Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 477, page 463: The Taishan Fire Control System Deploys and Demonstrates Its Power with the Zero Fighter
Eight Japanese Type 97 fighter planes, originally intending to take down the gunboats by virtue of their speed advantage, were unexpectedly stopped by seven Il-16 fighters from the Yan'an Air Force.

The two types of fighter jets had similar performance and immediately engaged in dogfighting.

But they were unaware that three interceptors had launched a flanking attack.

At a speed of 500 kilometers per hour, three interceptors sped through the combat airspace and appeared behind enemy lines.

This excellent opportunity for practical experience is perfect for new interceptor pilots.

Fang Wen picked up the microphone: "Qi Baoqian, Pan Jiafeng, I'll be there to support you both this time."

Two interceptors sprinted out and launched an attack.

As the Japanese Type 97 fighter group was locked in dogfight, two Taishan first-generation interceptors swooped down from the clouds.

The fighter jet piloted by Qi Baoqian took the lead in launching the attack.

Inside the cockpit, he gripped the control stick, tilting the aircraft to the left, and shouted to the gunner, "Enemy aircraft at three o'clock, altitude difference 200 meters, prepare to cut in to the right, be careful of the firing line of sight!"

Wang Zhu, a gunnery pilot from the 2nd Aviation Battalion of the Independent Regiment, was currently serving as a gunner in the back seat. He immediately held his breath and stared intently at the fire control aiming CRT display. As the fuselage turned violently, the snow and noise in the black and white screen gradually stabilized, and the outline of a Type 97 fighter jet swayed inside and outside the red aiming area.

He gripped the joystick, fine-tuned the firing angle, and pressed the fire button the instant the target entered the red frame.

The two cannons on the front belly of the interceptor simultaneously spewed fire, launching the cannons towards the target ahead.

Before the two aircraft passed each other, machine gun fire hit the rear side of the other aircraft, blowing its tail and side to smithereens.

Meanwhile, Pan Jiafeng's interceptor was appearing above and behind the enemy formation at a 15-degree downward angle.

His target was the two enemy aircraft below that were flanking our Il-16 fighters.

"Liu Changhai, I'm going to fly horizontally. Prepare to fire."

Parallel flight is a unique tactical maneuver devised by Fang Wen for the Taishan interceptor.

The key point is that the interceptor is at an altitude above the target enemy aircraft and flies parallel to it at the same speed.

In this brief moment, the gunner must seize the opportunity to control the firing angle of the inverted, vertically mounted machine gun downwards, so as to achieve a commanding position for firing.

This parallel flight time cannot be maintained for long; it requires skilled coordination between the interceptor pilot and the gunner to achieve the tactical effect of this flight maneuver.

The rear gunner, Liu Changhai, a gunship pilot from the 2nd Aviation Battalion of the Independent Regiment, was intently focused on the fire control aiming CRT display, his hands never leaving the control stick.

Pan Jiafeng pulled back on the stick to level the fighter jet, and then tried to maintain a similar flight speed to the enemy.

This is very difficult, and he is trying his best.

The plane was approaching, and it was about to be overhead.

Feeling he couldn't achieve complete parallel flight, Pan Jiafeng urgently said, "Prepare to fire."

Liu Changhai, in the rear cockpit, had already lowered the firing angle of the gun mount and was lightly pressing his finger on the firing button.

The moment the monitor framed the enemy plane below, he pressed the launch button.

The inverted, vertically mounted machine gun suddenly shook, and 20mm shells sprayed out in a fan shape.

At that moment, the enemy pilots noticed that there were fighter jets overhead because of the darkness above them.

He looked up in horror at the sky, and before he could even identify the fighter jets, he was surrounded by orange-red flames.

The scattered machine gun shells partially hit it, causing the broken aluminum skin to explode and scatter into the air along with the hatch.

The Japanese pilot, now without the canopy's protection, was thrown from the plane and screamed as he fell to the ground; he was certainly not going to survive.

The interceptor achieved two kills in its first combat mission.

Fang Wen was very satisfied.

He realized that fighter jets that incorporate future technological thinking should not be compared with existing military aircraft.

Fighter jets equipped with fire control systems are significantly superior to fighter jets of this era.

Given this, why not leverage this advantage to create better aircraft and other military equipment, and become the leader in the military industry of this era?

His mind was wandering, and many new military ideas were about to emerge.

While the battle was raging, Fang Wen quickly banished his thoughts and continued to observe the battle situation as an air commander.

Faced with the aerial killers, the remaining six Japanese Type 6 fighters were simply no match for them.

The high-speed, agile, and accurate Taishan interceptor, in coordination with friendly forces, was reaping the rewards.

Soon, four more Japanese warplanes were shot down.

