Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 838 Flight Across the War Zone: Kamianets and Luninetski Encounter in the Air

In late June 1941, at the beginning of the Soviet-German War, the German Army launched Operation Barbarossa across the entire front.

On the Eastern Front, artillery fire raged, and millions of troops tore apart the Soviet border defenses. From the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, the vast territory was filled with the flames of war.

The German air force dominated the airspace over Eastern Europe, controlling almost all of the airspace. Any aircraft without German markings or with an unusual flight path would be intercepted and shot down without mercy.

Above the airport in the suburbs of Zurich, the setting sun dips below the horizon, its afterglow painting the clouds red.

After being modified, the Bf 109E3 took off, and Fang Wen calibrated the Eastern route, officially commencing a cross-theater flight of more than 2,400 kilometers.

From the very beginning, Fang Wen maintained mental focus and was in a state of high tension.

This flight was unprepared; the aircraft was a temporary modification and lacked radar detection devices to survey the surrounding airspace. He could only rely on his special abilities and years of accumulated flying skills to break through German-controlled territory. As for what dangers he might encounter, he had no idea.

By the way, it's not like there are no preventative measures; the bronze tripod also has a danger warning capability.

To ensure the bronze tripod functioned properly, Fang Wen infused it with energy and placed it in the inner pocket of his chest.

Half an hour later, the plane crossed the Swiss border and entered Austrian airspace.

This area, considered a peaceful heartland of Western Europe, was also the core area controlled by the Nazis.

There must be German anti-aircraft units below.

Now that the German army has deployed radar extensively, Fang Wen knew that he could not avoid radar detection. He did not do anything meaningless such as camouflage or evasion, but flew in a straight line.

Viana Air Defense Battalion Radar Station.

They possess the "Himmelbett" air defense system, which consists of a "Freya" (FuMG 80) long-range early warning radar and multiple "Würzburg" (FuMG 62) fire control radars.

"Freya" is responsible for detecting aircraft tracks within a range of 100-200 kilometers and combining this with daily flight reports to determine whether an aircraft is friendly.

The radar operator, observing the echo spot, issued an alarm.

"Single fighter jet detected, abnormal flight path!"

"Fly eastward if not on our combat unit's flight path!"

Ground observation posts quickly reported the incident, and the Vienna Air Defense Squadron immediately identified it as a suspicious enemy aircraft. During wartime, non-German and allied aircraft are never allowed to penetrate into the core combat zone on the Eastern Front without authorization, so it was highly likely that it was a hostile reconnaissance aircraft in disguise.

Air raid sirens sounded instantly, and orders were immediately sent to German airfields in Ukraine to scramble interceptor aircraft.

An hour later, Fang Wen piloted his fighter jet out of Austrian airspace and into Ukrainian territory.

Just as it arrived over Kamianets, the small bronze cauldron on its chest vibrated.

Fang Wen, who was already on high alert, immediately expanded the range of the mechanical sensing detection.

Four black dots are rapidly approaching from a distance.

It's obvious that it's a formation of German fighter planes.

As the four German Bf 109F2 fighters approached Fang Wen, they dispersed and formed a pincer attack formation.

The planes were approaching at high speed. The German pilots were adjusting their positions, trying to aim their cannons at Fang Wen's plane in advance during the flight.

It seems that their orders were not to make an emergency landing, but to shoot them down directly.

Four against one, a complete encirclement, and the enemy was fully armed and experienced, while Fang Wen's fighter jet had no retaliatory weapons, putting him in an extremely dangerous situation.

Without the slightest hesitation, Fang Wen rapidly pushed the control stick to the side, and the fighter jet instantly performed an extreme roll maneuver.

Changing positions at high speeds puts enormous pressure on the aircraft's fuselage, and Fang Wen could sense the aircraft's skin vibrating violently.

Fortunately, the quality was up to standard, and the spatial relocation was successfully completed.

Four machine gun fire streaked across the sky behind him, the dense rain of bullets tearing through the clouds, but not a single shot hit the plane piloted by Fang Wen.

The German pilots clearly did not expect that this seemingly ordinary Swiss-painted Bf 109e3 would have such terrifying handling capabilities.

The conventional pilots would have been in a panic and out of control under the attack of four planes, but this plane's evasive maneuvers were smooth, cunning and unpredictable, completely deviating from the flight path predicted by the Germans.

The four German aircraft immediately adjusted their formation, diving, climbing, and maneuvering separately to compress the airspace layer by layer, attempting to lock down all evasive routes and form a deadly encirclement.

But they were facing Fang Wen.

His all-encompassing mechanical perception ability allows him to clearly capture the flight trajectory, speed, and turning angle of each enemy aircraft, and even predict when the enemy might fire.

He had precise control over every aspect of the modified fighter jet's performance limits. With the support of the liquid metal protective film, the engine withstood continuous extreme afterburner operation without any degradation or overheating.

Time and again, Fang Wen managed to shake off the German fighter planes' pursuit.

The pursuit flight path was also constantly moving eastward. On the surface, it appeared that the German warplanes were in hot pursuit, but in reality, the German warplanes were following Fang Wenxiang along the predetermined route.

