In the sunset of midsummer, Chen Daisheng stood on the rooftop, squinting his eyes and observing the surroundings.

In a seaside village, there was always a sea breeze.

He called his eldest younger brother up, and the two of them built a spiral vertical windmill, then patiently brushed it with tung oil.

The efficiency of vertical windmills in converting wind energy was lower, but they were simpler, easier to repair, and convenient to dismantle and store when a typhoon came, so they wouldn't be blown away.

The windmill drove a small generator that Chen Daisheng brought home, and the current eventually flowed to a radio he assembled himself.

Many people soon gathered in the Chen family's hall.

Many years later, the old people in the village still remembered that it was the university student Chen Daisheng who brought the first radio to the village.

***

Aircraft designer Comrade Chen Daisheng's original ideal was to be a carpenter.

His hometown was a famous hometown of overseas Chinese in Fujian. Patriotic overseas Chinese like Tan Kah Kee donated money to build a huge high school in the county.

Tan Kah Kee was the most famous person locally. He went to Nanyang to make a living, and then donated a lot of money back home for construction. His reputation was excellent.

Even if Tan Kah Kee went bankrupt two or three times due to donations, there were still many people willing to help him make a comeback.

In the heart of Chen Daisheng's father, Old Chen, to be a person to such an extent, one really had no regrets and nothing more to ask for.

However, this matter originally had nothing to do with Chen Daisheng. After graduating from the junior high school in the township, Chen Daisheng felt that going to school was meaningless, so he did not plan to go to high school.

He felt that he was the eldest son and should start working early to earn money for the family and help support his younger siblings.

His father had an indifferent attitude towards this. It was not necessary for the eldest son to help support the family. Old Chen was confident that he could support several children. It was good for his son to continue studying, and as for wanting to learn a craft and work to earn money, that was also a proper path.

So after persuading his father, Chen Daisheng began his career as a carpenter apprentice.

***

Three months later, the junior high school teacher sent by the People's Party was surprised to find that Student Chen did not go to the county high school. The young female teacher hurried to Old Chen's house to understand the situation.

Old Chen still held an indifferent attitude. Student Chen was very happy being a carpenter apprentice.

The teacher's attitude was resolute. When she came for the third time, she brought proof of a scholarship issued by the county high school, which could offset the tuition.

Old Chen couldn't refuse, so he sent his son to the county high school.

Student Chen still felt bored in high school. During the summer vacation a year later, he started working as a carpenter again and didn't go to school.

So the teachers came to the door again, this time both junior and senior high school teachers came together.

"Student Chen might become the first university student in our village!"

(What is a university student?) Old Chen held back and didn't ask, so as not to make the teachers lose face too much.

So Student Chen was sent to high school again. Whether he would become a university student was set aside for now, but by now he was already the only high school student in the nearby villages. The last classmate from the same village refused to go anymore.

***

In the third year of high school, the study atmosphere in the class was very tense. Infected by the attitude of his classmates, Student Chen studied seriously for a few days.

Chen Daisheng did very well in the college entrance examination, getting full marks in both mathematics and physics. He really became the first university student in the village.

The teacher was very happy and ran all the way from the post office to the Chen family to announce the good news.

Old Chen was quite happy. Now he finally knew roughly what a university student was.

"Ah Sheng, you are the top scholar!"

Carpenter Chen was making a camphor wood chest at someone else's house, and he was also quite happy to see the admission notice.

However, what kind of school is this Zhengzhou Aviation University?

Was my wish list ignored because I got full marks in math and physics?

There is a scholarship, hmm, no tuition fees, and even meal money is covered...

***

Arriving at Zhengzhou Aviation University, he observed the school buildings for a few days...

Then Student Chen Daisheng borrowed a pile of Jules Verne's science fiction novels from the library, sitting inside the mosquito net reading day and night, feeling incredibly happy.

After finishing the books, he wandered around and suddenly discovered the school's affiliated factory.

The Aviation University had an affiliated factory that produced various aluminum products, and some students would also intern here.

It also manufactured high-quality folding bicycles, using aviation aluminum alloy as the frame. They were light in weight and folded into a very small size, easily carried onto trains and subways, or put into car trunks. These folding bicycles were very practical in cities and sold very well in Europe and America, with very good profits.

Student Chen had never been into a workshop before. Now suddenly finding so many roaring machines together, he was extremely curious and wanted to play with everything.

The factory had discipline, and Little Chen did not succeed.

***

Generally speaking, Student Chen belonged to the cramming-before-exam faction, but as a carpenter, he was very serious about the drafting class.

Then he made a professional drafting board and gave it to the drafting teacher.

People who dealt with this thing all day could certainly tell good from bad. After trying it a little, the teacher had a two-word evaluation: Handy.

