Rise From Eight Hundred

July in the mountain city is extremely hot and humid!

Tang Dao is now sitting in the small hot pot restaurant where he met Wang Zhu a few days ago. The Jialing River is at his feet. The sun has set and the river breeze is caressing him, but it is still hot. Even though Tang Dao, who is not wearing a military uniform, has been wearing a short coat like the local residents, he is still sweating profusely.

No matter how prosperous the hotel is, there is no air conditioning in this era, but the rich will never have the fear of the weather that the poor have.

The hotel provides ice cubes for cooling, which is enough to reduce the temperature of the room to below 30 degrees, which is already very cool for the mountain city where the daytime temperature is close to 40 degrees.

But Tang Dao is not willing to stay in the magnificent room like these well-dressed rich people, but prefers to sit in a small riverside shop with people coming and going and blow the river breeze, which makes the plainclothes officers of the detective team very troubled.

A week ago, after Tang Dao went to the Military and Political Department to report on his work, it took only half a day for the highest level of the Military Control Commission to issue an order to upgrade Tang Dao's protection level, but significantly downgrade the surveillance. Tang Dao only needed to report those people he had met, and the content of the report was not necessary for the detective team to know.

So these days, Tang Dao could clearly feel that although there were still plainclothes policemen when he went out, there was no longer a situation where there were plainclothes policemen within ten meters of him.

It seems that the suggestion he made to Minister He last time has been approved by that person, and in return, he has obviously been freer in the mountain city.

However, this obviously cannot alleviate Tang Dao's inner anxiety.

In less than half an hour, Tang Dao, who usually doesn't smoke much, has smoked five or six cigarettes in a row, and his conversation with Wang Zhu is also intermittent.

"Captain Tang, do you think Minister He and his team will agree with your suggestion? It's been a week, why haven't you received any news yet?"

Wang Zhu, who had been drinking sour plum soup for a long time, was also very anxious. Tang Dao's suggestion to introduce foreign capital and American technology and equipment made him so happy that he couldn't sleep well for several nights. However, he was so happy that he had not received any information from the top, and this excitement turned into extreme anxiety.

It's not that he and his research and technical personnel will have sufficient financial security after introducing foreign capital, but that he may finally be able to realize the ambition of the passionate young man who resolutely gave up his high salary and returned to China 23 years ago.

Wang Zhu's biggest dream is to enable China to have the ability to manufacture advanced aircraft, rather than just staying at the stage of purchasing and assembling.

It's a pity that the young man who returned has become a middle-aged man with white hair on his temples. After a long 23 years, China's aviation manufacturing industry has not changed much.

Seeing that the ideals of the past are close at hand but seem to be far away, even middle-aged people who are almost at the age of knowing their destiny can't help but fall into anxiety.

Seeing Tang Dao smoking silently and looking at the surging river with tragic eyes, how could he hold back?

"Oh! Director Wang, I'm sorry, I just remembered some old things and was a little rude. You don't have to worry about the joint venture aircraft manufacturing plant. When I met General Stilwell who was about to leave China two days ago, he had promised me that as long as our Chinese government agreed to the joint venture plan, he would definitely convince the US military leaders.

He believed that once the United States was involved in the war, the Far East battlefield was inevitable, and China would become their most solid and reliable ally. He even believed that not only should we invest in aircraft manufacturing plants, but also in the construction of airports that can be used for large bombers to take off and land.

General Stilwell is an old man with enough wisdom. After coming to China for so many years, he is well aware of the fact that people who do not think about the future will have immediate worries.

I believe that as long as those big men are not broken-headed, they will not refuse the good intentions of the United States." Tang Dao gave him a reassurance with apology.

"Then I'm relieved!" Wang Zhu's hanging heart finally let go.

Wang Zhu and Tang Dao had only met a few times, but this experienced aviation master was also very strange. He had an extraordinary trust in the young man in front of him. No matter what Tang Dao said, even if he was in contact with Stilwell, a US general who only the top leaders of the Chinese government could contact, and even discussed with others such incredible topics as the world war situation, he actually believed it.

