Chapter 1 Yao Bei Wu

Yao Bei Wu and his pilots and ground crew had recently felt that the gazes around them were somewhat strange. The air battle had caused the airship squadron to suffer its most significant losses ever. Although the final result could be said to be a victory for them, they were the pride of Yun Province, and even the slightest setback made them feel ashamed and greatly aggrieved. Due to the increasing maturity of technology, even the military-standard airships they used had significantly decreased in cost compared to before. The cost of an airship was roughly equivalent to arming one hundred to one hundred and fifty Yun Province light infantry soldiers, and ensuring their salaries and supplies for a year. Many people breathed a sigh of relief at this cost. With the current wealth of Yun Province and Dongping, such a cost would not cause too much economic pressure. In comparison, airships had a much greater impact on the economy and livelihood of Bei Liao. The Bei Liao airship squadron, built with Ye Tao's deliberate indulgence, had caused less damage to the Yun Province side in air combat than many informed people had expected. After receiving the battle report, Ye Tao didn't take the matter too seriously. However, when Ye Tao heard that the airship squadron was in low spirits, he realized that he still needed to pay attention to this matter. After all, leading his soldiers into battle was not like playing a war chess game; pure calculations could not encompass everything.

However, the series of proposals subsequently submitted by Yao Bei Wu relieved him somewhat. Although this temporary setback made the aerial guardians of Yun Province feel depressed, they were not discouraged. Instead, they faced the fact that the enemy also had airships. Yao Bei Wu was right. Bei Liao had airships, and Chun Nan also had airships. Since they all secretly believed that there would inevitably be a war between the Northeast and Chun Nan, there was no harm in encountering air combat earlier and preparing earlier. After Yao Bei Wu contacted the other airship squadron captains, they all unanimously agreed to start adjusting their training methods and strengthen their anti-air combat training. Yao Bei Wu also directly proposed to the Yun Province Command and the Ye's Workshop Research Institute to build airship models with greater air superiority. A complete replacement was definitely impossible, but at least equipping each airship squadron with two or three of these airships would allow them to be much more flexible and versatile in their tactics when facing those high-flying Bei Liao airships, without having to rely entirely on pushing the limits of their own airships' performance. They knew that although the Bei Liao airship crews were inexperienced, these enemies would grow sooner or later, and they couldn't always count on that. Although Yao Bei Wu knew of the existence of aircraft that were faster, had a higher ceiling, and could easily destroy airships, he didn't dwell on this aspect. He knew that aircraft, like the airships of the past, were expensive luxuries that could only be used on a small scale for trials. Moreover, although airships needed moorings and a large number of ground crew and supplies, the requirements for take-off and landing sites were not high. Makeshift take-off and landing sites could be set up, which was especially suitable for continuous deployment during troop advances. As for aircraft... Yao Bei Wu didn't know the lower limit of the current aircraft's take-off and landing distance, but he had been to Ye's Workshop's research institute and had been deeply impressed by that three-mile-long runway.

Since the enemy also had airships, Yao Bei Wu simply proposed that they could no longer fly as recklessly as before in the battlefield sky. Yao Bei Wu proposed a war zone air duty patrol plan, which planned to set up two aerial patrol lines on the front line to ensure that enemy airships could be detected in the main combat direction. Although with the current communication methods, it was still impossible to urgently call for their own airships for support, there was no problem in engaging in dogfights and delaying the enemy. In addition to this patrol plan, Yao Bei Wu was also the first to propose the concept of war zone air supremacy, which also surprised and delighted Ye Tao.

"General Yao, Marshal Ye will inspect your unit at noon tomorrow. Also, someone will deliver a confidential document to you later, please check it personally. The communication code for receiving the document is: Sky, five five four one." When the Central Army Garrison notified Yao Bei Wu through a simple telephone, Yao Bei Wu realized after a moment of stunned silence that Ye Tao would not come to his base just to reprimand him, nor would he entrust an important document that needed to be delivered by a special person to an officer he didn't trust. Then, Ye Tao's intention was very clear: he felt that the things he had submitted earlier were still valuable, and that their operations were not without meaning. And the arrival of Marshal Ye was enough to boost the morale of the airship mooring field, which had been dimmed.

Ye Tao didn't need to bring over the set of procedures from his original timeline to deal with superior inspections. In this timeline, this set of things also arose automatically and spontaneously. Even in Dongping, where there was the least emphasis on formalities, and under the rule of the Northern Frontier Pacification Office, which had the least emphasis on formalities in Dongping, officials at all levels were equally skilled at playing this game. After a hasty notification, Yao Bei Wu immediately assigned tasks, and the soldiers who sincerely respected and admired Ye Tao immediately became busy. Although they felt that they had lost a battle, they still hoped to show their best side to Marshal Ye. They knew that Ye Tao had not come to see them looking dejected.

