Seasonally, it's spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and it's a time of spring in the high latitudes, where the temperature is right and comfortable, but that's not the case in the lower latitudes, especially in the arid Arabian Peninsula.

It's noon, just after twelve o'clock, the sun is scorching, sweating like rain, this oozing sweat soaks the clothes inside and out, in this kind of place for a lunch break, a tent with shade is indispensable, but not everyone is in the mood for a lunch break.

Zhang Yiwu took off his shirt and trousers, wore a short-sleeved undershirt and a pair of military shorts, and stood under the scorching sun fiddling with the heavy-looking machine parts in his hand, his hands were full of oil, and the sweat on his face rolled down his neck to the undershirt, and not far from Zhang Yiwu's side, next to the half-collapsed earthen wall, was his "Sea Falcon" dive bomber, at this moment, the bomber was quietly parked on the edge of the earthen wall, and the top of the plane was covered with an air defense camouflage net for tropical desert areas, if you look at it from the sky, It's hard to find a Chinese Navy dive bomber hidden here.

At that time, Zhang Yiwu very much hoped that the reconnaissance company could use an armored reconnaissance vehicle to tow the wounded aircraft back to the rear of the squadron on the front line in Muscat, but this request was rejected by the company commander of the reconnaissance company, for the simple reason that the "Hunter" troops would not return to their positions for the time being, and their task was tactical feints, not just reconnaissance.

In desperation, Zhang Yiwu had no choice but to hide this "Sea Falcon" in this long-abandoned village, and used two grenades borrowed from the reconnaissance company to set up two mines in the cockpit and fuel tank respectively, in case the plane fell into the hands of the British ** team, his plan was originally to wait for the Chinese 6th Army troops to occupy this place in the future and then come back to find the plane, but he didn't expect to follow the 6th Army troops back to this abandoned village so quickly, and this 6th Army unit is the "Hunter" unit, this is an armored regiment, The commander was none other than Tian Miao, commander of the Sixth Armored Division, and Zhang Yiwu followed Tian Miao back to the village, who was no longer a pilot of the Navy Airlines, but a mechanic of the baggage company of the "Hunter" unit, responsible for repairing tanks and armored vehicles.

Zhang Yiwu is a major in the navy, has received professional mechanical repair training, not only can fly the plane, but also can repair the machine, Tian Miao is very happy that his unit can have one more professional mechanic, but now Zhang Yiwu is holding the machine parts are not the parts on the armored combat vehicle of the "Hunter" unit, but the parts of his "Sea Falcon" dive bomber, to be precise, this is a key link to control the flaps of the aircraft, the "Spitfire" of the British Air Force The bullet fired by the fighter broke a small part on the connecting rod, causing the "Sea Falcon" to be unable to maneuver flexibly, and directly forced Zhang Yiwu to risk a forced landing here.

Before encountering the armored forces, Zhang Yiwu had no way to repair the aircraft, first, there was no time, and second, there were no tools and suitable parts, but now the situation is different, the armored forces not only have repair machinery and tools, but also have some parts, although they are not special parts of the aircraft, but if you think of a way, use your brains, and transform it, you may be able to repair the control system of the aircraft, an excellent professional officer, not only must have a brave and fearless fighting spirit, but also must have professional quality, In this regard, Zhang Yiwu asked himself to be qualified.

Now, Zhang Yiwu's feet are a bunch of parts found from the baggage company, he is now busy finding the right size screws from them, to see if they can replace the broken screws on the connecting rod, in addition to these parts that were originally used to repair tanks and armored vehicles, Zhang Yiwu also has two dark grenades at his feet, this is the mine he originally set up in the cockpit and fuel tank of the plane, after returning to this village, the first thing he did was to immediately disarm the fuse of the two mines and start repairing the plane, If all goes well, Zhang Yiwu is confident that he will be able to repair the plane before dark, and then fly the plane off the road and return to the field airfield of the 6th Army in Muscat.

It is also a coincidence that the "hunter" unit received an order from the superior to wait for the next instruction in this abandoned village, and Zhang Yiwu's landline is hidden in this village, otherwise, Zhang Yiwu will not have time to repair the plane now, and Tian Miao, the commander of the "hunter" unit, is also very supportive of Zhang Yiwu's attempt to repair the plane and return to the airport, in fact, Tian also has his own plans, and he hopes that after Major Zhang Yiwu repairs the plane, he can go around the sky near here before returning to the airport to replace the "hunter" The troops conducted a tactical reconnaissance to see what was happening to the British troops on the other side of the oil field.

He told Division Commander Tian that he was not sure to carry out this tactical reconnaissance mission, after all, this was only an emergency repair, and even if it could be repaired, the flexibility of the plane could not be guaranteed, and it was already very good to be able to insist on flying back to the airport, and it must also be taken into account that there are still British planes passing by in the sky from time to time, and Zhang Yiwu does not want to be shot down again.

In fact, Tian Miao's idea cannot be said to be wrong, the war situation in Muscat is tense, and it is true that there is not much air force to carry out aerial reconnaissance missions, and the only few reconnaissance planes must also stare at the west and the direction of the Persian Gulf, as for the battlefield reconnaissance operations in the east, they can only be placed in the back of the reconnaissance plan, after all, the "hunter" unit is only a tactical feint force, although this unit is indeed equipped with "wild boar" heavy tanks, but this does not mean that this force should undertake the main attack mission, in fact, There are also some "wild boars" on the Muscat battlefield that are being tested in actual combat.

