The Merit Medal and the Jiaolong 10
After receiving his merit medal, Li Zhi chatted briefly with Lei Hu before leaving. As a division commander, Lei Hu was a busy man, especially lately!
His superiors were preparing to take some action against Peacock, though they were still discussing and drawing up plans.
As a mid-to-senior leader in the Southwest Military Region and one of the people who dealt most often with Peacock's air force, Lei Hu had to take part as well.
Li Zhi knew nothing about any of this. He was busy grinning foolishly as he held his medal and certificate.
Although he had received them more than once in his previous life, this was his first in this life, so it meant something different.
"Combat readiness training"
"Third-class merit medal"
"Made by Dragon Country Air Force Command"
Those three lines were written on the box holding the medal.
He opened the box to find a bronze-colored third-class merit medal lying quietly inside. Though it was not a gleaming gold, it was still beautiful.
On the medal, two rifles guarded Dragon Country's national flag behind them. It was a design reserved for merit earned in combat.
Li Zhi resisted the urge to take it out and wear it, consoling himself that this was only a bronze medal. He could wait until he earned a gold one to wear it!
There was also a slip of white paper with 50,000 yuan written on it. The slip could not be exchanged for money; the 50,000 yuan awarded to Li Zhi would be deposited into his salary account along with next month's allowance.
Li Zhi had long since sent his salary card home. Money was of no use to him now, because he simply had nowhere to spend it!
That night, Li Zhi, who usually slept well, found himself having rare trouble falling asleep.
But when he remembered he had a flight mission the next day, he forced himself to sleep.
As soldiers, especially pilots who had to get enough rest, everyone had a method for falling asleep quickly.
Li Zhi's method was to recall the various maneuvers and combat cases he had seen.
Sure enough, studying was the quickest way to send a person to sleep. Before long, Li Zhi had dozed off.
Early the next morning, after breakfast, Division Commander Lei had his orderly drive Li Zhi to Yu Aircraft.
It was treatment even Xu Feng had never received. Besides thinking highly of Li Zhi, Lei Hu also felt a little guilty.
Lei Hu felt that the rewards for both of Li Zhi's acts of merit had not matched his achievements. The last incident had not exactly reflected well on them, so Li Zhi had received only a commendation.
This time, because the Eighth Master was a model being phased out, Li Zhi had received only third-class merit.
Had it been a Jiaolong 10 or 20, never mind third-class merit-even second-class or first-class merit would not have been impossible!
There was a precedent for it. Last year, a Jiaolong 10's engine had stopped in midair, and a special-class pilot had successfully flown the fighter back by gliding alone.
That special-class pilot had subsequently been awarded first-class merit!
The Jiaolong 10 had only one engine, so an engine stoppage in midair was indeed more dangerous than what Li Zhi had faced this time, but the danger Li Zhi had faced was no small matter either.
Both engines had failed just as he was about to land. According to the pilot's manual, that was a situation in which he had to eject.
Even so, Li Zhi had brought the fighter down safely. First-class merit might have been too much to hope for, but second-class merit would definitely have been warranted!
But because the Eighth Master was a model about to be phased out and the surrounding area was uninhabited, there would have been no other losses even if he had ejected, so Li Zhi's reward had been reduced.
Lei Hu had not told Li Zhi any of this for fear he would dwell on it, but Lei Hu had kept it all in mind.
Li Zhi really had not given it much thought. His mind was full of joy at the prospect of flying the Jiaolong 10.
Although he had not gotten to fly a Jiaolong 10 straight out of graduation like Liu Zhixin, he was only a little over a month behind.
The Yu Aircraft Group was also within the third ring road, and very close to the 201 Military Airport.
When the 611 Research Institute, the Yu Aircraft Group's predecessor, had originally chosen its site, no one had expected Yuzhou to develop so quickly. As a result, the area around the Yu Aircraft Group, once on the outskirts, was gradually becoming the city center!
Ever since the 611 Research Institute had been reorganized into the Yu Aircraft Group, Yu Aircraft had no longer been considered a classified unit, so there was naturally no need to relocate.
The car drove straight to 201 Airport, where the four fighters Li Zhi was to take delivery of were being stored for the time being.
He was originally supposed to sign for them at the Yu Aircraft Group, but important guests from the central continent were visiting today, and most of Yu Aircraft's leadership had come to 201 Airport.
The leader responsible for delivering Li Zhi's four fighters was also there, so naturally Li Zhi had no choice but to come here too. It saved him the trouble of going back and forth between the two places.
When Li Zhi arrived, the person at Yu Aircraft responsible for this matter was meeting with the honored guests, so Li Zhi could only go to the hangar for the time being and look at his future mount.
The four Jiaolong 10s about to be delivered to Chicken Coop Base had already been assembled and were waiting quietly in the hangar for their owner.
The Jiaolong 10 was not actually as good-looking as the Eighth Master, mainly because its single-engine design affected its appearance.
But as the saying went, you could not judge a person by appearances alone, and the same was true of fighters!
The Jiaolong 10's performance and ammunition payload were beyond anything the antiquated Eighth Master could match. Besides, the Eighth Master's twin-engine design had only been a stopgap measure at the time.
The Eighth Master's two engines combined were not as powerful as the Jiaolong 10's single engine, let alone its more sensible aerodynamic layout and formidable attack power.
Whether because testing was still underway or for some other reason, the cable connected to the flight controls had not been unplugged. Several other wires of unknown purpose were still connected to the fighter as well.
Nearby, workers were refueling the fighters. They had also been informed and knew the aircraft would be delivered today.
Li Zhi was stopped when he tried to go over and touch a fighter. If the people there had not seen the Yu Aircraft staff member beside him, Li Zhi would probably have been detained on the spot.
Although the Jiaolong 20 had already entered service, everything about the Jiaolong 10 was still classified.
After being stopped, Li Zhi realized his action had been somewhat inappropriate. After all, the fighters did not yet belong to the base; the handover procedures had not been completed.
"Captain Li, Director Chen has just finished his meeting. Let's hurry over. He only has fifteen minutes to spare!"
The Yu Aircraft staff member accompanying Li Zhi reminded him at just the right moment. Director Chen, who was responsible for the delivery, had been extremely busy with foreign trade matters lately, and had squeezed out even those fifteen minutes.
"Comrade, please take me to him. Sorry for the trouble!"
"Not at all!"
Everyone was just doing their job, so Li Zhi did not feel he had been slighted.