By the time Luftwaffe Lieutenant General Max Inmaiman and Irish Air Force Colonel Ralph Byrne came to the surface from the underground hangar, the morning fog had dissipated somewhat, but the visibility was still less than 100 meters, and it was very difficult to drive the plane to take off and land. www.biquge.info The fog on land is usually several hundred meters high, and it is impossible to see the ground situation clearly from a high altitude, and it seems that it is not wise for British reconnaissance planes to choose this time to fly into Irish airspace, but do not forget that the morning fog in May and June often does not last long, and after sunrise, the fog will soon dissipate, and then aerial reconnaissance can be carried out normally, and before the fog clears, the reconnaissance plane can take advantage of the low-altitude fog to hide its body and evade the tracking and expulsion of the opponent's fighters, and even some highly skilled pilots can adjust the timing of the fog to gradually disappear into the military restricted area that is difficult to approach in peacetimeto probe the most secret military intelligence of the other side.

At the exit of the underground hangar where Inmaiman and Colonel Byrne were standing, only thirty or forty meters from an apron, the roar of liquid-cooled engines could be clearly heard, and two IR-29 biplane fighters had been started and were waiting for the order to attack.

"On such a foggy day, how did you find out that the British reconnaissance plane was coming?" Yin Maiman asked curiously.

Since the establishment of the Kingdom of Ireland in 1915, the national defense construction and military development have been greatly influenced by Germany, which can be seen from the title of "Little Germany" or "Little Prussia" from the outside world, and the Irish army still has a large number of German officers holding important positions, but this does not prevent Ireland from maintaining its independent sovereignty and national character, and the Irish people have also worked hard to maintain their relative independence in the field of national defense and military, and many important military secrets are also kept secret from the Germans. Despite being a trusted friend, Colonel Byrne smirked, "This is the wisdom of the Irish. ”

Yin Maiman didn't think there was anything ridiculous about this answer, he looked blankly into the depths of the morning mist, and after about a cigarette, the two IR-29s moved towards the runway in turn, apparently receiving take-off orders. At this moment, there was another buzzing sound in his ears, not only Yin Maiman, but also many officers nearby noticed this strangeness, but in such weather, when the war had not officially broken out, people just looked in the direction from which the sound came with grim faces...... A moment later, a silver shadow "drilled" out of the field filled with gray-white mist, the monoplane flew at an altitude of less than fifty meters, and the slightest mistake could collide with the tower or flagpole of this military base!

As the so-called virtuoso dared, the British pilot flew the unmarked monoplane over the airport, swinging its wings lightly, juggling around all the "dangerous structures", and flying along the runway for a while, easily leaving the two taxiing IR-29s behind.

"The second time in a week." Colonel Byrne said lightly, "The British move gives the impression that war is getting closer." ”

"Such frequent probing shows that the British army is trying to prepare for war, and they believe that they can suppress the Irish Air Force when war breaks out," said Yinmaiman. ”

"Suppression?" Colonel Byrne smiled contemptuously, "It depends on whether they have that strength or not." ”

Without commenting, he watched without saying a word as the two IR-29s rose from the ground and struggled to chase in the direction the British reconnaissance plane had left. As time went on, the fog faded, and even if there was no sign of the British plane, the Irish fighters could wait at medium and high altitudes, and then it was a game of cat and mouse.

Colonel Byrne said: "The British Devanati 'Champion' is derived from the winning model of the 1929 London Flying Race, which is the work of French aeronautical engineers, and is 60 kilometers per hour faster than our IR-29, but this monoplane may have defects in strength or maneuverability, so the British Air Force has only procured dozens of them for reconnaissance." ”

As the technical director of fighter jets in the Luftwaffe, Inmaiman should have been familiar with this, and he deliberately raised his voice: "The stubborn French would rather sell their design to the British for a low price of 750,000 pounds than accept three times the price offered by a German company." As far as we know, the high-speed performance of this aircraft in an unarmed configuration is excellent, the climbing and steering capabilities are very good, once the fuselage structure is strengthened, equipped with air combat weapons and defensive armor, the flight ability is greatly affected, so it is only suitable for use as a high-speed reconnaissance aircraft, and if necessary, it can carry a small number of weapons to fight, but the battlefield survivability is definitely very poor. ”

Colonel Byrne touched his nose a little embarrassed: "I see! ”

"Compared to the ME-50 selected by the Irish Air Force, Devanati's 'champion' is simply terrible, and the French did not sell it to us in the first place, which now seems to be a very fortunate thing," said Yinmaiman disdainfully. ”

After takeoff, the IR-29 burrowed into the fog, and at first the roar of the engine could be heard, and after a while, the entire base fell silent, except for the sound of towing trailers coming from the passage of the underground hangar.

Colonel Byrne invited Inmaiman to the conning tower, which is the first contact hub of the entire air base, to know the progress of this reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance confrontation, but Inmaiman did not answer, but stood silently, turned his head to watch the tractor appear, and a ME-50 came to the surface from the underground world.

