Transfer to the 9th Regiment

The 9th Regiment's location is more than 700 kilometers away from the Donghai Station, which is also why the 7th Regiment is far from the division headquarters—the division headquarters and the 9th Regiment are both located at the Guanqiao Station.

Don't let Li Lu's usual loud and impulsive manner fool you; when it comes to serious matters, he's got a lot of clever ideas.

Rushing directly to the Ninth Regiment to find Gao Laowei and say he wanted to pick him up from the airport is almost certainly not going to work; you have to wait for the right opportunity.

At the end of the year, frontline troops face immense pressure on duty and also have to conduct year-end summaries, making it their busiest time of the year.

Most importantly, the situation in the surrounding area has been unstable in the past two years, and the large-scale live-fire military exercises conducted earlier were a powerful response and statement.

Soon, Li Lu's opportunity came.

The Air Force leadership of the military region ordered several units to transfer their elite troops to Guanqiao Air Base, where the 9th Air Regiment is located, to enhance the combat readiness of Guanqiao Air Base in the airspace it faces.

The 7th Air Regiment dispatched two batches of four J-7E fighter jets to Guanqiao Air Base, which is the location of the 9th Air Regiment.

Li Lu and Xu Hailiang led the team.

On this day, four J-7E fighters took off from Donghai Airfield in two pairs and flew straight to Guanqiao Airfield. They landed in a continuous manner, with very tight transitions between them, showcasing the flying capabilities of the pilots of the 7th Regiment.

There is competition everywhere in the military, even in eating and defecating, there is a winner and loser who is faster.

As they were landing, Li Lu saw that the Ninth Regiment had taken off in three batches of six J-7E fighters heading towards the eastern sea area, indicating that there was an emergency air situation.

It is evident that the Ninth Air Regiment faces considerable pressure in terms of combat readiness and duty.

As ordered by the Air Force leadership of the military region, the garrison period here is half a month.

In other words, Li Lu only had half a month to win the support of Gao Laowei, the commander of the Ninth Air Regiment.

On the way to the regimental commander's office to see Fatty Ding, Xu Hailiang introduced Li Lu, saying, "Gao Wei, the commander of the Ninth Regiment, is nicknamed 'Tall Guy Wei.' On the contrary, he is short, only 1.65 meters tall."

"He was the shortest among the pilots of his class. One of his comrades was from Guangdong and sarcastically called him 'Tall Guy Wei.' That's how the nickname 'Tall Guy Wei' spread."

Li Lu couldn't help but laugh and said, "So that's what it means. I thought he was a tall guy."

These days, aircraft cockpits are generally cramped, and the J-6 and J-7 are similar. Pilots who are slightly larger might not be able to fit comfortably in their seats, so the recruitment bureau has strict height requirements when recruiting pilots.

Tall people are not acceptable.

Xu Hailiang said, "Don't let his unassuming appearance fool you. Among his fellow pilots, he was the first to solo and the first new comrade to be capable of day and night operations."

Li Lu said, "Being able to become the commander of the Ninth Regiment is clearly not something an ordinary person can do."

Xu Hailiang lowered his voice and said, "He was the one who spearheaded the modification of Su Liangqi. This guy is very capable. Secondly, he has a gentle exterior but a firm interior. You should speak less for now and let me do the talking."

"Understood." Li Lu nodded emphatically.

Gao Wei had been waiting for a while. As soon as he saw Xu Hailiang, he smiled and said, "Old Xu, it's been a long time."

"Commander Gao!" Xu Hailiang saluted in a very formal manner.

Li Lu saluted in response, "Greetings, Commander Gao!"

Gao Wei returned the greeting, "Hello, please have a seat."

Xu Hailiang walked over, pointed to Li Lu, and said, "This is Comrade Li Lu, the acting squadron leader of the Sixth Squadron of our regiment."

"You must be Li Lu. I know you. You completed the day and night combat qualification and low-weather flight qualification assessments in two years. Looking at the history of the Third Division, you are truly remarkable," Gao Wei said with a smile.

Li Lu humbly said, "Everything is for winning."

Gao Wei looked at Li Lu with slight surprise and said, "You have the potential to do political work."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the two sides discussed the relocation and training.

Gao Wei said, "Old Xu, this isn't the first time you've come to reinforce. Just coordinate directly with the operations duty room and do whatever you need to do. I'm in charge of the Su-27's conversion training, I'm incredibly busy, please understand."

Seeing that Xu Hailiang had been talking for a long time without getting to the point, Li Lu became anxious and suddenly said, "Commander Gao, we are very familiar with the training relocation."

"I have a situation I'd like to ask you about."

"We'll help you repair the plane that you diverted to Donghai Airport, and then lend it to us for ten days to half a month."

"Don't worry, we promise we won't fly it. We'll just let you sit in the cockpit and get a feel for it, so you can learn about the aircraft beforehand and get used to it more quickly after any modifications."

Gao Wei stared at Li Lu in astonishment, never imagining that he would make such an outrageous request!

He looked at Xu Hailiang and asked, "Old Xu, do you know what you're saying?"

Xu Hailiang was taken aback, thinking to himself, "Are you blind or deaf? Was I the one who just spoke?"

He forced a smile and said, "Old Gao, don't be so hasty. Here's the situation... well, I'll tell you the truth, even if you don't want to laugh at me."

"When our group saw Su Liangqi, it was like seeing a fairy. They were so envious."

"We are quite convinced that the higher-ups gave the Ninth Regiment priority in modifying Su-27s, since the Ninth Regiment's training level is above that of the Seventh Regiment."

Upon hearing this, Gao Wei smiled slightly. "Old Xu, you've finally admitted the truth."

Xu Hailiang said with a smile, "The facts are undeniable, whether we admit it or not. Our pilots have never even seen a Su-27 before, and it just so happens that we have this opportunity, so we thought we'd borrow it from you for ten days or half a month."

"You don't need to worry about engine wear and tear or anything like that. Captain Li just said that it's just going to be left there for everyone to experience, and we promise we won't drive it."

Li Lu quickly added, "Yes, yes, I promise not to drive. Besides, without the guidance of Russian instructors and without training, we wouldn't dare to drive, let alone fly."

For a moment, Gao Wei almost believed it.

He waved his hand and said, "Let's not talk about borrowing. You think you can just lend out planes worth tens of millions of dollars like that? To put it another way, we haven't even completed our combat readiness training yet. We're on a tight schedule, there aren't any extras."

"Alright, I won't keep you company any longer. There's a discussion coming up soon."

Gao Wei grabbed his notebook, leaving Xu Hailiang and Li Lu behind, and left the office on his own.

Li Lu and Xu Hailiang stared at each other intently.

Xu Hailiang said, "Commander Gao is busy with modification and training, so it's inappropriate to talk to him about this at this time."

Previously, the Ninth Regiment sent Su-27s to participate in a large-scale live-fire military exercise. It was a direct order from above; all aircraft that could fly had to participate, even those that had not yet completed their conversion training.

Li Lu nodded slightly. "I was too hasty. I should have waited a little longer."

Xu Hailiang said helplessly, "I was giving you a lot of meaningful glances just now, telling you not to proceed according to plan, but you didn't notice at all."

Li Lu smiled wryly and said, "I can't stop thinking about Su Liangqi. I'm getting anxious as you guys keep going off on a tangent."

"The Ninth Regiment is under great pressure to maintain combat readiness. Let's finish the tasks at hand first and then think about other things later."

……