Chapter 923: 846 Lucky Day Chapter 923: 846 Lucky Day A biplane circled lightly over the battlefield, and the Soldiers of Qin Country below were growing restless. They looked up and couldn’t help but complain, “Damn, where did the Beastmen get an airplane?”
“Stop talking, it’s those damn merchants! They’ll sell anything for money!” Another soldier from Chu Country cursed from inside the trench.
They could never have known that it was their Commander who had tacitly allowed the Beastmen tribes to acquire military equipment, all to secure more supplies and aid from Tang Country.
Just a few days ago, Qin Country had signed a cooperation memorandum with Tang Country. Tang Country would invest in building a newer and longer railway in Qin Country.
With this memorandum, it became possible for Qin Country to construct a railway line that crossed from east to west and join the immense economic zone of Qin-Dahua-Tang.
Soon, Qin Country would visibly begin to prosper, able to quickly establish its own industry and complete its industrial revolution.
To achieve this grand and ambitious goal, let alone sacrificing some soldiers on the western border, even risking the lives of a hundred thousand elite Qin Troops was deemed worthwhile.
After all, the situation was such that a thousand soldiers were easy to procure, but a set of machine tool equipment was not easily purchased… And to arm a thousand troops, such machine tool equipment was needed.
Moreover, King Ying Duo of Qin Country and his generals were actually planning an even bigger scheme. In Qin Country’s view, this plan was more tempting than attacking the Beastmen to the west.
Yes, after a series of changes, Qin Country had a bold idea: if they could manage to squeeze Dahua Empire from both east and west, wouldn’t they be able to save a hefty toll fee?
At that time, Qin Country’s oil and other resources could be freely traded to the Great Tang Empire in exchange for technology, occupying a lot of fertile territories, which would be much better than the wild mountains and ridges of the Beastmen’s lands.
What worried the high officials of Qin Country were two things: the first was the attitude of the Great Tang Empire, whether Emperor Tang Mo still harbored ambitions of expanding his territory. The second was how Qin Country would get along with the Great Tang Empire after carving up Dahua Empire.
King Qin Duo of Qin Country was not a mediocre monarch; he was very astute. He worried that once Dahua Empire was annihilated, and Qin Country bordered Tang Country directly, they would have to face the direct pressure from the Great Tang Empire.
Everyone now knew that the Great Tang Empire was extremely strong. Under such circumstances, dividing the weak Dahua Empire with the Great Tang Empire seemed to be a risky proposition.
Once the appetite of the Great Tang Empire was whetted, who in the entire Eastern Continent could then stop the iron cavalry of the Great Tang Empire?
Thus, while actively planning an eastward strategic move to carve up Dahua Empire, Qin Country was also studying an alternative plan.
This alternative plan was to continue expanding westward, fostering self-reliance among the Beastmen, and obtaining more technical assistance from Tang Country to enhance their national strength.
East and west progress simultaneously—this was now the national policy of Qin Country, hedging bets on both sides to garner benefits.
Soon, Qin Country’s Fighter Jets appeared in the sky. The Fighter Jets provided by Tang Country to Qin Country were a model of army fighters from the United States, pre-World War II, designated P-36.
Actually, the performance of these airplanes was quite remarkable which was why discerning Qin Country favored them. Initially, Qin Country had requested the Tang Army’s current Butcher Fighter Jets, but the final deal fell through due to pricing issues, forcing Qin Country to settle for the cheaper P-36.
As a flagship product of Tang Country’s new generation of Fighter Jets, the performance of the P-36 was truly impeccable. It was more powerful than most self-developed Fighter Jets from other countries and possessed many new technologies.
Moreover, this Fighter Jet boasted considerable firepower, equipped with a 12.7 mm caliber machine gun and a 7.62 mm caliber machine gun.
This was the weapon configuration of the P-36 mass-produced by Tang Country for Qin Country, and the design Tang Country had provided added four 7.62 mm caliber machine guns mounted on the wings for enhanced firepower.
The newly-formed Tang Nation Air Force greatly favored this type of Fighter Jet, promptly ordering 300 units. They also introduced the aircraft production line in hopes of producing some on their own.
They then received generous production permission from Tang Country, allowing Qin Country to manufacture 1,000 units on its own. This greatly satisfied Qin Country and positioned the Tang Nation Air Force at the forefront of the world’s air forces from its inception.
It is important to note that when Tang Country delivered the first 12 P-36 Fighter Jets (which Qin Country named Gale Fighter Type 1) to Qin Country, there was almost no other country in the world equipped with Fighter Jets of this caliber.
