In June 1914, in the Sea of Japan, the aircraft carrier "Dapeng", the flagship of the First Air Force of the Imperial Chinese Navy, crossed a clear arc on the sea surface and was about to turn its bow towards the southwesterly wind passing through the Tsushima Strait.

The seven or eight large and small escort ships surrounding the "Dapeng" are also closely accompanying the movement in the same direction.

The wide and flat flight deck of the "Dapeng" was already crowded with dozens of planes, large and small: more than a dozen of them were lighter at the front, either empty under the wings or only two thin bombs; Twenty or thirty bloated ones in the back, each with a swarthy, long-whirring torpedo mounted under the belly.

The whole formation quickly completed its turn, and a strong sea breeze swept over the "Dapeng", blowing the signal flag on the top of the starboard ship island.

With a whistle, a new signal flag was raised, the take-off commander in the yellow vest and the deck crew in the blue vest were busy on the deck, and the mechanic in the green vest also began to use the crankshaft lever to start the engines of the planes in the first rows, and in a short time, the propellers of the first rows of light planes were humming.

Two more whistles sounded, and a guard grille at the front of the standby group was lowered, and the wind was finally able to sweep across the flight deck without hindrance, while the plane in the center of the front row of the group was carefully pushed forward by several deck crews for a short distance, and the wheels were pressed to a red line in front of the deck.

Immediately, a take-off commander half-crouched in front of the pilot plane on the right side of the pilot plane in the face of strong winds gestured to the pilot in the open cockpit: his wrist rotated twice in the air, and then he pointed two fingers towards his eyes, indicating that he wanted the pilot to report the engine speed.

The pilot gives a thumbs up to indicate that the rpm is up to take-off standards.

The take-off commander also gave a thumbs-up to show "understanding," then waved the signal flag in his hand and waved the flag "request to take off" to the air bridge in the upper part of the island.

After three consecutive whistles, the relachermost signal flag was raised on the mast: "Take off immediately".

The blue, red, and yellow circles on the wings began to glide across the wooden flight deck, and in the blink of an eye, the aluminium beams, wooden frames, canvas, and wire were lifted off the deck and into the air—in fact, the red take-off line was forty or fifty meters from the front of the deck.

Immediately after takeoff, the pilot aircraft turned right and began to circle over the mothership.

Immediately after the pilot, the second, third, fourth...... One plane after another slid off the deck, also circling over the mothership, forming a formation with the planes that took off first. The unfinished formation continued to circle after circle, waiting for the follow-up aircraft to join.

The formations over the mothership are getting larger and, accordingly, there are fewer and fewer aircraft on the deck of the mothership.

When the last plane on the deck of the "Dapeng" jumped off the runway, the take-off commander on the starboard side of the foredeck finally stood up and waved the flag to the air bridge: "Take-off operation completed......

On the bridge of the aviation ship, a young lieutenant colonel wearing a golden staff tassel belt pressed the pocket watch in his hand and looked displeased: "Nineteen minutes and thirty-seven seconds, it's still too slow." ”

Another major general with high cheekbones and a calm expression said slowly: "The standard requirement is eighteen minutes, go back and gather all the operation officers to continue to study ways to save time." ”

"Yes, Commander......"

The major general who was called the commander was none other than Bi Lingbo, commander of the First Air Force, who was personally leading the newly commissioned aircraft carrier of the "Dapeng" fleet and its escort squadron to conduct aviation operations and carrier-based aircraft attack drills at an exercise ground in the northern part of the Sea of Japan.

Bi Lingbo watched the big torpedo machine behind the hall climb up and chase the formation with difficulty, raised his military hat and waved it overhead: "You must return safely......

"With Captain Cai leading the team, it will be fine." The lieutenant colonel staff officer on the side said confidently.

Bi Lingbo nodded, and decisively ordered: "Clean up the deck immediately, and prepare to release the second attack wave!" ”

In the sky, the first attack wave, composed of 12 HQZ-1 "Lightning" shipboard fighters and 24 JG-1 "Thunder Eagle" shipboard attack planes, finally completed the formation and passed through the airspace over the mothership in a majestic manner as a whole group before turning to the target.

Seeing the group of planes gradually moving away, the crew waved their military hats one after another—a blessing for peace and a prayer for victory.

The whistle sounded again, the flag on the mast was lowered and raised, and the flight deck of the "Dapeng" was busy again.

Two elevators, located in front of and behind the central axis of the flight deck, move up and down at full speed, sending a steady stream of fighters to the deck that have been loaded with ammunition in the hangar.

The first to arrive was a few HZL-9 "Dongfeng" shipboard reconnaissance planes, followed by a small group of "Lightning" shipfights, which were pushed to the take-off line as soon as they hit deck, hurriedly refueled, and quickly released before the planes of the second attack wave were sent to the deck.

"Commander, is it really necessary to be so cautious in actual combat? So far, no country has been found to be equipped with aviation weapons capable of destroying large ships of our armed forces, let alone that other countries are equipped with or are building aircraft carriers comparable to those of our armed forces. Now we are again sending long-range reconnaissance planes to search for a large area, and we are also sending fighter planes to directly cover the formation, and if these forces are included in the attack aircraft group, will not we be able to strengthen the overall combat strength of the aircraft group? It was the young lieutenant colonel who raised this question to Commander Bi, Jiang Ye, an aviation staff officer of the First Air Force.

