The Truth Revealed

The investigation team held an on-site meeting in the maintenance hangar to brainstorm ideas based on the current situation.

After the team leader reported on the current investigation, he said, "What we need to figure out now is the cause of the final vertical dive maneuver of the J-7E fighter jet No. 03. This flight maneuver is the root cause of the accident."

"Everyone, put your minds to it and speak freely."

Inside the massive maintenance hangar, the investigation team of dozens of people whispered and discussed among themselves.

Li Lu sat next to An Min. He had a keen sense that this engine expert was capable.

Anmin held a drawing board, sketching as he pondered, muttering to himself.

At first glance, he seemed to be drawing randomly, with each stroke landing in a place unexpectedly, but upon closer inspection...

He outlined several possible trajectories of the J-7E No. 03 after its engine suddenly stopped.

Anmin assumes that the J-7E No. 03 experiences a sudden engine failure in mid-air, and that it loses power immediately.

Li Lu saw it immediately.

About ten minutes later, the group leader asked each group to speak in turn and propose suggestions for the next direction of the investigation.

After discussing for more than an hour, two routes were finally determined: First, on a non-technical level, investigate Chen Hai's personal circumstances before the accident, limited to his workplace; second, continue to analyze the aircraft wreckage that has been found so far.

Some people in the investigation team found it strange. Logically speaking, Li Lu was from the 7th Air Regiment and should have recused himself, but the higher-ups insisted on having him join the investigation team.

Since none of the group leaders objected, everyone pretended not to see it.

After the meeting, Li Lu was about to have a good talk with An Min when he saw An Min stride after the team leader. Li Lu had an idea and followed closely behind.

"Team leader," Anmin stopped the team leader, "team leader, I'd like to do a few more analyses of the shooting camera."

The team leader frowned and said, "The team that analyzed the shooting cameras has done dozens of analyses. What do you mean?"

Anmin said, "I want to try to restore the damaged parts. I haven't found the engine wreckage, and I'm just killing time anyway."

The team leader thought for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Alright, go and hand over the duties to the shooting camera team."

"Okay." Anmin turned and headed towards the shooting camera group.

Li Lu caught up and asked, "Engineer An, what's the situation with the shooting camera?"

Anmin knew he was following him, and said as they walked, "I'll talk to you in a bit."

After handing over the shooting camera team, Anmin found two soldiers to move the shooting camera to the corner workstation, pulled over two stools, and gestured for Li Lu to sit down.

Anmin placed his drawing on the ground, pointed at it with a pencil, and said, "I have calculated it repeatedly. Even if the engine suddenly stops and the plane suddenly loses all power, it will not be able to fly such a vertical dive route."

"The data recorded by the black box shows that the aircraft's acceleration during the vertical dive proves that the engines were running normally at the time, but!"

Anmin raised his voice slightly, making a crucial turn, and said, "The plane crashed into the sea and disintegrated. The black box suffered some damage, and it is not yet certain whether the data inside is inaccurate as a result. The black box has been sent to the Aviation Research Institute for further technical analysis."

"The best way to prove whether the engine was powered at the time is to find the engine wreckage, but there is no news yet."

Li Lu didn't understand. "Wait, is it really that important whether the engine has power or not? Based on the current investigation, they suspect that Chen Hai deliberately made the vertical dive, rather than it was a mechanical failure. To prove that it was unrelated to Chen Hai, the most crucial thing is to figure out the situation of the hydraulic system and the two sticks and two rudders at that time, and to prove that the aircraft was out of control at that time."

Anmin waved his hand and said, "I know, don't rush, let me finish."

"Let me ask you, if the engine had no power and the horizontal rudder had jammed, wouldn't the plane have also dove vertically? If the engine had power, couldn't it have maintained its pitch angle by flying inverted?"

Li Lu nodded, "That's right, it's entirely possible."

An Min said, "But the actual situation is that the J-7E No. 03 suddenly lost its radar signal and the radio was also suddenly interrupted. This shows that the process of the incident was extremely short, and by the time the pilot reacted, it was too late."

The mysterious black shadow flashed before his eyes once more. Li Lu's eyes gleamed. He said, "When the engine is attacked and suddenly loses power, the horizontal rudder is also damaged, resulting in an uncontrolled vertical dive."

Anmin clapped his hands. "That's it!"

He pointed to the shooting camera and said in a deep voice, "Analysis of the damage to the wreckage shows that the plane pitched up just before crashing into the sea, meaning the tail should have hit the water first."

He used his palm to represent the airplane, making a gesture of raising the nose of the plane and pointing it towards the sky. "This gesture seemed very strange. I wondered if the pilot had discovered something and, in the last moments of his life, struggled to pull up the nose of the plane to take pictures with the shooting camera."

"The purpose is to leave crucial clues for the investigation."

