Empire Conquest
Chapter 231 - 227 Xiaotian

Chapter 231: Chapter 227 Xiaotian

On the day Bai Zhizhan arrived in Puzhou, Zhao Yu said he was going to give him a surprise. Later, it turned out to be the Navy accepting a batch of new ship-borne aircraft.

Not long thereafter, Zhou Yongtao came to Puzhou and mentioned the matter, stating that Li Yunxiang would assign the pilots from the First Shipborne Air Force Wing to Bai Zhizhan, and arrange the best ship-borne aircraft for him.

At that time, Bai Zhizhan was very much looking forward to it.

In fact, even before the bombers and torpedo planes flew to the front, Bai Zhizhan was very eager because Zhao Yu hadn’t specified which types of new ship-borne aircraft they were.

Before the outbreak of the war, Bai Zhizhan had already known that the Navy had decided to purchase new ship-borne aircraft to replace the three types of aircraft designed and produced before the war. The related work had always been managed by Zhao Yu, who was pushing for the design and production of the new ship-borne aircraft.

It should have been replaced a while ago.

The reason they hadn’t been replaced wasn’t because the Navy was short of funds, but because all the war plans assumed the start of hostilities around the end of New Calendar Year 100 or the beginning of New Calendar Year 101.

The war broke out a full year earlier!

If the great war had erupted a year later, the current three types of ship-borne aircraft would have been replaced, and at least the front-line troops would be equipped with new ship-borne aircraft.

However, there are no ’ifs’ in matters of war.

Interestingly, before the outbreak of the war, technical experts including Zhao Yu felt that among the three types of ship-borne aircraft, the torpedo bomber was the most in need of replacement.

The reason was that the "Flying Fish" had the worst flying performance and its carrying capacity had reached its limit, incapable of handling the new air torpedoes being developed.

This view was not wrong.

Actual combat had proven that the "Flying Fish"’s flight performance was indeed poor, making it difficult to escape when encountering fighters, and its casualty rate was frighteningly high.

As for the new air torpedoes, weighing more than 1,000 kilograms, the "Flying Fish" could not use them, no matter the improvements.

Nobody expected that, in actual combat, the first to be tested would be the "Typhoon," which the Imperial Navy had always considered its prized fighter.

Before the war, even Bai Zhizhan thought the "Typhoon" was a powerful fighter that could win in air combat through speed and firepower, despite some flaws.

Fortunately, the development of new torpedo bombers encountered major problems.

Among the three types of ship-borne aircraft, torpedo bombers had the highest technical threshold and the most difficult development process because they were the largest in size and weight, demanding the most from the engines. Using the same engine meant that a lot of effort had to be invested in other aspects to achieve flight performance similar to that of dive bombers. This meant that more advanced equipment had to be adopted, which increased the difficulty and technical risk involved in development.

Moreover, the "Wasp"’s performance was deemed sufficient, and after an engine replacement, it was quite impressive, so the urgency to replace it wasn’t strong.

For this reason, the new fighter nicknamed "Xiaotian" had the chance to stand out.

When the first fighter landed on the flight deck, Zhou Yongtao had already been waiting there.

Standing on the island structure looking down provided a more direct view.

Compared to the "Typhoon," the most distinctive external feature of "Xiaotian" was its lower single wing; the body was longer, making it appear more slender.

In reality, it had nothing to do with being "slender."

The radial air-cooled engine at the nose made any ship-borne aircraft look very bulky, especially fighters that didn’t primarily rely on bombs and torpedoes as weapons.

Additionally, the "Xiaotian"’s wings featured rotating and folding mechanisms driven by hydraulic motors, which could fold automatically after landing, reducing a lot of hassle.

Twenty minutes later, only four "Xiaotians" remained in the sky.

These four fighters did not enter the landing approach pattern but formed two pairs and flew over from behind the carrier at an extremely low altitude.

A low-altitude flypast!

