In Wang Yuanqing's eyes, Lin Xiaolei is just an excellent warrior, not an outstanding one

Although Lin Xiaolei's motives were not wrong, and there was nothing wrong with building a strong navy, his words, deeds, and measures that went against the overall situation made Wang Yuanqing a little disappointed with the naval commander to a large extent. 【Reading.com】

Relatively speaking, Yan Yuqing's proud disciples Zhang Zhongxian and Lei Jingming are more "knowledgeable about current affairs".

In terms of importance, the Air Force is no less important than the Navy, and in many cases it can play a decisive role. Compared to the Navy, the Air Force has an extremely prominent feature, that is, its close relationship with the Army.

According to the establishment system of the Republican Air Force, the Air Force has three "faces", namely, the tactical air force, the strategic air force, and the support air force.

The first two "faces" are well-known to the outside world, and many people ignore the importance of supporting the Air Force and even do not know that it exists.

Before the 211th century, the Air Force of the Republic was almost purely a "tactical air force", with the exception of limited strategic strike capabilities, all combat capabilities were "tactical air forces". It was not until the 90s of the 20th century that the Republic strengthened the construction of the "support air force", laying the foundation for building an air force with complete combat capabilities.

The birth of the "support air" is closely related to the army.

As we all know, before Ji Youguo implemented military reform, the Airborne Force was subordinate to the first branch of the Air Force, and then it was classified into the Army and became the sole branch of the Army. The original purpose of the construction of the "Support Air Force" was not to create an air transport force, but to serve the Airborne Forces. It was not until other types of support aircraft, such as early warning aircraft, electronic warfare aircraft, patrol aircraft, and battlefield surveillance aircraft, were put into service one after another that the "support air force" began to take shape.

In several battles in the 211th century, the Air Force has contributed far more than the Army and Navy.

The Fourth Indo-Pakistani War, the East China Sea War, the Laos War, the Vietnam War, the South China Sea War, and the Korean Peninsula War. You can see the figure of the air force. Moreover, the Air Force is a well-deserved main combat force. In so many local conflicts and regional wars. The most representative is the Korean War.

Although the naval and air forces made a significant contribution during the war. But no one can shake the status of the air force as a pillar of the ground.

Post-war statistics. During the Peninsular War. The Air Force mobilized 17 tactical fighters, 118 strategic bombers, and 486 support aircraft; A total of 78,792 sorties were made. Among them, 61,784 tactical fighters, 12,146 strategic bombers, and 12,146 support aircraft sorties, accounting for 72% of the total sorties of the air force; 684 were damaged in battle, including 625 tactical fighters, strategic bomber racks (all H-6M crashed due to mechanical failure on the way back, and 56 support aircraft. accounted for 74% of the total losses of the air force; Perform a total of 1 missions. Among them, there were 382 air supremacy missions, 6,763 battlefield support missions, 3,960 depth interdiction missions, 163 strategic bombing missions, 2,164 airlift and airdrop missions, and 1,762 support missions. accounted for 81% of the total number of tasks performed by the aviation forces; A total of 315,840~:s of ammunition and 501,420~:of fuel are consumed. They account for 82% and 78% of the air force respectively.

Statistics don't tell you how hard it is. But it can show the importance of the air force.

After summing up the lessons and lessons of the war on the peninsula. The then Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Tadashi Jizhang, put forward three key points for the future development of the Air Force: enhancing the combat capability of the tactical air force, enhancing the adaptability of the strategic air force to the ground battlefield, and building mission capabilities to support the air force in a more comprehensive way.

Although the tactical air force and the strategic air force are two fists. But the support air force is to connect the fist with the physically arm.

In the words of Zhang Zhongxian, the combat capability of supporting the air force determines the overall combat capability of the air force.

The theory of the commander of the air force is exactly in line with the realistic strategy of the republic, and it is completely in line with Xiang Linghui's appetite. This is because, according to the reform plan put forward by Zhang Zhongxian, we can tap the combat capability of the air force to the greatest extent and lighten the burden on the state while controlling military spending as much as possible.

From this point of view, Zhang Zhongxian's "political acumen" far surpasses that of Lin Xiaolei.

Zhao Rundong spared no effort to carry out the second round of military reform, and Wang Yuanqing paid special attention to national defense construction as soon as he took office. The fact that the two heads of state attach so much importance to army building must have an extremely urgent and practical need. Under such circumstances, all branches of the armed forces must vigorously enhance their combat capabilities and ask the government for money. If the Air Force jumps out to "grab jobs," it will not only offend the Chief of the General Staff, but will also arouse the disgust of the Führer.

In the words of Zhang Zhongxian at the Air Force All-Army Congress: Good steel must be used on the edge of the knife.

Among the three major branches of the armed forces, the Air Force invests the most funds in military scientific research projects. In the three-year budget from 2025 to 2027, the Air Force has invested 121.3 billion yuan in research and development funds on more than 30 projects.

Increasing investment in scientific research will inevitably weaken the Air Force's ability to procure new equipment.

This is indeed the case. In 2025, in addition to supplementing war attrition, the Air Force will only spend 284 to purchase 127 new aircraft, which is 28% lower than in 2024; In 2026, the Air Force's equipment procurement expenditure will only be 24.1 billion yuan to purchase 1C3 aircraft, a year-on-year decrease of 15% and 19%; In 2027, the Air Force's planned equipment procurement cost will be 228 and 98 fighter jets, a year-on-year decrease and. Although the Air Force has entered the recovery period, the decline in arms procurement has been decreasing year by year, but the purchase of new fighters and bombers, mainly support aircraft, is very limited.

