Li Yaofang and Lien Tingwei had already carried out a round of reconnaissance missions in the morning, and after returning to the fleet, they slept for a few hours, and then set off in the evening to carry out a new round of reconnaissance missions. Perhaps the most important thing for these two pilots at this time was not whether they could find the enemy fleet, but whether they could fly on an accurate course and return to the carrier before they ran out of fuel, rather than being salvaged from the sea by rescue aircraft.

Since the last time the Atlantic Fleet was first discovered, the two of them have become well-known figures in the Eighth Task Force Air Force, and what makes them famous is not that they found the enemy first, but that after finding the enemy, they were not able to continue to track the enemy fleet, but fled back in a puff of smoke. Although the commander of the fleet did not pursue the matter, but instead awarded them a medal of excellent service, this could not change the image of the two men in the eyes of their colleagues.

To be honest, Li Yaofang and Lian Tingwei are also a little aggrieved. The "Reconnaissance Eagle" is nothing more than a reconnaissance plane that flies faster, not a fighter plane, and when intercepted by enemy fighters, any pilot of a reconnaissance plane can think of running for his life instead of fighting the enemy desperately. And the maximum speed of the "Scout Eagle" is much slower than that of the "Super Corsair", and it is only its acceleration that prevails, especially when diving at high speeds. This is also the best way for the "Scout Eagle" to get rid of enemy fighter attacks. At that time, after Li Yaofang drove a reconnaissance plane to get rid of the pursuit of enemy fighters, he himself could not find the north, so how could he continue to track the enemy fleet? Later, if he had not been guided by the air defense fighters of the fleet, he would not have even returned to the aircraft carrier. As far as the pilots of the reconnaissance planes were concerned, there was no shame in fleeing for their lives, but what Li Yaofang was blamed for was that he did not fly back after escaping; at that time, many pilots of the reconnaissance planes would fly back again after getting rid of the enemy fighters and continue to monitor the enemy fleet, which could probably be regarded as the "unique skill" of the carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft unit of the Tang Imperial Navy.

This also reflects a small problem of the "Reconnaissance Eagle", that is, the stability of the gyro navigator is not good. And the accuracy is not high. This was also a common problem at the time, and before the advent of more advanced laser gyro navigators, or even later satellite navigators, it was only the rudimentary gyro navigators that could provide directional guidance for aircraft. And this kind of instrument that relies on inertia to measure the direction of the aircraft and the distance it flies is very inaccurate, and if it flies too far, it is difficult to ensure the accuracy of the course. This is the main reason why it is so difficult to fly across the ocean, and why it is necessary to establish a large number of ground navigation stations on the islands along the way. And it is impossible for a reconnaissance aircraft carrying out combat reconnaissance missions to be guided by a ground navigation station. At most, you can only get the guidance of the navigation department on the fleet aircraft carrier when you return home.

For those experienced pilots who are calm and calm, this little problem can be overcome, at least to try to ensure that they fly on the predetermined route, and not find the north in the event of an unexpected situation. Li Yaofang is not an experienced pilot, and he is not calm, he was already scared into a cold sweat at that time, how could he still find the original route?

It is precisely because of this that Li Yaofang is worried that he will not be able to return to the aircraft carrier when he returns home. Previously, he had only flown three night reconnaissance missions. And two of them were guided back by the fleet. The other time it was just luck, and it flew right over the fleet. If he really let him, or Lian Tingwei in the back seat, guide him back. I'm afraid they won't be able to find the fleet at all, and it's impossible to return to the aircraft carrier. In the past, it was not without a situation in which the reconnaissance plane did not return to the fleet or flew to another fleet to land because of navigation errors, and Li Yaofang was not the only crew member who had this problem.