Perhaps this is the legendary fate between people! The aviation master can only use this reason to explain the extremely strange sense of trust.

Trust is actually mutual. Wang Zhu may not realize that when Tang Dao knew his true identity, he believed in him without reservation.

Not only did he put forward reasonable suggestions to save the marginalized aviation research institute, but he also invested 30 million US dollars on behalf of an overseas company in an aviation manufacturing company that had not yet been established. That was not just empty talk. The money had been transferred to Rockefeller Company through Citibank.

By then, the Chinese government will hold 30% of the shares, the overseas Chinese company will hold 30% of the shares, and Rockefeller Company will hold 40% of the shares.

Although Rockefeller is the largest shareholder, as long as the overseas Chinese company leans towards one side, that side will have the right to speak. This is the best structure Tang Dao has made for the equity structure, which is enough to ensure that the other two parties will not do anything that violates the interests of the Chinese nation.

It is this trust that goes beyond ordinary friendship that has won the heart of this aviation expert who has never truly realized his ideal in his life.

"Then Captain Tang, why do I see that you look worried?" Wang Zhu asked with some concern.

Tang Dao showed a bitter look on his face.

In the 22 days since Tang Dao arrived at the mountain city, Japanese aircraft had already carried out two small-scale bombings. Perhaps because of the mist over the mountain city in early summer, the Japanese did not launch too large-scale bombings.

But the little butterfly from the future knew very clearly that the mountain city was about to face a catastrophe in more than a month.

On August 19, the Japanese Navy deployed more than 140 bombers. More than 2,000 homes in the mountain city were destroyed, and thousands of people died in the bombing.

And this is just a loss of people's livelihood. A bigger blow to the Chinese Air Force, which has just recovered some of its vitality, will be in early autumn two months later.

In the famous Bishan air battle, 13 Chinese fighter planes were shot down and 11 fighter planes made an emergency landing. A total of 24 fighter planes were damaged in the battle, and one Japanese plane was damaged!

This was not the biggest loss suffered by the Chinese Air Force since the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War, but it was a battle that humiliated the Chinese Air Force.

The biggest reason for its defeat was not that the Chinese Air Force was not brave enough.

"Director Wang, I have a question for you. What do you think of the performance of the fighters currently equipped by the Chinese Air Force?" Tang Dao asked.

"What are the capabilities of the fighters currently equipped by our air force?" Wang Zhu frowned slightly and answered after a while.

"The Chinese Air Force is currently mainly equipped with the Yi-15, Yi-16 and Hawker III fighters aided by the Bear Country. These three fighters were considered advanced fighters a few years ago.

In particular, the I-16 fighter is the world's first low-wing monocoque fighter, and the first to use retractable landing gear and variable-pitch propellers, combining the characteristics of old and new aircraft.

It can be equipped with four 62mm machine guns or two 20mm machine guns and can even be equipped with rockets to make it powerful. It is also equipped with a 9-cylinder air-cooled engine with 700 horsepower and a top speed of 400 kilometers per hour. , which allowed this kind of fighter to achieve excellent results in the Civil War of the Matador Empire and the Battle of Nomenkan 4 years ago!

The characteristics of its single wing make it smaller in flight resistance when traveling at high speed. For example, during the Civil War of the Matador Empire, when the I-16 was bitten by the He 51 biplane fighter, the pilot of the I-16 only had to open the throttle and dive downwards. You can leave the He 51's machine gun attack range in time and leave the He 51 pilot helpless.

At least for now, the I-16 can be regarded as an advanced aircraft on this battlefield, comparable to the 96 Land Combat currently equipped by the Japanese army, while the I-15 and Hawker III are somewhat different due to the characteristics of their wings. "

Wang Zhu is worthy of being an expert in aviation engineering. In a few words, he clearly explained the characteristics of China's current fighter jets.

But Tang Dao could still hear this man's concerns about the performance of the currently equipped fighters.