The airship mooring field was originally the most disciplined and procedural place among all types of military camps. The mooring field, the surrounding buffer zone, the workshop for repairing airships, and the soldiers' barracks were all tidied up by everyone at the fastest speed. The originally clean and tidy camp, although not spotless, was brand new, and almost every detail was meticulously organized. And at noon, except for those fixed sentries, all the soldiers were concentrated on the empty mooring field, waiting for the arrival of Yunzhou One.

Ye Tao was always punctual. Just as the soldiers had just begun to line up, the lookout waved a flag to signal to the soldiers gathering on the mooring field: Yunzhou One had appeared in the sky. Accompanying it were escort airships that looked like Snow Owl airships, but seemed to be a little different.

Ye Tao didn't put on any airs. He was the first to walk off the airship after it had stopped steadily, and the good spirits of the soldiers present made him feel quite satisfied. "Don't put on this show, it's just a routine inspection." Ye Tao said to Yao Bei Wu with a smile.

Now, Ye Tao's travels no longer had the pretext of "routine inspections." Everyone knew very well that Ye Tao must have come because of the recent battle. Saying this was just to put everyone at ease. Yao Bei Wu said with a smile, "We won't put on a show. The camp can be cleaned up, but I don't have the ability to make all the soldiers satisfy Marshal Ye within a day. Marshal Ye, now that you're here, do you want to..."

Ye Tao nodded and said, "Okay, I was originally going to gather everyone to chat, so let's do it now. I still have a lot of things to talk to you about later."

Ye Tao turned around, stepped back onto the gangway, and walked up a few steps, putting himself in a position where everyone could see him, but didn't feel like they were looking up to him, and said loudly, "Soldiers, I have come here to listen to your account of the first air battle in history. You fought bravely, and your bravery will be forever remembered in the annals of history. And from the day you fought bravely, the war began to take on a new direction. Our battle has spread from the ground and the sea to the air. And I firmly believe that from now on, the sky belongs to you. Before, I heard that you were frustrated because you suffered some losses, but these losses were no greater than those of the enemy, and you drove away the enemy and won the entire sky... Therefore, in any case, I think this is a victory. And I have also come here to bring you rewards and honors. From today onwards, shooting down enemy aircraft will be included in the military merit assessment category of Yun Province and Dongping, and it is still a very important item..."

Ye Tao simply explained the military merit assessment standards and rewards for the flying squadron, which were being trialled within the jurisdiction of the Northern Frontier Pacification Office. The soldiers of Yun Province had always been wealthy, and pilots were a military branch that required a considerable level of education. To be able to become a pilot, even if the soldiers here were not from wealthy generations of military families, at least their families had the money to support them in both literary and military pursuits. The salaries of pilots were second to none in the entire army of the Northern Frontier Pacification Office. This time, although the monetary rewards were generous, everyone didn't feel too excited, but some of the following clauses made everyone enthusiastic. Each time an enemy airship is shot down, an airship symbol can be drawn on the tail of the airship. An airship flight group that shoots down more than ten airships will receive the title of "Air Ace" and will have a special group mark drawn on the head of the airship. If more than twenty are shot down, the airship group will be able to fully customize the overall paint scheme of the airship, and they can paint the airship any way they want, as long as all the necessary numbers and unit numbers are there. Such airships and their crew will enjoy many "privileges" within the entire jurisdiction of the Northern Frontier Pacification Office, such as priority in replacing new types of airships, which the airship crews will undoubtedly be very enthusiastic about, priority in supplies on the battlefield, and so on...

For the army under the rule of the Northern Frontier Pacification Office, which values honor above all else, this kind of honor realized through painting is very, very attractive. You must know that they are a flying unit. Thinking that they are flying in the sky, whether enemies or friends, can see their great achievements, and those inexperienced airships of Bei Liao will be terrified when they see their illustrious military exploits, they will have bursts of longing in their hearts. But to achieve this, it is not easy. In this operation, even the strongest group of pilots among them shot down only two airships independently. Drawing two airship symbols on the tail wings, other than making them feel more itchy, really didn't have much other use.

After Ye Tao's explanation, the original depression was swept away, and all that remained was the desire to quickly go to the sky and constantly shoot down the enemy's airships... Half of Ye Tao's goal had been achieved.

Later, during Ye Tao's separate meeting, Yao Bei Wu reported the more detailed battle situation to Ye Tao than the submitted report, and what he received from Ye Tao was a new appointment: General Commander of War Zone Air Duty. Having a very clear impression of air combat, he will be responsible for coordinating the actions of all airship squadrons, organizing special training programs for aerial targets and being responsible for accepting the results, organizing airship squadrons to conduct reconnaissance, discovery and elimination of enemy air power, and the original work of cooperating with ground forces to carry out ground bombing will also be organized and coordinated by the original airship squadrons through the Central Army Camp, and will be uniformly coordinated by him and the War Zone Air Duty Command, and the overburdened Central Army Camp will delegate another important power.

Yao Bei Wu had a bit of a headache. This was indeed the promotion he had longed for. He would get a new starting point to prove that the many ideas in his head were correct, or the opposite. But he will also leave the front-line combat position... God knows, he still loves air combat now, even though the first air combat doesn't seem very successful to him.