Chapter 1336: 1337 A group of cowards
"Major Feng Zhang was killed in action..." In the Qin Air Force headquarters, a Qin Air Force commander wearing a blue uniform pulled his collar and said with mixed emotions.
As a representative of the "Death Fighter Faction" who took the initiative to fight to the death with the Tang Army, Feng Zhang often used his status to humiliate the air force commanders in the rear. What he looked down upon most were the so-called staff officers who were greedy for life and fear of death, and Zhang Tuo, the main general of the Air Force.
Zhang Tuo is the younger brother of Zhang Xuan, the famous general of the Qin State. He is of the so-called general lineage and has some abilities. Moreover, Zhang Tuo had studied in the Tang Empire for a year and was one of the few "professionals" among Qin generals who knew the principles of air force command and operation.
Unfortunately, this professional's ability is not favored by others. Front-line combat pilots like Feng Zhang often ridicule his immediate superior Zhang Tuo, and are not even willing to call him by his name, but call him "that coward". Use this word to refer to.
Feng Zhang, who has always insisted on flying into the air, often contradicts his superiors, and his ability is very outstanding. He is a rare elite ace among Qin pilots.
He shot down a total of 37 Shu aircraft in the war with Shu. He is a true combat hero and a seasoned ace pilot.
A few months ago, before the declaration of war against the Tang Empire, he was received by Emperor Qin Yingduo and awarded him a "Great Qin Combat Medal".
This medal is very precious, and the recipients are all true combat heroes. Therefore, Feng Zhang was tougher, and the commander of his air force was unwilling to argue with him.
And he also has another identity, which makes him even more precious and special: he is a native Qin pilot who has never gone to the Tang Empire for further training, nor has he studied with Tang flight instructors.
He is where he is today, all because of his own exploration and hard work. He is a very hard-working and dedicated person, and he is also very smart and savvy in his own field.
This is his proud capital, so everyone also admires him. When no one dared to compete with the Tang Empire's air force, he was the only one who led many **** pilots and clamored for a decisive battle with the Tang army.
It is precisely because of his "recklessness" that many pilots support him, and precisely because of this, he has the capital to often ignore his superior commanders.
And this time the Qin Air Force took off for combat, it was a special military operation launched at the strong request of these heroic Qin Air Force pilots.
The Qin Air Force dispatched 110 Type 183 jet fighters, 180 Type 40 fighters and Type 36 fighters, as well as 100 Type 17 bombers and 50 Stukas at one time to participate in this "strategic counterattack."
The goal of the counterattack plan was set very high. The Air Force hoped to regain air supremacy on the battlefield with this all-out attack and annihilate the Tang State's unsteady air force on the ground.
To this end, the Qin State dispatched nearly 450 aircraft and planned to dispatch 2,000 sorties to completely contain the Tang Air Force's offensive.
The person who formulated such an exaggerated plan was naturally not Qin Air Force Commander Zhang Tuo, who knew the Tang Air Force, but Feng Zhang, a native Qin Air Force hero.
Feng Zhang and others believed that the reason why the Qin Air Force lost consecutive battles was entirely due to a lack of courage and enterprising spirit. As long as they concentrated their strength, counterattacked and counterattacked again, they would be able to frighten the Tang army and prevent the other party from using its air supremacy unscrupulously.
He felt that by losing some planes, the Tang Army's arrogance should be knocked down. So he assembled more than 400 aircraft, hoping to paralyze the Tang Air Force through an "extremely concealed and sudden counterattack." In order to silence the public, the Qin Air Force Headquarters, which had always had a headache, finally came under pressure and agreed to this action plan. And he also gave this action plan a very bold name: Dragon Slaying.
Unfortunately, Feng Zhang didn’t know that the Tang Army’s early warning aircraft quickly discovered the approaching Qin aircraft, and that the Tang fighter force was not something they could shake.
In the area where the two sides fought that day, the number of Tang Army's patrol fighter jets and follow-up support fighter jets was about 140, which was actually not inferior in number to the Qin Army. What's more, the Tang Army's aircraft are all J-6 and J-7, and they completely crush the Qin Army in terms of quality.
So far, among the 440 aircraft taken off by the Qin Army, the fighter force has lost a total of 70 183-type jet fighters and 110 piston fighters of the 40 and 36 models, all of which have lost more than half.
Of the 150 ground attack aircraft that participated in the battle, only 7 of the 17 bombers returned, and none of the Stukas returned. All were lost—almost the entire army was annihilated.
The money that the Air Force had worked so hard to accumulate was almost completely wiped out in one day. The number of pilots it had managed to train with so much effort consumed more than 330 pilots. It was a disaster.
Those are all pilots worth more than gold! Those are the seeds of the future, the last barrier to protect the empire!
At this time, Qin State has completely lost its air supremacy in the northern theater. All takeoff plans in the next month have been cancelled, and even the plan to build a field airport near the old capital has been completely abandoned.
All Qin Army aircraft in the entire northern theater are prohibited from taking off, and even transport aircraft can only transport supplies as far as the Daxiguan line...
"What a pity..." Someone in the room soon gave a fake sigh and expressed his opinion.
Soon someone sneered and said sarcastically: "It's no pity! He deserves it! All the wealth we finally saved was wasted by him."
"You can't say that, can you? I am a hero appreciated by His Majesty." Someone immediately echoed.
Since everyone is dead, there are naturally more people who are adding insult to injury. Soon someone spoke up: "He's just a plane pilot. He usually has his nostrils turned to the sky and is very proud. What's the result? Isn't he still dead in the end?"
"Isn't it? It's okay to die by yourself. It's simply ridiculous to bring more than 300 pilots to be buried together." Their words became more and more outrageous, and they even started to talk harshly to each other.
Finally, some people have even begun to attack the pilot who died in the battle: "It's better to die...die in peace."
“That’s right.” Many people agreed.
"At least he died standing. I wonder how many of you who are making sarcastic remarks dare to fly into the air to fight?" In the corner, a civilian officer interrupted the conversation of all the officers and walked out of the office with an unhappy expression: "A group of coward!"