According to the rules, teachers could not accept gifts from students. In the end, it was reported to the Party branch, which paid Student Chen for the board.

Then Student Chen got his wish and was sent into the workshop, with the goal of assisting in improving the design of the new drafting board and trial-producing a batch for the engineers of the Aviation University to try out.

Carpenter Chen finally used electric machinery for the first time.

So he cheerfully scurried around the workshop every day.

***

Sharp eyes, steady hands, active mind.

The workers in the factory gave Little Chen a very high evaluation.

Everyone was a craftsman, and people could quickly see how much weight someone carried. "Student Little Chen" was quickly upgraded to "Master Little Chen", and finally the word "Little" was dropped.

Chen Daisheng entered the factory like a fish entering water.

***

During summer vacations, Chen Daisheng would travel thousands of miles home: university students had allowances, and now he also had a wage in the factory. If he saved a bit, it was enough to support a family, so he had money for travel expenses.

The railway had already been built into Fujian. Chen Daisheng departed from Zhengzhou, changed trains three times to reach Xiamen, and then took a tractor for half a day to get home. The journey was basically by train, and the only boat ride was the transfer between Pukou and Nanjing. It took only four days in total.

After returning home, he handed the money saved over the year to his father. His father stuffed it back, so he gave gifts to his younger siblings, and then slept for a day. On the third day, Chen Daisheng had to go to the fields to harvest peanuts.

Fujian had very little good land, and his family's land was not good either, but the sandy soil was quite suitable for growing peanuts, which were ready for harvest during the summer vacation.

Chen Daisheng found that the fellow villagers had not forgotten him. Many people felt that the craftsmanship of the top scholar university student master should be even more brilliant, so his carpentry business was better, and he often didn't eat at home.

The market had become larger, and more families wanted to build new houses and buy more furniture.

But his carpenter peers were not all doing well. The People's Party had always advocated modular products and large-scale production. Factories concentrated on large-scale production of standard parts, assembling them into modular products. The design was reasonable, the quality was stable, and they were sold very cheaply, so the market share continued to rise.

The high-end market was fine, and old carpenters with exquisite craftsmanship lived very moist lives. But in the low-to-mid-end market, traditional carpenters had begun to be squeezed out.

As a carpenter, Chen Daisheng clearly felt the power of large-scale industrial production.

***

At the end of every summer vacation, Chen Daisheng would carry several gunny sacks of salted peanuts from his hometown back to the school to distribute to his worker friends, teachers, and classmates.

At sunset, a group of masters from the affiliated factory drank small wines, ate peanuts, and watched the ball games of the Aviation University students. It was beautiful.

So the old masters began to take turns introducing girlfriends to Little Chen.

"It's not early anymore. If this were in the evil old society, you would have been the father of two or three kids long ago!"

***

After spending a lot of time in the factory, participating in the design and finalization of two series of folding bicycles, and just starting to work on light motorcycles, Student Chen graduated.

His grades were above average. He had never failed a course and occasionally won a scholarship. Chen Daisheng engaged in many side jobs in the university, but it wasn't considered neglecting his proper duties.

He had no worries about finding a job: the Party organization in the factory had already resolved to snatch him. If that didn't work, returning to his hometown to open a furniture factory wouldn't be bad either.

But he was assigned to an aviation research institute in Xi'an.

The employer collapsed a little bit when they saw the materials: Obviously a university student, but what's with this Grade 4 carpenter and Grade 3 fitter?

Just graduated from university, but what's with this mechanical structure engineer?

But this brother clearly graduated with a major in radio!

***

The affiliated factory of the Aviation University lost the winged steed in their eyes. While the group of people lamented, they pulled Chen Daisheng for a group photo, had a good meal, and then sent him onto the train.

One day decades later, Old Master Zheng, the retired workshop director of the Aviation University affiliated factory, was watching TV when his youngest grandson, Yang Yongshun, dug out the group photo from back then.

"Eh? Is this Chief Engineer Chen? Grandpa, is this Chief Engineer Chen Daisheng?"

The old man glanced at it, "Yes. We were colleagues at the time."

"Grandpa, you were colleagues with Chief Engineer Chen?!"

"Yes. At that time, the factory started making motorcycles. He wanted to learn to ride and fell black and blue. It was I who asked your mother to teach him."

The old man pointed to the side, "That dining table, he made it and gave it to me back then. It's foldable and sturdy. It hasn't broken after so many years. What fine carpentry work! You disliked it for being old and ugly a few days ago and wanted to throw it away!"

The grandson was deeply embarrassed.

Old Zheng directed his grandson to add water to the teacup, then muttered in a low voice, "I originally wanted to marry your mother to him, but she ended up marrying that guy, your father."

The conscientious young history researcher Yang Yongshun did not know that he almost disappeared forever in the long river of history. His admiration for the aircraft design master was not affected.