Moreover, they were very fast.

It felt like the four fighters were flying right across the flight deck.

In reality, it wasn’t that exaggerated; the flight height was definitely over a hundred meters.

The critical issue, the speed was too fast!

Almost in the blink of an eye, they had flown over the carrier.

By visual estimation, the flight speed wouldn’t be less than 550 kilometers per hour!

This was an incredibly impressive speed because the "Typhoon’s" maximum speed was just over 500 kilometers per hour, and at sea level, it still wasn’t more than 450 kilometers per hour. If the "Xiaotian" could fly at this speed at ultra-low altitude, it would definitely exceed 600 kilometers per hour at medium and high altitudes.

Not to mention ship-borne fighters, which of the Army’s fighters could fly this fast?

However, what really widened Bai Zhizhan’s horizons wasn’t the speed.

After flying over the carrier, the four "Xiaotian" did not fly away nor climb, but instead made a tight radius turn at ultra-low altitude.

Not just Bai Zhizhan, even the flight deck crew were stunned!

If it were a "Typhoon," it would be absolutely forbidden to perform such tight radius horizontal turns at ultra-low altitude because tight radius turns would inevitably cause a loss of altitude!

And then, you might just crash straight into the sea.

The "Xiaotian" not only didn’t lose altitude but also maintained their speed.

That one maneuver alone proved that the "Xiaotian’s" agility far surpassed that of the "Typhoon." It might not have surpassed the Zero Fighter, but it couldn’t be far off. As long as you didn’t suffer in aerial combat, then you could use the speed advantage to lose the Zero Fighter and regain a favorable position.

After making the loop, the four "Xiaotian" entered the landing pattern behind the carrier one by one.

At that moment, Zhou Yongtao returned to the island structure on the carrier.

"Those designers finally had their breakthrough."

Bai Zhizhan smiled but didn’t respond.

"I asked, they have six machine guns and also set up mounts under the wings. According to what several squadron leaders said, during testing, many regarded the ’Xiaotian’ as an attack aircraft. It seems even the Army got interested, wanting to purchase a batch and use them for ground attack missions."

Bai Zhizhan didn’t dampen Zhou Yongtao’s spirits, after all, it was rare to see him so happy.

"With ’Xiaotian,’ we don’t have to be afraid of the Zero Fighter anymore."

"War is won by people, not weapons."

"Pilots?" Zhou Yongtao chuckled and said, "The entire First Wing’s original crew is here. Shen and Zhu are arranging the pilots, they’ll be up shortly. To come here, both gave up their squadron leader positions, and they agreed that whoever achieves the first merit will be appointed as the squadron leader."

Bai Zhizhan was speechless, but he didn’t have much to say.

Shen Pu and Zhu Huasheng were considered Zhou Yongtao’s seniors. Even if they didn’t mind, Bai Zhizhan wouldn’t speak poorly of them in front of Zhou Yongtao.

Because they always mixed with the younger pilots, Shen Pu and Zhu Huasheng didn’t seem like men in their forties at all.

"However, we still need to intensify training. I’ll arrange that shortly. There’s still a few days left; as long as fuel supply can keep up, there won’t be a problem."

"We should make good use of the time, but don’t overdo it either."

"Don’t worry, I’ll be measured."

At that time, the door to the rear cabin opened, and someone stepped onto the open walkway, not Shen Pu or Zhu Huasheng, but a signals officer.

In the hands of the signals officer, he carried a piece of freshly copied telegram.

A new battle report?

If so, it must be related to the Special Mixed Group, because up to this point, among all the units engaged in combat, it was only the Special Mixed Group that had yet to send out a battle report.

Was it good news, or bad news?

Judging by the signals officer’s expression, it likely wasn’t bad news.

Bai Zhizhan glanced at his watch; it was 6:45 a.m. now. The Volcanic Islands were in the time zone to the east; there, it would be 7:45 a.m.

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