But being followed by German warplanes like this all the time is not an option.

To improve fuel efficiency, all onboard weapons have been removed from the modified aircraft. Fang Wen must use his flying skills to completely get rid of them in order to continue his flight path.

What should he do? Fang Wen's mind raced.

The E-type aircraft I piloted used a DB 601A liquid-cooled engine with a rated power of 1100 horsepower, a service ceiling of approximately 10000 meters, and a top speed of 624 km/h.

The F-type, closely following behind, uses the DB 601N/E engine with optimized turbocharger efficiency, a service ceiling of 11500 meters, and a top speed of 630 km/h.

Relatively speaking, its performance is better than that of its own aircraft.

However, both aircraft belonged to the early and mid-stage German fighter planes, using single-stage centrifugal superchargers without intercooling, and could not rely on nitrous oxide injection to increase high-altitude power.

This means that neither fighter jet can maintain power for more than 10 minutes at the highest altitude.

But this is a comparison under normal circumstances.

Fang Wen injected a liquid metal protective film into the engine, which can effectively maintain the engine's high-altitude performance.

Having devised a solution, Fang Wen immediately took action.

While the four German fighter jets were in hot pursuit, Fang Wen suddenly climbed the height of his plane, forcing the four German fighter jets to follow suit and climb as well.

The five aircraft in front and behind climbed at an angle of attack, their fuselages vibrating violently.

Breaking through the clouds and climbing to an altitude of 7000 meters, Fang Wen did not stop but continued to climb.

Four German warplanes also refused to give up and followed closely.

As the altitude increases, the aircraft's performance in various aspects begins to decline.

I know that at an altitude of 10,000 meters, the moisture in the cockpit window condenses into ice.

Fang Wen then stopped climbing, straightened the aircraft, and continued flying eastward.

A strange thing happened. Although the plane he was piloting was covered in ice, its engine power remained normal.

The four German warplanes following closely behind, despite being of superior performance, experienced a continuous decrease in speed at high altitude.

"Goodbye!" Fang Wen sent his blessings to those behind him and steered the plane to increase the distance between them.

In the pursuit at an altitude of 10,000 meters, Fang Wen emerged victorious, breaking through the blockade in the Kamenets airspace and speeding eastward into the deeper Ukrainian airspace.

After losing their target, the German fighter planes behind them, coupled with their rapidly declining high-altitude performance, had no choice but to descend and return to base.

Having successfully escaped the first wave of encirclement, Fang Wen did not relax at all, maintaining high-speed flight and advancing eastward.

At this time, the entire Eastern European region was engulfed in war, with burning villages, damaged roads, and fighting troops visible everywhere on the ground.

The flashes of artillery fire outlined the brutal battlefield.

At the end of June 1941, the Eastern Front was in its darkest hour, with the German offensive at its most intense and the Soviet army suffering repeated defeats.

After flying more than 100 kilometers, the fighter jets entered the airspace of Luninetski, where a large-scale air battle had just taken place, and there were still traces of gunpowder smoke in the air.

The small bronze cauldron on his chest issued another warning, and Fang Wen quickly expanded the range of his supernatural perception to investigate.

More fighter jets are rapidly approaching from the high-altitude clouds ahead.

This time, the attack was carried out by two German Ju 88 high-speed bombers converted into fighters, which were faster and had more firepower, and were specifically responsible for airspace patrol and clearing.

They were probably not specifically targeting Fang Wen, but all the unidentified fighter jets in this airspace were their enemies.

Upon discovering the lone Bf 109 that had intruded into the combat zone, and noting that it was not marked as German, the two fighter planes immediately adjusted their attitude, pointing their noses at Fang Wen, with all their cannons and machine guns in position, ready to launch a head-on attack.

Head-on aerial combat is the most dangerous.

The opponent had ample firepower and superior speed, while Fang Wen still had no means of counterattack.

In response, Fang Wen decisively abandoned level flight, and his fighter jet suddenly dropped in altitude, then, in a maximum dive acceleration state, it cut in from below the two aircraft.

The cumbersome Ju 88 exposed its weakness of slow turning when dealing with such a high-speed fighter, allowing Fang Wen's fighter to successfully evade the large area of ​​ballistic fire coming from the front.

Immediately afterwards, he flew at low altitude, skimming the tops of the woods, and sped out of the war zone.

However, the Soviet soldiers below were firing at the plane he was piloting.

Clearly, even after breaking out of German-controlled territory, new crises remained unresolved.

He was ultimately piloting a German Bf 109 fighter plane. Even if it was painted with Swiss markings, in the wartime state of the Soviet army, which was on high alert and everyone was on high alert, there was simply no time to carefully distinguish it.

Even if the Moscow high command knew that a plane would be arriving carrying classified documents and equipment, it was impossible to inform all the troops on the front lines about such a thing.

Once detected by Soviet air defense radar, observation posts, or patrol aircraft and identified as German infiltration aircraft, they would be attacked by the Soviet Union.

At this moment, they are deep in enemy territory, without escort, identification, or coded signals. Once they are locked onto by the Soviet army, they will have no way to defend themselves.

