Munitions Empire

Chapter 1038: 960 Qin and Shu Air Combat

A Model 200 Fighter Jet was chasing a distant P36 Fighter Jet; both aircraft were continuously swaying left and right, one trying to evade, the other attempting to lock onto the target ahead.

Although the P36 didn’t actually have the advantage in speed, there was no generational difference between the two types of aircraft, so the experience of the pilots became the key to the outcome of this battle.

The pilots of Qin Country actually had combat experience; they often sortied in the war against the Orc Empire and frequently shot down Orc fighters equipped with Shireck Model 1 Fighter Jets.

The performance of that first generation monoplane really wasn’t much, so the experience Qin pilots gained from thrashing Orc Empire aircraft, to put it strictly, didn’t quite count as effective experience.

The Fighter Jet pilots of Shu Country had no actual combat experience, but the aircraft of Shu Country were somewhat better, after all, the economy of Shu Country was indeed better than that of Qin Country.

In the vast and boundless sky, inside the cockpit of the Model 200 Fighter Jet trailing behind, the pilot from Shu Country was trying by all means to close the gap, he jerked the control stick, aligning the nose of his aircraft with that of the Human Race.

Despite the Qin Army pilots not really having abundant experience, they had learned many useful things in flight school, knowing that being tailed was a very dangerous matter.

Therefore, he used more practical evasive maneuvers, manipulating his own plane to weave left and right, trying to shake off the enemy’s pursuit.

“There’s an enemy plane on my tail! An enemy plane on my tail! He is aiming at me! Cover me! Cover me!” The Qin Country Fighter Jet pilot shouted nervously on the comms, needing the support of his comrades.

Regrettably, in the air combat tactics of Qin Country, there was no complete dual-plane formation tutorial; they used the more outdated three-plane formation, which completely fell apart once combat ensued.

This kind of formation didn’t show any problems when facing those shabby and outdated Orc planes, but now facing the advanced, or rather, the equal generational Shu Country planes, the issues arose.

“I can’t find you! Commander! I can’t find you!” Inside the headset, the tense response from the Qin pilot resonated.

Now the sky was in total chaos, with Qin lead bomber planes being aggressively hunted by Shu pilots, Qin Fighter Jets chasing Shu Fighter Jets, and also Qin Fighter Jets being hunted by Shu Fighter Jets.

In such a situation, accurately finding one’s own allies without strict training or regular patterns in airplane formations is impossible amid the chaos, relying on communication won’t achieve anything.

The Great Tang Empire Fighter Jet pilots’ coordination was also a “memory” formed after countless drills. When the pilots of the Tang Empire were still unfamiliar with coordination, their opponents didn’t even have planes.

Thus, the Air Force of the Tang Empire had ample time to train and adapt, then, after the opposition upgraded their forces, they utilized advantages in radio equipment and aircraft performance to train their forces, ultimately forging a team of pilots truly capable of collaborating in air combat.

Actually, countries around the world wished their Air Force could perform on the battlefield with the quality of Tang Empire pilots, but sadly, this required time and the tempering from countless opponents.

On the chaotic battlefield, distinguishing between friend and foe in an instant is also incredibly difficult, as from a kilometer away, the other party looks no bigger than a matchbox, so it’s really not easy to discern characteristics.

This is also why countries usually do not purchase the same model of Fighter Jet, because, in the event of war, identification is really very challenging.

To distinguish friend from foe on the battlefield, all Fighter Jets of the Great Tang Empire were marked with yellow identification symbols on the nose and the ends of the wings.

Moreover, the red dragon emblem of the Tang Empire was also very eye-catching, yet there were still several incidents of friendly fire on the battlefield, even causing several casualties.

The aircraft liveries of other countries leaned more towards art, remarkably varied and flamboyant. Some countries painted their planes white, some in earth yellow… these countries’ planes rarely used top and bottom dual-color camouflage because they really feared friendly fire.

“Climb! Climb! Break away from the enemy! Re-form!” The pilots of Qin, based on experience, prepared to re-group and steady their stance.

Unfortunately, their efforts failed, as some of the Qin pilots who had locked onto a Shu Fighter Jet weren’t willing to give up their opportunity, and those Qin planes being pursued simply couldn’t shake off the enemies at their tails.

“Chaos! Damn it!” Complaining while glancing at the intermittently disappearing enemy plane in his rearview mirror, the Qin Fighter Jet pilot manipulated his control stick.

He made the dangerous enemy aircraft disappear from his rearview mirror, but barely two seconds to feel relief, the damned enemy plane was back in his mirror.

“Zips zips zips!” A few 12.7-millimeter aircraft machine gun Tracer Bullets whizzed past the Qin pilot’s cockpit, narrowly missing his wing.

The Qin pilot, scared into a cold sweat, once again started to dive, attempting to accelerate and turn, to extricate himself from the disadvantage.

The maneuverability of Italy’s C200 Fighter Jet was quite good, with a speed that was also sufficient, considering it to be a fine Fighter Jet during World War II.

The only shortcoming of this aircraft was that its armament consisted of only two 12.7-millimeter caliber machine guns, which really wasn’t enough in the increasingly brutal battlefield.

Facing the robust Allied bombers, two small pipes were really of no use, not even fit for tickling.

Yet, in the current Qin-Shu battlefield, it faced light aircraft, and the advantage of the twin machine guns’ large ammunition capacity was evident.

Shu pilots, inexperienced, couldn’t execute one-shot kills like the aviators of the Great Tang Empire, so having multiple chances to attack was obviously more suitable for them.

After a burst fire without achieving results, the Shu pilot behind adjusted his position once more, then pulled the trigger to fire again.

The Qin pilot saw a row of Tracer Bullets pass by, further from his plane than the last time, and heaved a sigh of relief. Quickly he altered his direction again, forcing the Shu pilot behind to readjust his attack angle.

Meanwhile, on another part of the battlefield, a Qin pilot was pursuing a Shu Fighter Jet, also trying to lock on to the target, but the target was dodging using tactics familiar to the Qin pilot.

The two spent a lot of time in the sky, with the Qin pilot watching as the numbers on his fuel gauge neared depletion.