***

Arriving at the research institute, Chen Daisheng finally got rid of the electron tubes that exploded at the slightest provocation. Every day, holding a soldering iron and rosin, he enthusiastically tested the newly arrived transistor samples and designed amplifier circuits.

For the Air Force's new round of primary trainer aircraft bidding, several engineer buddies in the institute repeatedly instigated him. Chen Daisheng's head got hot, he organized a team, and also proposed their own plan.

During his four years at the Aviation University, Chen Daisheng had hardly touched an aircraft, but instead was very familiar with bicycles and motorcycles. He knew how to process metal and knew small engines very well. The design they proposed had a traditional shape and layout, but the structural weight was very light, and it was very easy to produce and maintain.

***

Two rounds of selection passed, and the design plan of Chen Daisheng's team was still not eliminated.

The wooden model was blown in the wind tunnel, and the prototype was finally approved for production.

The first aircraft ambitiously designed by Chen Daisheng, on its first flight, was hit by a gust of crosswind during landing, and the plane crashed into a pile with the test pilot.

The young engineer was dumbfounded. Another test pilot beside him patted him on the shoulder.

The ashes of the test pilot who sacrificed in the accident were sent to the Air Force's memorial tower. The tower reaching the sky was densely covered with photos of pilots who sacrificed over the years.

Later, Chen Daisheng learned that the Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou Aviation University had the best plastic surgery department in the world, initially solely for treating pilots burned and disfigured in flight accidents.

***

Despite the accident, the plan of Chen Daisheng's team was still received very high evaluation. The second prototype crashed after flying five times. The third prototype lasted longer. A year later, the aircraft was finalized as the CJ-4 (Primary Trainer 4) and began production.

However, Chen Daisheng could not be satisfied with his performance at all.

The young engineer began to study frantically.

He and two colleagues obtained pilot licenses together. His team built hundreds of model airplanes and conducted a large number of experiments.

***

The People's Party's strategy was finally determined: Looking South to Australia and New Zealand.

In the initial estimate, the Air Force needed more than 50,000 pilots on the front line. Mass-production line style "production" of pilots became inevitable.

At this time, Chen Daisheng proposed a new primary trainer plan.

***

Regarding the CJ-5, young history researcher Yang Yongshun found a report from a meritorious test pilot.

Royal Navy Test Pilot Eric Brown is perhaps the most experienced test pilot in the world. He has test-flown more than 400 different types of aircraft in his life, from biplanes to jets, and has landed on aircraft carriers more than 4,000 times. He actually wasn't killed in a crash, absolutely a darling of the Goddess of Luck.

"China's CJ-5, nicknamed Liliya, is currently the best primary trainer aircraft in the world." Brown wrote without hesitation.

"The CJ-5 is designed to train students in takeoff, landing, and some basic maneuvers. It is a two-seat small aircraft featuring light weight, fuel efficiency, precise control response, excellent pilot visibility, and extremely safe takeoff, landing, and flight."

"In 1936, the CJ-5 began mass production. This was the first aircraft to use fiberglass and other composite materials in large quantities, and also the first aircraft to use a turboprop engine. Because of the reasonable application of these advanced technologies, the performance of the CJ-5 is excellent. The famous IJ-4 (Intermediate Trainer 4), an excellent combat aircraft widely used by the Soviet Union in World War II, also heavily adopted the technology of the CJ-5."

"It is obvious that the Chinese conducted a large number of experimental studies for the CJ-5. Almost every detail is very reasonable."

"It is worth noting that in the production process spanning forty years so far, the CJ-5 has been continuously improved."

"To this day, we still do not have a better primary trainer than the CJ-5. We can easily build planes that fly faster, higher, and are more agile, yet the CJ-5's performance is so balanced and excellent, its uses so widespread, its maintenance so convenient, and its cost so cheap, it can only be called a miracle."

***

Undoubtedly, Brown was a loyal fan of Liliya.

He first saw the CJ-5 in Russia during World War II. Russian flight instructors and students liked this little white plane very much and gave her a name called Liliya (Lily).

Brown quickly understood their feelings.

Obviously, Liliya was designed to let people feel the joy of flying! This feeling of freedom is unparalleled!

Pilot Brown had been unable to forget Liliya. Many years later, he finally managed to buy one.

His wife could not understand. Brown's flying experience was so rich, having flown so many kinds of planes, but when Liliya arrived, the cheering Brown was like a child who got the most anticipated Christmas gift.

Brown did not hesitate to stuff his nephews and nieces into the cockpit one by one, taking them to appreciate the fun of flying. And many of these people later also became aviation enthusiasts.

"Fly! Do whatever you want! Don't worry, I'm right behind you."

