Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1244 The target is him, not us (4k, I fell asleep, 5k more to go)

Even seasoned personnel in the secret intelligence system wouldn't recognize the appearance of this aircraft.

But he knew the emblem on it all too well.

His long career as a traitor had driven him to the extreme of both hatred and fear of this symbol. Whether hatred or fear was more dominant depended on whether he was in a powerful or weak position.

Throughout Director Guo's career as a traitor, he had mostly been in a dominant position, and the current situation made him very uncomfortable.

This unfamiliarity even made him feel vulnerable. Accustomed to swaggering and showing off, he no longer knew what to do when he was stripped naked and exposed to the light of knives.

However, as a seasoned intelligence officer, he knew very well from his experience and knowledge that in this era, even if someone was discovered, radar would be ineffective once they descended to below 1,000 meters.

Comparing speed to fighter jets is undoubtedly futile, but in terms of maneuverability, transport aircraft are not without a chance within certain speed and altitude ranges.

Although it may be a bit late now, since the fighter jets have already entered visual range, it can be said that the low-altitude tactic may not be effective anymore. The enemy's fighter jets can now be visually tracked, and the effect of low-altitude clutter is no longer significant.

However, his only chance also happens to be at this distance. The enemy is currently unable to launch an attack on him, and he cannot reduce his speed to a level lower than that of a transport plane. The only way is to circle back, and this circle is precisely the chance for the C-47 to survive.

By circling around, the C-47 can descend to an altitude that is difficult for radar to detect, and visual tracking will also be lost.

His judgment is actually not wrong in other parts of the world, even the Citizens who claim to be able to solve the clutter problem at this time have no solution.

But ironically, this is something we are the only ones who cannot accomplish.

Moreover, he was not just facing one plane next to him, but a formation of two planes. There is a reason why the whole world uses the lead and wingman model.

At this point, the lead aircraft of the two-plane formation that had approached the C-47 had begun transmitting information back.

"Aircraft number confirmed!" The officer who had been approaching finally saw the number on the C-47 and reported to the command center.

At this point, the two-plane fighter formation was no longer in a hurry. They were anxious when they couldn't find it, but now that they had, it couldn't escape anyway, and the fighters still had plenty of fuel.

The news reached the command center, which was far inland. The command center was extremely excited; they had finally caught them!
The Z-7 squadron was waiting for orders from its superiors; they were not in a hurry until the enemy had escaped from their control range.

Although there was no rush, Dong Yi was moving too fast. After confirming the aircraft number, he rushed past the C-47, while Dong Liang lagged behind, relentlessly chasing the enemy aircraft.

The C-47 pilot was also very experienced; the moment Director Guo gave the order to descend, he knew what had happened.

Being targeted.

Instead of accelerating its descent, it reduced its speed and, nearing the edge of stall, plunged headlong into the ground.

This maneuver can cause a fighter jet to lose control of its speed and fly over the enemy's nose. By the time the enemy turns around, the fighter jet has already descended to a low altitude and can no longer be found. After all, climbing may be difficult, but if you go all out and dive down with all your might, it can be quite fast.

His idea was correct, but not entirely.

Indeed, even the two fighter jets following behind couldn't slow down to the same speed as him. The two fighter jets were still waiting for orders from their superiors, and there was no need for them to launch an attack for the time being. They could only fly over the C-47.

The part that isn't entirely correct is that while low speeds may not allow for synchronization, reaching low altitudes doesn't guarantee safety.

The Z-7 fighter jet, after circling in the air, detected the enemy's location almost at the same time its nose was re-aligned with the area where the C-47 was located.

At this moment, on the C-47, Director Guo had regained his composure. Although he was not of high rank, he had been working for a long time. As a veteran agent who had been active since the 30s, remaining calm in the face of adversity was a basic skill for him.

He gripped the seat tightly, his face pale, and even in the early February weather, beads of sweat were still dripping from his forehead.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he could no longer see the other plane.

At this moment, orders from higher command also reached the ears of the Fighter-7 squadron.

