Munitions Empire

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Some things are actually quite peculiar, with luck and misfortune often being just a relative comparison process.
Discover hidden stories at My Virtual Library Empire

If these pilots were lucky, they would not have been hit and crashed during the bombing formation of over a hundred aircraft.

But if they were unfortunate, at least dozens of pilots confirmed their crash location, watching them break away from the formation and plummet towards the sea trailing black smoke.

In the radio channel, many pilots were reporting the news that a Flying Fortress had been shot down, everyone reporting what they had seen.

On a Flying Fortress that was already returning to base, the captain was holding the communicator and reporting everything he saw, "Control tower! Control tower! A Flying Fortress has been hit! Yes! I don't know by what, but it's definitely not a malfunction... It's smoking..."

On another aircraft, when the commanders confirmed the issue, the captain replied through the communicator, "I understand, smoke could also indicate a malfunction, but it seems it really could have been hit! I can't judge, I can't leave the formation to confirm if it actually crashed!"

Because enemy gunfire could not be seen, it was impossible to confirm with visual observation alone whether that Flying Fortress had indeed been hit.

After all, a row of inconspicuous bullet holes could not be seen clearly from a distance. As for a smoking engine… a malfunctioning engine could smoke as well...

Thus, some pilots, when reporting the situation, could only use as vague descriptions as possible, "I saw one of its engines smoking, it seems unable to control its flight attitude, yes, I don't know if it's a mechanical fault."

"The enemy wasn't using tracer bullets, I couldn't see what it was hit by, yes, I can't confirm." In the meantime, another aircraft with a relatively better view had a pilot also talking about this same event.

As the bombing was about to end, many pilots had seen the crashing Flying Fortress Bomber.

Other pilots were reporting the approximate coordinates of the crash, "Approximate crash coordinates: 100, 200! Near the bombing target area! Repeat! Approximate crash coordinates: 100, 200! Near the bombing target area!"

The lead navigators were also referencing their current position, trying to calculate the spot where the plane had just crashed. Their calculations were very inaccurate, they only knew their own position approximately after all.

And there were pilots in the same squadron confirming the specific number of the crashed plane, "Yes! The crashed plane's number is 397!"

With one report after another, the command tower had almost confirmed that they indeed had a plane crash, and it was their first loss of the day.

An officer hurried over and saluted Xiao Yun, "Commander! It has been confirmed that there are no patrolling planes nearby..."

He placed two telegrams on the table next to Xiao Yun, "Just now, two patrolling Flying Fortresses returned due to fuel depletion, and the formation's Flying Fortresses are also on their way back..."

"What about the second batch of bombers?" Xiao Yun looked at the other party and asked. What he really meant was whether the second batch of bombers could possibly go find the downed plane.

The subordinate officer understood and immediately reported, "The second batch of bombers are all Stukas, all carrying 500 kg aerial bombs, insufficient fuel, unable to carry out search missions."

"Which patrol boat is the closest to that area?" Xiao Yun looked down at the two telegrams on the table, then asked again.

The subordinate hurriedly replied, "The search and rescue boat we know of is the Minnow, a new type of fishing vessel with radio, but it would take at least 3 hours to get there, almost the same time as if we were to launch another Flying Fortress to search from here."

As a patrol and support fishing vessel, it dared not get too close to the enemy fleet, only waiting nearby on standby.

After all, the Air Force had to ensure the safety of the fishers involved in the operation, it was not reasonable to ask them to be too close to the war zone, this was the basic requisition rule.

So at that moment, Xiao Yun indeed had the idea to establish an Air Force's own search and rescue fleet.

Unfortunately, an idea was just an idea, in today's time when Navy vessels were already in serious shortage, the Air Force building its own ships was too unrealistic, something Tang Mo wouldn't permit.

He heard the subordinate continue to report, "In fact, the Minnow is already heading to that area, because we can only rely on guiding it to rescue the few pilots that might be surviving."

Favoring the principle of avoiding disturbances from faults and other factors for the mission, Xiao Yun hoped that at least two boats would take part in the rescue mission, "Are there any other boats available? Relying only on the Minnow doesn't seem so secure."

The subordinate seemed a bit embarrassed as he walked towards the door, "We'll have to inquire about that, we don't know if there are transport department vessels nearby, nor if there are any Navy vessels..."

