Chapter 1164 Walnut Clip Action

For pilots of this era, night flight is not a pleasant thing. Due to technical limitations, night flight in this era can only rely on the eyes of the pilot. Even if the plane is equipped with a search radar, it cannot directly help the pilot fly safely. In fact, when flying at night, the pilot's vision is crucial to flight safety, even if he is flying a real night fighter.

As a Chinese Air Force night fighter pilot, Chen Weizhi's vision is the best in the army, but his nerves are also tense during this night flight that cannot even be seen in the moonlight.

Chen Weizhi was driving an "Owl" night fighter, a heavy fighter with two engines and two crew members, one was the navigator and radar operator in the back seat, and the other was the driver in the front seat, and Chen Weizhi was the driver.

The "Owl" has installed an air search radar. Relying on this millimeter-wave radar with high accuracy, pilots can detect aircraft in the sky at a long distance. Through the signal of the radar transponder installed on friendly combat aircraft, the "Owl" pilot can distinguish whether the aircraft discovered by the radar is a friendly aircraft. However, not all friendly aircraft are equipped with radar transponders. Because the radar transponder is heavy, light fighters are not installed. Only bombers will install radar transponders. And only bombers will install radar transponders when cooperating with the "Owl" for night combat, the purpose is to avoid being accidentally attacked by the "Owl".

This air strike against Kiev is Chen Weizhi's second time to carry out night escort missions. Compared with day escort missions, night escort missions are more difficult. This is not the interception of enemy fighters, but the air safety during night flight. The aircraft must maintain formation and cannot get too close to each other. This is a test of the pilot's driving skills and coordination ability. In the dark, you can only see the night lights of the plane flashing in the night sky not far away. If you are not focused enough, it may cause an illusion of distance judgment. This is very dangerous. Chen Weizhi dares not be distracted every time he performs a night voyage mission.

Chen Weizhi's "Owl" squadron took off from the South Caucasus base, with only one mission, which is to cover the "Storm" heavy bomber aircraft group that took off from the Iraqi forward base across the Black Sea, flew over Kiev and bombed. When the bombers threw bombs, the "Owls" patrol the nearby airspace and shot down any unidentified aircraft that had no response signal on the radar display.

The only ones that can provide this long-range escort mission for Storm are heavy fighters such as the Owl. The Falcon's range is difficult to meet this mission, and the Falcon cannot fight at night.

Like the night flight mission the day before yesterday, there was no trace of Soviet Air Force aircraft in the night sky in Kiev. It seemed that the intelligence was accurate. At least so far, the Soviet Air Force did not have dedicated night fighters and could not intercept night-raid bombers. The only ones that provided anti-aircraft guns and searchlights on the ground were those anti-aircraft guns and searchlights on the ground. The Chinese Air Force's "Storm" fleet easily threw various aviation bombs into the ground to destroy the city's industrial zone and weaken the Soviet Union's war potential.

The "Storm" were busy, and the "Owls" seemed a little idle, turning around in the night sky, and the same was true for Chen Weizhi, flying the fighter plane bored, hovering in the airspace he was responsible for while looking at the ground, looking at the burning city, thinking about how the bomber pilots found the bomb target in the darkness. To be honest, Chen Weizhi always doubted whether the "Storm" were throwing bombs into the industrial zone.

Just as Chen Weizhi looked at the ground again, a call from the backseat navigator came from the headphones of the flying hat.

"Note that an unidentified plane was found ahead."

There are two radar display screens in the cockpit of the "Owl": one in front of the driver and one in front of the pilot. The reason for this arrangement is mainly to consider that the driver cannot be too distracted. Therefore, the task of searching for the night sky is mainly handed over to the pilot. When the pilot discovers the enemy plane, it is left to the driver to deal with it. The driver will rely on the guidance of the radar to attack targets in the night sky.

Hearing the navigator's call, Chen Weizhi hurriedly looked at the radar display screen. There was indeed a large echo signal on it. Chen Weizhi immediately stabilized his fuselage and at the same time identified the unknown aircraft, but the other party did not have any answer signal, and the radar transponder's receiver did not move.

"Is it an enemy plane?"