"Try to force them to make an emergency landing. If the enemy is likely to be beyond the control range of your formation, you can shoot them down on the spot!"

The control range is determined by the Z-7's fuel capacity, and at this point, there is undoubtedly still a lot of fuel available.

"Understood! Mission accomplished!"

Two Zhan-7 fighters, locked in a tight chase with the enemy, responded in this way.

“Dongliangdongliang, I’m warning you first, you’re making a comment on the public channel.”

Dong Yao issued the combat mission.

"I understand perfectly!"

Upon hearing the reply, Dongyao circled again and pressed towards C-47 once more.

At this point, in the C-47, which had descended to a "safe altitude," Director Guo seemed relieved. According to experience and the instructions of the Citizens' instructors, below 1000 meters, unless seen visually, it was impossible to detect anything, not even the Russians.

It's a pity for them that the Russians might not be up to the task, but we can.

Suddenly, several streaks of fire swept overhead from the C-47, and a voice came through the C-47 pilot's headset.

Dealing with this kind of enemy is so convenient; you don't even need to worry about foreign language issues.

When the C-47 driver saw these lines of fire, he knew that the situation might be serious today; this was the other side issuing a warning to him!

"Aircraft C-47XXXXX, you are hereby ordered to immediately turn northwest and fly according to our instructions!"

The C-47 pilot glanced at the navigation chart; to the northwest lay Songjiang!
He maintained his course towards the Japanese islands, then notified the rear cockpit: "The enemy fighters have ordered me to fly along their designated route, with an expected landing point at Matsue! Chief, should we proceed as instructed?"

He was well aware of the consequences of following the other party's orders, but considering the dire situation of the Black Flying Squadron in recent years, he decided to go through with it.

"Just a token gesture" means to see what Director Guo thinks. If Director Guo isn't being generous, then you'll have to respond to him according to your own wishes.

After all, everything else is secondary; preserving your life is the most important thing.

The streaks of fire that had just swept past the nose of the plane effectively deterred him from any other thoughts.

"Descend further!" Director Guo's voice was stern, though he seemed somewhat weak inside. He had also seen the lines of fire that had swept across the front of the plane earlier, but he decided to take a gamble—what if the other side had just guessed?

He knew very well what would happen to him if he actually landed in Songjiang. This wasn't like 49, when the other side might send someone to Gongdelin for reform through labor for a fortune. Now, such a good thing was not guaranteed.

Back in the day, when Boss Shen of the Military Investigation Department was imprisoned in Gongdelin Prison, he wrote a lot of confessions to protect himself as much as possible. As a result, in the 21st century, TV dramas are full of stories about the Military Investigation Department.

There's no way around it, Boss Shen has written so much, he has plenty of material.

So the current situation is that anyone on this plane can go to Songjiang to surrender, but he is the only one who cannot.

Under his pressure, the C-47 pilot had no choice but to obey his orders and descend again, even approaching a dangerous altitude. As everyone knows, too high is no good, and too low is also no good.

"The enemy is beginning to descend again!"

Our comrades could see clearly on the radar the enemy's feigned blindness and struggle.

"Follow them! This is another warning!" Dong Yao said to Dong Liang.

The Z-7 formation separated again, this time with Dongyi monitoring overhead, while Dongyi descended to a lower altitude and followed closely behind the C-47.

"Da da da~~~~~" Several streaks of fire swept past the front of the C-47's nose again, and at the same time, the public channel on their radios rang out with a powerful and resounding sound once more.

"C-47XXXXX, your aircraft must immediately change course to heading XXX as instructed. Failure to comply will result in further action! You will bear the consequences!"

This phrase, similar to "Don't say we didn't warn you," had a huge deterrent effect on the C-47 pilots. The C-47 pilots sent another person to Director Guo and said, "Director, there's no other way. If we don't fly according to their orders, they might shoot us down directly."

"If we shoot it down, we shoot it down! But we can't fly northwest! I'd rather die than go there! If you keep arguing, I'll kill you all!!"

If the plane were to fly as originally planned, his words would be very intimidating. However, the reality is that the plane's flight path is clearly no longer possible to follow the original route, so his words are undoubtedly less effective.

