A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

Chapter 683 So that’s it…

Jiangxia was awakened by a powerful and majestic symphony.

The sound initially resembled a muffled rumble of thunder rolling on a distant horizon, carrying the tremor of the earth awakening, and vibrated through the tower's solid concrete structure, causing the blanket on his body to sway.

Immediately afterwards, the "thunder" rapidly approached and rose in pitch, transforming into a deep, heavy roar, like the deep breath of a giant beast. It wasn't a tearing sound, but rather a powerful, pent-up energy.

"Ugh..." Jiang Xia, who was sleeping on three hardwood stools pushed together, unconsciously turned over under the blanket. The narrow stool surface instantly caused him to lose his balance; he felt dizzy and his body tilted uncontrollably.

"Bang!"

With a short gasp and the sound of a stool leg hitting the ground, Jiang Xia fell solidly onto the cold cement floor! The fatigue from the previous night was instantly dispelled by the sudden impact and the coldness.

The thick military blanket that was originally covering him seemed to come alive as it rolled down, wrapping him up completely from his shoulders to his calves, leaving only his somewhat dazed head sticking out.

At this moment, Jiang Xia lay on the ground like a cocoon wrapped in a blanket, looking bewildered.

Jiang Xia, who had slightly low blood pressure, opened his sleepy eyes and was greeted by a burning, golden-red dawn outside the tower's huge curved glass curtain wall!

The sky was no longer a somber gray-blue, but was ignited by the rising sun, with brilliant clouds like molten gold and flames splashed across the vast airport horizon.

Light penetrated the glass, casting warm spots of light in the slightly cluttered conference room, while dust particles in the air danced merrily in the beams of light.

The main theme of the "symphony" that awakened him was a fleet of warplanes waiting to take off.

At that moment, the powerful commands from the rooftop controller also penetrated the glass and came through:

"Two bends in the tunnel, maintain altitude, heading towards Cave 18, approach is permitted..."

"Take the first two turns, runway left, wind at the third hole, five meters per second, ready to land!"

"Two pairs, one runway hole, move forward and wait..."

Wow, as expected of the "Spark Base", they've already started their mission so quickly?

Still feeling a bit dizzy, Jiang Xia hugged the marching blanket and stared blankly at the blueprints scattered on the ground for a while before turning her gaze to the runway ahead.

"Awake? Huh! Why are you lying on the floor!"

"No...not awake! I want to sleep...it's just too noisy up there, and the chair won't stay still..."

Jiang Xia wrapped the blanket tighter around himself, pointed somewhat awkwardly to the control room above his head, and then glanced at the overturned stool.

That damn stool is restless...

The fall didn't hurt much, but listening to the commands from above and the roar of engines outside the window, Jiang Xia felt an atmosphere full of power and vitality. Even the heavy headache from last night's high-intensity work quietly dissipated like morning mist in this atmosphere.

"Ha, that's easy. Come on, eat quickly, and then go to my dorm for a good night's sleep!" Pang Guoxing strode into the command room after completing his standby duty, holding a steaming bowl of soup noodles steadily in his hand.

Carefully avoiding the blueprints scattered on the floor, Pang Guoxing placed the bowl of noodles on a relatively stable table, then reached out to pull Jiang Xia, who was still wrapped in a blanket and lying on the floor.

However, throughout the journey, he maintained a posture of keeping his eyes down and his mind at ease.

Jiang Xia, half-lying down, gave a wry smile: "I can't get up, it's numb!"

Pang Guoxing walked over to Jiang Xia and helped him take off his shoes and socks: "Hehe, you'll get used to it. I do this all the time. Sometimes I'm on standby in that chair in the J-6 fighter jet for the whole day! Don't worry, it'll be over in a minute. I'm very experienced. Listen to my commands!"

"Stand on your tiptoes! Yes... that's it, flex your feet up and down, come on, move it, move it, don't be afraid, it'll be done in five minutes!"

Jiang Xia moved her toes as instructed, following Pang Guoxing's commands for a while. Sure enough, the uncomfortable tingling sensation subsided considerably.

"Hey! It actually works!"

"That's right! It's the experience that many veteran sergeants have summarized! These are all little tricks they came up with when their legs went numb from sitting in the cockpit for too long back then!"

