Legendary Captain

Chapter 366 Eye of the Storm

Headquarters of the 3rd Air Division of the Western Air Force, Division Commander's Office.

It was late, but Political Commissar Che Youwei noticed that the light was still on in Wang Zhaoxin's room. Out of curiosity, he went to take a look.

Upon entering the room, Che Youwei noticed that Wang Zhaoxin was intently looking at a document.

"What are you looking at so intently?" Che Youwei asked with great interest.

"Huh?" Wang Zhaoxin was so engrossed in reading the documents that he was startled by Che Youwei's voice. When he saw who it was, he said with displeasure, "You walk so quietly? You're going to scare people to death."

"Weren't you just too engrossed in what you were looking at?" Che Youwei found a place to sit down. "Tell me, what exactly were you looking at?"

Wang Zhaoxin rubbed his temples helplessly: "Li Cheng sent me a report..."

"Hmm?" Che Youwei became interested. "What report?"

"Didn't they have a previous escort mission for evacuating citizens? And they specifically assigned someone from the Los Angeles Airlines fleet to be in charge?"

"Yes, is that so? What's the problem?" Che Youwei was halfway through his sentence when he suddenly remembered something: "Li Cheng has decided on the escort personnel?"

"No, not really..." Wang Zhaoxin said with a wry smile, "Li Cheng's report was asking me about something. That kid Xu Xian wants to participate in the escort mission, and his attitude is very firm, he's practically signing a pledge."

"A pledge?" Che Youwei's lips twitched. "What's Xu Xian thinking? When did he become so proactive? This isn't like him at all."

"You call this a different person? It's like he's a completely different person." Wang Zhaoxin had a terrible headache. "That kid has a nasty temper. Do you think we should approve his application?"

"Agree? Are you kidding me? Don't you know what that escort mission is all about? Xu Xian hasn't experienced actual combat yet, and assigning him this kind of combat mission right away is irresponsible towards his life." Che Youwei immediately objected, almost without thinking.

Wang Zhaoxin could basically guess Che Youwei's thoughts, which was consistent with his position as political commissar. However, according to Li Cheng, Xu Xian was "highly motivated" there, although the reason for this was unknown. But, if Xu Xian's application was decisively rejected this time, would it dampen Xu Xian's hard-won fighting spirit?

To be honest, given Xu Xian's technical skills so far, he is more than capable of undertaking this escort mission. However, both Political Commissar Che Youwei and the squadron leader of the Luoyang Aircraft Corporation believe that Xu Xian's experience is still insufficient and he is not yet ready to go directly to the battlefield.

They had the technical skills, but not enough experience. Che Youwei and Li Chengcheng felt that Xu Xian's first combat mission should be classified as a lower-risk level.

Technology is indeed the foundation of everything, but it is not the sole determinant. A person's experience also influences many things, most obviously in directly affecting how much of their potential they can achieve.

Someone like Xu Xian, who can dominate in exercises, can't even unleash one-tenth of his strength in actual combat.

Most people need a gradual process to grow. Of course, we cannot deny that there are geniuses in this world who transcend the normal growth process. These people do not follow the so-called normal growth process; they seem to be born at the finish line, and all they need to do is realize who they truly are.

Learning has never been a problem for them; their learning abilities are so formidable that it seems they were born knowing everything. A small fraction of these geniuses can even skip the process of accumulating experience.

Learning ability can be innate, but accumulating experience requires time and a certain process.

Perhaps Xu Xian is the kind of person who is exceptionally talented in accumulating experience. He could perform like a veteran even on his first battlefield experience. This possibility exists, but Che Youwei and Li Cheng are unwilling to use a real battle to verify whether Xu Xian is such a top-tier genius.

If the verification result is positive, that would be excellent. But what if Xu Xian is not? Would he have to risk his life to verify all of this?

In terms of their views on this matter, Che Youwei and Li Cheng belong to the same type of people: the steady and methodical type.

