Chapter 59: Chengdu J-10 Express Delivery
“Second Lieutenant Lin Mo, don’t just go to the 1st Squadron. Hang out with us in the 3rd Squadron when you have time. You can also come for a ride with us on low-risk missions. Come, let’s get to know each other. I’m the squadron leader of the 3rd Squadron, Chen Renkai. Pleased to meet you.” A tall, black-faced military man came up as well, not intending to let Squadron Leader Huang dominate Lin Mo.
“Go away, Chen! Who doesn’t know that your 3rd Squadron is always in charge of insignificant missions. You took on a big job previously and are missing so many people now. The missions that my 1st Squadron undertake are a lot more exciting. Everyone here is a veteran, and it’s very safe to come on missions with us. Second Lieutenant Lin Mo, you are a pilot and have good eyesight. You can try out as a sniper. I guarantee that you’ll have a thrilling time,” Squad Leader Huang of the 1st Squadron said competitively. Did the 3rd Squadron think that they were the only ones who knew how to get people on their side?
It would save the ground troops a lot of effort when requesting air support if they established a good relationship with the fighter pilot. It was a matter of how many times Lin Mo pushed the fire button. The proof was the successful mission by the 5th Squadron recently, and the third-class merit literally dropped from the sky.
“I say, Old Huang, how can you say that. Wanna spar?” Mention of the nine casualties from the 3rd Squadron immediately provoked Squadron Leader Chen Renkai.
“Fine, let’s spar! We haven’t done it for a long time. Come, let’s start!” 1st Squadron Leader Huang De did not falter and was willing to spar on the spot. He would convince others through ‘virtue’, as his name suggested. [1.”Huang De” literal translation: Yellow Virtue]
Being a soldier was not merely lip service. They had to earn their pay through merits in battles. It was common for the military to have infighting. Although there were explicit rules prohibiting private fights, no one gave a hoot. Soldiers who did not even dare to take a fight were not good soldiers, and they would probably wet their pants on the battlefield.
Seeing the two squadron leaders about to fight, Lin Mo finally understood that this ‘sparring’ was a tradition of the 1st Squadron. Even the squadron leader behaved this way, not to mention his subordinates that would follow suit when they saw a stranger.
“Squadron Leader Huang, Squadron Leader Chen, you’re having fun, huh!” Someone else interjected and shook hands with Lin Mo. “We’ve collaborated happily previously. You also contributed to this collective third-class merit. I’m Wang Yulong, squadron leader of the 5th Squadron!”
“What? Second Lieutenant Lin Mo was the pilot that worked his cannon like a sniper you mentioned?” 1st Squadron Leader Huang De’s and 3rd Squadron Leader Chen Renkai’s eyes widened.
“Yeah! Didn’t you watch the video of the combat? A few cannon shots would take out a tent. We only needed to clean up the battlefield when we arrived.” Of course, 5th Squadron Leader Wang Yilong was exaggerating, but he depicted that Lin Mo had contributed a lot during the battle.
“That wasn’t the case! The command of the 5th Squadron leader was right on point. Without their encirclement, I couldn’t have done it alone.” Lin Mo returned the compliment humbly.
“Many thanks to Brigade Commander Feng for bringing us a great asset!” The three squadron leaders praised the brigade commander immediately, words of flattery flowing like the endless water of the Yangtze River. It almost created an illusion of the traitors in court rather than hot-bloodied soldiers.
“Aren’t you all disgusting, you bunch of ass kissers!” An intellectual female voice butted in crudely.
Lin Mo turned toward the sound. It was a woman in her thirties in professional attire. She stretched her hand out generously toward him. “Hello, Second Lieutenant Lin Mo, I am Ji Konglin of the staff team!”
“Hello!” Lin Mo was surprised that there was such a beautiful team leader in the Dark Night Brigade. Her velvety soft hands made it difficult for him to believe that she was a decisive female staff officer of a combat force instead of a professional office woman in a large company.
“Hello, I’m Zhang Zhenyu, squadron leader of the 4th Squadron.”
“Nice to meet you, I’m Han Xiaoren, squadron leader of the 2nd Squadron!”
“I’m Xie Fengdao, team leader of the intelligence team!”
“I’m Sima Peng from the equipment team!”
Several leaders of the Dark Night Brigade gathered around Lin Mo. Others also come up to greet Lin Mo so that they could become familiar with each other. Although their military ranks were higher than that of Lin Mo, this little second lieutenant, the high-end combat effectiveness of a jet fighter could not be underestimated. It was an asset that various departments wanted to get close to. No one wanted this guy to be lazy with the trigger and launch a few missiles less when Lin Mo was out on missions with them.
After all, sometimes, one missile was all it took to decide a battle. The unique attack speed and frequency of the aerial forces could often defeat opponents without them being able to fight back. Aerial forces were always a high-end combat power on the battlefield.