Seeing this, the Colonel of the Irish Air Force explained to Inmaiman: "This is just a precaution, and it may not come in handy." ”

Yinmaiman nodded, and followed Colonel Byrne towards the conning tower.

On the way, Colonel Byrne said as he walked: "The British must be very interested in getting the technical intelligence that we are equipped with the ME-50, recently they have used a lot of spies, it is estimated that there are very few things that have really been gained, and recently they have frequently tested our air interception capabilities, I guess a big reason is to understand the flight performance and deployment of the ME-50, so we should not send the ME-50 to the sky unless we have to do it." ”

"At the time of the war, it is not a bad thing to have one more secret weapon, although it is difficult to keep it a secret under the noses of the British." Inmaiman's words sounded meaningful, but he did not say much, and Colonel Byrne did not ask more.

By the time they arrived at the base control tower, many officers had gathered in the operations command room, and the voice of the pilot of the IR-29 twin-plane formation was heard over the radio receiver. With the encouragement and support of the government, Ireland's radio technology has developed rapidly since the 20s, but due to the weak status quo of basic industry, components such as electron tubes still need to be imported. The technical potential of the IR-29 in the field of air combat has been basically exhausted, and upgrading communication equipment is the most effective way to maintain a tactical level, and the ultra-short-wave radio transmitter currently equipped with an effective range of about 100 kilometers, which is more advanced than that used by most German fighters.

According to the reports of the Irish pilots, the two IR-29s that had risen from this base had already spotted the British reconnaissance planes and were trying to outflank and intercept the target. The British reconnaissance aircraft did not climb and escape, but continued to fly at medium and low altitudes, and it did not change course frequently, making it difficult for the IR-29, which was inferior in absolute speed, to catch up, let alone warn.

At the same time, the radio station at the Irish air base issued a warning to the British reconnaissance aircraft through the public channel, and the British pilot, most likely, had received the warning message, but he did not respond at all. Before the outbreak of war, the British Air Force made such a provocative move, which made the Irish officers very angry, and they were eager to fly the ME-50 into battle to shoot down the British reconnaissance plane, which was anyway carrying out improper activities in Irish airspace.

"The Joint Staff called back...... If you do not agree to dispatch the ME-50, you are only allowed to use the IR29 or IR-30 to expel the enemy reconnaissance aircraft, and if necessary, you can fire for warning. ”

Hearing the report of the base commander, all the officers sighed.

Yin Maiman paused and said in German: "In the last big battle, our fighters flew freely in the enemy's airspace, and rarely encountered interceptions, and it was completely up to luck to increase the battle, but now the situation is different, the British Air Force is equipped with at least four thousand combat aircraft, the United States has more than 10,000, and the Russians also have two or three thousand, if the war really starts, you have a chance to become a trump card, but don't despise your opponents, their training on weekdays may not be easier than yours, They may have put in more effort than you. ”

Judging by the reaction of the officers, most of them could understand German, and a considerable number of them immediately recognized the identity of the German general and saluted him.

The top officer of this airbase is a stocky middle-aged man, wearing the rank of Major General of the Irish Air Force, and his face looks more majestic than Colonel Byrne's, and his voice is louder.

"His Excellency the Earl is right, don't rush to teach the British, there will be opportunities in the future, the key is to improve your technical level, if you are humiliated by the British after the outbreak of war, then you will have no face to come back!"

Facing the reverent gaze of everyone, Yin Maiman taught loudly: "I know, some of you have been to Mexico, to the Caucasus, to Persia, and have flown hundreds of missions, but most of you have not experienced air combat in the real sense, it is far more cruel than you imagined, the time to decide your fate may only be a dozen seconds or even a few seconds, you must always be sober, the enemy may make you negligent in a way of showing weakness, You must keep in mind the performance and advantages of the aircraft you are flying and the landing point, and do not get carried away by the atmosphere of battle. ”

The officers were silent and respectful, they knew that this man was not only the horse of the Hohenzollern royal family and the brother-in-law of the King of Ireland, he was the proud of the last great war, and had the experience of fighting with French, British, and Russian pilots, and for a long time after the war, he was the number one star in European aviation, and helped the Irish Air Force train the first pilots, and many Irish Air Force generals were his students.

Under the silence of the crowd, the pilot's voice suddenly came from the noisy radio receiver: "It turned, it was flying towards our base, he wanted to peek again, but he put himself in my line of attack and asked to shoot it down!" Repeat, request to shoot it down! ”

All eyes immediately turned to the base commander, but the eyes of the Irish Air Force Major General fell on Yinmaiman, as if asking the German general for advice.

Yin Maiman stared, not moving like a sculpture, then shook his head slightly.

The base commander seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and he ordered: "Fire warning, don't shoot down." ”

(End of chapter)