Bright Sword: Follow Kong's fun and build the strongest military industry

If even the squadron commanders are like this, then the other enemy pilots are even more arrogant. They've all become incredibly cocky without having been thoroughly beaten by our advanced fighter jets.

After all, the Chinese army had very few anti-aircraft guns; they mostly had anti-aircraft machine guns to make a show of force.

They were primarily used to defend large cities, but their target this time was just a small hydroelectric power station. All they had to do was fly over the target and drop the bombs from their bombers.

Just as the enemy's aircraft were flying near Zexian County, five fighter jets suddenly burst out from the clouds high in the sky, scaring the Japanese soldiers, who were dreaming of making a name for themselves, out of their wits.

Instructor Wu was in charge of the ambush on the enemy aircraft group. He was specially recruited by Kong Hao and had served in the Australian Air Force before, so he had extensive flying experience.

At this critical moment for the nation, he, an overseas Chinese who had lived in Australia for three generations, resolutely gave up his comfortable life abroad and returned to China to participate in the war of resistance.

Of course, the treatment he received after returning to China was completely different from what he had imagined. Not only did he fly advanced planes, but the food he ate every day also far exceeded the standards abroad.

This deeply moved Instructor Wu, who then imparted all the knowledge he had learned about the Air Force from abroad to his students without reservation.

In addition to his daily flight instruction duties, he also dedicates a significant amount of time each day to training prospective pilots in professional knowledge and cultural courses.

After all, the highest level of education among the prospective pilots we selected was only high school, and most of them had only graduated from junior high school. They had never been in contact with airplanes before, only seen enemy planes in the sky, and had even been bombed by planes.

As for why not use college students as pilots, they would definitely learn things much faster that way.

The idea is good, but it's simply impossible to implement. Undergraduate students are precious in the base area. They are either in the R&D department of the industrial zone, engineers in the production workshop, or teaching at the school. It's impossible to send these high-end talents to the front line.

There is so much professional knowledge that aspiring pilots need to master that they need to learn it as quickly as possible.

Most aspiring pilots only sleep four hours a day, except for the next day when they can go into the air for training. Apart from mealtimes, they spend most of their time studying.

The new trainees' overall quality was already inferior to that of the Japanese pilots. If they didn't study hard, how could they live up to the good conditions provided by the organization?

If they were shot down by enemy aircraft in battle due to their lack of skill, they would be condemned to death.

Despite repeated emphasis from the air force base commander and political commissar that people are more valuable than planes, and that in the event of a desperate situation, people should parachute to safety immediately, with the base dispatching special operations teams for rescue.

But all the pilots knew very well that the air force in their base area had been established for a very short time, and there were only a little over two hundred planes in total.

Compared to the invaders' thousands of aircraft, this was far inferior; it was a difference of 10:1, putting immense pressure on everyone.

When we had nothing before, things were fine; we basically chose to tough it out. But now it's different. We need to focus on air superiority and practice air-ground coordinated operations.

Apart from Instructor Wu, who led the sortie, all the pilots on this mission were novices who had never engaged enemy aircraft in the air before.

As the saying goes, the battlefield is the best training ground.

This was an ambush. The enemy only deployed three relatively outdated fighter jets, which was a good opportunity for our pilots to gain combat experience.

Without sufficient aerial combat experience, even the most advanced aircraft risk being shot down if we were to engage in a bloody battle with experienced enemy pilots on the battlefield.

But today is different. We were caught off guard, and since it was an aerial ambush, it wasn't very difficult.

Ma Jinxiao, one of the pilots in this sortie, had sweaty palms gripping the control stick, but he forced himself to calm down.

His background is quite pitiful. He had a happy family, a very good family background, his parents were business people, and he also had a well-behaved and lovely little sister.

Unfortunately, one day, an enemy aerial bomb fell from the sky, and my father, mother and younger sister all died in that bombing.

Ma Jinxiao was spared because he was studying at a high school in another city.

But with the home gone, I couldn't continue my studies.

So he abandoned his studies and joined the Eighth Route Army to fight the Japanese. Because of his relatively high level of education, he was originally intended to be assigned to work as a technician in the industrial zone.

However, Ma Jinxiao refused. He only wanted to join the army and fight the Japanese on the front lines to avenge his family members who had died.

The higher-ups had no choice but to arrange for him to become an operations staff officer at the column headquarters, intending to train him properly.

After all, being able to complete high school, especially the senior year, is quite remarkable. He's only one step away from getting into university. If there's an opportunity in the future, we can recommend him to a university in our base area.

Ma Jinxiao was very quick-witted and learned things fast. In just a few months, he became a qualified operations staff officer and was highly valued by the corps commanders.

However, a few months ago, the Air Force sent people to various units to select soldiers who were suitable to become pilots.

When Ma Jinxiao received the news, he immediately signed up. He had never forgotten that his relatives had been killed by the invaders' planes, and he wanted to take revenge.

Although serving as an operations staff officer at the column headquarters would offer a promising future and provide significant security, this was not what he desired. His sole purpose in joining the army was to avenge his family.

Initially, the leaders disagreed, mainly because Ma Jinxiao was very talented. After a few years of training at headquarters, it would be no problem for him to be demoted to a regiment as chief of staff. He had a bright future ahead of him.

But Ma Jinxiao was determined to become a pilot. In his mind, only by personally piloting a plane to shoot down enemy planes and kill enemy pilots could he vent his hatred.

Finally, after repeated requests, he was able to report to the flight training base as he had wished.

As for the requirement of good physical fitness for pilots, it is actually the easiest condition to meet; it simply requires eating more meat.

As long as we eat meat three times a day, our bodies will naturally become stronger after half a month. This amount of resource consumption is nothing to our base.

Moreover, everyone's meals at the corps headquarters were quite good; they could eat meat and eggs every day, which greatly improved their physical fitness.

The food standards for Air Force pilots are the highest in the entire military. After all, flying planes in the sky requires a high level of physical fitness, so it is understandable that they eat more good food.