, First Class Transfer

After the USS Kitty Hawk left the first island chain, it suddenly turned around and came back.

The situation has become tense once again.

The air defense pressure in the eastern sea area mostly fell on the shoulders of the 3rd Air Division. The military region's air force leadership urgently transferred more than 30 fighter jets from other units to strengthen the 3rd Air Division.

The Guanqiao airfield, in particular, where the 9th Air Regiment is located, has become increasingly lively.

By the third day, Li Lu counted, and including them, six different units had come to reinforce them.

The aircraft types include the J-7 and J-6, which are currently the mainstay fighter jets of the People's Liberation Army Air Force.

There are more than 30 variants of the J-7, with the Type B, also known as the J-7B, being the most widely deployed type in the military. It was the first fighter jet with all-weather combat capability.

The newer J-7E was only delivered to the troops in 1993, and it has only been two years since then.

It could be said that when Li Lu joined the troops, it just so happened that the 7th Air Regiment was converting to J-7E fighter jets.

In other words, the J-7E, which was considered obsolete by foreign militaries, was only equipped in a few regiments at this time, while most units were still mainly equipped with early models of the J-6 and J-7.

As the situation took another sharp turn for the worse, Li Lu decisively put the matter of borrowing the plane out of his mind.

In the face of the overarching issue of national air defense, any collective interests must give way.

The command post at the Shanghu station frequently issued orders, and the fighter jets deployed at Guanqiao airfield took off frequently to carry out missions such as interception and patrol.

Li Lu sensed an increasingly strong smell of gunpowder in the gradually tense atmosphere.

A large-scale military exercise involving tens of thousands of people failed to achieve its intended purpose, leaving the officers and soldiers feeling very frustrated.

The equipment level of our side is far inferior to that of the opponent. Excluding human factors, the People's Air Force is at an absolute disadvantage at this time.

Fighter jets from several units took turns flying, and the local residents could hear the roar of fighter jets taking off every day and see multiple batches of two-plane formations flying eastward in flight columns.

Li Lu possesses the capability for day and night flight combat and has been assigned to the night combat duty team.

From 6 p.m. to 18 a.m., the duty personnel are divided into three groups of two people each, with two aircraft in a formation, and each group is on duty for four hours.

Li Lu's partner was Xue Shuang from the 87th Regiment of the 29th Air Division. He was piloting a J-7D fighter jet, which had night combat capabilities, but it did not have a double delta wing aerodynamic layout.

When arranging night combat duty, not only are pilots required to have night combat capabilities, but the aircraft are also required to have night combat capabilities.

Combining the two conditions, there aren't many who meet the criteria.

At 1:35 a.m. that day, just 25 minutes before the shift change, the alarm bell in the flight duty room suddenly rang.

"It's first-class!"

Li Lu reacted quickly, shouted, and rushed out while grabbing his flight cap.

Xue Shuang followed closely behind.

The so-called first-level alert, or first-level transition, is the highest level of combat alert. Aircraft must take off carrying live ammunition and reach the designated airspace in the shortest possible time.

Two aircraft on duty were parked at their designated positions.

The maintenance crew started the aircraft engines before the pilots arrived and then quickly conducted pre-flight checks.

They sped towards the parking spot in the 212 Jeep carrying Li Lu and Xue Shuang.

Li Lu looked around and saw that the runway lights were on and the parking positions were lit, but the rest of the area was dark.

His brow furrowed slightly.

In combat, an airfield with its lights on becomes a sitting duck, essentially telling the enemy, "I'm aiming from here."

Upon arriving at the parking position, the maintenance crew was still inspecting the aircraft, so Li and Lu had to wait patiently.

A few minutes later, the maintenance crew reported that the inspection was complete.

Li Lu grabbed the boarding ladder handrail and scrambled up, landing hard on his backside in the ejection seat, followed by the standard procedure.

"Dongguai reports, the aircraft is fine, requesting taxiing!" Li Lu reported impatiently to the control tower.

Amidst a slight electromagnetic interference, the control tower replied, "Donggua and Liangyao can slide out!"

Li Lu signaled to the maintenance personnel to quickly remove the boarding ladder. He quickly closed the cockpit canopy, and as soon as he saw the boarding ladder detach from the fuselage, he immediately pushed the throttle lever hard. The nose of the J-7E No. 07 suddenly lifted, and the plane lurched forward.