Mrs. Brown's first flight was also completed on Liliya, and she began to understand her husband's love for flying.

***

During the Spanish Civil War, both Germany and the Soviet Union put their most advanced combat aircraft into the Spanish battlefield for testing.

The Soviet biplane fighters died miserably, and the monoplane fighters using air-cooled engines were not much better. The German Condor Legion, using BF109 fighters, began to reveal their talent.

Then China also shipped dozens of J-8 (Fighter 8) aircraft over to fight with their German brothers.

These two fighters were extremely similar. In fact, they both originated from a Sino-German cooperation project. The Chinese J-8 was faster at medium and high altitudes, while the German BF109 was more finely crafted. Their performance was very close.

Later, the pilots of these two legions even had some tacit understanding. They avoided each other and rarely engaged in fierce life-and-death contests, only rushing up to prey when they encountered "inferior" fighters of different bloodlines.

So the sky of Spain was divided equally by two very similar advanced fighters, until the final cruel decisive battle.

***

Chen Daisheng volunteered to become the leader of the logistics and maintenance team of the Chinese Flying Corps.

He spent a lot of time interviewing pilots from various countries, inspecting the wreckage of various shot-down aircraft, visiting small local factories in Spain, and even managing to sneak in to visit the production workshops of Fiat and Daimler.

In a trance, he seemed to return to his university days. At that time, the factory produced bicycles and motorcycles, and Chen Daisheng followed the master workers to visit users, ask for opinions, and go to repair shops to gather statistics on damage and repairs.

Chen Daisheng was known as having "the sharpest eyes" at the time. He loved to look at workshops, whether they were small workshops of repair shops or large workshops of competing manufacturers. He could quickly discover any useful new technologies, so much so that the factory later specially approved money and issued introduction letters to let him go around looking at workshops.

If there had been a chance back then, he really wanted to go to England and incidentally take a look at the workshops of those bicycle factories competing with them.

***

The conscientious young history researcher Yang Yongshun finally found some other photos of Chen Daisheng on the Internet, which were the works of the battlefield photography master Capa.

In one photo, the Chinese carpenter was wearing a white tank top, concentrating on snapping a line on a piece of wood with a simple ink marker.

The caption under the photo read: Chinese Chen Daisheng repairing a mobile blood transfusion station.

Hungarian-American Capa had probably never seen this traditional tool of Chinese carpenters, so he recorded this moment with great interest.

The next photo showed Chinese football coach Bi Daowen, Canadian pioneer descendant Bethune, Chinese carpenter Chen Daisheng, and other comrades eating Spanish paella together. The group looked very happy. It seemed the blood transfusion station was repaired.

***

Stalin and other Soviet comrades felt somewhat beyond their reach regarding Spain, but they had an uncontrollable sense of responsibility for liberating Eastern Europe.

After the Spanish Civil War, the Soviet Union invaded Finland, which was condemned by the vast majority of countries in the world, and its reputation was greatly affected.

China adopted a neutral attitude towards the Soviet-Finnish War and did not have any military exchanges with the Soviet Union for a long time.

The Soviet Union suffered heavy losses in the Winter War against Finland, finally "liberating" a piece of land.

The subsequent invasion by Germany had an even more tragic outcome.

On the soil of the Soviet Union, a tragedy of massive scale occurred. Millions of captured soldiers and people in the occupied areas were cruelly "processed" by the Nazis.

Under the banner of Nazi racism, the policy was very simple: "Germanic rule, inferior races die."

Faced with such a banner, the Soviet people were effectively mobilized.

***

In 1942, the Soviet Air Force was severely hit by the German army and urgently needed pilots. China had just mass-"produced" tens of thousands of pilots using the CJ-5, so the Soviet comrades naturally ordered a large number of CJ-5s.

China was still a neutral country at this time, but exporting civil primary trainer aircraft to private flight schools had absolutely nothing to do with military aid or arms trade.

A massive amount of CJ-5s poured into the Soviet Union. They were warmly welcomed by flight instructors and students. "Trainer aircraft should be like this! Airplanes should be like this!"

There were plenty of pilots who were unwilling to get off the plane once they got on, and even slept in the hangar next to the plane.

The CJ-5, adopting a tricycle landing gear, had very good takeoff and landing performance, which also brought a problem: flight students would be very unaccustomed when leaving the CJ-5 to fly other aircraft adopting a tail-dragger landing gear.

This was not a problem in China. Since the J-9 fighter, most aircraft in China adopted tricycle landing gear, and even more so after entering the jet age.

In the Soviet Union, students flew the CJ-5 with ease, then switched to fly Soviet aircraft. Encountering the tail-dragger landing gear, they couldn't see the runway at all, immediately becoming flustered, and crashed quite a few planes during takeoff and landing.