But Wang Zhaoxin thought differently: "Old Che, the danger of this escort mission is actually manageable. Even though the situation in Konbang is chaotic, I don't think they would dare to attack our civilians. Maybe... this escort mission isn't as dangerous as we imagine. If it's Xu Xian's first real combat experience, it might be a bit over the top, but it shouldn't be outrageous. Why don't we let him try? He said that Xu Xian knows someone in the civilian airliner crew responsible for this evacuation mission."

"No! This decision is too hasty." Che Youwei still couldn't accept it.

"Well then..." Wang Zhaoxin thought for a moment, "Anyway, even if we need to evacuate overseas citizens, it will probably take some time. In the meantime, he'll be with the Fourth Division. You know what the situation is like there. If he can still perform well there during this time, why don't we give him a chance? Young people are full of fighting spirit; we shouldn't dampen their enthusiasm."

"The Fourth Division..." Che Youwei paused for a moment. The Fourth Naval Air Division was notorious for its arduous training, far more rigorous than the Luoyang Air Force squadron where Xu Xian served. If Xu Xian could withstand such rigorous training in the Fourth Naval Air Division, it would at least prove that Xu Xian was indeed a qualified soldier.

Performing escort missions with the demeanor of a qualified soldier doesn't seem so outrageous after all.

"To be honest, getting a good review from the Fourth Division is no easy feat," Che Youwei sighed.

The only requirement the Western Air Force had for Xu Xian during his training at the Fourth Division was to obtain carrier landing qualification. As for his performance during training, the Western Air Force did not have very high expectations.

After all, Xu Xian wouldn't be staying at the 4th Naval Aviation Division for long, and the Western Air Force didn't expect him to integrate into the division's life and training rhythm in a short time. After all, there are still significant differences between the Air Force and the Naval Aviation.

"So, whether he can participate in the escort mission depends entirely on himself." Wang Zhaoxin tapped the table. "I will personally liaise with the Fourth Division and keep a close eye on Xu Xian's training there. If he performs poorly in training in any way, I will reject his application outright. How about that? Old Che, you're usually quite steady, but this time, are you going to be a little... a little bolder?"

Che Youwei's face darkened. After a moment of contemplation, he said helplessly, "Then let's wait and see how he performs in the Fourth Division! By the way, Xu Xian has already gone to Longjiang? I remember it was today."

"That's right, it's today." Wang Zhaoxin frowned. "However, I saw on the news that the entire southern region has been affected by the typhoon. I don't know if he'll still be able to go."

"Yes, I saw the news too," Che Youwei chimed in. "If his schedule had changed, Li Cheng should have informed us. But we haven't heard anything yet, which means he's already gone. However, when I think about what happened with the civil aviation company, my eyelids keep twitching..."

"So our political commissar is into these kinds of things?" Wang Zhaoxin laughed. "I've heard about his experiences in civil aviation, and it seems he was on a commercial airliner this time. Even if this kid is just incompatible with commercial airliners, I don't believe it's really that weird."

"Is it really that spooky?" Che Youwei suddenly laughed. "We're soldiers, we don't care about those supernatural things. I'm just curious, what if it really is that spooky? What will you do then?"

Wang Zhaoxin pointed at the desk, his eyes widening: "Then he shouldn't fly anymore. Let's just worship him and burn incense for him every day."

……

The cockpit of Lotoo Flight 5641.

"Brother, something feels wrong. It's not what the weather radar is showing." The co-pilot felt the plane shaking violently and couldn't help but start to panic.

The aircraft's condition as they perceive it doesn't seem to match the relatively mild thunderstorm conditions shown on the weather radar.

The moment it came into contact with the green shadows, the plane was thrown into a washing machine, experiencing extremely violent turbulence—a level of turbulence that would not occur in a normal rainy area.

The captain's face was grim, but looking at the weather radar, they were about to break through the weather barrier, and he was unwilling to turn back now. So, he gritted his teeth and said, "Let's hold on a little longer. Yaw damper engaged, engine start switch in flight position, autopilot switched to CWS mode, verify turbulence N1."