However, in order to comfort Master Tian, Zhang Yiwu also promised that as long as the plane was repaired, if the situation allowed, he could fly the plane to the east.

"Major! It's time to eat! ”

Zhang Yiwu was engrossed in pondering how to replace the damaged screws in the connecting rod, and the voice of the navigator Qin Kaixuan sounded behind him, and when he looked back, Xiao Qin was carrying two lunch boxes from outside the courtyard wall to here.

"What's lunch?"

Zhang Yiwu turned his head and continued to ponder the matter of processing parts, and asked casually.

"I don't know what it is, I heard that it was an animal that the armored soldiers hunted in the mountains in the morning, it looks like a sheep, but it is not a sheep."

Xiao Qin put the lunch box on the ammunition box at Zhang Yiwu's feet, then sat aside, and ate it by himself, the broth was freshly boiled, the pancake was brought by the armored soldiers from the cooking squad before the attack last night, and he was already a little tired, but it did not affect Xiao Qin's good appetite, this morning's sea and air battle, it did make him feel very good, until now, he still clearly remembers the situation when the aircraft carrier of the British Navy was hit by the bomb dropped by his "Sea Falcon".

Zhang Yiwu also quickly began to enjoy his lunch, chatting while eating, and when he was talking to Xiao Qin, a staff officer of the Sixth Armored Division suddenly rushed over.

"Staff Officer Chu, what's the matter? Look at the way you panic. ”

Zhang Yiwu recognized the person as Chu Tian, a major staff officer of the division's staff office, so he hurriedly stood up and took a few steps to meet him.

Staff Officer Chu wiped the sweat on his face and said, "You guys hurry up and eat, clean up after eating, there will be a war here soon." ”

"The enemy is coming?" Zhang Yiwu was stunned.

"Yes. Just now I received a report from the reconnaissance company, just more than 10 kilometers to the east, they saw a large amount of sand and dust raised, there was no wind at that time, and the sand and dust was probably caused by the actions of the British troops, and now the reconnaissance company is still continuing to monitor, if it is confirmed that a large force of the British army is coming, we must block it here, Division Commander Tian has already rushed to the front with the artillery platoon, and it is estimated that he is selecting a preset battlefield. ”

"My plane hasn't been fixed yet." Zhang Yiwu said.

"Leave the plane alone, hurry up and load your two mines again, after the battle begins, you will follow the baggage company, and you are not allowed to move without orders. By the way, the heavy machine gun in the back seat of the plane may come in handy when the time comes, and the radio station on the plane that you destroyed will also be shown to the communications platoon and told them to see if it can be repaired. ”

After Staff Officer Chu finished speaking, he said a few words of advice, and then turned around and left.

Zhang Yiwu didn't dare to slack off, hurriedly finished lunch in a few bites, and then worked with Xiao Qin to dismantle the 12.7 mm heavy machine gun on the back seat of the plane, and the two heavy machine guns on the wings were also disassembled.

By the time Zhang Yiwu arrived at the baggage company, the whole company had already been assembled, and he was waiting for the order of his superiors, and this order was quickly conveyed.

"Order, the baggage company and the communication platoon are to defend the village, and without an order, they are not allowed to retreat!"

The order was very simple, Zhang Yiwu also breathed a sigh of relief, staying in the village, he could protect his landline at close range, but he was also a little strange, because according to the content of this order, Tian Miao's choice to intercept the main position of the British troops was obviously not near this village.

Where will Tian Miao command the armored forces to meet the incoming British troops? This question made Zhang Yiwu very puzzled, but he didn't ask the staff officer, saying less and doing more, this was his creed.

Later, when Zhang Yiwu and the officers and men of the baggage company had set up their defensive positions, more accurate news came from the headquarters of the "hunter" unit, that the attacking British army was a mechanized force, which was composed of tanks and armored vehicles, and was accompanied by a large number of infantry and artillery.

As for the main position chosen by Tian Miao, it is indeed not near this long-abandoned village, but on a slope two kilometers away from the village, there is a dry riverbed, and the riverbed has long been turned into a dusty ditch, maybe a few years ago there used to be a gurgling stream, but now, there is no longer a drop of water in sight, perhaps this village has been abandoned because of this.

In the arid areas of the Middle East, water is more valuable than oil, and the armored troops must bring enough oil and fresh water at the same time, no matter what is missing, it will seriously affect the combat effectiveness, so before the battle officially started, Tian Miao deliberately concentrated most of the oil and fresh water in the village position, and sent a special person to be responsible for protection, and Zhang Yiwu's task was to command Xiao Qin to help protect these oil barrels and buckets, in order to avoid losses to the greatest extent, the baggage company simply hid most of the oil and fresh water in the village that had long dried up. And the mouth of the well was covered with wood, and then covered with a very thick layer of earth.

Zhang Yiwu glanced at the time, it was already one o'clock in the afternoon, and then looked up to the east, he could already see the rolling dust, obviously, the British army was definitely not a small force.

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