Finding the Wreckage

The chief of staff's office was filled with smoke, rendering the smoking ban ineffective at that moment.

There were seven or eight cigarette butts stubbed out in the ashtray in front of Li Lu, and the deflated shape of the cigarette butts showed that the smoker was in a very bad mood.

His face was shrouded in rings of smoke, so much so that even Xu Hailiang, who was standing right next to him, could not see his expression clearly.

After a long silence, Li Lu did not fly into a rage as Xu Hailiang had expected, nor did he show any sadness.

Li Lu calmly asked, "There was no response to radar signals or radio calls. The last known location was in airspace number three. The navy has a large number of ships on the surface; it's impossible that they didn't detect anything."

He looked at Xu Hailiang, his eyes suddenly becoming frighteningly calm, and said, word by word, "Brother Hai was definitely ambushed; running to the other side is utter nonsense!"

"Even in the event of a mechanical failure, he could easily eject and parachute!"

Xu Hailiang said in a deep voice, "The naval forces have stopped the exercise and switched to search and rescue. No news is the best news right now."

Li Lu fell silent once again.

After a long pause, he suddenly said, "It's very likely that shadow did it! It's the F-22!"

Xu Hailiang realized something was wrong and quickly said, "What you need to do now is stay calm. Don't forget, Yanna is eight months pregnant. She can't handle any kind of stimulation."

When Chen Hai's wife, Lin Yanna, was mentioned, Li Lu finally calmed down.

Li Lu and Chen Hai were inseparable, like brothers, a fact known to everyone in the Seventh Regiment. Chen Hai and his wife treated Li Lu like a younger brother, while Li Lu regarded Chen Hai as an elder brother; their relationship went beyond that of teacher and student or superior and subordinate.

Li Lu dared not imagine what the consequences would be if Lin Yanna found out about Chen Hai's disappearance.

He gritted his teeth and said, "My sister-in-law can't know. Not a single word about Hai Ge's accident can be revealed before she gives birth!"

"I know," Xu Hailiang nodded slowly. "So you need to adjust your emotions and not let Yanna see anything."

Li Lu took a deep drag of his cigarette, slowly exhaled, nodded emphatically, and said, "Chief of Staff, I want to participate in the search and rescue. Let's depart now."

"Okay, go ahead and go, I'll take care of the arrangements," Xu Hailiang agreed without hesitation.

The airfield dispatched a Cheetah vehicle to take Li Lu to Dongshan Wharf, one of the departure ports for the naval landing forces in this large-scale exercise.

Xu Hailiang reported to his superiors and arranged for a Dolphin shipborne helicopter from Hainan Airlines to fly to Dongshan Wharf to pick up Li Lu before Li Lu arrived at the wharf.

The 3rd Air Division temporarily gave Li Lu the identity of a unit representative and asked the Naval Aviation to help send Li Lu to the No. 163 destroyer. This destroyer was the flagship of the landing operation and had been converted into the command ship for the search and rescue operation.

At dusk, the Dolphin shipborne helicopter landed on the flight deck at the stern of destroyer No. 163. Li Lu jumped out of the cabin and followed the staff officer who came to greet him to the ship's superstructure.

On the vast ocean, visibility continued to decrease as night gradually fell.

Dozens of ships participating in the exercise spread out in formation and conducted a carpet search of the sea area within a radius of fifty kilometers, centered on the location where Chen Hai's aircraft last appeared on radar.

On destroyer No. 163, officers and soldiers worked in pairs, using searchlights to search the sea surface inch by inch, leaving no stone unturned.

Li Lu saw the entire search plan from the bridge. It mainly involved naval forces, and at night, the naval surface ships were the main force in the search.

The higher authorities have already mobilized local civilian vessels to join the search team, demonstrating their determination to find Chen Hai at all costs.

Li Lu stayed on the bridge. He asked for a cot and lay down on the bridge when he couldn't stay awake any longer. He also ate his meals on the bridge.

This stay lasted for a full seven days.

As time went on, everyone's mood grew increasingly heavy.

Seven days is the golden period for the search. If Chen Hai cannot be found within seven days, then his chances of survival are very slim.

Even though Chen Hai's life jacket was still usable, hypothermia would be fatal without food and water.

The large-scale exercise has completely ended, and the sudden deterioration of the weather has made the search operation even more difficult, reducing the chances of finding Chen Hai to a minimum.

However, the troops did not give up and decisively mobilized more search forces.

Based on the maximum amount of fuel remaining in the missing aircraft when the ground radar lost the radar signal of Chen Hai's aircraft, Li Lu calculated the maximum search area and submitted it to the search operation commander.

The troops immediately adopted the data provided by Li Lu and expanded the search area to a radius of 150 kilometers.

On the 25th day of the search, a Z-8 helicopter from the Navy discovered the oil spill on the sea surface. The nearest ships arrived and immediately secured the site.

The 163 destroyer is not far away, and there are air force pilots on board. It will be easy to determine whether it is the wreckage of the missing plane.

Immediately, destroyer No. 163 sped to the area where the oil spill was discovered, and Li Lu, with his unshaven beard, was already waiting on the flight deck at the stern.

Several small boats were operating on the sea and quickly salvaged floating objects that appeared to be wreckage.

These floating objects were immediately taken to the flight deck of destroyer No. 163 for identification by Li Lu.

Li Lu immediately noticed that there was a shooting camera among the floating objects.

