Legendary Captain

Chapter 331 Air Rescue (Part 1)

Operations Analysis Room, Headquarters of the 3rd Air Division of the Western Air Force.

On the large screen, the data transmitted from the Luohang Flight Team has been visualized as video images and presented in the form of a 3D image.

At this moment, Wang Zhaoxin, the commander of the Third Division, and Che Youwei, the political commissar, were carefully analyzing the missile evasion incident that Xu Xian had recently completed.

The video was very short, less than a minute long. Wang Zhaoxin, a veteran pilot, played the video three or four times, pausing it in the middle to change the perspective and observe the relative positions of Xu Xian and the missile at that time.

Che Youwei was not a professional, and he didn't understand some of the intricacies, but from the perspective of someone who wasn't very professional, Xu Xian's "performance" could be considered art.

That's right, it's art! Besides the word "art," Che Youwei couldn't think of any other adjective to analyze Xu Xian's performance in this incident.

Even Che Youwei, a layman who couldn't see the subtleties, was amazed, let alone his mentor Wang Zhaoxin, who was an expert among experts.

"He's got eyes in all directions and ears everywhere! This kid's got a real knack for missile maneuvering!" Wang Zhaoxin sighed. "If I hadn't seen his file, I would have found it hard to believe that Xu Xian is just a trainee who hasn't even completed all the tactical training. Even many veteran pilots might not be able to perform as well as him."

As he spoke, Wang Zhaoxin felt a pang of disappointment: "If only we had brought Xu Xian over back then, now that he's in Luohang's fleet, it's hard to get rid of him."

"Xu Xian was specifically requested by Ye Qing. We didn't really think much about it at the time, which is a real pity." Che Youwei also expressed his regret: "I heard that Xu Xian is lazy and Ye Qing was afraid that he would not be able to adapt to military life, so he suggested that he be sent to the Luohang fleet."

"I know, Ye Qing told me roughly about Xu Xian's situation back then." Wang Zhaoxin felt a pang of heartache just thinking about it. Although the Luohang fleet was highly independent, it didn't have the authority to recruit pilots independently, so all procedures had to go through its nominal Third Division. At the time, Ye Qing proactively approached Wang Zhaoxin, requesting that Xu Xian be directly transferred to the Luohang fleet, bypassing the Third Division. Wang Zhaoxin actually knew roughly about Xu Xian's situation, since the Luohang fleet basically only recruited experienced pilots and rarely recruited new pilots directly without going through the Third Division. Just based on Ye Qing's discerning eye, Wang Zhaoxin had to put in some effort to see what kind of person Xu Xian was.

However, after investigating, Wang Zhaoxin discovered that Xu Xian was just a pilot with a impressive reputation in civil aviation. At the time, Wang Zhaoxin felt that there was a big difference between civil aviation and military aviation. Did Ye Qing simply assume that if someone was good at civil aviation, they would also be good at military aviation?

Furthermore, Chen Zhan had already been confirmed to be assigned to the Third Division after passing the physical examination. Wang Zhaoxin already felt that he had secured a genius, so he readily agreed to Ye Qing's request.

In fact, if Wang Zhaoxin disagreed, according to regulations, Xu Xian could not directly bypass the Third Division to enter the Luohang Flight Squadron.

If Wang Zhaoxin hadn't been so hasty in agreeing to Ye Qing's request back then, he wouldn't even dare to imagine that Xu Xian and Chen Zhan, two promising talents, would both be in Xikong now.

However, Ye Qing had clearly stated Xu Xian's requirements at that time. According to Ye Qing, Xu Xian was extremely lazy and unlikely to accept or adapt to the rigorous military life. Therefore, if Ye Qing hadn't signed his consent form, Xu Xian might not have even participated in the physical examination.

Ultimately, it was because Xu Xian was simply not destined to be with his three masters.

Wang Zhaoxin sighed, "They're both geniuses, so why is it that Chen Zhan is so diligent and hardworking, while Xu Xian can't even endure the slightest hardship?"

Even if Wang Zhaoxin couldn't understand it, his country didn't have mandatory conscription. If Xu Xian didn't want to come, no one could force him.

"Do you think it's necessary to talk to Li Cheng and transfer Xu Xian over? The work style at Luohang is too lax; we don't want to corrupt this promising young man," Che Youwei suggested. In Che Youwei's eyes, compared to his own Third Division, the Luohang Flight Squadron truly deserved the description of a lax work style. Xu Xian is still in his learning period, and the environment has a significant impact on him. Che Youwei didn't want this promising young man to be negatively affected by the atmosphere at Luohang.

