Happy Juneteenth to all! ^_^

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Pokhara Air Base.

The base is the second largest air base in Nepal and is located on the eastern side of the Pokhara River Valley, less than 20 kilometers from the city of Pokhara.

It is worth mentioning that it is also a tourist attraction. Because not far from the air base is the station of the Nepal Air Show Team, which has an air show open to the public, which is basically a retired pilot of the Air Force. In order to attract Chinese tourists, Nepal is also quite hard.

Today, however, it is closed to the outside world, and a roadblock has been erected on the road five kilometers outside the base, with signs that say "Temporarily closed, tourists stop". Sharma is an Air Force officer and is naturally unhindered.

After returning to the base, they went to the brigade to report, and the captain told them to go and prepare for the attack and not go out. Then they saw the pilots who were on leave coming back one after another.

The money for dinner that day was all there, and a military meeting was held in the base. After the commander of the base announced the order for tomorrow's operation against Marat, the whole venue burst into warm applause.

The next morning, the pilots gathered in the cafeteria for breakfast.

The pilots ate well, and the breakfast before the sortie was naturally very rich. What crispy rabbit, assorted platter, pot roasted carp, mutton steamed bun, Peking duck, shredded green pepper pork, tomato meat slices, spicy chicken, dry fried prawns, hot and sour meatballs, sweet and sour carp, hand-grabbed mutton, grilled sausages, etc., all kinds of meat and vegetarian add up to 20 kinds. Of course, there are still local specialties, such as potatoes seasoned with spicy curry, roasted fruits flavored with chili peppers, and so on......

Nepal's army construction is completely copied from China, whether it is equipment, rules and regulations, or even food, and eighty percent of the dishes on the menu are Chinese characteristics. However, Nepal does not have any unique culinary style of its own, and the country's cuisine is basically a variation of India's local cuisine, and some of the dishes are based on the dietary variations of Tibet in China.

"This ...... This one...... This one...... And this ......" Captain Sharma ordered himself a Sichuan-style steak, a mushroom sausage rice bowl, a Tibetan dumpling and a few side dishes.

I found a seat and ate it. The Sichuan-style steak is a little different from the Western style, a thick slice of steak that has been fried to a dark golden color exudes a rich aroma, and the steak is topped with a ring of bright red and oily hot sauce, and then sprinkled with a little fresh onion and green pepper. Well, that hot sauce is the complete copycat version of "Lao Gan Ma" in the original time and space, and the name is still the same, but the manufacturer has been replaced by Tianchu Seasoning Company. At present, it is one of the signature products of Tian Kitchen, and it is especially popular in the Spicy Party area.

The beef is very tender, and when Sharma takes a bite, you can feel the mellow juice overflowing with the chewing of your teeth, and a glutinous and fresh aroma with a hint of spicy sensation fills the whole mouth, giving full play to the original taste of beef.

Before the revolution, steak would not have been on the table of Nepalese, and beef was not allowed to be eaten in a Hindu country where cattle were sacred. But after the revolution, it was different, and all religious dietary taboos were judged by the revolutionary party to be decadent and backward customs, and they were completely abandoned. From then on, beef and pork can be eaten, and it must be eaten, especially in the government and the army, and they must take the lead in eating. What is not eaten is a counter-revolution that is hostile to progress and blends into the revolutionary organization. The light ones are reformed through labor, and the heavy ones eat guns.

The same is true not only of Nepal but also of other countries that practice scientific socialism, where the ruling party is more radical than China's, and has been very aggressive in dealing with practices that are considered decadent and backward. Their people are almost faced with the choice of whether they would rather eat beef (pork) or eat bullets?

Then he had a Tibetan dumpling to eat, this kind of dumpling is called "Momo", it is said that it was introduced into Nepal from Tibet in ancient times, the shape is similar to Chinese dumplings, but the method is similar to pot stickers, it is fried in oil, and it is dipped in hot sauce or mustard when eating, which is a bit similar to the dumplings dipped in vinegar in northern China, but the taste is different.

Eating high-calorie foods such as steak before the sortie is a habit of the Chinese Air Force, because combat consumes a lot of energy, so it is necessary to supplement these high-calorie and nutritious foods, especially steak. The Nepal Air Force did the same.

At this time, Captain Sharma heard someone arguing.

"What's going on? Why aren't the apples there?" one of the pilots shouted angrily at the attendants.

"It's like, how can you do it without Apple!"

"We're going to fight, we've got to have apples!

"What are you doing in logistics, you even forgot about Apple!"

I saw more than a dozen pilots gathered in front of the counter where the fruit was distributed, shouting excitedly.

Well, the habit of having apples before this sortie was also brought from the Chinese Air Forces. At present, this habit is almost becoming a culture, whether it is the pilots of the Air Force, the Navy or the Army, they must give the pilots apples before each takeoff.