When the sky gradually darkened, Li Yaofang and Lian Tingwei felt a little nervous, but at the same time they were relieved. When flying at night, pilots can only rely on the data provided by the instruments to operate the aircraft, and it is difficult to judge the flight status of the aircraft with the naked eye, especially at night when it is cloudy. There are hardly any references to be seen. If there is a problem with one of the instruments, especially the altimeter, then the plane is very likely to crash into the sea, although until now, there has not been a failure of the altimeter caused the "Scout Eagle" to crash into the ground at night, but who can guarantee that there will not be such an accident? In the same way, however, it is very difficult for enemy fighters to detect reconnaissance planes at night, and it is even unlikely that they will carry out patrol missions at night. In other words, even if you encounter the enemy fleet. As long as they do not enter the range of anti-aircraft guns of enemy battleships, the reconnaissance aircraft will not be in much danger. In addition, the radar on the reconnaissance plane is not affected by the night, and it is still able to detect the enemy fleet in the distance, so that the reconnaissance plane is unlikely to rush into the sky over the enemy fleet.

"Lao Li, when you had dinner, you didn't seem to have any appetite?"

"yes, it's not comfortable." Li Yaofang didn't say it completely, he was uncomfortable.

"I've got some chocolate, do you want it?" Lian Tingwei said as he took out a piece of chocolate wrapped in brown paper.

Thanks, you can eat it yourself, I don't have an appetite. Li Yaofang didn't feel hungry.

"Don't think so much, to be honest, who does it better than us who only knows how to gossip?" Lian Tingwei is much more cheerful than Li Yaofang. "Moreover, we just did what we had to do, and the commander didn't say anything about us, so what qualifications did anyone else have to say about us? Besides, it was we who discovered the enemy fleet first, if we hadn't reported it in time......"

"That's enough, don't talk about it." It's really a pot that can't be opened, Li Yaofang restrained his emotions and didn't quarrel with his partner.

Even Tingwei kept his mouth shut, he knew that Li Yaofang was under a lot of mental pressure during this time. As a navigator, the possibility of becoming an officer is not very large, and now in the HNA industry, seventy percent of navigators are non-commissioned officers. And as the Navy expanded the rank of non-commissioned officers and improved the status of non-commissioned officers, as technical non-commissioned officers, the treatment was very good. On the contrary, Li Yaofang is a pilot, and for a pilot, a lieutenant is only the beginning, and thirty percent of the pilots in the HNA are colonels, and those pilots who have been promoted to colonels can leave the front-line combat units at any time if they want to, go to other places to take up more promising jobs, and at the same time be promoted to brigadier general. In other words, Lian Tingwei doesn't have much hope for his future, if he can become a seventh-level non-commissioned officer. That's pretty much the end of it. On the contrary, Li Yaofang has great hopes for his future, if he can become a colonel before the end of the war, then after the end of the war, he will have a greater chance of staying in the army and getting better development, on the contrary, if the time comes. If he was only a lieutenant, he would probably be downsized, and not only would he not be able to continue his service, but he would also not be able to have a good future.

This is not to say that Li Yaofang has wrong ambitions, and soldiers who do not want to be generals are not good soldiers. But his mental pressure was also caused by himself, and other people's accusations and ridicule were only secondary factors, if Li Yaofang had seen a little more openly, he would not have had so much pressure.

"What time is it?"

"At 7:15, we flew about 300 nautical miles."

Li Yaofang glanced at the sea on both sides a few times. "Looks like we're going to be busy again this time."

"There is also a 100 nautical mile search range. Who knows if there will be any gains? Lian Tingwei glanced at the screen. There is no reflection.

"Tingwei, what do you want to do after the war?" Li Yaofang took the initiative to open the topic, wanting to relax the atmosphere.

"Let's go back to my hometown. What about the one-third of an acre of land still waiting for me to operate? ”

Li Yaofang laughed, he knew that Lian Tingwei was joking. Lian Tingwei's family is doing business, and I heard that the scale is not small, it can be regarded as a relatively famous local family, and Lian Tingwei is the second son of the family, although he does not have much inheritance, but it is impossible to get nothing. In other words, after the war, Lian Tingwei could go back to serve the family business without any problems in life.

"Lao Li. What about you? You're not really going back to get married, are you? ”

"Who knows, at least not now." Li Yaofang sighed, not long before the fleet left Kingston, he received a letter from home, the matchmaker had already come to the door, and his parents were more satisfied, urging Li Yaofang to go back and get married when he was on vacation.

"Come on, don't tie yourself to a tree so early, it's rare to live a single life. I don't want to get married so early. ”

"That's your business, and you're not the eldest son, and the important task of passing on the lineage won't be your turn, otherwise, will your old son let you join the army?"