Che Youwei's training philosophy is very traditional, which is to intervene in all aspects and let him grow wildly, which will most likely lead to him going astray.

Wang Zhaoxin waved his hand: "You think I don't want to? Xu Xian is just like Luo Hang's gang at heart. Want him to come? He'd be the first to disagree! Are we going to kidnap him? Really..."

Wang Zhaoxin sighed and looked at the 3D video that was still playing on a loop, feeling as uncomfortable as if a cat's paw was scratching an itch.

"Old Che, do you know? Many pilots, even with constant training, can only improve their proficiency. But in terms of combat thinking and field of vision, many pilots never develop those skills in their entire lives. They might become excellent pilots, but they'll never become top-tier pilots, ace pilots." Wang Zhaoxin pointed to Xu Xian's decision in the video to fly to airspace number three even though the 39 maneuver was clearly effective, and continued to praise him: "A pilot like Xu Xian, who has accurate vision, broad vision, courage, and skill... well, never mind, I won't say anymore, or my chest will hurt again."

Wang Zhaoxin rose through the ranks from an ordinary pilot to the position of commander of the Third Division, demonstrating his exceptional abilities and keen insight. He only needed to watch this one video to know Xu Xian's potential.

If Xu Xian had simply used the 39 maneuver to evade the Eagle Sparrow missile in this incident, Wang Zhaoxin would probably have just thought that Xu Xian was quite gifted, able to combine theory and practice so well, which was truly commendable.

However, if that were all, Wang Zhaoxin wouldn't have felt such immense regret amidst his astonishment. But after the 39 maneuver, even with missiles close behind, Xu Xian still noticed the villages on the ground and, in such a short time, thought of luring the missiles into the no-man's-land of Airspace No. 3, using a drag maneuver for a final evasion.

It can be said that the moment Xu Xian saw signs of human habitation on the ground, a series of plans for dealing with the situation formed in his mind.

Others might think one step at a time, but Xu Xian thinks three steps ahead before taking another! That's the difference in talent!

Seeing Wang Zhaoxin scratching his head and looking like he was about to vomit blood, Che Youwei smiled wryly and said helplessly, "Is it really necessary? He's just a pilot. Nowadays, it's mostly beyond-visual-range air combat, and pilots aren't as important as they used to be. Is it really necessary to be so regretful?"

Modern air combat emphasizes beyond-visual-range (BVR) engagements, eliminating the need for visual contact. Once the radar locks on, the missile is launched, eliminating the need for close-range dogfights. Later, there were even instances where cannons were completely eliminated altogether. However, this ultimately only indicated that such a complete elimination of cannons was somewhat extreme, as cannons were eventually reintroduced.

In actual air combat, however, the use of machine guns is still very rare. The main solution is missiles. Sometimes, pilots don't even see the enemy aircraft; they only see a missile coming and die without even knowing how.

Therefore, Che Youwei believes that the future course of aerial warfare will be determined more by the upper limit of fighter jet capabilities than by the upper limit of pilots. Most of the time, the performance gap between fighter jets cannot be bridged by pilot skill.

Aerial combat, which used to be a great test of a pilot's ability, is now relatively rare.

Che Youwei didn't arbitrarily believe that pilots' qualities were unimportant, or that they were merely tools for searching for enemy aircraft and launching missiles—that would be too extreme. However, Che Youwei at least felt that the impact pilots could have was no longer that strong. Therefore, while it was somewhat regrettable that he had missed out on Xu Xian, he didn't react as dramatically as Wang Zhaoxin.

Compared to Che Youwei's new-era air combat concepts, Wang Zhaoxin, as a "professional" who rose through the ranks from pilot to expert, actually prefers to focus more on the pilots' capabilities. Of course, he won't refute Che Youwei's statements; these are everyone's judgments on the future direction of air combat. Forcing others to follow one's own ideas is difficult and inefficient, and Wang Zhaoxin is not that foolish or arrogant.

"Old Che, you think the fighter jet's performance has a bigger impact, while I think the pilot's skill level has a bigger impact. Neither of us can convince the other. Let's not continue this topic today. Anyway, that kid Xu Xian is determined not to come to the military. No matter how much we argue, we won't change Xu Xian's lazy nature. Enough said, enough said." Wang Zhaoxin waved his hand, not wanting to worry about Xu Xian anymore, and wanted to talk about something happy to change his mood. But when Wang Zhaoxin thought about it, he couldn't think of anything to be happy about.

