Chapter 35: 35, Night Airdrop Training, Two Corporals
“These two are Corporal Zhuo Guang and Corporal Yan Fangshou. They both have experience riding airplanes and have no symptoms of airsickness or discomfort. As for what needs to be done with them, you should have plenty of experience.”
Gui Hongyuan said this and looked at the two soldiers, his face serious.
“Fang Wen was temporarily assigned here to carry out a special mission. Though he has no military rank, he bears great responsibility. You two must obey his orders and not slack off.”
“Yes.”
The two responded in unison, standing straight in front of Fang Wen to show their attitude with action.
Gui Hongyuan nodded in satisfaction and began to communicate with Fang Wen again.
“You must carry out your first night flight operation tonight. If successful, every midnight will be your time to act. This relates to the progress of the warfare. You can make any requests directly to me.”
Fang Wen checked his watch. It was now 1 p.m. Although time was a bit tight, they could conduct a simulation training session.
He then said:
“I need to take them up for a flight to do simulated low-altitude airdrop training. Also, how do you solve the problem of airdrop supplies not getting damaged from high-altitude drops?”
Gui Hongyuan walked over to the Rhine NYP-2 and took out a very long rope.
“We had a batch of wicker baskets made. One end with a ring buckle hangs on the rope, and they two are responsible for putting the supplies into the wicker baskets and sliding them all the way down.”
He understood. It was friction. Through the friction between the basket’s ring buckle and the rope during the descent, the falling speed of the object decelerates. As long as the rope is long enough, the supplies should not be damaged.
However, Fang Wen did not relax because of this. He felt this method was not as good as imagined.
After all, the Rhine NYP-2 was a long-haul transport aircraft, not a vertically rising and descending helicopter.
Without being able to hover in a fixed air position, dropping supplies this way was still very prone to problems.
“Don’t you have parachutes for airdropping supplies?” he asked.
“No, the night airdrop was a last-minute decision. Those parachutes aren’t ready yet, so we can only use this method for now.”
For problems that couldn’t be solved temporarily, there was no need to dwell on them. As for the effectiveness of using rope and wicker baskets, Fang Wen decided to test it.
He applied to Gui Hongyuan for a flight and then communicated with the two corporals.
“Night flight has extremely low visibility. I can only rely on experience, compass, and stars in the sky for positioning. You two must cooperate well with me to complete the airdrop.”
The two corporals stood straight and responded loudly: “Yes, officer.”
Then, Fang Wen boarded the airplane and had the two corporals find some empty wooden boxes, putting stones inside them.
Then, on a flat ground nearby the airport, he marked the airdrop point.
The Rhine NYP-2 drove out from the hangar and, under the direction of ground staff, entered the runway and flew into the sky.
The airplane circled above the airport, and Fang Wen looked down at the airdrop point below.
2000 meters distance, which did not meet the requirements. He needed to descend below 1000 meters.
He entered mechanical perception and carefully performed a slow descent.
The fuselage sank at a small angle and circled to the 800-meter position.
In low-altitude flight, the biggest problem was that the airplane’s speed was too fast, making it hard to grasp the airdrop timing accurately.
And now they were using this method for the airdrop.
Fang Wen had no confidence in his heart.
He shouted to the back:
“You must complete the operation when I give the airdrop order. When I shout prepare, you throw the rope out of the hatch. When I shout start, you must immediately throw out the wicker baskets. Understood?”
“Understood.” The two responded loudly.
Alright then, no matter what, try it first.
Fang Wen controlled the airplane to fly low and circled once. When approaching the airdrop point, he issued the order.
The two corporals exerted effort to throw the rope out the hatch. The hundreds-of-meters-long rope fell down, forming a long black line below the airplane.
Under the influence of air resistance and airplane speed, it kept swinging backward.
When the start order was given, the two corporals threw the wicker baskets out one by one.
Those wicker baskets hung on the rope via buckles spun in the air as they fell.
Next was waiting for feedback from the ground.