Pan Rongyong, the leader of the aerial team, was smiling as he watched Lin Mo talking to everyone in a lively but unhurried manner. The duck already in his pot could not fly away anyway. Lin Mo was a member of his team, and they had ample time to get to know each other.
After half a day, Lin Mo was familiar with quite a number of people in the base, save for the cooks and the engineering company, whom he had yet to meet. Lin Mo deliberately remembered the names of everyone he met. From now on, they would be colleagues and the most trusted comrades in the future. Such trust could not be gained any other way.
…
In addition to reporting to the aerial team, Lin Mo spent the next few days familiarizing himself with the terrain in the base. There was no other way. The underground structure, which existed as the last defense system of the country, was as complex as a labyrinth and had multiple functions. Everyone knew that it was easiest for the strongest fortress to crumble from the inside. In case of emergencies, they could evacuate in time or launch a counterattack. Before Lin Mo’s exclusive plane arrived, he could only help the aerial team with cleaning up the hangar and the maintenance of the helicopters.
Lin Mo occasionally piloted a helicopter with Team Leader Pan’s permission. Team Leader Pan was originally a little worried since this type of vertical take-off and landing had a totally different operation method from that of a jet fighter and required changing flight senses and habits. The accident rate was one in five when the Harrier Jump Jets were introduced to the British Air Force and the United States Marine Corps. The British had even smashed twenty-four of them in ten years.
However, Lin Mo had long been accustomed to the variable flying methods of the Metal-Attribute Giant Dragon, so he did not feel any discomfort. On the contrary, he found it very easy to find the sensation. In the other world, Gold Coin usually relied on its innate Void Magnetic Field to lift off directly. After reading the manual, Lin Mo could operate one of the WZ-12s in the base with ease.
…
One week after Lin Mo arrived at the base, he received a special express delivery from the military. Dozens of trucks loaded with sealed alloy boxes of various sizes were sent to the hangar.
Lin Mo was awakened from his slumber to find that his jet fighter had arrived. However, he was shocked to find boxes stacked up like a small hill. It was not the whole Chengdu J-10 jet fighter that he had imagined it to be.
His soul only returned to his body when a technical manual that was as thick as a bomb was handed to him.
“Just get used to it!” Team Leader Pan said pointedly to Lin Mo. He had not slept well either. It seemed like it was not the first time that this delivery method was used.
It was a base with a very high degree of confidentiality, and it was impossible to be high profile and do airdrop deliveries. Everyone who came to the base was subject to intense scrutiny, and only special transportation teams were allowed to reach this place.
Any jet fighter was far more expensive than luxury cars such as Bentley and Bugatti Veyron. This small mountain of boxes contained not only the parts to assemble the J-10 but also spare parts, maintenance materials, and special maintenance tools.
Of course, it was paid for by the country and its citizens. The wealthy who loved to show off would not be able to play with it.
Lin Mo and Team Leader Pan stayed up the entire night, and their heads were heavy with the information in this thick technical manual. J-10s were mainly used as aerial combat planes, and they could be equipped with special ammunition for air-to-ground strikes. Their main purpose was still to provide protection from the air and annihilate enemy aerial forces.
The reason the military did not send a Nanchang Q-5 over was that it really did not possess much advantage in ground attacks. As for the J-14, it was still in the debugging stage. Otherwise, a brand new J-14 would have been sent to Lin Mo.
Assembling an airplane was definitely a very tiring job.
They took everything out from the boxes, inventoried everything, and then rearranged them with a forklift according to the order for assembly. It was not like building a computer at home. The boxes that were opened first contained unpacking tools, then assembly tools, and finally the parts of the plane. The most important of which was, of course, the Russian-made AL-31FN turbofan vector engine. It was packed in layers of shock absorbers because there would be no place left to cry if it broke.
One of the reasons that Lin Mo could come to this special service combat unit was probably because he had a certain degree of understanding of the structure of the jet fighter. His hands-on ability was not weak and was able to guarantee to an extent the take-off of the fighter.
Team Leader Pan mobilized the entire aerial team and finally assembled the aircraft bit by bit.
Some of the low-temperature components could not be disassembled once installed, which was quite a test of human patience. Fortunately, people in the aviation sector were generally patient and not irritable. They groped their way through while learning.
“Thank the heavens! Finally done!”
Lin Mo installed the last cover and wiped his face full of sweat and oil. He let out a long sigh of relief as he finally completed assembling his beloved aircraft.
The time displayed on the LED clock placed on an empty alloy box was 23:19.
The worst part of assembling something was not being unable to assemble it nor being unable to find the parts, but discovering that there were a few more parts at the end. Finding where the missing parts should go from tens of thousands of parts was far more difficult than reassembling one from scratch.
Without using a step ladder, Lin Mo jumped into the cockpit. He turned on the system, and the lights in the cockpit lit up all at once.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep Beep!
The indicator light on the console flashed, light and darkness alternating. Sounds of prompts kept ringing as Lin Mo’s hands continuously tapped to set it up.