The solution of the Russian engineers was simple: lengthen and thicken the front landing gear of the CJ-5, and add a baffle in front of the cockpit to block the line of sight, allowing students to experience the pain of flying Soviet aircraft in advance.

A small problem was that the propeller was easily damaged during landing, but this kind of thing was always much better than students crashing the whole plane later.

***

Fighter pilot Kramarenko was interviewed after the war.

"The LaGG was the only fighter I flew. It could fly and kill German planes, that was enough."

"How did it compare with Germany's BF109?"

"The German plane was slightly faster and had better vertical maneuverability. The LaGG had better horizontal maneuverability. We always tried to maneuver horizontally in dogfights."

"Have you flown the IJ-4?"

"Cuihua (The nickname of IJ-4 in the Soviet Air Force, sometimes also called 'Green Girl', corresponding to the Lily Girl Liliya)? Never flown it. I was shot down in May 1943, seriously injured, and didn't fly afterwards. 'Cuihua' was equipped to our regiment only a month later. I heard it was very good. I flew Liliya, very good. Everyone wanted to fly a Liliya home. (Laughs)"

After a silence, the pilot who retired early said faintly, "The pilots younger than me are really lucky."

***

The CJ-5 could be fitted with a machine gun, or carry a small bomb, plus corresponding instruments, making it barely passable as an intermediate trainer for bombers and fighters.

Mass-produced CJ-5s arrived in the Soviet Union. At this time, the Soviets, who were suppressed by the Germans, found a way of fighting using the CJ-5.

The CJ-5 was modified into a single-seat aircraft, painted dark gray, equipped with a machine gun, carrying two 50kg bombs, and dispatched late at night to harass German military camps and airports.

The dark gray small plane flew very low, with very little noise. It was hard to detect by radar and hard to see clearly with naked eyes. The 50kg bombs dropped were also quite powerful and impossible to ignore.

Even if discovered, it was hard to shoot down. German fighters were very fast and could catch up, but the problem was that the speed was too fast, making it difficult to hit this twisting and turning little guy.

If the German pilot also reduced his speed to 120 km/h, let alone hitting others, his own plane would soon plunge headfirst into the ground.

Even if shot down, Liliya flew slowly, and forced landing was very easy. Pilots often survived to slip away and continue fighting.

***

The Soviets had used old U-2 biplanes to perform this kind of mission, but Liliya was obviously more suitable.

The radio navigation equipment provided by the Chinese was number one in the world. Within two or three hundred kilometers, basically wherever you pointed on the map, the plane could fly there and bomb there.

The Russians specially trained a group of female pilots to conduct this kind of night attack, angrily called the Black Widow Legion by the Germans. They went to remind the German guests to get up and pee at irregular times almost every night.

Such night attacks were extremely efficient with very few losses. German soldiers painfully found that the nights in the Soviet Union were very hard to endure.

50kg aviation bombs were absolutely impossible to withstand with tents or ordinary bungalows. If they were incendiary bombs, it was even more troublesome.

Later, the "gifts" sent by the Black Widows also included delayed-action bombs and mines, etc., making the Germans very annoyed.

***

Generally, this kind of harassment mission was a single-plane sortie, blooming everywhere, with each plane carrying two bombs.

There is an old joke: A landlord rented the upstairs bedroom to a tenant. Every day at midnight, he would come home, take off his two leather boots, and drop them onto the floor with two "Thud! Thud!" sounds. The landlord downstairs would be woken up and take a while to fall asleep again, very annoyed.

The landlord reminded the tenant. That day, the tenant came home and dropped one boot onto the floor with a "Thud!". Suddenly remembering the landlord's complaint, he gently placed the second boot on the floor.

The next day, he found that the landlord had been waiting all night for the "Thud!" of the second boot landing, and didn't sleep all night, even more annoyed...

The "Black Widows" also learned this trick. Sometimes the pilot deliberately dropped only one bomb, and then leisurely slipped away to other targets, leaving a group of German soldiers below trembling with fear waiting for the second one to fall.

A certain German soldier survived until after the war. Hearing this joke again and recalling the days of being harassed by "Black Widows" and waiting all night for "the second boot", he couldn't help but feel sadness rising from within... He wished he could pull out a pistol and fire a few shots at this big fool grinning in front of him to shut him up forever...

Later, the Germans modified many Panzer III and IV tanks into self-propelled anti-aircraft guns with searchlights. These oddly shaped armored vehicles became key protection objects of the German troops. If there wasn't enough fuel when retreating, soldiers would rather abandon the tanks to save the anti-aircraft guns.

***

In 1943, the most effective combat aircraft of World War II, the enlarged version of the CJ-5, the "omnipotent" IJ-4 arrived in the Soviet Union.

