Legendary Captain

Chapter 330 Tripartite Joint Exercise

"Your brother is..." After a brief moment's thought, Lian Shanxue quickly realized who Yue Shanshan's brother was. Previously, Lian Shanxue had encountered a cabin depressurization incident. After handling it, given the captain's extremely poor health at the time, she had asked the flight attendants to proactively find a qualified doctor among the passengers to examine him in the cockpit.

At the time, flight attendant number three, Yue Shanshan, mentioned that her brother was on the plane. After checking his identification, the other flight attendants allowed him into the cockpit to examine the unconscious captain. Lian Shanxue still vaguely remembered this.

"My brother's name is Yue Xinzhao, and he's a doctor at the First People's Hospital of Yunnan Province." Yue Shanshan smiled sweetly. "My flight is already full, so I can only take flight 6333. I hope Sister Lianshan can help look after him."

"What kind of care?" Lian Shanxue's pretty face flushed slightly: "Your brother helped out last time, so the meals will be served like first class this time. Don't worry."

"No need, no need." Yue Shanshan shook her head repeatedly: "If the meal standards are also based on first class, the purser will have to communicate with the catering department, which is too troublesome. It would be good enough to give him a first-class seat."

Yue Shanshan wasn't one to make a fuss. She had already taken care of the first-class seat, so thinking about the meal would seem a bit greedy. Yue Shanshan was clear-headed about that.

"My brother doesn't know that you were on his flight," Yue Shanshan said with a grin. "You shouldn't go and greet him either. If he knew you were also spending the night in Binjiang, he probably wouldn't be in the mood to go out with me."

After completing her flight mission between Yunnan and Binjiang, Yue Shanshan will have a two-day vacation, so she will take her brother Yue Xinzhao to explore the area around Binjiang.

Yue Xinzhao was originally a homebody and had little desire to travel. If it weren't for Yue Shanshan's persistent pestering, he wouldn't have even considered going to Binjiang.

Fortunately, Yue Shanshan managed to persuade Yue Xinzhao with a deal that included all food and lodging. But if Yue Xinzhao knew that Lian Shanxue was also spending the night in Binjiang, it would be obvious that he wouldn't have even the slightest thought of leaving the hotel with Yue Shanshan.

Yue Xinzhao is a very innocent person. After seeing Lian Shanxue last time, he was almost completely captivated, even though Lian Shanxue showed no interest in him whatsoever.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Lian Shanxue glared at Yue Shanshan reproachfully. Meanwhile, Captain Tang Jian, standing nearby, looked quite displeased. He suddenly had the urge to retract his earlier decision to upgrade Yue Shanshan to first class.

Yue Shanshan checked the time and said, "I'll go now, I have a preparatory meeting to attend."

Before coordinating with the flight crew, the cabin crew will hold an internal preparatory meeting, which mainly involves exchanging information on matters requiring special attention for this flight and assigning tasks to each flight attendant.

One of the most common things flight attendants need to pay special attention to is whether there are VIPs. If there are some important people on the passenger list, the reception process for them needs to be discussed separately.

In addition, the cabin crew needs to assign tasks for the flight in advance, such as who will fly which flight number today. Generally speaking, there is a set of rules for assigning tasks to cabin crew members, but these are not fixed and may change depending on the actual situation. This needs to be determined in the pre-flight meeting.

Lian Shanxue nodded: "Go ahead, leave your brother's matter to me."

"Okay!" Yue Shanshan said cheerfully in front of Lian Shanxue. "Then, Sister Lian Shan, I'll head out now."

After seeing Yue Shanshan off, the flight preparation room suddenly became quiet, as if a chattering oriole had been released. Looking at Lian Shanxue, who had regained her aloofness, Tang Jian realized that it wasn't that Lian Shanxue was cold-hearted, but only cold towards him.

Luohang Flight Base Canteen.

Three people were gathered around a square table in the southeast corner of the cafeteria: Xu Xian with a grin on his face, Ye Qing who was still angry, and Wang Qi whose face had several more bruises.

