Legendary Captain

Chapter 385 They won't return to the mothership!

Carrier-based air wing combat analysis room.

Carrier-based air wing commander Xiao Nian is exchanging contingency plans for the escort mission with squadron leader Lü Ping of the first squadron.

"According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chenyan, the renegade guided-missile destroyer that broke away from the navy is likely to become part of terrorism. Chenyan's territorial waters are too close to our country's main international sea lanes. The command has already submitted an escort plan to the Ministry of National Defense and is waiting for approval from above." Xiao Nian's gaze fell on a nautical chart spread out on the table, his face full of worry.

The Kingdom of Yan has been plagued by internal strife for years, and this turbulent environment has forged the fierce and bloodthirsty nature of their army. Now, a regular guided missile destroyer has mutinied, essentially turning into bandits. If the rebel captain on this guided missile destroyer goes mad, all ships passing through the Jiaozhou Strait will be in danger.

During the internal strife in Shinano Province, Xiao Nian and the aircraft carrier captain Wang Tianyi were worried that it would affect navigation in the Koshu Strait. However, after the strife subsided, a guided-missile destroyer went out of control, a situation that was undoubtedly even more dangerous.

The international community does not know what this defecting guided-missile destroyer's demands, intentions, or level of danger is. It is like a time bomb, hovering around the Koshu Strait, a vital international shipping artery.

When the internal strife broke out in Chenyan Kingdom, Wang Tianyi and Xiao Nian had already prepared to provide escort. However, as the internal strife subsided, the situation worsened, making the escort plan imperative.

Escort is quite necessary, at least until the defector guided-missile destroyer is brought under control.

However, escorting the ships wasn't a decision made on a whim. Who would provide the escort, how would they escort, what would the escort route be, and how would they respond if they encountered that missile destroyer? Would firing require the consent of the State of Yan, or could they open fire independently if they felt threatened?

Even if there's a mutiny, that missile destroyer still belongs to the vassal state of Yan. Whether it has the right to fire freely, or what attack restrictions it faces, needs to be clarified. Otherwise, if an encounter occurs during actual escort duty, and they are instead hampered, what kind of situation would that be?

Those above have already realized this problem. As the main body responsible for escort missions, the Ministry of National Defense has requested the Nanchang aircraft carrier strike group to provide an escort plan for their review.

The escort plan not only needs to be reviewed by the Ministry of National Defense, but also needs to be communicated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Chen Yanguo in order to eliminate all possible difficulties during the escort.

Although the review of the escort plan will take some time, Xiao Nian felt that it shouldn't take long.

Xiao Nian said, "This escort mission will be handled by the destroyer squadron. Our carrier-based aircraft unit will mainly be responsible for patrolling, providing information, and providing appropriate air support. Once the escort plan is approved, your First Squadron will have a heavier workload. This is a real combat mission, so try not to assign that kid Xu Xian to a mission alone."

"Destroyer squadron? I thought they were going to send cruisers!" Lü Ping laughed.

"Cruiser?" Xiao Nian sneered, "Sending cruisers to those old destroyers of my country would be giving them too much credit."

Cruisers are multi-purpose medium-sized surface warships that are second only to battleships in terms of displacement, guns, and armor protection, and can serve as fleet command ships.

In Xiao Nian's view, the old destroyers of Chenyan Kingdom were really not very combat-effective. Why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut? Using cruisers for escort was really overestimating the strength of Chenyan Kingdom's destroyers.

Our domestic destroyers are now a whole generation ahead of those of the Chenyan Kingdom. Even if we were to encounter that rebel destroyer from the Chenyan Kingdom head-on, we could sink it without any problem if necessary.

This is Xiao Nian's confidence!

"That's true, hahaha!" Lü Ping felt quite proud. "When assigning escort duties, I'll keep a close eye on Xu Xian and won't let him go out alone. Don't worry, Captain Xiao!"