There's no way around it; the joint exercises between the Xi'an Air Force, the Guangdong Air Force, and the South China Sea Fleet are just around the corner. But even with the Xi'an Air Force's recent intensive training, its leaders can still see a gap in actual effectiveness compared to the Guangdong Air Force and the South China Sea Fleet's air force.

Besides, if the Western Air Force can train like crazy, are the Guangdong Air Force and the South China Sea Fleet's air force just going to stay home and not train? According to the information Wang Zhaoxin found out, the Guangdong Air Force and the South China Sea Fleet are also putting in their best efforts and preparing to have a big show in this joint exercise.

They were already much better than Nishikatsu to begin with, and then they all worked incredibly hard. How could Nishikatsu possibly keep up?

The reason why the Guangdong Air Force and the South China Sea Fleet are working so hard is that the outcome of this large-scale exercise will affect the selection of personnel for next year's "Air Sword" military exercise.

The Air Sword exercise is a multinational military exercise between China and neighboring countries, representing the nation in an opportunity to gain honor, and every soldier wants to participate. However, the number of people eligible to participate in multinational military exercises is limited, so the higher authorities need to carefully select participants. Therefore, the results of various large-scale domestic military exercises become an important reference for the selection of personnel for multinational military exercises.

This matter concerns the selection for tomorrow's multinational military exercise, and both the Guangdong Air Force and the South China Sea Fleet are taking it very seriously. They will not be complacent just because the Western Air Force is weak, and they will train with all their might.

Previously, the Western Air Force rarely participated in various multinational military exercises, as they knew they were weak and couldn't compete with others. However, this was a large-scale exercise, and regardless of its impact on next year's multinational military exercise selection—that was too far off—they couldn't afford to lose face in the joint exercise. Even if they couldn't beat the Guangdong Air Force and the South China Sea Fleet, they had to fall with dignity.

However, judging from the current situation, even falling while standing is quite difficult. Wang Zhaoxin is genuinely worried that the Xi'an Air Force will suffer a crushing defeat in the upcoming joint exercises.

"By the way! Xu Xian hasn't officially joined the combat formation yet, has he?" Wang Zhaoxin suddenly asked.

Che Youwei nodded: "Not yet, what's wrong?"

"Since we haven't officially joined a combat formation, we don't need to participate in the exercises, right?"

Che Youwei immediately understood Wang Zhaoxin's meaning, and his expression turned rather unpleasant: "So you're so pessimistic about the outcome of the three-way exercise?"

"It's not that I'm pessimistic, but the facts are right in front of us." Wang Zhaoxin pulled up a chair and sat down. "We've been to the Guangdong Air Force before, so we know a bit about the situation there. Old Che, honestly, can our Western Air Force hold off the Guangdong Air Force? We don't know about the South China Sea Fleet, but we've heard that recently, the South China Sea Fleet, playing the role of the blue force, has conducted several simulated strike missions against the Guangdong Air Force area, giving them a real headache. If the news is reliable, then at least the South China Sea Fleet and the Guangdong Air Force are about equal. Now, we're the easy target. When the three-way joint exercises really happen, we'll be waiting to be picked on. It's good that Chen Zhan hasn't officially joined any combat units yet, so it's a good thing he doesn't have to go through all this."

It's not that Wang Zhaoxin is boosting the morale of others while diminishing his own; rather, it's that stark reality is ruthlessly slapping Wang Zhaoxin in the face. He can't be unaware of objective laws, can he?

In principle, trainees who haven't officially joined combat formations are not required to participate in any drills. Of course, this is only in principle, which means there is still room for maneuver.

The purpose of the drills is to strive for realism. In a real war, if your side is fighting until all ammunition is exhausted and everyone is dead, then even trainees will have to go to the front lines. The enemy won't let you off just because you're a trainee.

Therefore, if combat units use trainees in exercises, it doesn't constitute a violation of regulations. However, exercises are ultimately just exercises and can't be 100% realistic. Because trainees' skill levels are inconsistent, forcing them into aerial combat could very well not only fail to strike the enemy but also hinder their own troops.

Therefore, the basic consensus is that as long as a combat formation is not formally deployed, participation in the exercise is not required, and no one will object to this.