These three people truly embodied the myriad aspects of life, attracting the attention of many people in the cafeteria.

News of Wang Qi's accidental missile launch had already spread. However, the news that Xu Xian had used evasive maneuvers to avert danger was even more surprising to the pilots at the base than Wang Qi's accidental missile launch.

While accidental missile launches are absurd, even cruise missiles are launched accidentally, so why can't air-to-air missiles be launched accidentally? Not long ago, another country had an example of an accidental air-to-air missile launch. Moreover, that example was even more absurd, as it was launched near the border and the missile ended up flying into the other country, almost causing a diplomatic incident. That's what you call truly absurd.

Even with the attention and stares gathering around him, Ye Qing had no intention of letting Wang Qi off the hook. Just now, he had another "friendly exchange" with Wang Qi, beating him until he was bruised and swollen. Even his mother might not recognize him.

Wang Qi is usually carefree and arrogant, but this time he really did something wrong and was beaten a lot, but he didn't complain of any pain.

Wang Qi used to be in the Air Force. In his case, being able to transfer back home would be the best outcome in the military. In more serious cases, it's not impossible for him to face a military court.

Ye Qing frowned as he looked at Wang Qi, who was now almost unrecognizable. Although his anger had not completely subsided, he knew that taking it out on Wang Qi would leave him with lasting health problems. He wasn't quite at the point where he wanted to cripple Wang Qi.

"This time you'd better stay quiet for at least a year and reflect on your actions," Ye Qing said angrily. He had heard Wang Qi recount the situation, and to be honest, Wang Qi was somewhat wronged. He repeatedly emphasized that he had confirmed the weapon safety was in the off position, but perhaps the weapon safety malfunctioned, or some other unknown problem, the missile that shouldn't have been launched was launched anyway, and Xu Xian was almost shot down. This was a matter of life and death, and absolutely could not be taken lightly.

Ye Qing believed that Wang Qi wouldn't lie about the weapons insurance; to try and find excuses at this point would be incredibly foolish. If it were discovered that Wang Qi had lied, his crime would be compounded!

If you say Wang Qi was wronged, he was indeed a little wronged. After all, in the minds of all pilots, if the weapon safety wasn't engaged, how could the missile be launched? But since such an absurd thing happened, someone has to be held responsible.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Wang Qi can still move around freely and even dine with Xu Xian and Ye Qing; it doesn't mean his problem isn't serious. However, they're still waiting for the technical department to decode the data from Wang Qi's C-16 aircraft. If they discover any irregularities, Wang Qi will be in serious trouble.

However, even if the data proves that the weapon's safety switch was indeed in the off position at the time, and the accidental missile launch was merely a black swan event caused by a sensor malfunction, meaning that Wang Qi did not intentionally launch the missile and that the operational procedures were not fundamentally flawed, he still bears considerable responsibility.

Ye Qing estimated that Wang Qi would inevitably be grounded for more than half a year, or even worse, the flight squadron would consider not letting him stay in the Luohang Flight Squadron and sending him back to his original unit.

If Wang Qi is to be sent away in such a humiliating manner, he might as well just retire on the spot and at least save face.

As for the final decision, it depends on the team's research and decision!

At this moment, Wang Qi was no longer as carefree as usual. He just kept nodding and lowered his head no matter what Ye Qing said.

Seeing his dejected appearance, Ye Qing didn't press him further. Instead, she changed the subject and asked Xu Xian, "This kid is usually a troublemaker. Don't take it to heart this time. Never mind, never mind. I won't advise you to stop taking it to heart. It's not fair to you. It's your right to pursue Wang Qi's responsibility however you want, and I support you."

