Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 260 Pirate Fighter
In fact, Wang Gensheng had already calculated that the closest airport to the US military was Hagaru-ri Airport, which was more than 200 kilometers away.

If a fighter jet here is shot down, the US military will immediately dispatch fighter jets from the nearest airfield to investigate, or send bombers.

However, regardless of the distance of over 200 kilometers from takeoff to the destination, it will take 20 to 30 minutes, which is sufficient.

After the fighter jets left, Wang Gensheng handed a pile of clothes, riddled with holes from the jets' 12.7mm machine gun bullets, to Wu Qianli, saying:

"Here you go! We're returning your company uniforms!"

That's right. Because Wang Gensheng's team was wearing bulletproof vests and bulletproof vests over their uniforms, it was very inconvenient to take off their uniforms. So Wang Gensheng immediately asked Wu Qianli's Seventh Company to give up their thin cotton-padded clothes.

In Wang Gensheng's view, as the temperature dropped rapidly, the thin cotton clothes they wore provided very limited warmth, so once they were damaged, they were simply ruined.

Besides, Wang Gensheng had already planned to change them into American military uniforms for warmth, so he naturally didn't care about these clothes.

But Wu Qianli had no idea at that time!

So he immediately smiled wryly and said to Wang Gensheng:
"Wang Siling, these clothes have so many holes in them, how are we supposed to keep warm!"

Wang Gensheng waved his hand in response to Wu Qianli's words:
"Don't worry, we'll provide you with thick cotton-padded coats to keep you warm soon!"

Wu Qianli naturally didn't say anything more to Wang Gensheng's words, but instead distributed the thin cotton clothes full of large holes.

Wu Wanli took the cotton-padded coat from Wu Qianli and said:
"Bro, what's the name of that warplane with its upturned wings that just got shot down? That bullet was huge, it actually made such a big hole!"

Before Wu Qianli could answer, Wang Gensheng said:
"This type of fighter jet is called the Corsair by the US military; it's a fighter jet capable of taking off and landing on aircraft carriers!"

Wang Gensheng still had a strong impression of this fighter jet with its unique upturned wings. It was because he had seen this fighter jet with upturned wings when he watched the movie "The Battle at Lake Changjin" before he traveled through time, so Wang Gensheng even went to look up some information about it.

The Corsair fighter was a legendary carrier-based aircraft developed by the Millennium Swart for the Navy. Its unique inverted gull wing design and powerful performance made it an iconic aircraft during World War II and the Korean War.

Its power system was even more powerful than that of the Mustang fighter, equipped with Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Twin Wasp air-cooled radial engines, producing 2,000 horsepower. Combined with a four-meter diameter Hamilton four-bladed propeller, it became one of the fastest piston-engine fighters of its time. Its maximum speed reached 718 kilometers per hour, and its range was 1,600 kilometers.

The curved wing was primarily designed to resolve the conflict between a large propeller and a short landing gear. Designers employed an inverted gull-wing layout, which shortened the landing gear length and optimized aerodynamic performance. This design reduced wing-body interference drag and improved high-speed stability, but it was prone to asymmetric stall at low speeds.

The Corsair's standard armament consisted of six 12.7mm machine guns, and it could carry 1.8 tons of bombs or ten rockets, possessing both air-to-air and ground-attack capabilities. After entering service in the Pacific theater in 1942, the Corsair and Hellcat fighters jointly dominated the Pacific, with the Corsair performing even better than the Hellcat due to its superior speed. Its kill ratio was as high as eleven to one, earning it the nickname "The Howling Grim Reaper" from Japanese pilots.

During the Chao-Kuo War, the pirates, acting as fighter-bombers, carried out missions such as bombing bridges and cutting off roads, conducting armed patrols, and providing close air support. They destroyed over two thousand vehicles and more than one hundred railway locomotives, earning them the title of "air saviors" from ground troops.

Of course, what makes the Corsair so famous is its ability to make ice cream.

As is well known, the tropical climate of the Pacific theater caused pilots to suffer from the heat during lulls in combat, and many of them developed homesickness as a result.

Under such sweltering conditions, American soldiers craved the cool ice cream of their homeland, but on the Pacific front, this was almost a luxury.

Because the production, transportation and storage of ice cream are extremely inconvenient, and the few refrigerators available to the U.S. military are usually located in the commander's office, they are far from meeting everyone's needs.

However, a miracle occurred in a chance encounter. Rheinburg, the squadron leader of the 122nd Fighter Squadron of the U.S. Army Air Forces, a passionate ice cream enthusiast, had a sudden inspiration in the sweltering heat.

They thought they could use the excellent climb rate of the Corsair fighter planes to make ice cream. While the idea sounded far-fetched, it brought US soldiers an unprecedented coolness and sweetness.

Initially, people were skeptical of Rheinburg's outlandish idea, after all, using fighter jets to make ice cream did sound rather far-fetched.

However, as Rheinburg explained in detail, people gradually realized the rationale behind this idea. The Corsair fighter had a service ceiling of 12,000 meters, where the temperature was minus 50 or 60 degrees Celsius—it was practically a natural freezer.

So, everyone started actively discussing how to use this advantage to make ice cream. In the end, they decided to modify the pirates' auxiliary fuel tanks, fill them with pure milk mixed with cocoa powder, and then fly to the high-altitude, cold regions.

This way, they could enjoy homemade ice cream after landing. Ground crew acted quickly, successfully modifying a corvette fighter plane into an auxiliary fuel tank in the fuselage and pouring in a mixture of milk and cocoa powder. Furthermore, this design could also be used to make beer or other beverages, bringing a special coolness and comfort to the soldiers on the front lines.

After careful consideration, Rheinburg realized the problem might be that the temperature inside the auxiliary fuel tank gradually rose during the descent, causing the ice to melt. So, he decided to try making ice cream himself. This ice cream-obsessed major once again piloted the Corsair to an altitude of 10,000 meters, patiently waiting for the milk in the auxiliary fuel tank to solidify. Then, he decisively steered the plane in a rapid descent, reaching the ground in a very short time. He truly gave it his all for that one bite of ice cream.

Unfortunately, the final result was still not as desired; the milk in the auxiliary fuel tank remained chilled and did not solidify into ice cream.

After an inspection, the ground crew finally uncovered the mystery. It turned out that the pirate's auxiliary fuel tank was located below and behind the engine exhaust pipe, and was constantly affected by the high-temperature exhaust during flight, preventing the milk from effectively solidifying upon landing.

To solve this problem, everyone decided to abandon the original auxiliary fuel tank design. The ground crew specially customized two ice cream making cones for the pirate's underwing pylons and equipped them with ram-propelled propellers to ensure that the milk could be fully stirred during the coagulation process, thus producing an ice cream taste that satisfied the squadron leader.

(End of this chapter)