Of the remaining two, one suddenly performed a barrel roll maneuver.

This sudden and unconventional combat maneuver allowed it to escape the encirclement and attempt to flee alone.

Fang Wen sneered. With him around, how could he possibly let her leave?

He accelerated the plane and gave chase.

This enemy plane, capable of performing barrel rolls, was clearly no ordinary aircraft. After breaking free of the encirclement, it immediately changed course and descended to 3000 meters, fleeing northwest at maximum speed.

Meanwhile, Fang Wen's interceptor had caught up, and the enemy aircraft's tail was already circled in red on the CRT fire control display.

Fang Wen pressed the fire button, and machine gun shells poured out.

The rear half of the enemy fighter jet was instantly smashed to pieces, with fragments exploding in all directions.

The enemy plane, without a tail, lost its balance and began to plummet, but its pilot forcibly opened the cockpit and jumped out.

A parachute bloomed in the sky; the Japanese pilot was actually carrying a parachute.

The fact that parachutes were not standard equipment for Japanese pilots suggests that this person was no ordinary individual.

Fang Wen's heart skipped a beat. He picked up the microphone and adjusted the frequency: "Mount Tai calls out to the Yellow River."

"Huang He received it."

"The enemy aircraft have been completely destroyed. One pilot parachuted and is located in the northwest. Your unit can send people to search for and capture him."

"Understood, I'll send someone there right away."

Fang Wen added, "The enemy has no air power now, so we can close the net."

After speaking, he switched frequencies to contact the Taishan Air Force, interceptor pilots, and the Eighth Route Army air regiment.

Immediately afterwards, all air power launched a saturation attack on the ground.

The Japanese Nono Battalion suffered heavy losses in the canyon.

The Eighth Route Army ground troops attacked from both sides, while gunboats and aircraft provided air support.

Their strongest firepower was mortars, and in such a highly mobile combat situation, there was simply no time to stop and study the firing angle.

The eight Type 8 helicopters were their last hope, but they were all surrounded and shot down without exception.

Then, fighter jets in the air joined the ground attack, diving and strafing back and forth.

There was nothing to do but escape.

To avoid aerial fire suppression, they scattered and fled.

This allows them to break up the large group into smaller units and avoid aerial fire.

But this was exactly what the Eighth Route Army ground troops who ambushed them were waiting for.

The soldiers charged and pursued like tigers descending a mountain.

They moved swiftly across the mountainside, chasing after the Japanese soldiers who were fleeing in panic.

This mountainous area is filled with scattered Japanese soldiers who have fled.

Given this situation, it was destined that this Japanese battalion would be completely annihilated here.

Fang Wen and his team's aerial coordinated operations came to an end.

Therefore, Fang Wen picked up the microphone and called on all parties in the air, requesting them to return to their respective bases.

On a mountain ridge in the northwest of the talc region, a parachute slowly descends.

After landing, the pilot thankfully uttered a sentence in Japanese, "I'm still alive."

But then, a gun was pressed against the back of his head.

The young Eighth Route Army soldier shouted sternly, "Don't move!" The pilot immediately raised his hands in surrender.

After confiscating his equipment, the two soldiers escorted the prisoner back to report.

Along the way, the fighting continued, and the soldiers searched out the hiding Japanese soldiers from all sorts of nooks and crannies and brought them all back.

Upon arriving at the base, the regimental commander decided to interrogate the pilot first.

He and the political commissar sat opposite the pilot, sizing him up.

"Do you speak Chinese?" the group leader asked.

“A little bit,” the prisoner stammered.

"Now I'll ask you questions, you answer them. Tell the truth." The regimental commander was in charge of the interrogation, while the political commissar took out a notebook to record the information.

The prisoner nodded hurriedly, "I will definitely cooperate. Please abide by the Geneva Convention and guarantee my safety?"

The political commissar pulled the regimental commander outside and whispered, "This guy's manner of speaking suggests he's not ordinary; he might be a big fish. We need to figure out what's good about him."

"How do I do it?"

"He seems to be someone who bullies the weak and fears the strong. If one of us plays the bad cop and the other the bad cop, we can put him in a good position and probably achieve better results."

The two men were veterans and very skilled at interrogating prisoners; they quickly discussed and agreed on a method.

Then, with the help of the two men, the prisoner confessed honestly.

The information he provided was not limited to the location of the secret military airfield in Chahar.

There were also some movements of the Japanese army.

In addition, it also involves the new developments of the Japanese military industry.

This intelligence should be reported immediately.

Yan'an Airport.

After the joint operation with the talcum powder, Fang Wen is currently in the recuperation phase.

At the same time, due to the excellent battlefield performance of the fire control system, he was also thinking about more uses for the Taishan fire control system.