The IJ-4 was initially sent to the Soviet Union as a trainer aircraft. It was discovered that if equipped with a high-horsepower turboprop engine, its performance greatly exceeded all active fighters and attack aircraft of the Soviet Union.

***

Fighter pilot Pepelyayev, Hero of the Soviet Union, air combat ace, interviewed after the war.

"How many types of aircraft have you flown?"

"I flew the U-2 for a few hours when I was a student, then switched to Liliya. After training, I flew the Yak, didn't adapt. After Cuihua came, it has always been Cuihua."

"Why didn't you adapt to the Yak?"

"Takeoff and landing were difficult, visibility was too poor. The radio was too terrible, basically useless. You couldn't hear others clearly, and don't expect others to hear you. I know many people removed the Yak's radio and threw it away. That thing was heavy. Liliya's radio was very good, Cuihua's was even better. Takeoff and landing too. I never heard of anyone crashing while taking off or landing a Chinese plane normally. For the plane to take off and land safely, I heard many Chinese test pilots died. They are people very worthy of respect."

"How does Cuihua compare with German aircraft?"

"Cuihua is better, always has been, in almost all aspects. Cuihua is ten years ahead of Yak and German aircraft."

"Have you encountered German jet aircraft?"

"No, I heard those were all on the Western Front dealing with American and British high-altitude bombing. The Chinese later also sent jet aircraft, not used much, too fuel-consuming. Cuihua was completely enough."

"How many parts of your Cuihua were Soviet-made?"

"Initially all were Chinese goods. Later many things were replaced with domestic goods. There were domestic engines, very short life, had to be changed every thirty flight hours, high fuel consumption, but usable."

"How many times were you hit?"

"Three times. Twice by German planes, once by ground artillery."

"Were you injured?"

"No, Cuihua's protection for the pilot is very good. The Chinese shipped a pile of 'bathtubs' (armored cockpits) over, ceramic composite armor, the canopy had five layers of bulletproof glass, very strong. I was never injured in combat."

"Heard German pilots were desperate about this?"

"Later they stopped attacking the cockpit, but hit the engine and wings instead."

"How did you respond?"

"They had few opportunities. Cuihua was very fast and easily shook them off. The engine later also had armor. Even if damaged, forced landing with Cuihua was also safe."

"Did anyone use the ejection seat?"

"Rarely. Germans would shoot at parachutes. I know someone who even removed the ejection seat. He said he decided to die in Cuihua's embrace. (Laughs)"

***

According to the consistent advocacy of the People's Party, wherever modularization and standardization could be achieved, they should be done as much as possible.

The IJ-4 was also like this. Standard interfaces were all ready. Plugging in corresponding instruments allowed for dive bombing, level bombing, aerial dogfighting, and torpedo dropping. Although the combat capability of this light aircraft was not as good as corresponding types of aircraft in the Chinese Air Force, it had all the capabilities it should have.

One trainer aircraft with multiple uses, manufacturing and maintenance would be much cheaper and more convenient.

Then by the middle of World War II, the Soviet Air Force had almost only one model left: the IJ-4.

Advanced trainer, of course, was her.

Fighter, was also her.

Attack aircraft, known as the tank opener, was still her.

Night fighter, light bomber, high-speed reconnaissance aircraft, all were her.

The British did a lot of different jobs with the excellent "Mosquito" fighter-bomber, and actually did them all well.

The Soviets did more work with a small trainer aircraft, and did it even better!

By the end of the war, China and the Soviet Union produced more than 60,000 IJ-4s of various types. The production volume of this "trainer aircraft" far exceeded the production volume of any fighter or attack aircraft in World War II.

***

Engineer Willi of the German Messerschmitt company was interviewed after the war.

"Messerschmitt company had cooperation with the Chinese?"

"Before the war, we had a long period of cooperation. Our Me109 aircraft and China's J-8 were developed together."

"Why cooperate with the Chinese at that time?"

"The Chinese built a huge wind tunnel group. To conduct certain aerodynamic tests, we could only go to the Chinese. We were not allowed to develop fighters in Germany at that time, and the Chinese needed some of our technologies."

"The Me109 aircraft was very successful."

"At that time, she and the J-8 were the most advanced fighters in the world. They ruled the sky in the Spanish Civil War. The Me109 was crucial for the German Air Force to establish air superiority."

"Did the Me109 also take on some Chinese characteristics?"

"Yes, we and our Chinese counterparts learned from each other. The Me109 was very easy to mass-produce. This is a characteristic of Chinese products, which is very important in a large-scale war."

"But later the Me109 lost to the IJ-4?"

"The Chinese made huge breakthroughs in electronic technology and engine technology. The IJ-4 is a very excellent multi-role aircraft. She made all piston-propeller fighters obsolete. We couldn't even make the J-10 appear on a large scale."