Jiang Xia tried to put his feet on the floor. The cold ground invigorated him, and the soreness and numbness in his legs receded like a tide.

Walking up to the huge glass curtain wall, I unconsciously pressed my palm against the cold glass and looked down at the aircraft below. Wow, what a variety! In the distance, a Tu-4 was preparing to take off, and nearby, a J-5 was slowly taxiing toward the runway's starting point.

Even more eye-catching was a J-6 fighter jet with several five-pointed stars painted on its nose, which was carefully towed back to the hangar by the logistics soldiers using a small steel cannon.

Tsk, this must be Pang Guoxing's car...

His gaze swept across a corner next to the hangar and landed on an aircraft undergoing pre-takeoff preparations. He didn't recognize the model; it just looked old!

Because it has a large propeller on top of it.

Two pilots wearing leather jackets were seen climbing into the cockpit through its convex porthole, one after the other.

"Hey, what model of aircraft is that? Its cockpit looks huge!"

Jiang Xia continued wiggling his toes and turned to ask Pang Guoxing.

"Put your shoes on now that your feet aren't numb! You know, cold enters through the feet! You're so weak, you might catch a cold right away!" Pang Guoxing muttered as he picked up Jiang Xia's cotton-padded shoes, loosened the uppers to make them a little looser, and then put them on Jiang Xia's feet without saying a word.

After finishing his work, he straightened up and looked in the direction Jiang Xia pointed.

“Oh! NL-10! An old hero! The one you see is a modified trainer! Do you see it's missing a machine gun in the back seat? We call this ‘Aircraft No. 9’!” Pang Guoxing’s voice carried a familiar respect.

"NL-10? Oh! You mean the Il-10! So this is the aircraft that participated in our first joint military operation? No wonder you called it an old hero!"

"Yeah, right!" Pang Guoxing nodded vigorously, his eyes filled with affirmation for the Il-10. "This old buddy of mine made great contributions back then! It's tough and durable, has strong firepower, and good low-altitude performance. In critical moments, it can withstand artillery fire and accurately drop bombs and machine guns on the enemy, relieving our brothers on the ground and protecting the lives of many comrades!"

"Hey, you didn't know, did you? When we attacked Yijiangshan Island, we first used Il-10s to take out their anti-aircraft artillery positions, and then the Tu-2s came in for a horizontal bombing! That was quite an impressive sight!"

Ah, Yijiangshan Island, it really is here. Jiangxia once visited it, but back then the island was uninhabited and had been replaced by an educational base.

Pang Guoxing became more and more excited as he spoke: "Hoo hoo hoo... whatever anti-landing devices, let them all fly into the sky!"

“Let me tell you, our old veteran…” Pang Guoxing said, pointing to the Il-10 that was wobbling as it glided onto the runway: “Whenever it appeared, the strawberry soldiers would immediately take cover, not daring to show their heads. Our landing force would then take the opportunity to rush up… In this way, even after the Il-10 ran out of bombs, it didn’t leave, but continued to dive and confuse them!”

"Hahaha……"

After his initial joy, Pang Guoxing looked at the somewhat unsteady Il-10 and a deep sense of regret washed over him. "Right now... its engines have long been discontinued, and spare parts are becoming increasingly scarce, making maintenance work increasingly difficult. To ensure uninterrupted training missions, some of the same type of aircraft have been grounded, and the remaining spare parts are being gathered together to fully support these few trainer aircraft..."

He pointed to the Il-10 that was slowly taxiing toward the runway, his words full of regret.

No wonder, so that's how it is...

With Pang Guoxing's explanation, Jiang Xia immediately understood why the designer of the Q-5 had appeared in front of him.

It seems that our team tasted the benefits of attack aircraft during that joint operation involving the three armed forces.

However, the venerable Il-10, which we currently rely on, is ultimately no match for the passage of time and technological advancements, and is in dire need of replacement.

It was against this backdrop that the Strong 5 Project was presented to him in a unique way.

"Hey, can I take a look at that airplane you drew?"

Jiangxia picked up the bowl of noodles and gulped it down.

"Take a look, it's all just scrap paper anyway..."

"what!"