Ye Qing initially wanted Xu Xian to not pursue the matter too much with Wang Qi, since there were likely objective technical factors involved in the incident. However, Ye Qing reconsidered. Xu Xian was almost shot down by Wang Qi; should he really let it go? If so, how would he be any different from those hypocrites who constantly advise others to be magnanimous? Therefore, he simply decided to leave it alone. Ye Qing didn't care how Xu Xian tried to torment Wang Qi, or what Wang Qi's ultimate fate would be; he figured it was all deserved anyway.

Xu Xian glanced at Wang Qi, who had his head down: "Now we're just waiting for news from the technical department. If the weapon safety was indeed off, it's mostly a technical issue, and I'm not one to hold grudges, so I won't pursue it too much. But if the weapon safety was on, that's a different story. Brother Ye, you should understand that if the weapon safety was on, it's not as simple as just grounding the plane."

If the data decoding shows that the weapon's safety switch was on at the time, then either Wang Qi made a serious operational error, or he did it intentionally. Either way, Xu Xian cannot accept it. At that point, it won't be a matter of whether he minds or not; he will pursue the matter thoroughly.

Xu Xian is quite tolerant of natural disasters, but when it comes to man-made disasters, his heart becomes as small as the eye of a needle.

"Alright!" Ye Qing nodded: "If the weapon safety indicator is off, that's disregarding human life, and naturally you'll have to go to a military court."

Wang Qi remained silent. Despite Xu Xian's fierce words and Ye Qing's mention of a military court, all of this was predicated on the weapon's safety being engaged. The problem was that Wang Qi himself could guarantee the weapon's safety was engaged with his life on the line. Therefore, Xu Xian and Ye Qing's threats were merely empty words, lacking any real meaning.

Hearing this, Wang Qi was truly moved. It seemed that Xu Xian wasn't going to pursue the matter, a magnanimity that made him feel ashamed. Thinking back to when Xu Xian first came to the base, he had maliciously "teased" Xu Xian, and although he ended up being killed by Xu Xian, he felt utterly ashamed.

However, Wang Qi was now bruised and battered from being teased by Xu Xian and Ye Qing, so even if he blushed, no one would notice.

After glancing at the ever-silent Wang Qi, Ye Qing decided not to dwell on the topic any longer and instead brought up the important business of their trip.

Ye Qing had indeed taken a short break, so he came to the base to see how Xu Xian was adapting. However, Ye Qing had recently received some inside information, which he wanted to share with Xu Xian during this opportunity.

"I suppose you know that the drills being conducted by the higher-ups have been increasing in frequency and difficulty each time. Do you know why?" Ye Qing suddenly whispered, looking very serious, as if he wasn't joking.

Xu Xian had indeed heard that the recent exercises and surprise inspections had become increasingly outrageous, causing great distress to the Western Air Force. There were even rumors that the Luoyang Flight Squadron might have to get involved if necessary, which showed just how much pressure the Western Air Force was under.

Soldiers are known for their unspoken suffering, and now even the Western Air Force has clearly stated that they may not be able to withstand it, which means the training intensity mandated by higher authorities is indeed somewhat outrageous.

"What? Is there any inside information?" Xu Xian wasn't really concerned about why. His idea was simple: to perform well, strive for the honor of best pilot of the year, and then naturally become the first test pilot of the fighter jet that Ye Qing had been hyping up.

As long as he fulfilled his promise to Ye Qing—that Ye Qing would help him recover the data from the damaged flight data recorder and clear his name—Xu Xian had no particular interest in anything else.

However, if he were to explicitly say that he had no desire to know anything about it, it would seem a bit disrespectful to Ye Qing, so he could only reluctantly pretend to be somewhat interested.

"Soon after, the Xi'an Air Force, the Guangdong Air Force, and the South China Sea Fleet will conduct a large-scale joint exercise. The Xi'an Air Force doesn't have a very high strategic position in the country, so its development is still not as good as the Guangdong Air Force, not to mention the recently popular naval aviation. However, this joint exercise is related to the face of the theater command, so the higher-ups have been increasing the intensity of various exercises and inspections, intending to give our Xi'an Air Force another boost," Ye Qing said seriously.