Being advanced a few years ago does not mean it is still advanced now. The Japanese are constantly making progress.

"If the Japanese develop a newer monoplane, use super aluminum alloy that is harder than steel as the body, which can greatly reduce the weight of the aircraft while ensuring the strength of the fighter, and use a 14-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine It bursts out with a traction force of up to 950 horsepower, allowing its top speed to reach 500 kilometers per hour, and it uses a closed cockpit to give the pilot a better field of vision. Due to the relationship between the body structure, it has a smaller turning radius and good "The climb rate, do you think the aircraft currently equipped by our country's air force have the ability to match it?" Tang Dao said quietly.

"This is a completely different generation. There is no way to fight!" Wang Zhu's eyes suddenly opened wide and he made a quick judgment. "But do the Japanese have it?"

"They really have it. If I'm not wrong, they have already arrived at Jianghan Airport, and this new type of fighter plane will appear on the next battlefield." Tang Dao sighed.

"This" Wang Zhu was speechless, wanting to refute Tang Dao.

Based on his understanding of the aviation industry, the Western aviation industry is now the best in the world. Even the German Empire, which has already entered the war, has not invested in such high-performance fighters in the Western world. Japan is still imitating the Western world. How could it be the first to put such an epoch-making fighter aircraft into the battlefield?

But with Wang Zhu's understanding of Tang Dao, he knew that this general was not an alarmist, but if this was true, what would be the consequences? For a moment, cold sweat dripped down his forehead.

"What should we do? Even if we report this news to the Air Force, we still don't have higher-performance fighters!" Wang Zhu stood up anxiously and paced back and forth on the small terrace.

"There is no need to rush the replacement of fighter planes. The important thing is to know that the little devils have secretly transported new fighter planes. We should be prepared in advance and not be caught off guard. Even the best-performing fighter planes also have shortcomings. Let's use our advantages to attack The opponent's shortcomings might mean we can't fight." Tang Dao looked at Jiang Mian with bright eyes.

In the time and space of the past, 24 fighter planes were either shot down or forced to land and damaged in the Battle of Bishan. Only one Japanese plane was damaged. The air combat record promoted by the Japanese invaders as '27 to 0' seriously damaged the morale of the anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians. In the following months of air combat, China was shot down a total of 99 fighter jets, all due to unfamiliarity with the performance characteristics of the Zero fighter.

Not to mention that the Chinese intelligence agencies are not familiar with it, even the United States and the Mao Xiong Country are also looking at it with black eyes.

At that time, Western countries generally did not believe that the performance of a fighter jet made by an Eastern country could reach a very high level. Flying Tiger General Chennault, a retired officer of the U.S. Army Air Force, noticed the new Japanese fighter jets on the battlefield in China and immediately reported it to the United States. , but this report did not attract the attention of the authorities.

When the United States was stabbed by Japan and Pearl Harbor was bombed to pieces, it finally began to pay attention to the new fighter equipped by the Japanese Navy. However, because the Zero fighter was not available on the battlefield for about a year after it was first deployed in the main battlefield in Asia, it was impossible to obtain a Zero or even wreckage from the battlefield, so it was impossible to understand its characteristics.

In the battles such as the Philippine offensive, the Zero fighter, which was quite mysterious to the West, had advantages in maneuverability and endurance over the F2A fighter, F4F fighter, CW-21B, Hawk 75A, P-40 fighter, etc. at the time. In addition, the Allies were not well prepared and lacked a correct analysis of the characteristics of the Zero. The wrong World War I system air combat tactics were adopted, resulting in the loss of about two-thirds of the fighter forces in the Pacific region in the first few months after the war.

Arrogance will eventually pay a price. The Americans never accept the lessons given by history, so they will be beaten up ten years later.

"Yes! Yes! Captain Tang, you must know the weakness of this kind of Japanese aircraft. You tell me, I will remember. I will rush back to Rongcheng tomorrow. My Aviation Research Institute has a maintenance station at Shuanggui Temple Airport, and I am familiar with Captain Zheng." Wang Zhu nodded repeatedly.

