Chapter 1111 Encounter

Half an hour later, a crack slowly appeared in the inland mountain somewhere on Daishan Island amidst a low mechanical roar, revealing a huge cavern with bright lights inside.

This is the "Yuyin" airport, one of the few frontline airports in the Eastern Theater that can still operate safely.

The airport runway is close to the mountain wall, and is surrounded by thick explosion-proof walls and camouflage nets on the outside to deal with possible attacks from the air or sea. The air is filled with the salty sea breeze and the smell of aviation fuel.

As the red warning light flashed, a Y-9 electronic reconnaissance aircraft with a dark gray paint scheme and a fuselage covered with various antennas slowly slid out of the hangar and into the take-off position under the tow of a tractor.

Following closely behind, two G10A fighter jets also slid out lightly. They were smaller in size and had smoother lines, like loyal guards. Air-to-air missiles were mounted under their wings, shining coldly in the thin morning light.

The ground staff were doing the final check, their gestures crisp and clear.

Tower: "'Stargazer' (callsign Y-9), 'Blade' 1 and 2 (callsign G10A), runway cleared, wind direction 270 at 3 m/s, clear for takeoff. Good luck on your mission and a safe return."

Y-9 pilot: "Stargazer, read it. Executing the 'probe' mission, over."

G10A lead pilot: "Blade formation, received. Escort responsibility, over."

Soon, as the engines of the three aircraft on the runway roared more and more loudly and the tail nozzles spewed out hot air flows, the Y-9 began to taxi first.

The huge machine gradually accelerated, and finally lifted its wheels lightly, rushing into the sky shrouded in morning mist.

In the next ten minutes, two G10A fighters followed closely behind, climbing rapidly in a standard two-plane formation, and merged with the Y-9 to form an arrow-shaped reconnaissance formation, flying towards the northwest - deep into the unknown continent.

......

It was almost noon at Gucheng Lake Airport.

After a night of intense loading and unloading and personnel rest, the 24 Y-20B strategic transport aircraft that have completed their mission are about to return to the Longbao Air Force Base in the rear for resupply and rest, preparing to embark on the next round of transport missions.

Now, with the rapid expansion of the Zhongzhou War Zone's sphere of influence, its reliance on strategic air transport is also increasing.

Especially in many areas where land transportation is cut off, the lifeline of survival and combat depends entirely on the flight routes of the Central Plains Theater Air Force.

This has brought the mission intensity of the Central Plains Theater Air Force to an astonishing level, and its busyness even surpasses that of the ground forces in frontal combat.

After all, the army can still rotate and rest, but the pilot team, which is precious in number and has extremely high technical barriers, is almost running around the clock. Except for necessary aircraft maintenance, they are always soaring in the sky.

However, this extreme pressure has also given rise to a highly efficient and harsh pilot training system with apocalyptic characteristics.

Faced with a shortage of talent, the Zhongzhou Theater Air Force has adopted a step-by-step recruitment approach and has currently recruited 400 flight apprentices.

Among them, 300 people were strictly selected from within the system army, and the other 100 people were selected from eligible survivors of appropriate age from the various gathering places under its jurisdiction.

Unlike the years-long institutional training in peacetime, there is no time to wait in the apocalypse. The training here is an extremely compressed "road of tempering":

In the first month, the trainees will be confined to a 1:1 replica of a real cockpit simulator and conduct almost crazy repetitive training on a single fixed aircraft model.

There is only one goal - to hone all operating procedures and special situation handling plans into an almost instinctive "muscle memory".

Here we don’t care about principles, only results, and the assessment standards are cold and cruel: pass, or be eliminated.

In the second month, only apprentices who pass the simulator assessment will be qualified to fly with a real aircraft.

The Air Force has adopted the most direct and effective "eagle leading young" model, where an experienced captain usually leads six cadets into the air.

In the early stages, the trainees were just silent observers, feeling the vibration and airflow of real flight and watching how the captain controlled the steel behemoth.

Afterwards, when the air conditions are good and the route is stable, the joystick will be gradually handed over to the trainees, starting with simple level flight and turning, and gradually cultivating the valuable "human-machine integration" control sense.

Ultimately, the challenge will be to complete the most basic skills test - taking off and landing on a standard runway. Every successful landing means that a fledgling has taken another step towards becoming an eagle.

Of course, this crash course system is only for civil transport aircraft pilots who are in high demand and have a relatively short training cycle.

For military transport aircraft pilots with higher tactical requirements and greater risks, the selection is more stringent - the theater air force only selects the best from mature civil aviation pilots who have accumulated hundreds of hours of flying experience and solid technical skills.

For example, at this moment, the Y-20B fleet that is about to return carries 8 such "old apprentices" - they were once experienced captains in civil aviation companies, and now they are undergoing key transformation and reshaping for their new mission in this doomsday sky.

If you succeed, you will be directly awarded the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force, enjoy the treatment of deputy regimental level, and become a glorious theater air force pilot; if you fail, you will be returned to your original unit and continue to fly civil transport aircraft, but you will be appointed as a technical backbone and your path to promotion will be smooth.

Regardless of success or failure, the Zhongzhou Theater Air Force will never let down any talented person who is determined to strengthen the army!

.....

buzzing-

Soon, with the roar of military aircraft engines, one huge aircraft after another slid on the rough runway, presenting a spectacular scene of an elephant walking.

Just as the transport aircraft group was preparing, two J-16 heavy fighter jets responsible for escorting the return flight had already entered the take-off position. Their dark gray paint hardly reflected any light in the sunlight, and they exuded a cold murderous aura.

"'Vulture' 1, 2, the runway is clear for takeoff. Bon voyage." The command came from the tower.

"Vulture 1, read it."

"Vulture 2, read it."

The pilot of the lead plane pushed the throttle, and the two WS-10 engines instantly burst out with huge thrust, pushing the heavy fighter to start accelerating and taxiing. Following closely behind, the No. 2 plane also followed closely.

Unlike the steady takeoff posture of transport aircraft, the J-16's takeoff is full of violent aesthetics.

They sped along the runway, their speed increasing rapidly. When they were two-thirds of the way down the runway, the pilot gently pulled the joystick, and the fighter planes raised their noses sharply in an almost provocative and proud posture, and neatly retracted their landing gear, like two unsheathed black swords, piercing the sky!

The huge roar was like thunder, shaking the entire airport.

After taking off, the two J-16s quickly formed a formation, drew a graceful arc in the air, and began to climb, clearing the airspace for the subsequent transport aircraft group taking off and providing high-altitude cover.

...