Chapter 340 The fast-running Western reporter

An hour later, the six aircraft participating in the operation finally entered the refueling area set up by the Air Force in advance.

Under the guidance of the operator, the pilot quickly saw the IL-78 tanker ahead with red and green navigation lights flashing.

Aerial refueling at night is definitely dancing blindfolded on the tip of a knife.

If the docking fails, the refueling drogue may even be torn off.

This thing itself is fine, but the fuel warning lights of several aircraft have been on for a while. If they can't refuel, they will definitely not be able to fly back to the Lingshui base.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly.

All successfully connected.

The UPAZ-78 refueling pod equipped with the IL-1 began delivering fuel to the six aircraft at a rate of approximately 1600 liters per minute.

Wang Wei's heart, which had been hanging just now, was finally relieved.

Since the belly auxiliary fuel tank was replaced by a photo reconnaissance pod, its fuel capacity was the least optimistic among the entire mission formation. It could only last about 10 minutes at most before it started to receive fuel.

Now it’s finally continued.

"Yuejiang 12, I happened to take a photo of you when you threw the auxiliary fuel tank into the middle of the opponent's fleet. I will give you a souvenir after you return."

The voice of the pilot in the back seat of Plane 21 came over the radio.

That is, the JH-7 that followed him and flew over the opponent's fleet.

This was not part of the initial mission plan, but the two pilots of aircraft No. 21 used to be the main force of the East China Sea Fleet aviation force. They often had various "friendly exchanges" with the Air Self-Defense Force and discovered each other during the mission. I often let the F4EJ backseat pilot, who was doing nothing most of the time, take photos with a camera to collect evidence, so I built one for myself.

The only fly in the ointment is that this camera, which is mainly used to take pictures of the Self-Defense Forces, is actually from Olympus.

"Thank you, it's very memorable."

"Yuejiang 12, you threw two auxiliary fuel tanks at their fleet?"

Tang Yiping, who had been listening to the radio channel but never spoke, suddenly asked.

"Ah...yes, Master."

Wang Wei gave an explanation that he had already thought of:

"I carried one less auxiliary fuel tank than you guys, so in order to reduce fuel consumption on the return trip, I threw away the two empty auxiliary fuel tanks, which can reduce resistance."

Naturally, it was impossible to deceive Tang Yiping with such nonsense.

Even if it is really necessary to throw away the auxiliary fuel tank due to insufficient fuel, doing so at ultra-low altitude will only increase the risk.

But he decided not to expose this little trick.

China's aviation force has been held back for too long with no results.

Originally, it would have been fine if it had always been in this state, but at the beginning of this year, the Air Force suddenly started a big operation in Kashmir.

As one of the few people who knew the inside story, it was understandable that the young men in the Naval Aviation were itchy.

It was just an auxiliary fuel tank, and it wasn't like two bombs were actually dropped.

With such a shameful thing, the Royal Navy's first thought is definitely to cover up the matter and make peace with it. There is absolutely no reason to make a big show of it.

Of course not in China either.

The current overall trend in relations between China and Europe, including the United Kingdom, is to warm up. This kind of thing may be a big deal for the military, but at a higher level it is just a minor episode.

Although he felt it was a pity, Tang Yiping felt that it was a lot more balanced when he thought that Deputy Commander Zheng, who shot down the MiG-25, was not publicly publicized.

After the aerial refueling was completed, everyone returned to normal level flight.

The next 40 minutes of the return journey seemed extremely dull compared to this exciting night, so much so that it was a bit boring.

But for Seward and Spencer, who were on the Royal Cruise Ship, the real excitement had just begun.

After experiencing such an incident, although the dinner party on the top floor was still going on, most people no longer had the excitement they had before.

The two reporters who had already confirmed that they had obtained the explosive information had long forgotten about the big shots on the ship. After filling their stomachs with a few bites of food, they returned to their suites as quickly as possible.

After the frightening 30 seconds ended, the entire fleet fell into a headless state for nearly an hour.

It was not until recently that the huge fleet began to gradually turn around and sail south.

The aircraft carrier Excellence recovered 4 Sea Harrier fighter jets from two directions, but did not take off new aircraft to pursue the Chinese aircraft that had left -

Technically speaking, this is simply because the Sea Harrier, which can only fly at most about 900km/h when loaded with bombs, cannot catch up with the opponent's six supersonic aircraft in retreat. There is no need to make useless efforts.

But from a journalistic perspective, this kind of thing can be interpreted in ten thousand ways.

As for which one to use, it depends on the judgment of the media...

"What did you just take pictures of?"

In the living room of the suite, Spencer asked excitedly as he took out the laptop he had brought on board and turned it on.

"At the beginning, it was a plane approaching an aircraft carrier. What happened behind it... it was so chaotic. I wasn't really sure. I was taking photos purely based on instinct."

Seward next to him said as he took out a roughly square memory card from his camera.

"But we'll find out right away."

Then he gently slapped away Spencer’s extended hand:

"I'll do it myself. You're too messy. If it breaks, you'll be in trouble. This is SanDisk's new card. I spent 1600 pounds to buy it. The editor-in-chief actually said that he could only reimburse me half of the cost at most..."

This CF card with a capacity of up to 16MB was absolutely astonishing in 1997. Although it could only hold about 30 photos of average resolution together with the body storage, it was not suitable for most paper media. It's enough for use.

"Look, this is the first plane. He almost wiped the deck and flew over the Excellence..."

"This is the one closer to us in the back. I even captured the missiles under its wings. Oh my god..."

Seward's voice trembled slightly.

Coming from a writing business, she is actually not very good at taking pictures, but today, for some reason, this camera seems to be like a divine help. More than half of the 30 photos are of great news value.

"You even clearly captured the aircraft's emblem and serial number. I think the editor-in-chief must like this photo very much."

Spencer also praised next to him, "The one nearby is 81193... I think I should probably find an expert to explain the meaning of this group of numbers after I go back."

"No, we can't wait until we go back."

Seward shook his head and said it was too slow:

"We will get the first draft out tonight and send it back to China via satellite network, so that the editor-in-chief can finalize the main tone of the report..."

The Guardian, where the two work, is not a neutral media, so many reports have to make choices.

"and many more……"

Spencer next to him said suddenly, and at the same time, he reached out and took Seward's hand that controlled the mouse, pulled the photo back to the front, and then zoomed in:

On the screen was the Chinese aircraft just flying over the aircraft carrier.

"Look, this man standing next to the fence on the Excellence..."

"This……"

The resolution of digital cameras in this era did not support this level of magnification. The two could only guess from the other's uniform that this might be the fleet commander, Rear Admiral Alan West.

"Inna, do you think he was calm and composed at that time, or was he panicked?"

Spencer, who retracted his hand, asked in a half-joking tone.

Seward looked back at him:

"Well...it depends on whether Major General West supports the Conservative Party or the Labor Party..."