Fang Wen immediately changed his low-altitude advance posture, decisively increased his altitude, and climbed to a safe altitude in the lower stratosphere to avoid the range of ground-based air defense fire and low-altitude patrol airspace.

He then turned his plane around and flew in a detour southeast of Moscow, deliberately avoiding the front lines of the Soviet battle and increasing his distance from the battlefield.

After leaving the combat zone, Fang Wen immediately used the onboard shortwave telegraph device to access the Moscow communication frequency provided by Hans Meier before his departure, and continuously sent encrypted and secure telegrams, reporting his identity, aircraft type, flight route and mission, explaining that he was carrying top-secret equipment into the country, requesting Soviet assistance, and instructing ground troops not to open fire to intercept him.

The night sky was silent, and the engine hummed softly.

After the telegram was sent, there was no immediate reply, and Fang Wen could only hover in the airspace southwest of Moscow.

Fortunately, we have enough fuel; the three external fuel tanks still have one and a half tanks full, which is enough for the rest of the flight.

Half an hour later, the telegraph machine finally received a reply. Fang Wen looked at the code printed by the automatic coding machine and mentally processed it.

"Identity and mission verified. We have scrambled five fighter jets to provide support. Please maintain your position in the airspace southeast of Moscow. Our aircraft will arrive shortly."

Upon seeing the reply, Fang Wen's tense back finally relaxed.

The most dangerous German blockade has been breached, and the most deadly risk of friendly fire has been eliminated.

Fang Wen drove the modified Bf 109E3 steadily, the engine running extremely smoothly, and the liquid metal protective film continuously offset the load brought by the extreme working conditions.

After waiting for more than half an hour, five fast-moving silver dots appeared on the distant horizon.

Fang Wen instantly focused his mind, fully utilizing his mechanical senses to clearly capture the outline of the approaching aircraft.

It is the Yak-1 light fighter jet, the Soviet Union's main frontline air superiority fighter at the time. It is fast, highly maneuverable, and specifically designed for escort and interception missions in the homeland airspace.

Five Yak-1s quickly formed a standard escort formation, with three in front and two behind, slowly approaching in a guard posture.

Fang Wenxin understood immediately; this was an escort fleet sent by Moscow to provide support.

To avoid any misunderstanding, he immediately released the control stick, removed his hands from the control device, raised them above his head, and leaned forward slightly, making the standard international flight hand signal indicating no weapons and no hostility.

Upon seeing this, the lead Yak-1 pilot completely dispelled his doubts, lowered his altitude to be level with Fang Wen's fighter jet, raised his hand to Fang Wen from a distance of several meters, then swung his wings, changed course, and signaled him to fly closely with the formation.

Fang Wen gently pushed the stick, adjusted the fighter jet's attitude, and steadily followed behind the Soviet escort formation.

Six fighter jets formed a neat formation and flew steadily toward the core airspace of Moscow.

The closer they got to Moscow, the more intense the wartime atmosphere became.

Even thousands of meters above the ground, Fang Wen, with his special ability to see, could clearly overlook the entire wartime capital.

The entire city was under blackout, and the streets and buildings were almost completely dark in the evening, with only a few scattered searchlight beams sweeping across the sky, cutting through the newly descending darkness.

The once solemn and artistically beautiful Moscow landmarks have now been completely militarized.

The domes and bell towers of the world-renowned Orthodox churches are no longer adorned with sacred sculptures and paintings; instead, they are densely packed with anti-aircraft machine guns and small anti-aircraft cannons. The cold, black muzzles of these cannons are all pointed at the night sky, and the sacred religious buildings have been completely transformed into air defense fortresses. Faith and war are strangely intertwined in this city.

Along the city's main roads, in open squares, and along both sides of bridges, one can see sandbag fortifications, anti-tank barricades, and trenches everywhere.

Countless civilians and soldiers worked under cover of darkness to build defensive positions. The streets were piled with war supplies and ammunition boxes, and trucks shuttled back and forth, transporting military equipment and supplies. The entire city had become a giant, airtight military fortress.

In the distance, in the woodlands and open areas on the outskirts of the city, layers upon layers of air defense positions are set up, with anti-aircraft gun groups arranged in a staggered pattern, their muzzles pointing straight to the sky. Countless cables and observation equipment are spread across the ground, forming the core of Moscow's homeland air defense barrier.

Under the protection of layers of air defense fire, the Yak-1 formation, carrying Fang Wen's fighter jet, smoothly entered the core airspace of Moscow.

Soon, the outline of Red Square came into view below.

The normally spacious and orderly Red Square had been temporarily transformed and leveled, clearing out a straight and unobstructed temporary runway. Simple take-off and landing markers were laid on the ground, and all debris and people on both sides were cleared away. Only a small number of soldiers and ground crew were on standby, specifically to receive this special inbound fighter jet.

The lead Yak fighter gently swayed its wings to signal a landing, then climbed and departed first, completing its escort and support mission.

Fang Wen composed himself, focusing intently on piloting the fighter jet and slowly lowering its altitude. (End of Chapter)