This habit was originally developed by General Lin Shenhe, deputy commander-in-chief of the Chinese Air Force, and at first it was only given to the airship troops under his command, and it was taken as a homonym for "peace", which was regarded as a blessing. As a result, this habit quickly spread to the entire aviation unit, and it intensified, until now. Even the navy's ship crews, the army's charioteers, and even the space soldiers have become infected with this habit. Anyway, as long as it is a class driving a vehicle, they all ask for apples for themselves. And this habit is still spreading to infantry units......

So by now, apples have become the standard supply for the Chinese army, just like vodka in the Russian army and chewing gum in the US army. The army's logistics department has even invested a lot of money in researching how to preserve apples for a longer period of time, and has also invented a special method for transporting apples. It is estimated that even Deputy Commander Lin himself did not expect that the Apple system that was carried out on a whim back then would become so popular now.

Seeing that China is doing this, the younger brother army of the People's Revolutionary Federation has also learned the same, and they have also played more tricks. For example, the pilots of the Nepal Air Force refused to go to the sky if they didn't get the apples. The reason for this is that the military is probably the most superstitious group, and it has been like this since ancient times.

After a while, I saw several officers and soldiers hurrying over with a large cart. There are several large cardboard boxes on them, and the patterns and text on the cardboard boxes indicate that they are apples. Nepal originally did not produce apples, but since the establishment of a rule, they have introduced a variety of apple varieties from China through the Air Force. 8 thousand hectares of apples were planted in various places, specifically for the army.

"Sorry, I'm a little late. A colonel who led the team explained to the pilots: "The car that transported the apples to us broke down on the road and is still being repaired, and the apples were transferred from several hotels in Kathmandu......

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At 8 o'clock, Captain Sharma got on his plane, a FAC-1 (Combat Attack Aircraft Export 1) "Bomb Falcon" fighter-attack aircraft produced by Guangfei.

The FAC-1 is a propeller aircraft, which, of course, is not a piston propeller, but a turboprop. It resembles the original P-51, but with the protruding air intakes in the belly removed, and the fuselage is slightly longer, with a slightly larger wing length and wing area, and a smaller front. The biggest difference is that it comes with two wingtip fuel tanks.

In fact, the FAC-1 is an improved combat attack aircraft based on the J-9 (FC-8) "Peregrine Falcon", which is an export product. After all, for many countries, jet planes are a bit expensive, and fighter jets are just jets, everyone is using them, and you can't use them. But attack aircraft and bombers are not necessary, let's save some money and use turboprops.

The fighter used the WJ-2B turboprop engine, which had a power of 2,200 kilowatts (2,950 hp) and had a very small cross-section, so the drag was extremely low. In the half-fuel test without external plug-in (even the pylons are removed), he flew at a level flight speed of 800 kilometers per hour at an altitude of 7,000 meters.

At the same time, because of the light fuselage and low wing load, the agility and climb rate are very good. The biggest advantage of this aircraft is that it has a lot of oil, so it has a long range. With a high-efficiency engine and plenty of fuel and wingtip fuel tanks, it can fly up to 3,200 kilometers. With two sets of 400-litre wingtip fuel tanks, a 1,200-litre belly midline fuel tank and two 250-litre low-drag drop fuel tanks under the wings, the total internal and external fuel volume was 3,700 litres, and the range reached an astonishing 5,400 kilometres.

The FAC-1 is a light fighter with an empty weight of 3.2 tons and a maximum combat weight of 6.7 tons. Of course, this "light" is based on Chinese standards, and if it is based on European and American standards, this is a medium-sized or even heavy propeller fighter. It is mainly armed with two 20mm cannons and four 12mm heavy machine guns. The aircraft has a total of 11 hardpoints, one on the belly, five on each wing, with a belly hardpoint of 1,500 kg and an underwing hardpoint of 200 kg, for a total of 3,500 kg of payload.

When it carries out attack missions, it usually hangs aerial bombs or torpedoes on the belly hardpoints, and a 19-tube rocket pack is hung on each of the ten hardpoints under the wings. If on combat duty, it can be exchanged for weapons such as missiles. Anyway, the versatility of such an aircraft is very high. It can be used as a fighter, light attack aircraft, and lightning strike aircraft.

Of course, the biggest advantage of this kind of aircraft is that it is cheap, if according to the internal price of the People's Revolutionary Union, the unit price of the standard version is only 100,000 Chinese yuan, which is much cheaper than the jet aircraft, even if it is an ally with poor economic conditions, it can also be equipped in large quantities. Jet planes are good, but the price is not affordable for small countries, a small country like Nepal, at most, is to replace fighter jets with jets, as for attack aircraft and bombers, it is better to continue to use turboprops, this thing is cheaper than pistons.