"I hope they're alright." Xiao Yun did not stop his subordinate from making the call, refocusing his attention on the attack aircraft group.

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The crash of one airplane actually didn't hurt that much, or to say, even the crash of two or three planes wouldn't cause the Great Tang Kingdom much pain.

What everyone cherished were the precious pilots: nowadays, with the introduction of commercial airplanes, everyone began to realize that aviation would become an indispensable means of transportation in the future.

There was a dire shortage of pilots in civil aviation, and the military also needed a large number of pilots, resulting in all pilots being in high demand as the most urgently needed talent.

The loss of five professionals capable of taking to the skies all at once was a heart-wrenching event for the entire Air Force. If these people were safe and sound, then at least in the future, there would be 5 individuals capable of carrying out aerial missions.

The second batch of bombers had already neared the enemy fleet, and the bombing was about to begin. A subordinate stepping out agreed at the door, "Yes, let's hope they're alright."

"The leading Stukas have found the damaged enemy fleet. Just follow the people who fell into the water, and you'll see the smoking enemy ships," a commander, taking off his headphones, reported the latest battle situation to Xiao Yun.

"When can the attack begin?" Xiao Yun glanced at his wristwatch and asked.

"The attack can commence in 10 minutes," his subordinate reported. "One of the returning fighter squadrons had a mechanical failure and made an emergency landing at sea."

"Today really isn't going smoothly," Xiao Yun's face turned grim as he complained.

"That's right, sir," the subordinate agreed. "However, fortunately, the squadron leader has confirmed that the pilot is still alive. The bright orange life jacket is very conspicuous. The pilot is still waving at us from the sea, and he seems to be in good condition."

"Are there any rescue vessels nearby?" Xiao Yun asked with concern. He didn't want to lose any pilots because they were a national treasure.

"We've already made contact. There's a ship nearby. It should reach the pilot's location where he went down into the water in about 20 minutes," the subordinate reported some good news.

"That's great, at least there's some good news following the bad," Xiao Yun said with a smile.

Soon, the officer who had gone to confirm the news returned, bringing bad news: "The Navy has confirmed the news, sir. They have no combat ships on a mission nearby. It seems we can only rely on the 'Barracuda' now."

"Has the Flying Fortress taken off yet?" Xiao Yun nodded and then asked. He knew that now they could only rely on themselves as much as possible.

The subordinate also nodded: "Yes, sir. We've urgently launched two Flying Fortresses to the accident site… But, they have a long way to fly…"

Xiao Yun sighed: "All we can do now is wait."

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"Boom!" Another warship from Shireck could no longer bear the burden and exploded into a fireball on the sea surface.

If the warships attacked by Stuka Dive Bombers would sink directly, then those hit by small Aerial Bombs were mostly only damaged.

Although these remaining warships looked battered, the damage was not fatal. Most of the explosions occurred on the deck with no risk of taking in water.

But because these warships had such poor damage control, and many didn't even have specialized damage management equipment, it became all too common for minor wounds to become fatal damage.

After all, this was an era forcefully elevated by Tang Mo's technology. The development of the Navy under the influence of such deformed technology led to the birth of warships that couldn't actually be called modern.

Honestly copying the technology of the Great Tang Group, Shireck was unable to make its warships surpass those of the Great Tang Group in terms of cost and combat effectiveness. Therefore, modifying the invisible details to save costs became an inevitable choice.

They omitted some compartments and fire doors that seemed to have little use, reduced the diameter of the fire-extinguishing hoses, and even waived damage control training upon delivery.

Moreover, Shireck didn't have the Cruisers and Battleships of the Great Tang Group to copy, so they didn't even have the concept of flooding to preserve the ammunition chambers.

On ordinary days, these minor details wouldn't reveal whether a navy was strong. At that time, everyone was focused on the number of turrets, the caliber of the guns, and the thickness of armor and other aspects.

Because these combat-oriented data could more intuitively reflect the strength of a navy. But in reality, damage control capability is an equally indispensable part of a navy's strength.

Now, the Gobur Kingdom's Navy Commander finally realized how important firefighting was. He also understood why when he visited the Ironclad Warships of the Great Tang Group years ago, they had two independent water pumping and firefighting systems.

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