Bi Lingbo crossed his hands in front of his chest and calmly watched the busy work on the deck: "If you don't find it, it doesn't mean that you don't have it. We must take into account the lag and omission of information, and we cannot know anything we want to know about the road at the first time. Correspondingly, it is also necessary to take into account the leakage of our information, which leads to the other side taking effective countermeasures. Absolute self-confidence is poison. The task of a staff officer is to take into account all possible situations and draw up countermeasures one by one in the light of various changing factors, either to complete the combat mission at the lowest cost or to withdraw from the battle at the lowest cost, and to have an adequate way to deal with the changes in the situation. What is the difference between pinning hopes of victory on self-righteous assumptions and being a gambler? Fighting a war is not a gamble, the situation on the battlefield is instantaneous, and it is not uncommon for plans to be inconsistent with reality, and if you do not make comprehensive preparations, you have the confidence to advance and retreat freely, and you only think about either winning or losing, so you are not a qualified Imperial Navy officer. ”

Jiang Ye bowed slightly after hearing this: "What the commander said is extremely true, and the subordinate has been taught." ”

At this time, a pair of delicate figures on the deck met Jiang Ye's farsighted eyes.

That's right, it's Jiaojian...... Although both of them wore flight suits, they did not hide the unique female figure, and the flight caps were still pinched in their hands, and the two ponytails jumped around behind the small heads, which was very conspicuous.

"Behold, the Flower of the First Sentai has come out." A new captain's staff officer screamed in surprise.

Another staff officer said disapprerovingly: "Don't scream, be careful that Captain Cai Lian and Captain Qi turn around and gouge out your eyes." ”

Jiang Ye asked Bi Lingbo thoughtlessly, "Commander...... If there is a real war, can women also go into battle? ”

Bi Lingbo let out an expressionless "en", and then raised his binoculars and glanced at the two "flying roses": "If you don't go into battle in wartime, why are you training with your colleagues now?" There's no doubt that their skills are top-notch, and it doesn't matter to the team who their niece or sister is. ”

The two protagonists, who were discussed by a bunch of old and young masters on the aviation bridge, were running from the flight deck to the direction of the ship island without knowing at this time, one in front of the other, one tall and one short, with the same ponytail and a beautiful face, and where they passed, they still triggered the surprised eyes of many recruits.

The female lieutenant, who was tall and quite mature at first glance, was named Cai Guolan, 23 years old, deputy squadron leader of the Navy's 504 Ship Combat Squadron, and was also the niece of Colonel Cai Yong, commander of the "Dapeng" carrier-based aircraft wing.

The shorter, immature-looking female second lieutenant was named Qi Bing, 21 years old, a pilot of the 117th Naval Attack Squadron, and her brother Lieutenant Qi Peng served as the deputy squadron leader of the 116th Naval Attack Squadron on the same ship.

The two jumped over the refueling lines on the deck with their flight caps in hand, and soon hid in the shadow of the island.

Qi Bing gasped slightly, and put the flight cap on his shoulder: "Sister is too anxious, I said it's not that one, just now when I went down to spin, I saw it in the innermost part of the front hangar, and it didn't come up so quickly." ”

Cai Guolan leaned against the ship island, and her fingertips drew something on the wall: "No, I want to draw an eye-catching mark for my baby another day, but I actually admit my mistake, I am really unwilling." ”

Qi Bing also leaned on the ship island according to Cai Guolan: "But even if you come up, there is no need to rush over in such a hurry, set up a seat, come on or something, the vest brothers still have a lot of things to do." ”

Cai Guolan stared intently at the exit of the front elevator, as if there would be a sea of gold and silver coming out at any time.

"That's my baby, no matter how serious the vest brothers are, they still can't do it without me."

"Sister...... I read magazines that women who are obsessed with machines will not be able to get married. Qi Bing was worried.

Cai Guolan's eyes flickered: "It doesn't matter, what kind of woman must marry?" ”

Qi Bing blinked: "If you don't marry, do you want to marry an airplane?" ”

"What do you care about me...... Speaking of which, your brother and sister's vacation is coming, didn't you say that your sister-in-law introduced you to a man last time? ”

"It's so cunning to deliberately divert the topic......"

Qi Bing pouted dissatisfiedly, and immediately stretched again: "However, it's great to be able to take a vacation, this time in addition to going home, I also want to go to Jingshi to have a look, visit and visit the sisters in the same class, I don't know how they are doing in the yamen......"

"Take a vacation...... It's a good thing, if I don't fight this year, I will have a long vacation to take......"

Qi Bing turned his head suspiciously: "If you don't fight...... Will there be a war this year? ”

Cai Guolan plucked Qi Bing's ponytail: "I don't know what Lu said, my uncle said that there may be a battle to be fought this year." So it's just a casual statement, who knows what to do. ”

Qi Bing lowered his head and kicked the rubber oil pipe at his feet: "Sister, if you really fight, will you be scared when it is your turn to fight?" ”

Cai Guolan Waner smiled: "Silly girl, I won't know until then...... Hey, my baby is here, this time it should be right! ”

The whistle sounded, and the second attack wave of the "Dapeng" was about to be released.