The dispatched crew members made no comment and instead turned and returned to the cockpit.

"Captain, Director Guo has ordered us to try to shake off the enemy, or else we will be court-martialed," the crew member said upon returning to the cockpit.

Upon hearing this, the captain's face contorted in a grimace: "Get rid of them? How? The two times we managed to get rid of them just now were because they showed no intention of attacking and approached directly. Now they're on guard and can use flight path planning to keep us out of their sight at all times, ready to launch an attack at any moment!!!"

"What should we do then?" asked a crew member who went out to report.

This place is hundreds of kilometers away from any land at sea. If you are shot down, not to mention whether you can successfully parachute, even if you do, your chances of survival are slim.

According to the other side's custom, once one's own side is captured, it must be reported. Even if one is captured, the "widow" left on the island will have some thoughts and concerns after knowing that she is still alive. At least there will be no situation where someone uses her pension money to beat her own child.

Being dead and being alive are two different things.

The C-47 captain looked out the window at an enemy fighter flying at a high angle of attack, maintaining roughly the same speed as his own aircraft. After thinking for a moment, he made up his mind.

"Close the cockpit door!"

The other crew members were momentarily stunned by the order, mainly because they hadn't expected things to come to this.

"Captain, isn't this...?" a crew member asked.

"Is it something? Their secret investigation team doesn't dare fall into the hands of the other side. They're going to die anyway, so they might as well take a gamble. But we're different. As long as we act according to their orders, at least we can save our lives!" The captain is a captain, he's not stupid at all.

"But if we follow their orders, we might never see the light of day again." Everyone is always afraid of the unknown. Despite their doubts, they still followed the captain's instructions and began closing the cockpit door.

This highlights the importance of grassroots work. People in high positions can usually control the situation, but when it comes to life and death, it comes down to who has the closest relationship with whom.

"Are you stupid?! They're starting to respect the law now. Even if we get arrested in Songjiang, what kind of sentence will they give us? It can't be too serious, you know? They might even deport us directly. You need to know one thing: the way they're acting today is most likely targeting that Director Guo in the back!" the captain whispered to the crew.

He wasn't stupid. He believed that even the entire C-47, from the plane to the crew, couldn't match the treatment they were being given today, especially the demand to fly northwest and land in Songjiang.

If they could just shoot it down right away, that would be fine, but this request is undoubtedly very special; there must be some ulterior motive or requirement involved.

In this context, the only special person on this plane was Director Guo in the back cockpit; as for his entourage, they were nothing.

Although I don't know how the other side knew the secrets of this flight, they've already got a gun pointed at my head, so I can't care about anything else.

The cabin door slammed shut with a bang, and then, with a clang, it was locked.

Before Director Guo and his group could react, they felt the plane begin to tilt at a large angle.

The crew acted swiftly and decisively, fearing that the fighter-7 in the air might misjudge the situation and fire another shell from its cannon.

Don't shoot, I'll listen to you!
"C-47 has begun turning as we requested!" The report from the Z-7 formation quickly reached the distance, and the comrades there breathed a sigh of relief.

While killing someone in the air is certainly satisfying, it is clearly not as perfect as a public execution.

Inside the C-47, Director Guo and his team also noticed that something was wrong with the aircraft.

"Chief, the plane's course seems to be..." His subordinate came to his seat and whispered.

"What a load of rubbish! They're surrendering! Quickly, open the hatch! Take back control of the plane!" the colonel exclaimed in exasperation.

A group of people rushed toward the cockpit door.

Unfortunately, although the cockpit doors of transport planes in those days were not as sturdy as they would be later, once latched, they were not easy to open.

Not to mention the group of people in the cabin, who had nothing but small pistols. And to be honest, these small pistols were only allowed on the plane; once they reached Japan, they couldn't even take them off the plane.

As we all know, it's a bit of a stretch to think that a small pistol can open a steel gate.

The C-47 flew towards Songjiang under the "escort" of two Z-7 fighter jets.

(End of this chapter)