"Thank you!" After the unpleasant dinner, Zhang Chi handed Harris a cigarette.

Harris shook his head worriedly, "I'm just telling the truth!" ”

"What are you worried about?" Zhang Chi could see something wrong with Harris's expression.

"He's a bastard!" Harris replied, "And I want to work with such a person!" Colonel, are all your Chinese officers like this? ”

Zhang Chi couldn't help but smile awkwardly.

"Hmm, I'm sorry!" Harris realized that he had lost his words, and hurriedly explained: "Of course I don't mean you, in fact...... I thought this major general was an officer like you, but apparently he wasn't! ”

"It's okay!" Zhang Chi replied.

"I'm worried about ......" Harris sighed, "In the future training and cooperation, I and your major general will be very unhappy!" ”

Zhang Chi just smiled.

In this regard, it is inconvenient for Zhang Chi to say anything, because no matter what, it is also his own country, and Xu Zhengkai is also on his own, and it is not taboo to discuss his own peak behind his back.

But Zhang Chi knew in his heart that the Kuomintang army was just as Stilwell said: "China has the best soldiers, but they fight under the command of the most bastard officers!" ”

Of course, this is a bit extreme, and there are still officers who can fight, such as Du Yuming.

But even if Du Yuming is like this, he can only be the second in a thousand years...... That is to say, as I said before, I always do the deputy position, and the military merit is led by the main position, and the fault is all the fault of the deputy position.

This kind of atmosphere is very prevalent, and whether an officer can ascend to the post is not judged by military merit or ability, but by relationships, factions, sycophants, and so on.

However, war is brutal.

The only criterion by which an army is tested in war is...... Can you fight!

Therefore, it is inevitable that **** will be eliminated in the war in the end.

At this time, Zhang Chi had a doubt in his heart...... With President Chiang's wisdom, it is impossible for him to send Xu Zhengkai to command the air force, because this is a battlefield, and these fighters and aircraft carriers are going to the front line to fight the Japanese. If these fighters and even aircraft carriers are easily destroyed in the hands of Chen Zhengkai, what good will it do to President Jiang?!

Later, Zhang Chi learned that this was actually Principal Jiang's intention.

Harris's fears became a reality the next day.

Originally, Harris didn't want to start training in such a hurry, but Harris had a sense of foreboding, he felt that training would not be as simple as Halsey told him...... Let the Chinese fighters, which already have a foundation in flying, be familiar with the Japanese, and then conduct training on ships, so as to form combat effectiveness within half a year as much as possible.

Harris originally thought that there would be no big problems with this training, because he had inspected the "Xianghe" aircraft carrier in the past few days, which was a very good aircraft carrier, and its flight deck was almost the same as that of the US aircraft carrier (note: the flight deck of the US Yorktown-class aircraft carrier was 242.7 meters long, and the flight deck of the "Xianghe" aircraft carrier was 242.2 meters long).

And the Japanese fighters are lighter than the American fighters...... This was determined by the fact that all Japanese fighters were not armored and did everything possible to reduce weight, which meant that it was easier for pilots to learn to land. Except, of course, for the new Japanese bomber "Comet", which had a higher landing speed.

But this is not a big problem, Harris has already thought that he can adopt the same method as the Japanese, that is, to postpone the use of the "comet" as a carrier-based aircraft and use it as a land-based bomber, and when the pilots are really familiar with the "comet" bomber, it is not too late to transfer them to the aircraft carrier.

However, what Harris didn't expect was ...... The first day of training made Harris dumbfounded, most of these Chinese pilots only have more than three years of flying experience, and it can only be said that they have mastered the knowledge of flying, and if they want to do various flight maneuvers in the air to the extent that they can fight the enemy, it is still early!

Harris found Zhang Chi in the first place.

"Zhang ......" Harris frowned and said, "Tell me what's going on?" These pilots do not already have combat skills, as I understand, and only need a short period of training to form combat effectiveness! ”

Zhang Chi spread his hands helplessly: "I don't know either!" ”

After a pause, Zhang Chi asked, "What did Major General Xu say?" ”

Harris sighed: "His answer is that China has limited aircraft, and the fuel provided by the United States is also limited, so the pilots usually have very little training, although they have five years of flight time, they can only reach the three-year flight level I require......"

Hearing this, Zhang Chi couldn't help frowning.

This is a good excuse, because with the occupation of Burma by the Japanese army, China's only access to the outside world has also been blocked, so there is indeed a shortage of domestic fuel and other strategic materials.

But Zhang Chi felt that the problem would not be so simple.

After thinking about it, Zhang Chi asked: "According to the current progress, how long will it take for them to form combat effectiveness?" ”

Harris replied: "First of all, we must be familiar with the piloting of Japanese aircraft, and then we will conduct landing training and air combat training...... It's going to take at least a year and a half! ”

"A year and a half ......" Zhang Chi couldn't help but smile.

Historically, Japan surrendered two years later, and after a year and a half, Japan's air force had basically been wiped out, and if there was anything left of the Japanese air force at that time, it would be an undertrained rookie pilot who drove a suicide plane into a US warship.

And this time is so well mastered...... Zhang Chi suddenly understood Principal Jiang's intentions.

Just as President Chiang did not have a great interest in opening up the China-Burma Highway, President Chiang also deliberately delayed the formation of combat effectiveness of the Rabaul Air Force.

For no other reason, as soon as the China-Burma Highway was opened, President Chiang could no longer use the excuse that he could not launch a counteroffensive against the Japanese army under the pretext of insufficient supplies and ammunition.

Now, once the Rabaul Air Force has formed combat effectiveness, it will immediately go into battle under pressure from the Americans.

And all this is not what President Jiang wants to see, he just wants to preserve his strength, preserve his strength or preserve his strength......

At this time, Zhang Chi received a phone call, and to Zhang Chi's surprise, it was Xu Zhengkai who called.

"Colonel!" Xu Zhengkai said in a commanding tone on the phone: "I heard that Harris went to you, you are a smart person, you know what to say and what not to say...... Do you understand? ”

"Understood!" Zhang Chi hung up the phone before Xu Zhengkai finished speaking.

What Zhang Chi understood was why President Jiang would send Xu Zhengkai, who had no knowledge of aviation operations at all, to command this aviation brigade.

"Colonel Harris!" Zhang Chi didn't hesitate for a moment, raised his head and said to Harris: "This matter is not as simple as it seems on the surface! ”

(To be continued.) )