"Huh? Director Wang has this relationship with the Air Force?" Tang Dao was stunned.

"Isn't this also forced by life?" Wang Zhu's face was bitter.

It turned out that the Aviation Research Institute had too little funding allocated to it. Not to mention the development of aircraft, even the engineers, technicians and workers in the institute had no food to eat. As the saying goes, poverty leads to change. Director Wang could only put down his status and run around.

What can the Aviation Institute do? It's just airplanes! If you can't build airplanes, you can't maintain them! Several airports in Sichuan Province have become customers of his Aviation Institute. With this skill and no shortage of funds, the flight brigade is naturally willing to subcontract some of the tasks of maintaining and repairing fighter planes to them.

Without this source of funds, I'm afraid that Director Wang's downtrodden aviation research institute would have been cut by the officials long ago, and it would not be his turn to travel through mountains and rivers to the military and political department in Shancheng to beg for funds.

"Does Director Wang know Shen Chonghai?" Tang Dao didn't have many acquaintances in the Air Force, and he had a good impression of several young pilots such as Shen Chonghai, but the Air Force was always on the move, and he had lost contact for more than a year.

If I hadn't thought of the Bishan air battle just now, Shen Chonghai, a name that was deep in my memory, would not have appeared.

"Captain Shen! Of course I know him. That young man is very powerful and brave in combat. Not only has he completed several bombing missions against Japanese bases, but now there are 4 stars on the tail of his plane." Wang Zhu nodded.

"Okay, then please ask Director Wang to pass on a message to him for me. I will find time to meet him in the near future." Tang Dao nodded.

"This new type of fighter named Zero by the Japanese army has weak armor. If armor-piercing incendiary bombs are used, the attack effect will be better. The diving ability of the Zero fighter is not strong. The tactics of hitting and running away should be adopted to avoid being intercepted by the Zero fighter escort bomber, or using this weakness to dive at high speed to escape the battlefield to avoid being shot down." Wang Zhu carefully recorded Tang Dao's analysis of the shortcomings of the Zero fighter and the use of tactics.

Tang Dao turned his attention back to the mountain city that was gradually getting dark. On the 19th, the Bishan air battle was imminent. This alone was not enough. He had to do something for his hometown and this heroic Chinese Air Force.

Even if he knew the shortcomings of the Zero fighter, Yin 16 was still unable to compete. Those young air force pilots could sacrifice, but they could not sacrifice in vain.

Major Chen Qiangguang, who had shot down the Japanese "King of Expellers" Miwa Kuan in 1937, fought against the Kato Ace Fighter Squadron of the Japanese Army Air Force with only 5 aircraft on the battlefield of Shanxi Province, and did not show weakness. After landing in the Bishan air battle, he couldn't help but burst into tears: "The planes are too different, there is no chance to fight back!"

Major Zheng Shaoyu, the leader of the 4th Squadron, who was the highest commander of the air force over the mountain city at the time, not only had to face the pain of his comrades' sacrifice, but also had to face the blame from the one who felt ashamed. He told the truth with blood boiling: "I am your student in the third term of the aviation school. Today, in order to save the country and my compatriots, I will die willingly and move forward bravely.

But the Japanese must pay a certain price. Our planes are not as good as theirs in quantity and quality. Now they are taking out new planes this year to fight our old ones from ten years ago.

We don't even have a chance to fight back. What's the point of such a sacrifice? After I report to you, I will definitely die in front of you to obey your orders!"

Death is not terrible! For this group of heroic Chinese air force, the most feared thing is the strong powerlessness!

Even if they are willing to sacrifice, they are powerless to aim at the Japanese invaders and shoot the bullets in the gun barrel.

The Japanese played a trick on the Chinese Air Force, but in this time and space, Tang Dao must not sit idly by and watch this happen. He must not only let the Chinese Air Force know the situation of the opponent in advance, but also have the strength to fight.

Fortunately, he still has enough chips!