"Was China's turboprop engine technology originally obtained from Germany?"

"As far as I know, no. They seemed to start from turbine power generation, and it was also related to the turbocharging system on the water-cooled piston engine of their J-8."

"But the Me262 was the first practical jet aircraft?"

"I'm not sure about this. The J-10 might be earlier. The Me262 might be called practical, but the J-10 was obviously more mature. Hitler made a huge mistake on the Me262. He demanded a multi-role high-speed fighter-bomber. The Me262 absolutely couldn't do it. The Me262 was an excellent interceptor. Not counting the J-10, it might be the best interceptor in World War II. But the range was too short to be a bomber. Because of Hitler's stubbornness, the Me262 experienced unnecessary twists and turns, and when it was finally forced into actual combat, there were still many problems unsolved."

"If Hitler hadn't made this mistake, could the Me262 have given Germany a chance of victory?"

"Impossible. The Me262 could deal a greater blow to American bombers, but China would give the Soviet Union a large number of J-10s, and Germany would still be defeated. Even with only the IJ-4, it could circle around with the Me262."

"Did you study the IJ-4 at that time?"

"In early 1944, we obtained two complete IJ-4s. After repairs, we tested them, and the results were very depressing. As we expected, the IJ-4 surpassed our main fighters in the vast majority of performance aspects and was a very effective weapon. Like the consistent characteristics of Chinese weapons, it also looked very suitable for mass manufacturing, which meant the Chinese could increase production at any time. We all knew that China still had huge war potential, so everyone present knew that we would definitely lose this war. After I went home, I began to secretly contact colleagues, preparing to arrange for our families to smuggle into Switzerland (when defeated)."

"Did you have any plans to copy the IJ-4?"

"The electromechanical system of the IJ-4 was very advanced. We couldn't even understand many parts. Later we learned that it was a system based on transistors and integrated circuits. The engine structure was not that complex, but the materials and processing technology were very advanced. We simply couldn't guarantee the production speed and quality. Very skilled technicians could slowly copy one or two, but that was meaningless for the war. The Soviets later copied the engine. They got help from China. The product quality was relatively poor, but barely usable."

"How did you report to Hitler?"

"We reported to him with trembling hearts that the Chinese aircraft was very powerful, and only the extremely low-production Me262 could deal with it. The sky on the Eastern Front would definitely be seized by the Soviets unless we could suddenly mass-produce jet aircraft. We had no other way. That was the most nervous time I was (reporting to him)."

"What was his reaction?"

"Surprisingly, he was very calm. I think he had long expected this. After the Spanish Civil War, we estimated that the Chinese would develop better aircraft, possibly even better than ours, just didn't expect it to be so much better. Jet engines received the highest priority, but we didn't have enough time."

***

Soviet Army mechanic Jaeger was interviewed after the war.

"What aircraft did you mainly maintain in the unit?"

"LaGG, and then of course Cuihua."

"Was the work pressure high at that time?"

"Very high. There were many planes to maintain, and it was even higher after the domestic engines came."

"Why?"

"Domestic engines had shorter lives, and the key was unstable quality. Chinese engine quality was very stable. Within the working life, it worked stably. When the life was over, it broke down completely very quickly. Changing the engine was very convenient. The designer was very impressive."

"Heard you met the designer."

"I haven't met the engine designer. I met aircraft designer Chen Daisheng. He came to the Soviet Union to teach us how to maintain Chinese aircraft. We drank together. He was a good man, a very good man."

"Could Chen speak Russian?"

"Not really. Many of us learned Chinese. Regrettably, that was too difficult for me. Chen's skills were very good, and his demonstrations were very standard. He definitely came from a worker background."

"Heard he advocated for you to learn to fly planes."

"Yes, he said to understand the plane, one must learn to fly the plane."

"So you also took flying lessons?"

"Resources were tight. Only a few mechanics in our regiment took them. I flew ten hours on Liliya at that time."

"Heard that was a kind of honor?"

"Yes. Mechanics all hoped to fly. I was very happy."

"What's the difference between Liliya and Cuihua?"

"Liliya is a primary trainer. Cuihua is bigger, faster, very fast, a multi-role aircraft. Liliya is a civil aircraft, very fuel-efficient, can fly tens of thousands of hours. Cuihua is a military consumable, with a service life of only two thousand hours. The life of Chinese engines was also only three hundred hours. The trainer version was more durable."

"Was the life only that short?"

"Other fighters were even shorter. If the skeleton of a long-life aircraft is too heavy, the speed will be slow. The life of a LaGG plane might be only one or two hundred hours. When we used LaGG planes, new planes would come from the factory to replace them after fifty hours of flight. After fifty hours, the engine wouldn't work, and using afterburner made it worse. If you did high-G maneuvers, the wings and fuselage would fatigue and deform. If done too much, the plane would fall apart. Cuihua would easily detect deformation. LaGG sometimes would suddenly fall apart."