The procedures the captain described were for dealing with severe turbulence. Since the captain did it this way, it meant he was prepared to persevere and grit his teeth and get through the weather.

The co-pilot was actually a little scared, but since the captain said to hold on a little longer, he couldn't say anything more and could only follow the captain's instructions to begin the procedures for dealing with severe turbulence.

However, by this point, the turbulence was making it difficult for the co-pilot to operate the control panel. After several attempts, he finally completed the entire procedure. He then verified the turbulence N1 reading on the CDU and manually calibrated the engine thrust.

The bump N1 setting is displayed on the cruise page of the CDU; simply set it according to the thrust it provides.

In severe turbulence, it is not recommended to continuously change the throttle, as this will only increase the aircraft's load. If the aircraft's load exceeds the limit, it can easily threaten the aircraft's fuselage structure.

If an autothrottle is engaged, the aircraft's airspeed and altitude cannot be maintained precisely under severe turbulence. To correct for deviations in speed and altitude, the autothrottle will continuously adjust the thrust. This type of throttle operation is acceptable under mild or moderate turbulence, but as it approaches severe turbulence, no matter what you do, it is likely to cause serious problems.

Airplanes are no match for the forces of nature. Maintaining precise flight data under severe turbulence is impossible. This is the first thing to understand.

The principle for dealing with severe turbulence is to allow the aircraft to vary its speed and altitude within a certain range, and not to try to fight the turbulence, but to a certain extent, to yield to it!

Therefore, maintaining a relatively stable throttle is essential. Turbulence N1 is the optimal thrust calculated by the flight computer to cope with severe turbulence.

However, turbulence is not the most serious situation. Although turbulence is terrible, there has never been a case in civil aviation history where an aircraft was completely torn apart by turbulence.

The airframes of all currently operating commercial airliners have undergone countless tests; they cannot be easily disintegrated by turbulence.

However, the plane was bouncing up and down so much that it was quite scary.

If it were just turbulence, the captain would actually be able to relax. But as the flight continued, the captain discovered a serious problem.

According to the weather radar, they had already flown over twenty nautical miles and were close to breaking through the weather barrier. A few more nautical miles, and according to the weather radar, there should be no weather or very little weather, so why did the turbulence seem to be getting stronger? This completely contradicted the results detected by the weather radar!

At that moment, torrential rain pounded against the windshield, the instant the plane had completely passed through the weather and reached the so-called "safe zone." The sound of the rain hitting the fuselage increased exponentially. It was as if the sky had torn open, and rain was pouring down from that opening.

At this moment, the captain was genuinely panicked. Weather radar works by detecting water droplets to detect hazardous weather within its range.

However, the massive rainfall they were experiencing was showing as a dry airspace on radar. Their aircraft were equipped with weather radar that wasn't state-of-the-art, but even the oldest weather radars wouldn't show a completely dry sky under such heavy rainfall.

"Something must be wrong! Something must be wrong!" At this moment, the captain felt that something was wrong. What they saw and experienced was completely different from what the radar showed.

"Brother, should we turn back?" At this moment, the co-pilot was already at his breaking point. Everything they were experiencing was far too bizarre. He could sense that something was wrong, but he also couldn't figure out what had gone wrong.

The unknown is the most terrifying thing...

The moment the co-pilot suggested turning back, the left and right windshields suddenly became covered with a dense array of electric arcs. These arcs seemed to have a life of their own, constantly contracting and expanding, a truly terrifying sight.

"Such a strong electric charge!"

The captain wasn't unfamiliar with arcing on the windshields. It was caused by excessive electrical charge accumulating outside the fuselage. However, the charges he had seen before were only a few specks, but this time, the windshields were almost completely covered with arcs, their glow even faintly illuminating the entire cockpit.

"How could there be such a strong charge?" Normal precipitation could not possibly accumulate such a huge charge unless there is a powerful charge-generating area nearby.

The captain broke out in a cold sweat just thinking about it.

Even though the reason is unknown, they seem to have entered the eye of the typhoon.

I'm busy today, so I'll keep it short. I'll make a bigger one for everyone tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)