"Then you'll have to put in some effort." Xiao Nian nodded. Xu Xian was somewhat different from other pilots, and Xiao Nian actually had a conflicted feeling about him.

That is, he knew that a truly capable pilot couldn't stay sheltered in a greenhouse forever; he needed to be tempered by real combat. However, Xu Xian was simply too outstanding; no one wanted him to suffer any harm. To use a metaphor, Xu Xian was like an exquisitely crafted sword. Everyone knew this sword was invincible, but no one actually wanted to use it to truly cut down enemies.

What if a nick is cut into it? Even though a nick on a sword is a symbol of honor, just like a warrior's scar, few people can accept that Xu Xian's perfect blade has any flaws.

Because of Xu Xian's unparalleled talent, everyone wanted to protect him as much as possible. However, they were also afraid that excessive protection would cause Xu Xian to become a hothouse flower, which was a contradiction.

"Also, after we return to port this time, there will be an open day event for the aircraft carrier. Many people will be going on board to visit. It seems that Qin Qing's mother will also be coming. As Qin Qing's squadron leader, you will be in charge of receiving her. Pay attention to your image and attitude, understand?" Xiao Nian instructed.

Opening aircraft carriers to the public is not a rare occurrence. The main purpose is to provide patriotic education, allowing people to personally experience the country's progress – a win-win situation.

Of course, for safety reasons, those who can actually go on the aircraft carrier still need to undergo some screening. Previously, Qin Qing's mother submitted an application, and the final review was approved.

Qin Qing is at least a red flower among a sea of ​​green, so a little preferential treatment is acceptable.

Speaking of Qin Qing, Lü Ping couldn't help but smile. Indeed, in a carrier-based aircraft unit almost entirely composed of men, having a young girl to balance things out was a welcome sight. The older men in the unit treated her like a daughter, while the younger ones treated her like a younger sister. Since her mother was coming to visit, it was only right that he receive her.

Just then, a messenger rushed open the door: "Captain Xiao, something's happened!"

When Xiao Nian arrived on the deck, a number of people had already gathered around Xu Xian. In addition to the maintenance crew, there were also many people from the support and service departments, many of whom were scanning the deck with their eyes down, as if searching for something.

"What's wrong?" Xiao Nian pushed through the crowd, his gaze fixed on Xu Xian in the center.

Xu Xian, holding a mop in one hand, reached out the other towards Xiao Nian, holding a screw in his palm: "I just found this on the deck."

Xiao Nian frowned, taking the screw from Xu Xian's palm and holding it in his own. His brows furrowed. "This is a screw? From an airplane?"

"Team Leader Xiao, this looks like it's from the C18 landing gear assembly," a maintenance worker said. "However, these kinds of screws are common on C18 landing gear components, so it's hard to say exactly where it comes from."

"From the C18 landing gear?" Xiao Nian gripped the screw in his palm, his gaze shifting to Xu Xian. "Where did you find it?"

Xu Xian moved the mop: "Right here, I found it when I was mopping up here."

Looking out over the distance, Xiao Nian realized they were still quite a distance from the tarmac. He could even see some maintenance personnel already conducting flight path checks on the aircraft at their parking spots. He turned to a maintenance worker and asked, "Are there more planes taking off soon?"

The maintenance worker nodded: "The last batch will take off in about half an hour."

"Cancel all flight departures," Xiao Nian said, turning to his communications officer. "Contact the maintenance department and have them inspect all aircraft to determine which plane crashed. Also, have the deck crew conduct a thorough inspection of the deck to check for any other debris."

The messenger nodded: "Understood!"

Immediately, the messenger who received the order went off to attend to his own business.

Xiao Nian felt the tiny screw in his palm, his heart filled with worry. He glanced at Xu Xian, who was still leaning on the mop, and said, "Well done. That concludes today's task. Go back and rest."

Finding a screw on an aircraft carrier deck, especially a fighter jet screw, is a truly serious matter.

If this screw fell from a fighter jet, it means that the fighter jet has a great safety hazard. If it were to fly recklessly, it could very well be a serious safety incident.

