In the quiet of dusk, on a farm north of Lapska, next to the warehouse where hay or grain is usually stored, two grass-yellow painted biplanes, each with a spindle-like wingspan, each with an open cockpit. www.biquge.info The plane was surrounded by two vintage Fords, a general-purpose truck, and a dozen men in light costumes, some reloading them, some refueling them, and others overhauling various parts.

In the distance, under the cedar trees, sentries with guns on their backs were watching warily.

In the open space between the plane and the warehouse, two young men in gray flight suits smoked cigarettes and whispered in German:

"The Irish are so unrighteous that they actually bury their heads in the sand at a critical moment, I really didn't expect it!"

"The United States is now Ireland's second largest exporter of trade, so the Irish government, fearing pressure from the United States, renounced its support for the Mexican rebels, but fortunately, our Emperor is a fearless man who will never make concessions to the Americans. If we really sink the American battleship, let's go to war with the United States! As long as the United States is defeated, there will be no one to support Britain against us. ”

"But the Spaniards don't necessarily have the guts, so what's the use of us alone?"

"Hey, I know Gomez, he's a brave matador with a passion for challenging his rivals, and if he can sink an American battleship with a torpedo plane, his name will be resounding throughout Europe overnight, what a desirable achievement......"

"Even if he had that guts, would the Irish give him a torpedo machine? Besides, he had only flown an Irish torpedo machine twice, could he be as skilled as he was at the Junkers? ”

"We can't control this, and we don't have to care, if the American battleship can be sunk so easily, the US Navy is not worthy of confronting us at all."

As the two were talking, a puff of smoke appeared at the far end of the horizon, and along the road was a Ford Model T, which sold well in Europe and the United States.

The sentry under the tree stared at it for a moment, then turned to look in the other direction as if nothing had happened.

The men at the warehouse stopped their work, and the two German pilots next to them looked triumphantly at the car, as if waiting for their own trophies.

When the car approached, people saw that in addition to the Christian rebel fighters in civilian attire, there were two embarrassed-looking guys stuffed in the back seat of the car, and suddenly some people blew loud whistles, and some people shouted "Yankees" briskly, and the atmosphere suddenly became lively.

At this time, the two German pilots put on their trench coats and quietly walked to the corner next to the warehouse, tilting their heads to watch as people got the two Americans out of the car. They looked very young in American flight suits, their faces covered in mud, and after being dragged out, they looked in horror at the Mexicans who were chattering and laughing.

The official language of Mexico is Spanish, but in the northern part of the border with the United States, there are many English speakers, so it is not a problem to communicate with Americans. A tall, broad-shouldered Mexican man asked a sharp question, and two American pilots trembled to report their names and military positions, and then told the Mexicans that they had been ordered to carry out reconnaissance missions. As for the U.S. fleet that had sailed off the coast of Mexico, they were reluctant to reveal too much information at first, but after a few fierce pushes by a few guys with teeth and claws next to them, they poured beans without saying anything - perhaps in their opinion, even if they revealed these contents to the Mexican rebels, they could not pose a real threat to the U.S. fleet with the "Mississippi" and "Ioda", and they might even be afraid to treat the American prisoners of war in their hands with a cautious attitude.

While the Americans answered questions, two German pilots in trench coats listened intently. When the tall Mexican had finished asking the question he wanted to ask, the German pilot with a small goatee summoned the young Mexican next to him to say a few words. The young man immediately squeezed through the crowd and came to the tall man, whispered a few words to him, and the tall man asked in English: "How long is the anti-aircraft gun on your warship, how long is the delay fuse set for the shell, and at what distance does it explode?" ”

The two American pilots were stunned for a moment, looked at each other, and remained silent.

The tall Mexican bared his teeth and said, "If you fall to your death during a skydive, no one can hold us accountable, understand?" ”

The slightly older American replied weakly: "We are pilots, not gunners, how can we know these strange things you asked?" ”

The tall Mexicans waved their heads, and the Mexicans around them greeted them unceremoniously, and the younger American pilot quickly shouted: "Okay, okay, those damn shells explode in 12-1.5 seconds after the fuse is discharged, but this standard is very unreliable, some shells will explode when they fly 200 meters, and some will explode at a distance of 1,000 meters, and there are still a lot of shotguns and machine guns on our battleships, so attacking American warships with planes will definitely end up in a dead end." ”

The tall Mexican motioned for the crowd to stop, muttering "You know each other," before turning to look at the two German pilots outside the crowd. I saw them nod slightly, indicating that they had received it.