Chen Weizhi hesitated for a while and found that enemy aircraft was one thing, and confirming the identity of the enemy aircraft was another. The former could just trust the radar. As for the latter, it often requires the pilot's intuition and judgment. It is not very reassuring to rely on the radar transponder alone. After all, this thing has just begun to be put into actual combat, and its reliability is still a problem. If a friendly aircraft is shot down, it would be a mistake. Although it is inevitable that a friendly army's mishap is on the battlefield, it is best to deal with it with caution if it can be avoided.

"From the speed, it's not like an 'owl', and the reflected wave is much smaller than the 'storm' signal."

Perhaps because he guessed Chen Weizhi's hesitation, the backseat navigator carefully analyzed the various parameters of the unidentified aircraft in the night sky.

Chen Weizhi confirmed the navigator's judgment. Indeed, the aircraft that was flying five kilometers away from the "Owl" was not fast and the aircraft was not large in size. Preliminary judgment can rule out the possibility of being "Owl" or "Storm". Now, the Chinese Air Force aircraft group carrying out the air strike on Kiev mission only has two types of aircraft, "Owl" and "Storm". Logically, the unidentified aircraft could only be a Soviet aircraft.

"Confirm the target and prepare to launch an attack"

Chen Weizhi finally made up his mind to launch an attack, but the target was too small and the speed was too slow. Chen Weizhi didn't have much confidence in whether the "owl" could shoot down the opponent. After all, until now, his record was still zero. Judging from the Air Force's standards, he was a real rookie.

Chen Weizhi increased the flight speed of the "owl" and quickly caught up with the target. Under the guidance of the radar, he kept the landline and the enemy plane in a straight line. Since the target was not a bomber, the machine gun installed on the back of the aircraft was useless, so he could only use the four aviation machine guns installed at the nose.

"Da da da...da da da..."

Several long dots shot over, and the target on the radar display immediately began to drop in height and soon disappeared from the radar display.

Chen Weizhi flew the plane, lowered the altitude, and searched on the ground with the pilot with his eyes wide open, but after searching for a long time, he did not see any burning suspicious target. It is difficult to say whether it hit the target, or perhaps it was just a wound. The Soviet plane was likely to have a forced landing.

With a hint of reluctance, Chen Weizhi flew back to the sky and prepared to search for the target again. At this time, he received an order from the commander.

"The air strike has ended and all escort planes return."

In desperation, Chen Weizhi could only embark on the return journey with a hint of regret. After returning to the base, he learned that the attack he launched was the only air attack launched by the "Owl" on the night of the air strike, and whether Chen Weizhi shot down the target became a permanent mystery.

The "Storm" group swept away with the storm, and the "owls" also flew away with chirping. The night sky in Kiev finally returned to tranquility, but the city on the ground was beyond recognition.

...

Night flight is very dangerous. Captain Ledanov proved this with his experience. Shortly after the trainer plane he was on took off, the plane was attacked by a Chinese Air Force "Owl" night fighter in the dark sky. Although the Soviet pilot tried his best to fly the plane to complete an emergency landing and save the plane, the pilot was surprised to find that Comrade Ledanov, who was sitting in the back seat, was hit by a machine gun bullet from a Chinese fighter during the air attack just now and died on the spot. Fortunately, the briefcase connected by Ledanov was intact.

The pilot was trembling with Captain Ledanov's briefcase. He finally borrowed a tractor from a collective farm and drove the tractor back to Kiev and handed the briefcase to his superiors. Then, the superiors handed the locked briefcase to Comrade Khrushchev, the first secretary of Ukraine.

Khrushchev reported the news of Ledanov's death to Moscow immediately, and actively prepared to send another plane to send Ledanov's escort to Moscow. However, considering Ledanov's experience and in order to ensure the safety of the original documents, Stalin finally changed his initial decision. He ordered Khrushchev to sort out the "Ledanov documents" into text and send it to the Kremlin through a password telegram, which was personally reviewed by Stalin.

Under the supervision of Ledanov's essay, Khrushchev personally opened Ledanov's briefcase with the key, took out a tin box, and opened the box, but it was a roll of rinsed microfilm, with a total of twenty photos.