"That's the same, but I still think it's better to get married later."

Both of them laughed, the two were from completely different classes, Li Yaofang's family can be regarded as a small landlord, and he is the eldest son of the family. Although life is not a big problem, compared with Lian Tingwei, Li Yaofang's family conditions are much worse.

"Lao Li, there are still 50 nautical miles, it seems that we have really run for nothing."

"It's okay, it's better to go back early." Li Yaofang glanced at the meter in front of him, "Anyway, I heard that there is the greatest possibility of encountering the enemy in the second half of the night, and we are just doing it routinely." ”

"That's right, go back and rest early, and fly the first round after dawn, I hope that the next two batches of reconnaissance planes can gain something, then we don't have to fly the first round."

Li Yaofang didn't speak, he wanted to prove that he was not a coward through his actions. When arranging the mission, he approached the squadron leader, hoping to fly the second or third round, so that he would not need to carry out the first round of reconnaissance missions at night. However, Li Yaofang only belonged to the worst batch of pilots in the squadron, and the squadron leader naturally did not give him the most important task, but still arranged for him to fly the first round during the day.

"By the way, Lao Li, have you ever thought about leaving the army after the war?"

Li Yaofang shook his head, if he was ready to retire after the war, he would not be so desperate now, and he would not have such a lot of pressure.

"I said, don't get into the horns, if you want to find a good job after retiring, remember to come to me when the time comes, how to say, I am also the second young master of the Lian family, and it will be no problem to arrange a good position for you when the time comes. Or, the two of us join forces to start a business, it's a big deal, I'll make you the big boss, how about it? ”

"Come on, you kid knows that you're kidding, in addition to the little capital at home, do you have any other money to invest?"

"Don't underestimate me, I'll tell you the truth, I wanted to do it myself for a long time, and it won't be my turn to inherit the family property anyway. No matter what I say, my old man will not watch me suffer outside, no matter how I say it, I have to give some support, I have thought about it, after I go back, we will open an import and export company, how about it? ”

Li Yaofang laughed, Lian Tingwei is the kind of person who has a lot of ideas but few actions.

"If you think about it, after the war, all countries need a lot of materials, and we must be exporting countries, and the import and export trade must have a lot of profit margins, and it will ...... when the time comes."

"Look at your screen."

Lian Tingwei stuck out his tongue and looked at the screen, and when a faint flash suddenly appeared on the edge of the screen, Lian Tingwei was stunned at first, and then screamed. "There is a goal, Lao Li, ready to turn!"

Li Yaofang reflexively looked around, but he immediately reacted that there would be no enemy fighters at night.

"The distance is about 35, a small battleship, probably a destroyer, wait, damn, now we send it!"

More and more flashes appeared on the radar screen, and they were quite dense, even connected, and it was clear that this was a fleet, a huge fleet.

"Fly to the left, go around from the side, and wait until I'm sure there's an aircraft carrier."

"Contact other reconnaissance aircraft around." Li Yaofang had already stepped on the accelerator to the bottom, "I will pay attention to the surrounding situation, and after determining the size of the enemy fleet, I will immediately send a telegram, don't delay time." ”

"I know, damn, don't rush me!" Lian Tingwei was already busy with his work, and the first thing he called was other nearby reconnaissance planes, and then he connected the radio station that communicated with the fleet, but he did not immediately send a telegram, and it was of little significance to send a telegram until the specific size of the enemy fleet was determined, especially if there were no aircraft carriers.

The "Scout Eagle" quickly turned and flew towards the west, and even Tingwei kept reminding Li Yaofang to adjust its course. After contact, it is necessary to enable the radar to detect the enemy fleet to avoid losing the target, and at the same time not to get too close to avoid being detected by the radar on the enemy battleship. Therefore, it is necessary for the navigator to provide the pilot with flight data. When the reconnaissance plane circled about one-sixth of a way to the west, the radar detected a huge warship, and the reflected radar wave signal resembled that of an aircraft carrier. At this time, Lian Tingwei sent a telegram, and at the same time, several other reconnaissance planes nearby were also rapidly approaching, and the US Atlantic Fleet appeared!