After a while, the radio station in the military transport aircraft received a call.
“Fang Wen, the airdrop deviated 50 meters to the left, and the supply boxes are damaged. You can make adjustments and redo the airdrop test.”
“Understood.”
While controlling the airplane to turn, Fang Wen recalled the previous operation.
Mainly, in low-altitude flight, being too close to the ground meant prediction and reaction couldn’t feedback in time.
By the time he gave the order, plus the two corporals’ body reaction time, there was a time delay.
Therefore, the order time needed to be advanced by one or two seconds to achieve accurate delivery.
Moreover, for this action, the two corporals in the back needed to form a conditioned reflex instinct to ensure the airdrop was error-free.
He shouted to the back:
“You two listen up. Our mission is very important. The soldiers on the frontline need these supplies. When dropping, you must clear your minds. After I give the order, act immediately without any delay.”
The two corporals in the back replied loudly: “Understood.”
Good, then continue practicing. They needed to succeed at least once or twice before the night flight.
Fang Wen controlled the airplane to continue turning and began the next round of airdrop training.
This wartime training put great pressure on everyone on the airplane, and the pressure generated power.
Circling back time after time, issuing orders for airdrops, the three focused single-mindedly on this repetitive task and finally developed tacit understanding.
As soon as Fang Wen gave the order, the two would act immediately, without even needing time to think.
Under this cooperation, the accuracy got higher and higher later on.
But the supply boxes still sustained varying degrees of damage during the fall.
This was an unsolvable problem for now. They could only see after tonight’s night airdrop if there were other methods to solve it.
At 4 p.m., the training ended.
The Rhine NYP-2 landed and underwent inspection by maintenance personnel. Fang Wen got off the airplane with the two corporals.
After three hours of integration, the relationship between the three became harmonious.
Fang Wen chatted with them about everyday things, asking where they were from.
This kind of communication was a very ordinary interpersonal skill in the future, but the two soldiers felt it very warm, giving this temporary airdrop crew a nice internal atmosphere.
At this time, Gui Hongyuan came over.
“I’ll take you to the dormitory. There are three aviation team members here, plus students from Jianqiao flight school. It’s very mixed. Considering you don’t know anyone, I’ve arranged a single room for you three.”
Fang Wen nodded and led the two soldiers following Gui Hongyuan to a bungalow not far behind the hangar.
That place was probably a warehouse temporarily converted into a residence, with no-smoking signs on the outer wall.
“You’ll live here. Normally, they two will be responsible for getting meals from the canteen for you.”
Saying this, Gui Hongyuan looked at the two soldiers.
“Corporal Zhuo Guang, Corporal Yan Fangshou, your task is to cooperate with Fang Wen’s actions. Listen to his command in everything, including taking care of daily life. Understood?”
“Yes, officer.” The two soldiers stood at attention and responded.
Gui Hongyuan gave more instructions to Fang Wen.
“Tonight’s night flight is set to depart at midnight. Rest first. I’ll send someone at 10 p.m. to call you.”
After giving the instructions, Gui Hongyuan left. One of the two soldiers stayed with Fang Wen, while the other went to the canteen to get dinner for tonight.
Not long after, Yan Fangshou came back carrying three lunchboxes.
Having been busy with training for most of the day, his stomach was growling with hunger. Fang Wen took the lunchbox and wolfed it down.
After eating, he entered the room. There were inner and outer rooms inside. The outer room had two beds for the two corporals, and the inner room had one bed for himself. Besides these simple furnishings, there was nothing else.
Fang Wen then realized that he had come here without even bringing a change of clothes.
He would probably have to stay here for a while, and without bringing any money, he could only borrow some from Gui Hongyuan.
Of course, that was for tomorrow. Now, he needed to rest and build up energy for the midnight airdrop.
He lay on the bed and slept in his clothes. Though he couldn’t sleep, he closed his eyes to rest his mind.
This continued until 10 p.m. at night, when Gui Hongyuan sent a soldier.
“Mr. Fang, it’s time.”