Even if it didn't fall from the plane, but was dropped by maintenance personnel at some point, if that screw rolled onto the flight deck with the ship's movements, it would still have disastrous consequences if the landing gear tire hit it or got sucked into the engine, whether during takeoff or landing.

Although a screw is small, the consequences it can cause are unimaginable. Based on this, Xu Xian can be considered to have made a considerable contribution.

"Is it over already?" Xu Xian was stunned for a moment. Just a moment ago he was complaining, but he hadn't been working for long. He didn't expect the mission to be over so soon. This was a stroke of good luck.

"Yes, it's finished," Xiao Nian confirmed. He had found an unidentified screw on the deck and needed to coordinate with several departments, so he was about to leave when he paused, turning back to Xu Xian and saying, "Well done!"

"Huh?" Xu Xian didn't expect Xiao Nian to say this and didn't react for a moment. By the time he came to his senses, Xiao Nian had already disappeared into the crowd.

Now that his day's work had ended so abruptly, Xu Xian was somewhat at a loss. He checked the time; the press conference should be almost over, and there was no point in going back to watch it.

However, Xu Xian wasn't the type to be overly enthusiastic about work. Now that his task for the day was finished, he wouldn't continue. So, carrying a bucket in one hand and a mop in the other, he prepared to go back and rest.

The maintenance and support personnel surrounding Xu Xian did not leave. Screws appeared on the deck from who-knows-where. The maintenance, support, and deck departments were definitely the most anxious. Since they would be coming over soon anyway, there was no need to go back.

Just as Xu Xian was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something. He glanced back at the several helipads, silently counting in his mind, and then asked the maintenance worker beside him, "Are there any planes that haven't returned yet?"

"This..." The maintenance crew member was caught off guard by Xu Xian's question and couldn't answer for a moment. "Well, you might need to ask the flight control room. They have the plans for all the aircraft. But I vaguely remember that there will be a team conducting post-flight checks later, so there must still be some aircraft that haven't returned yet."

Each aircraft requires a post-flight inspection after recovery. Although the maintenance department does not have a mission plan for each aircraft, they can roughly estimate the mission plan for each aircraft through their own scheduling plan.

The maintenance worker knew that a friend of his was scheduled to perform a post-flight inspection later, which meant that there were indeed still planes that hadn't returned, but their return time should be approaching.

"A flight is coming up soon?" Xu Xian cursed, "This is bad!"

As he spoke, he hurriedly ran towards the vicinity of the island superstructure, carrying a bucket and a mop. As he passed the service room, he casually tossed the mop and bucket inside, and then sprinted toward the deck command room.

The deck control room manages the aircraft movement across the entire deck and holds the flight plans for all carrier-based aircraft. To check if any aircraft have not yet returned, you must contact the deck control room.

Xu Xian knew the location of the deck control room. When he opened the door, the room was bustling with activity. Clearly, the deck control room had also received Xiao Nian's report about the unidentified screws on the deck and was coordinating with various departments to conduct a thorough search of the deck. They were also canceling a scheduled takeoff half an hour later.

The condition of the planes is still unknown. What if a screw came loose in one of the planes that were about to take off? Wouldn't taking off be just asking for trouble?

In the middle of the deck control room, there is a scaled-down simulation of the two decks of an aircraft carrier. The deck control room uses this sand table-like method to manage the deck.

Even though electronic dispatching methods are now quite mature, for some reason, the military still feels that this traditional command method is safer and simpler.

At this moment, a large number of people have gathered around the simulator, presumably discussing how to retrieve as many aircraft as possible from the deck to the lower hangar via elevator, so that the inspection personnel can more easily inspect the deck.

"Notify the deck inspection personnel to hurry up, a plane will be landing soon," an unidentified person in the deck control room instructed his subordinates.

"No! We can't let the plane land!" Xu Xian shouted, instantly drowning out the noise in the deck control room. Instantly, everyone in the deck control room looked at Xu Xian, who was standing at the door.