Everyone held their breath as Li Lu carefully examined the shooting camera, which already showed some signs of rust.

Confirming it's a shooting camera isn't enough; we also need to confirm it's the shooting camera on the J-7E fighter jet piloted by Chen Hai.

A shooting camera is a camera that automatically takes pictures simultaneously with the cannon fire. The pictures are an important basis for confirming the results of the damage.

The manufacturer sent over the serial number of the shooting camera on Chen Hai's phone, and it matched.

Li Lu slowly sat down on the deck, forcing back his grief, and said, "It's the wreckage of the Dong-3 aircraft."

Just as the commander was about to offer some words of comfort, Li Lu suddenly fainted.

"Quickly send them to the medical team!" the commander shouted.

The ship's officers and soldiers carried Li Lu to the medical room, where the ship's medical staff immediately examined him.

At the same time, the commander issued an order to conduct a full-scale search and salvage operation in the area where the wreckage was found.

When Li Lu woke up, he learned some good news that wasn't exactly good news—the black box had been found.

That was crucial evidence for the investigation.

However, the ejection seat has yet to be found.

Without finding the ejection seat, it's impossible to determine where Chen Hai might have fallen into the sea, or even whether he ejected at the time.

Everything depends on the analysis results of the black box.

Li Lu returned to the Donghai airfield with the plane carrying the wreckage. The investigation team was already in place and immediately began analyzing the data from the shooting cameras and black boxes, as well as all the aircraft wreckage that could be found, to reconstruct the situation at the time.

Li Lu, who was extremely weak, was forced to be admitted to the aviation medical ward.

The military leaders were well aware that Li Lu was not in a good condition to do any work at the moment, and he urgently needed rest and adjustment.

Surprisingly, Li Lu only rested for three days before finding Xu Hailiang with a certificate issued by the aviation medical department.

"Chief of Staff, I'm physically fine now. Before resuming flight training, I'd like to join the investigation team," Li Lu made his request directly.

Xu Hailiang took out a notice and placed it in front of Li Lu, "Even if you hadn't asked, the troupe would have sent you. Take this notice and go report for duty."

Li Lu breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the notification documents, and was about to leave.

"etc."

Xu Hailiang walked around the desk and instructed, "The ejection seat has been found. It was working properly during ejection, which proves that the parachute was fully deployed. The trace analysis experts have analyzed it repeatedly and concluded that Chen Hai disengaged the parachute after falling into the water."

Upon hearing this, Li Lu's spirits lifted, and his eyes regained their sparkle.

"The search operation did not stop, but instead shifted to a more detailed search targeting Chen Hai."

At this point, Xu Hailiang lowered his voice and said, "You are a soldier, you are a fighter pilot, you know very well how many days a person can last at sea without any supplies."

The implication is clear.

Li Lu took a deep breath and nodded slightly. "I understand."

Xu Hailiang said, "Our first priority is to find out the truth about the accident, as this will affect what happens next."

"It wasn't an accident," Li Lu shook his head and said. "It definitely wasn't an accident. Hai Ge's accident must be related to that dark figure. That dark figure appeared in airspace number three, and Hai Ge's accident happened right afterward. There's no such coincidence in the world."

Xu Hailiang said, "We need to speak with evidence."

Li Lu stared at Xu Hailiang for a long while, nodded again, turned and left the office building, but instead of immediately reporting to the investigation team stationed at the field maintenance hangar, he went to the dormitory of the aircraft maintenance brigade.

After Chen Hai's J-7E No. 03 was involved in the accident, the Air Force immediately established a large investigation team, which was divided into several groups to investigate various aspects of the situation.

Among them, the technical investigation team of more than 20 people stayed at the maintenance hangar to investigate and analyze the aircraft wreckage, black boxes and so on.

Among these twenty-odd people were technical experts from the Air Force and personnel sent by manufacturers to provide technical support.

According to regulations, the aircraft belonged to the 7th Regiment, and personnel from the 7th Regiment were required to recuse themselves throughout the investigation. It's important to understand that if the investigation concludes that the crash was caused by human error, the relevant personnel from the 7th Regiment would be held accountable.

In short, the investigation should not only clarify the situation at the time, but also provide a basis for the next steps.

The plane crashed, and the entire regiment grounded its aircraft as part of routine procedures.

Wang Bicheng, an aircraft mechanic in the First Maintenance Squadron, was in a very bad mood, even though he was not currently under special management.

The maintenance team he led included the J-7E fighter jet No. 03 piloted by Chen Hai.

If the accident was caused by mechanical failure, Wang Bicheng is the person primarily responsible.

After learning of the accident involving J-7E No. 03, Wang Bicheng's maintenance team was ordered to return to their dormitory to await investigation and were not allowed to leave the dormitory without permission.

Wang Bicheng repeatedly reviewed the flight support work at the time, believing there had been no oversights. No one can guarantee 100% perfection in mechanical support, but in the military, 100% accuracy in flight support is required!

On the desk next to the window by the door sits an enamel military mug, nine centimeters in diameter at the opening and five hundred milliliters in capacity. It is standard issue for the entire army and will remain a classic for all time.

The military mugs, originally used for drinking water, brushing teeth, and even for holding meals during field operations, were now piled high with cigarette butts.

Wang Bicheng felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, and slowly looked up to see Li Lu standing outside the window.

He jumped up in surprise, stammering, "Sixth, Sixth Brother..."