bomber squadron leader Gao Jian was unable to control his anger. A group of British soldiers wearing MK1 helmets and khaki uniforms were sitting in a trench, gesturing and drawing, while the ones digging with pickaxes and shoveling with iron scoops were all Chinese. The British not only set up their artillery positions next to Chinatown but also forced the Chinese to build fortifications and dig tank trenches for them. This discovery made Gao Jian's already fiery temper flare up, and he yelled into the radio, "Little Liu, are you going to do something about this?"

  There were three crew members on the H-5, with the navigator in front, unarmed. The two fixed forward-firing machine guns were controlled by the pilot, while the other two machine guns at the rear could be controlled by the radio operator/gunner in the rear cabin. Little Liu - Liu Dongsheng was the radio operator/gunner of this No. H0101 bomber piloted by Gao Jian.

  "We must get them, Squadron Leader. You go down and pull up afterwards, I'll take care of these British." How can a hot-blooded man just sit back and watch others humiliate his compatriots?

  "I'll take out the first wave!" Gao Jian gritted his teeth, gently pushing the control stick, aiming the nose of the plane at the group of British soldiers. His thumb heavily pressed down, as if unleashing all his pent-up anger along with the two 23mm cannons.

  The British, who had grown accustomed to the daily flyovers without attacks, were caught off guard. They were sitting in a circle, mocking the "yellow pigs" with an old calendar from the Opium Wars, when they suddenly found themselves torn apart by machine gun fire before they could even let out a cry. The plane gently pulled up, and from the rear cabin came Liu Dongsheng's voice, controlling the machine gun and cursing at the same time. Gao Jian smiled slightly, "Little Liu, was it satisfying? Want to do it again?"

  "Captain, no problem, it's great! Shall we report to HQ?"

  "Uh-huh, reporting to the squad leader, the British army is forcing local Chinese to dig trenches for them. We took the opportunity to test the performance of our machine guns while conducting a close reconnaissance."

  "Haha......"

  Suddenly, another voice came from the cockpit of Gao Jian's plane, "Squadron leader, eight Aussie F-111s have been spotted!"

  "Old Head Dog" is the nickname given by Red Alert air force pilots to Australian fighter planes, which are called Bulldog in Britain, a breed of dog with wrinkles on its head.

  Just as he was about to continue pursuing the British army that was fleeing in disarray, Gao Jian heard his comrade's report and immediately pulled up the T-34, "Prepare for battle!"

  "Squad leader, orders from above are just to scout, no unauthorized attacks!"

  "Not allowed? The Geneva Convention doesn't even allow harm to civilians, does it? Why did the British devils take all the Chinese to the front lines to dig trenches?" He wasn't satisfied that they hadn't slaughtered those beasts completely. Since a few old dog heads were delivered to his doorstep, he might as well accept them.

  "Squadron leader, this plane is a bomber, are you sure we're the ones going to fight the enemy? Why not call in the 3rd squadron, those fighter jet brothers?"

  "Cut the crap, will we still have meat to eat when they arrive? Let's get started!"

  ……

  The first air battle in Australian history broke out, with the Red Alert army's two H-5 jet bombers and the British-Australian coalition's eight Bulldog biplane propeller fighters. By the time the two fighter jets arrived, the battle was over, with a result of 8:0. Gao Jian alone shot down five old Bulldogs, while Xiao Liu also shot down one, and the remaining two were credited to another H-5 bomber.

  After receiving this battle report, Zhong Yi was speechless for half a day. The telegram he sent back to Yun Jiu only had one sentence: "Merits and demerits cancel each other out, don't make it an example." This telegram made Yun Jiu lose face, but indeed the bomber squadron was at fault first, so there was nothing much to say. He could only severely reprimand Gao Jian for his reckless behavior and add a warning penalty. However, Yun Jiu also received another message through Qian Zhihao, which finally allowed Gao Jian's wish to come true. A few days later, he was transferred to be the commander of the third squadron and flew the J-5 fighter jet.

  Qian Zhihao revealed that when the boss was sending a telegram, he was very happy and said: Nima, our air force's first ace is actually a bomber pilot, Yun 9 has talent!

  In the following days, the ground forces of both sides remained in a state of confrontation, but the air was fully open. The Australian military, having lost eight Bulldog aircraft, took off with a larger formation and some planes were equipped with missiles to prepare for retaliatory bombing against the Red Alert army. However, this time they were met by specialized air-to-air combat aircraft - J-5s. A squadron of 12 J-5s from Hoxham arrived at Baralant in just 20 minutes, and the performance difference between the two types of aircraft led to the Bulldogs falling one after another before they could even enter the battlefield. The two 27mm cannons on the J-5 could easily shatter the wooden fuselage of the Bulldog, not to mention the other 37mm cannon. If a Bulldog was hit by just one shot, it would be destroyed and its crew killed.

  A 30-minute air battle, not a single missile fell on the Red Alert army's formation, all 35 F/A-18s of the Australian Air Force were shot down. Gao Jian, flying the J0101 fighter jet, added another 6 victories to his tally, bringing his total to 11 and becoming the absolute leader among Red Alert air force pilots. Two other pilots also shot down four F/A-18s each, becoming quasi-aces.

  From then on, the Australian Air Force was almost completely annihilated, with only a few remaining Bulldog fighters that didn't dare to take off again. Conan finally understood the huge gap in equipment between the Australian army and the Red Alert troops.

  "It's not that our army is not powerful enough, it's just that the Red Alert firepower is too strong!" Australian Air Force Commander General Rooks was beaming with pride!

  "The opponent of J-5 is not the biplane of various countries now, nor the monoplane that will develop rapidly in a few years. Don't mention what Fireblade or Wild Horse, the real opponent of J-5 will be F86 Sabre and... MiG! " Zhong Yiru summarized the result of this air battle, the previous sentence was very confident, but as soon as he mentioned MiG, the highest commander comrade immediately made up his mind, increased investment in Wang Dali's laboratory, and equipped with many experts. "Our air force must have its own advanced fighter developed!"