Aside from the 30 Butcher Fighter Jets Tang Country provided to the lapdog Chu Country,qv these Gale Fighters were likely the best Fighter Jets in the world at that time.
Unlike the Gale Fighters produced by Tang Country for the Qin Army, which were fitted with two machine guns of different calibers in the nose, the locally produced fire-power-enhanced version would be named the Gale 2. In subsequent production, the Gale 2 would also feature a pressurized cockpit, making its performance even more advanced.
“Humming…” In the sky, the Gale 1 Fighter that heard the news rushed at high speed toward a group of Beastmen fighters flying chaotically above the Qin Army.
It was an early model Shireck 1, very slow. Upon detecting the Qin Army’s aircraft, it started to lower its altitude.
For an old model to shake off a modern fighter jet, dropping altitude to stay close to the ground was a decent strategy. It not only neutralized the opponent’s speed advantage but also made the opponent wary of ground anti-aircraft fire and hesitant to crash recklessly.
The Qin fighter pilot had no intention of letting this accomplishment slip away; the Gale 1 dived rapidly and opened fire from a long distance.
Clearly, the Qin fighter pilot was wary of the ground anti-aircraft fire. He decided to try his luck first and see if he could shoot down the opponent from a long distance.
The bi-winged Shireck 1 began to dodge the bullets that trailed behind it, and because it was slow, it was quite agile.
As the distance between the two aircraft continued to close, the eager Qin pilot was ready to take risks. He did not want to miss this excellent opportunity to shoot down the enemy aircraft and earn his accolade.
Qin’s combat prowess and eagerness for battle were world-renowned, and the Qin military’s merit system was strict—soldiers’ promotions required tangible accomplishments, so their desire for merit was stronger than in any other country.
The roaring of the engine drew the attention of almost everyone on the ground. On the western wall, the sight of dogfights was rarely seen. This area was poor, backward, desolate, barbaric, and vast skies had never witnessed such fierce combat.
The Shireck 1 that was flying close to the ground suddenly pulled up, attempting to turn around and face the battle. Seeing the Qin fighter getting closer, it had no room to dodge anymore.
The Qin fighter pilot was waiting for just this opportunity; he too adjusted his nose, aiming his machine guns at the trajectory of the turning target.
“Ratatatatata!” A dense spray of tracer bullets fired out, and the turning Beastmen plane collided with the dense bullets, immediately beginning to emit thick smoke.
It trailed a long tail, sliding along the ground as if it might crash at any moment. Having landed a successful hit, the Qin pilot immediately pulled up, keeping to a relatively safe altitude.
There really wasn’t much to be proud of in shooting down such an opponent—a time difference in aircraft models. Moreover, those capable of flying a Gale 1 in battle for Qin had all been formally trained in Tang’s aviation schools.
They were all “professionally trained,” very familiar with the theory of flying, so long as they weren’t challenging their own instructors or fighting against those elite Tang pilots whose aircraft were painted with silhouettes of enemy fighters, their combat effectiveness was assured.
Clearly, the Beastmen pilot had not undergone such training; they likely had not seriously learned how to maneuver an aircraft in combat, and their thinking was straightforward. If they could turn the tables on their opponents in such a scenario, it would truly be a miracle.
Behind the Beastmen line, there wasn’t much in the way of anti-aircraft guns—they hadn’t even finished replacing their Shireck rifles, let alone worry about air defense.
This was when the Qin’s advancement showed: having witnessed the terror of Tang’s Air Force, the Qin troops immediately developed an awareness of air defense.
Even without enough money to equip with sufficient anti-aircraft guns, the Qin Army really put effort into areas like camouflage nets—experiences paid for with the lives of their predecessors.
In contrast, the Beastmen, having not suffered from air strikes, virtually had no concept of air defense, with most of their troops not even knowing how to disperse and hide.
If Qin had as many bombers as the Tang Army at this time, a single sortie could have achieved brilliant results.
Unfortunately, although the Beastmen’s air defense knowledge was nonexistent, Qin also truly lacked bombers to exploit this—both sides were on par in that regard.
“Beautiful!” Watching their own aircraft strike down the previously arrogant Beastmen plane in the sky like a swimming dragon, the Qin soldiers on the ground cheered.
“Well done!” Other Qin soldiers extended their arms, excitedly cheering for their Air Force.
As if hearing the cheers of the friendly forces on the ground, the Gale 1 lowered its altitude and swept over their own lines, the roaring of its engine thunderous, exciting the cheering Qin soldiers even more.
Overlooking the crowd of friendly forces waving their arms below, the Qin pilot felt even better inside the tight cockpit of his fighter: today was indeed his lucky day.