Speaking of the Guangdong Air Force, Wang Zhaoxin couldn't help but recall something: "Speaking of which, those guys in the Guangdong Air Force have the same idea as you. They believe that the future belongs to beyond-visual-range air combat, and some units under the Guangdong Air Force have even started to try to carry only medium-range or medium-to-long-range air-to-air missiles, freeing up the hardpoints originally used for short-range missiles to carry medium-range or medium-to-long-range missiles."

For example, the typical weapon configuration for a C-16 fighter jet in a combat mission is four medium- or medium-to-long-range air-to-air missiles and two short-range air-to-air missiles. However, in order to adapt to various combat environments, it is sometimes necessary to carry external fuel tanks or airborne targeting pods, which will reduce the space available for missile hardpoints.

Some people who are extremely confident in beyond-visual-range combat might think, when their missile hardpoints are squeezed, why not just not carry short-range air-to-air missiles? They could carry only medium-range or medium-to-long-range air-to-air missiles, fire and run, and absolutely not give enemy aircraft a chance to engage in air combat.

According to Wang Zhaoxin, this idea is very popular in the Guangdong Air Force. He wonders if the Guangdong Air Force will implement this concept in this joint exercise.

On the Star Travel 6333 aircraft, after the aircraft entered the cruise phase, flight attendant number three quickly located Yue Xinzhao's seat based on the seat number previously provided by Yue Shanshan.

At that moment, Yue Xinzhao was resting with his eyes closed when suddenly someone tapped him on the shoulder. When he opened his eyes, he saw a flight attendant.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Yue?" Flight attendant number three asked Yue Xinzhao very warmly.

Yue Xinzhao was taken aback: "Yue, oh, it should be me!"

The flight attendant only gave her surname, not her full name. Who knows if it might be someone with the same surname? So Yue Xinzhao just said, "It should be me."

"Then it must be right!" The seat number matches, the surname matches, so there shouldn't be any problem. The flight attendant, number three, said softly to Yue Xinzhao, "Sir, please come with me for a moment."

Yue Xinzhao instinctively frowned: "What is it?"

Yue Xinzhao wasn't the type to believe whatever others said; he needed to understand why he was following the flight attendants.

Seeing Yue Xinzhao's suspicion, the flight attendant thought to herself that this man was far too suspicious, but she still maintained a smile and explained, "Sir, we can provide you with a complimentary upgrade here, would you like to see?"

"Free. Oh. I see!" Yue Xinzhao suddenly remembered that his sister had mentioned arranging an upgrade for him. Now that everything made sense, Yue Xinzhao had no more doubts: "Thank you."

Although the flight attendant and Yue Xinzhao spoke in hushed tones, it couldn't have escaped the notice of the passengers next to Yue Xinzhao. The middle-aged man, who appeared to be in his forties, immediately perked up at the prospect of a free upgrade: "Free upgrade? Want me to get one too?"

Flight attendant number three chuckled, "Sir, we can upgrade you to cabin class here, but you'll need to pay the difference. Would you like to upgrade?"

"Pay the difference? Wasn't it supposed to be a free upgrade?" The middle-aged man sounded slightly annoyed. "I didn't see him pay any difference, so how can he get an upgrade? This is discrimination!"

Flight attendant number three had seen all sorts of people, and she particularly disliked this kind of middle-aged man who was unreasonable and liked to show off. However, out of professional ethics, she maintained a smile and didn't show any displeasure. Instead, she patiently explained to the man, "Excuse me, sir, this is with the captain's permission. Do you know the captain of this flight? If you do, I can ask him on your behalf. If the captain agrees and there are available seats in first class, we can upgrade you to first class for free."

The flight attendant has made it very clear that Yue Xinzhao's decision was made with the captain's approval, and upgrading passengers is one of the captain's rights. This is completely compliant with regulations and there is no discrimination involved.

Upon hearing this explanation, those who had also overheard the conversation suddenly realized, "So they knew the captain! No wonder!"

It's perfectly reasonable for the captain's relatives and friends to enjoy some extra benefits on the plane, since it doesn't affect anyone else, and there's nothing to be envious of.

The surrounding passengers were all reasonable, but the middle-aged man, perhaps feeling that the flight attendant's words had offended him, became somewhat agitated and his appearance turned rather fierce.

Flight attendant number three was extremely annoyed; she was truly speechless at this person's thought process.

Just as the third flight attendant was racking her brains, a commotion suddenly erupted from the first-class section, culminating in a piercing scream. Instantly, everyone in economy class turned to look!

(End of this chapter)