The maintenance crew of the Ninth Regiment gasped as they watched the reckless taxiing maneuver.

After the J-7E No. 07 taxied out of its parking position, Li Lu forcefully applied the rudder to turn, and the engine exhaust nozzle suddenly swung out, aiming at the maintenance personnel.

The powerful airflow blew the maintenance personnel off their feet, knocking off their hats and sending them flying seven or eight meters through the air.

"Damn it, which unit's pilot is he?!" a mechanic cursed.

The maintenance team leader, pressing down on his hat, exclaimed loudly, "Those guys from the Seventh Regiment, their work is really sloppy!"

The gliding motion is indeed quite rough, but the advantage is obvious—the gliding speed is fast.

J-7E No. 07 had already run more than 300 meters on the taxiway when J-7D No. 21, piloted by Xue Shuang, finally taxied out of its parking position.

The air traffic controller noticed this and immediately warned, "Dongguai, watch your wingman's position! You're going too fast!"

Li Lu replied, "I understand, Dongguai."

Understanding is one thing, doing it is another. Li Lu didn't slow down at all; on the contrary, he continued to accelerate.

Seeing this, Xue Shuang became a little anxious and had no choice but to speed up and catch up, closing the distance with the lead aircraft.

They are going to operate in a two-plane formation, and as the wingman, Xue Shuang needs to keep up with the lead aircraft's pace.

Subsequently, Xue Shuang and the tower commander of the Ninth Regiment saw Li Lu's signature move.

At the turn into the runway, at the semi-circular bend where the taxiway and runway connect, Li Lu skillfully applied the throttle and rudder, and the J-7E No. 07 smoothly swung its tail, aligning the nose with the runway, and the aircraft arrived at the takeoff preparation position.

Xue Shuang stared wide-eyed, the scene before her eyes seeming like a hallucination.

He quickly calmed down and accelerated to keep up.

"Dongguai requests takeoff!" Li Lu turned his head to look at the J-7D No. 21 that was accelerating to catch up, and called the control tower.

The air traffic controller nearly had a heart attack for a moment, but he steadied himself and replied, "Donggua, ready for takeoff! After takeoff, turn left to the east, wave number 7, contact the east direction!"

"Turn left to the east, wave number 7, contact the east direction, turn right!" Li Lu replied.

The so-called East China Sea Command is responsible for directing aircraft training operations in its area, while the airfield control tower is only responsible for commanding and guiding aircraft during takeoff and landing.

The command post used during the last large-scale military exercise was the East China Sea Command Post.

Li Lu stepped on the brakes and revved the engine. In the darkness, the WP-7B turbojet engine spewed out orange-red flames.

"Two, afterburner, takeoff." Li Lu turned to look at J-7D No. 21.

Xue Shuang took a deep breath and replied, "Understood!"

He rushed to the takeoff position and immediately saw a white work glove waving in the cockpit of J-7E No. 07, making a forward gesture.

Xue Shuang immediately activated the boost and pushed the throttle lever all the way down.

If his movements had been even 0.5 seconds slower, he would have likely lost contact with the lead aircraft.

Both aircraft simultaneously accelerated and taxied, their long, bright orange-red tail flames standing out conspicuously in the night, clearly indicating that the engines were operating at military thrust.

When Xue Shuang saw the lead aircraft raise its landing gear, he immediately looked at the speedometer, and after confirming that the takeoff speed was met, he immediately followed suit and raised his landing gear as well.

But he never expected that Li Lu would start turning when he was retracting the wheel, which made him a beat too slow.

From the control tower, J-7E No. 07 began to retract its wheels and turn when it was 20 or 30 meters away from the runway, while J-7D No. 21 was still accelerating and flying level along the runway.

The tower controller was determined to have a serious talk with Xu Hailiang after they landed.

Such a takeoff maneuver is extremely dangerous.

If an accident occurs while the aircraft is stationed with the Ninth Regiment, the Ninth Regiment will also be held responsible. With the year coming to an end, and the regiment having maintained a near-year record of safe flights, it would be a great injustice to "tarnish its reputation" at this crucial moment.

Li Lu had no idea what the tower commander was thinking; all he could see was the mission.

After switching the communication frequency to wave number 7, he called the East Command and, under the East Command's guidance, accelerated towards the designated airspace, with Xue Shuang following closely behind.

Two J-7 fighter jets roared across the city's night sky, keeping the tense atmosphere at bay, allowing people to sleep peacefully.