To better understand and compare the fire control systems of various countries, he also sought out intelligence brokers through his Shanghai intelligence station and Paris branch to purchase such information.

After these intelligence reports were sent back, Fang Wen read them carefully.

By comparing intelligence data, Fang Wen discovered that at that time, there were military fire control devices that were better than the Taishan fire control system.

For example, the US M37 naval fire control system.

This thing is not yet fully developed, but its effectiveness has been tested.

It is a unique device used to control long-range anti-aircraft guns to engage dive bombers.

Its main function is achieved through a command instrument.

The command instrument has multiple cameras and rangefinders, and even a radar that has just been put into military use.

These devices require a large number of personnel to operate, thus forming a fire control aiming system.

This includes: overall control officer, elevation aiming operator, gyro aiming operator, rangefinder operator, radar operator, and information radio operator.

(M37 Naval Command System, without radar)

The image of the command instrument flashed through Fang Wen's mind.

In his view, the device demonstrated America's technological advantage but lacked practicality.

After all, this is a completely manual operation, requiring both mechanical computers and human calculation assistance.

If any error occurs during the data analysis or calculation process, it will lead to mistakes.

Therefore, it may yield very accurate results, but it may not necessarily achieve the expected effect on the battlefield.

Conversely, their own television-guided fire control device is relatively much simpler.

Moreover, television guidance is not just for direct aiming; it can also be remotely controlled.

His next goal is to develop the remote control function of TV guidance.

That way, we could develop early-stage remotely guided weapons.

However, this process is a bit troublesome. Fang Wen needs to organize his thoughts before he can blindly start doing it.

He opened his notebook and wrote something in it.

What technological reserves are needed for television-guided remote-controlled weapons?

Television imaging technology: It's here.

[Wireless signal transmission technology: Miniaturization and interference resistance of radio transmission at the remote control end need to be addressed.]

[Target recognition: Recognition can only be done manually.]

[Remote control technology: We could try using rocket guidance control as a starting point.]

As Fang Wen wrote, a relatively clear plan came to mind.

In fact, it doesn't need to be too complicated. With current technology, the more complicated it is, the more likely it is to make mistakes and the less practical it becomes.

The so-called remote control only requires the ability to make simple changes in course, which can be achieved by mechanically adjusting the tail fins and changing the rocket's thrust angle.

The main thing is that it must excel in both controllability and combat effectiveness.

He knew what he wanted.

The images in my mind became clearer and clearer.

In the bombers of Taishan, after the bombs were dropped, the target images were transmitted back to the bomber via television cameras on the bombs, and the operator observed them through the fire control aiming CRT display.

The operator then manually controlled the bomb's flight direction based on the image, guiding it toward the target.

This effect will further improve the accuracy of bombing, thereby achieving the goal of precisely killing the enemy.

Just thinking about it.

There was a knock on the door.

Fang Wen got up and opened the door.

It was Du Jiahuai, the newly appointed captain of the Yan'an Air Force.

There was also an officer with him.

Du Jiahuai introduced, "This is Officer Liu from the Second Bureau. You two talk, I'll excuse myself."

Knowing the functions of the Second Bureau, Fang Wen realized that the other party must have important business to attend to, so he stepped aside to invite them into the room.

"Officer Liu, what's the matter?" Fang Wen said as he took out a teacup and poured Officer Liu a glass of water.

Officer Liu took the water glass and placed it on the table: "Here's what happened. In the ambush three days ago, we captured a pilot. After interrogation, we discovered that he was a technical officer who had temporarily joined the operation. He was shot down by you. This man knew a lot of Japanese intelligence, and in order to get preferential treatment, he confessed everything. From this intelligence, we discovered some information about a new type of Japanese fighter jet, and I've come to inform you of this."

Upon hearing that it was related to Japanese warplanes, Fang Wen immediately became interested.

In his view, the current Type 97 fighter jet poses no threat to the first-generation Taishan fighter jet, and he doesn't know what the situation will be like with the new Japanese fighter jet.

"You said."

"According to him, the Japanese Navy commissioned Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to develop a new fighter jet. He heard from classmates who participated in the development that this fighter jet has very high overall performance."

"Is the performance very good? Do you have any specific data?" Fang Wen asked hurriedly, as simply saying that the performance was good was too vague.

Officer Liu replied, "We also specifically inquired about this issue. He didn't know the specific data of the aircraft, but he said that it could definitely be compared with the best fighter jets available now."

Doesn't this mean it's comparable to the first-generation Taishan machine?

Fang Wen immediately became serious: "Does it have any code name?"

“It’s called ‘Trial 12’,” Officer Liu replied.

I'm taking two days off to travel with my family during the May Day holiday.

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(End of this chapter)