"Was LaGG easier to repair or Cuihua?"

"LaGG. LaGG was simpler. Cuihua had fly-by-wire, good to fly, slightly more difficult to repair. The Chinese sent many manuals."

"Were they in Russian?"

"Translated into Russian. There were many cartoons, schematic diagrams, very, very many, easy to read. But there were many manuals. Chen was also asking us about reading the manuals at that time. He also participated in the writing."

"Heard this set of manuals was later adapted?"

"Many people liked the cartoon characters in these manuals. After the war ended, they were adapted into military educational cartoons. There were also matching toys of planes and machines. My children liked them very much. (Laughs)"

"When Cuihua first came, did it have no armament?"

"Completely none, all were trainer versions. China was a neutral country at that time."

"How did you modify them?"

"We had to install domestic machine guns and cannons, then adjust the sights. Of course, the 'bathtub' also had to be changed. The two-person cockpit had to be changed to a single-person one. We all called the cockpit a bathtub. The cockpits shipped by the Chinese also had 'Ceramic Bathtub' written on the packaging, so getting on the plane was also called 'going to take a bath'. Many people liked to take three baths a day. (Laughs)"

"Did you maintain German aircraft?"

"Captured one once, a Jerry made a forced landing. After we repaired the plane, a test pilot from the corps came and flew the plane away for testing."

"Felt any difference?"

"Hmm, completely different planes. From a pilot's perspective, the instrument panels of Liliya and Cuihua were modular, designed very carefully, and various instrument switches were arranged very logically. Very handy. The Germans' were inferior. Our planes were messier, simply a mess in comparison. Chen paid great attention to these."

"Was it difficult when repairing German aircraft?"

"Very difficult, because we didn't understand the structure of the aircraft at all. Could tell it was built very finely. The engine system should be very difficult to maintain, wings and landing gear were simple. Of course, German electronic equipment couldn't compare with Cuihua at all."

"Did you have difficulties repairing Cuihua's electronic equipment?"

"Completely none. The interfaces were all ready-made. If there was a problem, just unplug the bad one and plug in a new one."

***

Soviet Army mechanic Jaeger continued to be interviewed.

"Where were you when the war ended?"

"In Poland. The regiment's radio was broken. I saw the communications sergeant running out, shouting and yelling, firing into the sky, and then the whole camp went crazy. Everyone was hugging each other, everyone was firing into the sky. Every plane that returned, the pilot was lifted out and thrown into the sky. We finished all the Erguotou and Vodka that day. Waking up the next morning, the only thought in my head was to steal a plane and fly home. (Laughs)"

"Do you miss the life in the army?"

"Miss? No. I learned a lot in the army, and there were many good comrades in the army, but everyone wanted to go home. No place compares to home. The Jerries came, wanted to kill us, we had to defeat them, drive them away, and then go home, that's it."

"What work did you do after the war?"

"I returned to the farm to repair and drive agricultural machinery. Later we got a Liliya to spray pesticides. I was the pilot. Oh, and a comrade colleague of mine, we two often fought to be the pilot (Laughs). I have another story: I recorded the process of modifying Liliya, made a few suggestions, and also some problems in the Russian manual of Liliya. I wrote all these in a letter and mailed it to Chen Daisheng."

"Then what happened?"

"I simply couldn't believe it. Chen wrote back to me. Of course, he couldn't write Russian, he found someone to translate it, but the drawings were drawn by him, and the letter had his signature. The structure of the new Liliya would have some small adjustments. Some places were not modified as I expected, and Chen explained the reasons to me. Then, my name appeared in the manual of the new version of Liliya!"

"Where in the manual?"

"In the acknowledgments column. Chen mailed the new manual to me. Chen also named a part the Jaeger Valve!"

"You must be very happy."

"I was very, very happy. This was the first time my name appeared in a book, and a part was named after me. I never thought there would be such a thing. This is one of the most glorious things in my life."

"Congratulations. Sounds really nice."

"The acknowledgments column in the manual is very long. Chen wrote back to many people all over the world. Liliya was changed to be better and better. We all love her. Chen is a great guy, a good worker."

***

History researcher Yang Yongshun carefully checked his grandfather's dining table, lying on the ground and lifting his head to look for various corners.

"Stinky brat, what are you doing?"

"I'm looking to see if there are any secret marks or signatures of the design master. If there are, this thing of ours is a work of art, an antique!"

"Get lost! He is a person from our factory. People from our factory only produce products to help people live their lives, not works of art for people to worship."

Yang Yongshun was kicked away and obediently rolled away to surf the Internet, preparing to post a report on his discovery.

***