Li Lu slowly sat up straight, his emotions, which had just calmed down, became agitated again. Anmin was right, Hai Ge would do that, even if it meant death the next second.

Anmin's inclination is that the J-7E No. 03 was crashed due to a mysterious attack, which is the direction he believes the investigation should take.

Seeing the change in Li Lu's expression, An Min said in a low voice, "To rule out the pilot's suspicion, an investigation must be conducted. The investigation team is doing the right thing, after all, some bad things have happened before."

One sentence woke Li Lu up.

He composed himself and said, "Engineer An, I plan to use flight simulators to recreate the flight path at that time. Only by flying can we put ourselves in their shoes and find out what might have happened back then."

To everyone's surprise, Anmin shook his head and said, "It's not very meaningful. Besides, the higher-ups won't let you resume flying until the investigation is over."

He pointed to the shooting camera, "I'll try to see if I can fix this thing. If all else fails, you can try applying for a flight simulator."

Li Lu nodded. "Engineer An, please."

Anmin waved his hand and began to examine the shooting camera.

Li Lu couldn't help with technical matters, so he could only assist An Min.

The investigation has stalled, and the Air Force is very anxious.

This incident occurred near the end of a large-scale military exercise that lasted for more than ten days, leaving the higher-ups very frustrated.

Without understanding the nature of the accident, subsequent work could not be carried out, and the situation remained at a standstill.

More pressure was placed on the search fleet.

As the investigation and analysis progressed, the key focus shifted to the engine; once the engine was located, the cause of the accident could be determined directly.

A week later, a trawler operating near the first island chain caught its net as usual.

The crew operating the net-hauling machinery clearly felt that the catch was much heavier, and thought that it must have caught a large cargo.

The fishing net was lifted onto the work deck, and once unfurled, the catch of fish of all sizes scattered like a mudslide, revealing a dark, indistinct object.

The crew members approached curiously, hurriedly clearing away the fish catch on the side, and a long, rectangular machine appeared before them.

The captain strode over, remembering the earlier notification, and immediately shouted, "Everyone, hold your ground! This might be the engine the military is looking for!"

He immediately radioed the nearest warship.

The information was relayed through the layers of the investigation team.

"Confirmed! It's the engine for J-7E fighter jet number 03! It'll be transported by helicopter and arrive in an hour or two!" the team leader shouted as he hung up the phone.

Everyone breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

Engine expert Anmin didn't react much; he buried himself in his workstation, carefully soldering the circuit board inside the crashed camera.

"An Gong, the engine has been found," Li Lu couldn't help but remind him.

Anmin said softly, "I know, it'll be over soon, just the last bit."

A dozen minutes later, Anmin slowly straightened up and let out a long breath. "Have your people from the interpretation room come over here and develop that part of the film roll right here. This is your only chance."

Li Lu immediately found a soldier to call for reinforcements.

With the engine located, the shooting camera became less important, and the investigation team focused their analysis on the engine.

A Super Frelon transport helicopter imported from France delivered the engine wreckage. Upon seeing the engine, the investigation team's reactions were almost unanimous:

What's the point of investigating? The reason is right in front of us!

The engine's rear end was severely damaged; even someone who isn't an engine expert could tell at a glance that it was caused by a shell!

In other words, J-7E No. 03 was indeed attacked!

With this point confirmed, the subsequent technical issues became completely unimportant to Li Lu and even the 7th Air Regiment.

Chen Hai is a hero!

Good news kept coming in the following days.

The previously undecipherable portion of the film has yielded results. One of the film rolls captured a small black dot, which, based on the time and location, can be basically confirmed to be the same aircraft as the mysterious black shadow discovered by Li Lu.

It is undoubtedly an F-22.

Subsequently, the search fleet found the horizontal rudder of J-7E No. 03, proving that it was jammed after being hit, which was the key reason for the aircraft's loss of control and vertical dive!

Even a miracle worker couldn't level the plane if the horizontal rudder failed.

As the investigation deepened, Chen Hai's situation at the time was gradually reconstructed.

He had the opportunity to jump earlier; the ejection seat was in normal working order. So why did he delay jumping?

Because he saw the F-22, which had not been detected by ground radar before, he had the same experience as Li Lu. Li Lu saw the F-22 after Chen Hai, which means that the F-22 had been operating in airspace number three for a long time.

Chen Hai hesitated to parachute, but at the last moment he locked onto the F-22 with his shooting camera and took this extremely precious photo, even though it was just a blurry black dot.

He knew all too well the importance of this intelligence, and was willing to risk his life for it.

The shooting camera was linked to the cannon. More wreckage was found later, proving that Chen Hai fired a shell at the F-22 at the last moment, although he missed.

With the radio damaged, Chen Hai had no better option.

The investigation findings were presented to everyone, but what they saw was not a heavy report, but the heroic figure of Air Force Major Chen Hai, who fought to the last moment to safeguard sovereignty and dignity.