Khrushchev was very surprised. He didn't know what the contents of these photos were. He was worried that it would involve the high-level struggle in Moscow. He hoped that the contents of these photos would be sorted into text by Ledanov's entourage, but unfortunately, the entourages were unwilling to take any risks, so in the end, everyone decided to share the risks. So, through a movie projector, these miniature films were projected onto the office's film screen. It was not until this time that Khrushchev understood what kind of document the "Ledanov document" was.

This is a top-secret document obtained by Soviet spies abroad through special channels. The contents of the document involve Germany, Italy, and China. In fact, this document was drafted and signed by the three German heads of state, Italian leader and Chinese president. The main contents of the document are two aspects:

First, regarding the division of African spheres of influence. According to this document, China will recognize the benefits that Germany and Italy have achieved in Africa. In exchange, Germany and Italy also promise not to seek territorial expansion from Asia. At the same time, the two countries also make commitments to China to ensure the "independence and freedom" of southern Africa and not to seek territorial expansion from the region south of the equator on the African continent. However, in exchange, Asian countries must ensure the supply of strategic materials to Germany and Italy, and this supply will be based on normal international trade.

Second, regarding the joint combat issue of the three countries against the Soviet Union. According to the commitments made by the parties signed by the document, if the war between the "Asian Liberation Front" and the Soviet Union lasted until 1941, then Germany and Italy would join the war against the Soviet Union. At the latest, Germany would prepare for the war against the Soviet Union before the summer of 1941. At that time, the German army would mobilize at least 200 divisions to launch an attack from Eastern Europe to the western territory of the Soviet Union. At the same time, Italy would launch a landing operation on the Crim Peninsula in the Black Sea under the cover of the navy. At that time, Italy's landing forces would also receive support from Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria, and the Chinese Air Force and Navy would also provide guarantees for landing operations. This strategy of attacking the Soviet Union is called the "Warnut Clip Operation", with the purpose of destroying the Soviet Union and dividing up Soviet territory.

The content of this document was so shocking that Khrushchev could not speak for a long time. Only one of the people present was calm about it. This person was Zorg, code-named "Titsickov". He originally planned to go to Moscow with Ledanov, but he was stranded in Kiev due to transportation issues. In fact, Zorg had long considered the security of the "Ledanov Document". Before connecting with Ledanov, he had copied the content of the document to prevent the loss of the document. However, he did not tell anyone about this. Even Ledanov didn't know that Zorg actually had two documents in his hand. It was when he was copying the document that Zorg knew the content.

Although everyone was shocked, they completed the work and sent the documents to Moscow via telegram.

Despite hesitation for a long time, at the end of the telegram, Khrushchev still made his suggestions to Moscow in a sincere tone:

"Comrade Stalin, the content of this document is undoubtedly shocking. Some comrades suggest that this despicable international conspiracy document be made public to the world, but I personally think that this suggestion is an opportunistic mistake. The Soviet Union is isolated and there are no friends in the world, at least not now. In this international situation, rather than continuing to stimulate the Chinese, it is better to seek forgiveness with the Chinese.

The Chinese just want to get Asia, and their excuse for going to war against the Soviet Union is only the Iranian issue. If we satisfy their appetite, I think the Chinese will no longer take the initiative to continue this war. Although the Far Eastern Republic is still clamoring to destroy the Soviet Union, as long as the Chinese withdraw from the war, then the remnants of the Belarusian Republic in the Far Eastern Republic will not be a threat.

I sincerely suggest that you send someone to contact the "Asian Liberation Front" when you think it is appropriate and end this meaningless war decently. Although this move may cause temporary shame to the Soviet Union, in the current dangerous situation, I always believe that there are two most dangerous enemies of the Soviet Union, one is the internal enemy, who are planning conspiracies all the time, and the other most dangerous enemy is Nazi Germany. As for Asian countries, they are not the most dangerous enemies of the Soviet Union, at least not at present. Only by ceasefire with the Asian group can the Soviet Union go all out to deal with challenges and threats from Germany.

My advice is that, in any case, the war between the Soviet Union and China should end before 1941 and should not continue until Germany and Italy are ready for war against the Soviet Union. Fighting on both sides is dangerous for the Soviet Union and we should not take risks."
Chapter completed!