Wang Yuanqing and Xiang Linghui both knew Zhang Zhongxian's little abacus.

From 2025 to 2027, the new fighters and bombers purchased by the Air Force are all two-seat trainer models, and all of them are provided to the instructor unit for special use

Lines.

Needless to say, Zhang Zhongxian has his own little abacus.

If the Führer had built up its armaments for practical purposes, then war would not be far off. There is absolutely no need for the Air Force to compete with other branches of the armed forces for military spending before the outbreak of war, as long as it does a good job in training, so that pilots can familiarize themselves with and master new fighters, and then apply for war funds after the outbreak of war to purchase new fighters in large quantities.

This is also the shrewdness of Zhang Zhongxian. Of course, the Air Force has its uniqueness, which the Navy simply cannot match.

Not to mention anything else, a fighter production line runs 24 hours a day, and a fighter can be built within one month, and the shortest production cycle for fighter jets is only one month. The navy is completely different, no matter how large the shipyard is, only one warship can be built on one slipway, and the construction period of the warship is as long as several years. What's more, the Air Force can purchase trainer pilots of new-type fighters to familiarize themselves with and master the performance of new-type fighters in advance, but the Navy cannot purchase "trainer warships" in advance, and in fact there are no "trainer warships," let alone train the officers and men of the fleet in advance.

For various reasons, Zhang Xian has won a good reputation.

I have to admit that in commanding the Air Force, Zhang Zhongxian's ability is very good.

The focus is on supporting the Air Force, which can give full play to the combat effectiveness of the Air Force. Before December 2027, the Air Force has purchased 22KJ-22C early warning aircraft, 12KZ-19B battlefield surveillance aircraft, 3 DY-1 electronic warfare aircraft, JY-166 large tanker aircraft, 2Y-14B tactical transport aircraft, 39 Y-15B large transport aircraft and 24Y-166 strategic transport aircraft, and also 211 KJ-211, 8KZ-119, 27 DY-14 according to the standard of the new model, The 120Y-1460Y-15 has been upgraded and improved.

In fact, the Air Force did use good steel on knives.

On the surface, the size of the republic** has not expanded much in June 2027, and the size of the Air Force fleet is still not at the level before the Korean War. In fact, the combat capability of the Air Force of the Republic has increased by at least 30%.

According to the assessment report submitted to the Horn by the RAND Corporation of the United States, by the end of 2027, the combat capability of the United Nations Air Force will reach 150% of that during the Peninsula War, equivalent to 90% of the overall combat capability of the US Air Force. The RAND Corporation also specifically mentioned that the expansion of the size of the transport aircraft fleet of the Republic Air Force has an extremely clear purpose.

Of course, the Lan company did not know that the Republic Air Force had secretly purchased several new support fighters and supporting equipment.

In his report on the development of the Air Force, Zhongxian did not explicitly mention the new support fighters and supporting equipment that the Air Force had used secret funds to procure, because all the procurement plans were personally approved by Wang Yuanqing, and the Führer attached great importance to secrecy work, so there was no need to make irresponsible remarks in front of so many people in the General Staff Headquarters.

"Overall, the development of the Air Force has progressed beyond the advance estimates." Zhang Zhongxian did not forget to flaunt his merits and show the strength of the Air Force. "According to the most conservative estimates, by October this year, the Air Force will complete the first phase of reform work, and the overall combat capability will be increased by more than 50 percent. Of course, if more new fighters and bombers can be procured before more appropriations are obtained, so that all combat units can get more training opportunities, the combat capability of the army can be further improved. Overall, for the foreseeable future, the Air Force has the confidence and ability to defeat any enemy in the periphery of the Republic! ”

Hearing Zhang Zhongxian's words, Lin Xiaolei secretly sneered.

Xiang Linghui didn't notice the look of the naval commander, and asked the commander of the air force: "In this way, the air force is very eager to purchase more new fighters as soon as possible?" ”

Zhang Zhongxian glanced at the Führer's demeanor and nodded.

"The head of state......" Xiang Linghui also looked at Wang Yuanqing.

"Submit a detailed procurement plan report as soon as possible and send it directly to the Führer's capital." Wang Yuanqing glanced at the participants and said, "The construction work of the army, navy, and air force is satisfactory, and although there are some unsatisfactory points, they are all difficulties that can be overcome. I'll take back the reports of the other three ** arms, so I won't introduce them here. Through more than two years of reform and development, the military strength of the republic has been markedly enhanced. I believe you all know clearly that this round of military reform is not only Zhao Lao's long-cherished wish, but also has a very urgent practical purpose. There is enough intelligence to prove that Japan is secretly plotting to wage war against us. Although we will not lose to Japan as we did a hundred years ago, Japan now has nuclear weapons and the ability to destroy us. Whether it is for the sake of individuals or for the sake of our children and grandchildren, we will never tolerate such a thing, nor will we tolerate a nuclear-armed Japan eyeing us. Although the intelligence work has not yet achieved final results, we must be prepared for a full-scale war with Japan! ”

When it comes to this, no one dares to take it lightly.

Lin Xiaolei also concentrated his attention at this time, and no longer took the meeting as a child's play.

"Starting today, the troops will enter a state of combat readiness, and they must be ready to call for it to come, and to be able to fight when it comes!" Wang Yuanqing glanced at the participants again and said, "It's not early, and I won't delay everyone's rest time, except for General Xiang, Commander Lin and Chief of Staff Zhang, everyone else should go back to rest." ”

Stayed by the Führer, Lin Xiaolei was obviously a little weak-hearted.

It seemed that in order to encourage Lin Xiaolei, Zhang Weichang pulled the chair a little closer and did not let Lin Xiaolei fight alone.