The man who had just given the orders put down the documents in his hand and stared at Xu Xian: "Who are you?"

Xu Xian felt a chill run down his spine under the man's gaze, but he still mustered his courage and said, "I am Xu Xian, a pilot from the 1st Fighter Squadron of the Carrier Air Wing!"

The man slowly approached, sized up Xu Xian for a moment, and then asked, "You just said the plane couldn't land? What was your reason?"

Xu Xian hadn't expected the man to be so straightforward, saying directly, "I believe the maintenance crew on our aircraft carrier should have no problems with their pre- and post-flight checks. If, assuming the maintenance crew has no issues, and no one has reported any loose screws on any aircraft, then the screw likely came loose after takeoff. At least I strongly suspect that a landing gear screw has come loose in one of the fighter jets currently in flight. The maintenance crew said that if only one screw comes loose, it might not be noticeable during takeoff. But carrier-based aircraft land with a solid impact, and the ground load is already quite high. That impact could damage the landing gear, which would cause a major problem."

Xu Xian's logic was simple: before each takeoff and after landing, maintenance personnel would conduct a detailed inspection of the aircraft, so it's impossible that they wouldn't know if a single screw was missing. However, so far there has been no report from the maintenance department regarding which fighter jet's landing gear components had a missing screw. Therefore, the screw must have come loose after the aircraft had taxied out and before landing.

This means the aircraft was in the interval between pre-flight and post-flight checks, so it's normal that maintenance personnel didn't discover anything. This explains why there hasn't been a maintenance report yet.

A single missing screw can cause extremely dangerous mechanical failures, but often, the pilot may not even notice the missing screw, as the aircraft may not be given a huge "stimulus".

For a carrier-based aircraft, changes in takeoff conditions are generally acceptable. However, landing is different. To maintain the possibility of a go-around, carrier-based aircraft touch down with throttle engaged. Moreover, to ensure a smooth landing without slippage, a firm touchdown is generally recommended. Therefore, most carrier-based aircraft land heavily on the deck. This landing condition generates a huge ground load, and the landing gear is most affected by this load, as it is responsible for withstanding the impact of the landing.

Under normal circumstances, the landing gear is naturally fine. However, if a screw is missing from the landing gear components, greatly reducing the strength of the entire landing gear, then a single impact could cause the landing gear to shatter. This situation would be almost catastrophic and could even cause the aircraft to crash directly onto the deck.

Of course, it's possible that maintenance personnel were negligent and failed to notice the missing screws, in which case Xu Xian's hypothesis would be meaningless. However, since flight safety is at stake, all possible scenarios must be considered.

After hearing Xu Xian's analysis, the man showed a thoughtful expression, clearly convinced by Xu Xian.

Seeing that the man seemed to be swayed by his words, Xu Xian quickly added fuel to the fire: "That screw on the deck is from the C-18's landing gear. Are there any C-18s among the planes that haven't returned yet?"

If there's no C18 on the planes that haven't returned, then Xu Xian's assumption is wrong. But if there is, then we must consider the situation Xu Xian described, since everything he said wasn't unfounded.

The man glanced at his subordinate, who immediately reported, "Sir, there are three in total, all C-18s!"

The chief of the deck control room took a deep breath, gave Xu Xian a long look, and after a moment, waved his hand: "Contact the carrier command center and notify the three C-18s out there not to return to the mothership for the time being."

His subordinate asked with some concern, "What if the command center asks for a reason?"

"Just say it involves the safety of the aircraft carrier itself, and don't let the three planes return to the mother ship for the time being," said the chief of the deck command.

"What if the carrier command asks how long we need to wait?" the subordinate continued. "And what about those three C-18s? Should we just leave them there indefinitely?"

The deck control chief pondered for a moment, then suddenly looked up at Xu Xian and smiled, "Xu Xian, what do you think?"

(End of this chapter)