The tall man then instructed the crowd in Spanish: "Send them to the fortress, if the American warships dare to fire at the fortress, they will be killed first." ”

The two American pilots, though unable to understand what he was saying, had a rough idea of what the Mexicans were trying to do, and after a useless struggle, they were thrown into the bed of the truck. Before leaving, they caught a glimpse of the two German pilots, who, despite their inconspicuous trench coats, had a typical European face that made them stand out from the crowd of Mexicans, with the pilot's characteristic white scarf around their necks, and the fact that the two Albatross D fighters parked here were exactly the same as the hunters who had shot them down earlier, and they understood what was going on.

"Damn, these guys want to attack our battleship!" The younger American pilot whispered, "Are they Irish or German?" It's really disgusting to shamelessly mistreat prisoners of war and force us to divulge military secrets. ”

His companion, who was a few years older, was bleeding from the corners of his mouth, but his expression was very disdainful: "It is impossible for a fighter to sink a battleship, unless they are fools to do such a stupid act." ”

The young pilot struggled to move his body, and his action immediately aroused the Mexican's vigilance, and a new shoe print was left on the right side of his face, and he glared at the other man with great resentment, only to get a sarcastic face.

The movement of his body brought the young pilot closer to his companion, and when the Mexicans stopped looking at him, he whispered to his companion, "Maybe they have torpedo bombers somewhere else!" The Irish, I think they are Irish, because Ireland has the best pilots in the world and the best aviation technology, so they are conceited to want to challenge the American battleships! ”

"But the Irish government has signed a military memorandum and a diplomatic agreement with us, and they should keep their promise not to provide any kind of assistance to the Mexican rebels, and their pilots must stop all operations in Mexico."

The young pilot snorted: "To hell with the tricks of the politicians!" ”

On the edge of a wooded area, closer to the fortress of Lapska, a brand new biplane was dyed a beautiful orange by the setting sun. Its wingspan is much wider than that of the Albatross, and the upper and lower wings are connected by pillars and cables, which means that the fuselage is more stable; Its fuselage resembles an inverted swordfish - the upper part has a distinct curve, the lower part is as flat as the back of a knife, and the most distinctive feature is that it has foldable rings at the root of its wings, which are usually tailor-made for carrier-based aircraft.

Under a large tree next to the plane, a young European man in a white flight suit and a short, dark middle-aged Mexican man stood face to face, both holding cigarettes in their hands and their expressions were very serious.

The Mexican, in a hoarse voice, said: "The situation is clear, here comes a main detachment of the American Atlantic Fleet, with two battleships, two cruisers, five destroyers, and three auxiliary ships, which have reached the mouth of the Almagre and are ready to shell us." Our mines have sunk the American destroyers, and with their vengeful character, they will certainly take the most severe measures against us, and if you decide to obey the commandments of the Spanish government, let our pilots take it! ”

The European youth in a white flight suit, who is 1.9 meters tall, has a long face, long legs, long arms, and a man's medium-length hair, and exudes an elegant aristocratic temperament. He hesitated, then said, "Adventure is my second life, but I can't implicate my friends irresponsibly, so I need you to pick a bombardier, completely voluntarily, and we will act together." ”

The middle-aged Mexican man was relieved and quickly replied: "We are defending our homeland, and everyone is willing to give their lives at any time." Major Gomez, you can choose from among us who you think are qualified. ”

The young European thought about it for a moment: "Torado and Santos are good, see which of them wants to go!" ”

"Alright, I'll take care of the rest." The middle-aged Mexican man walked away quickly, and in less than two minutes, he led a dark-skinned young man back to the European youth, "Santos is completely willing to go with you to teach the Americans." ”

The young man reached out and patted the young man on the shoulder, nodded and said, "Don't worry too much, you just need to do what I say." ”

The young man nodded vigorously, and the middle-aged Mexican answered: "Since we leave after dark, let's go to dinner first!" Just let the pilots load the torpedoes onto the plane. By the way, Major, are we hanging torpedo No. 3 or No. 5? ”

The European youth lowered his head and thought for a while: "Since it is a night flight, it doesn't matter if the speed is slow, so I will use the No. 5 torpedo to surprise the Americans." ”

(End of chapter)