Xu Xian raised an eyebrow, but ultimately uttered only one word: "Oh."

"No. What do you mean? Are you even listening to me?" Ye Qing was extremely dissatisfied with Xu Xian's indifferent reaction: "Such a large-scale joint exercise, aren't you excited? Don't you want to participate?"

Xu Xian stared at the extremely excited Ye Qing, letting out a heavy snort: "Absolutely not!"

As soon as Xu Xian finished speaking, Wang Qi couldn't contain his excitement: "Brother Ye, I want to!"

"Shut up!" Ye Qing was talking about serious business when Wang Qi interrupted him, which made him very angry: "Sending someone with your level to the training exercise would be a disgrace! What would we do with you there? Shoot down friendly aircraft? You'd only make the Western Air Force lose face."

Wang Qi froze, wishing he could disappear into the ground. Xu Xian, standing beside him, clapped his hands and laughed loudly, "Brother Ye, you're a master at reopening old wounds!"

"Stop joking!" Ye Qing didn't have time to waste with Xu Xian. "Let me tell you, it's not a matter of whether you want to or not. If you can't participate in this joint exercise, you won't have a chance to win this year's best pilot award."

"What did you say?" Xu Xianteng stood up abruptly. "Ye Qing, are you kidding me? Didn't you say before that if I performed well, winning the Pilot of the Year award wasn't out of the question? How come now it's become that if I don't participate in this joint exercise, I have no chance of winning the Pilot of the Year award? Tell me! Were you just fooling me before?"

Ye Qing shrugged: "How did I lie to you? Just do your best. Isn't now your time to shine? Do you really think you can get the Best Pilot award by just staying at the base and training obediently for a year? That would be too easy. Use your brain and think about it, isn't that the truth?"

Xu Xian nearly spat out a mouthful of blood: "Ye Qing, you old thief!"

At this moment, Wang Qi added insult to injury: "Xu Xian, the best pilot of the year is someone who performs exceptionally well in various exercises or makes significant contributions. There has never been a year of simply flying safely through a year of training to be awarded the best pilot of the year. Moreover, the best pilot of the year is a theater-level honor. You have to compare yourself with all the pilots in the Western Air Force, not just with the pilots at the base."

"What? You mean the entire Western Air Force?" Xu Xian's jaw nearly dropped. This time, it seemed he had really stepped into a huge pit.

"Cough cough!" Ye Qing glared at Wang Qi fiercely: "Couldn't you let him dream a little longer? Why tell him this cruel reality so soon?"

Then, Ye Qing said earnestly to Xu Xian, "Xu Xian, don't underestimate yourself. Even though there are so many pilots in the Western Air Force, compared to you, they're all mediocre. If you just put in a little more effort, won't you still outperform them?"

Xu Xian glanced at Ye Qing sideways: "How exactly do you mean by being proactive?"

"The Western Air Force has a weak foundation, and if things continue as normal, it will likely suffer in this joint exercise. So, there's a very high probability—and I mean a very high probability—that the Western Air Force will request that the Luohang fleet send personnel to participate. You'd better prepare well and shine in the joint exercise!" Ye Qing said.

The Luoyang Air Force fleet is not large, so it's possible for them to be invited to participate in joint exercises as a whole. Ye Qing isn't too worried about the number of slots. In other military units, due to the large number of personnel, there might be competition for slots, but that's not the case with the Luoyang Air Force. It's a general consensus that the entire Luoyang Air Force fleet is composed of elite personnel!

"So you want me to prepare properly?" Xu Xian suddenly laughed, a hearty laugh. "Have you considered that, in principle, I'm not allowed to participate in any form of exercise?"

"What did you say?" Ye Qing was taken aback.

Xu Xianyi shrugged: "I haven't completed my basic tactical training course yet, and I haven't officially joined the combat formation. According to regulations, I cannot participate in any combat operations, not even simulated exercises!"

(End of this chapter)