Great Power Long Sky

After settling in, Li Lu led Xue Shuang and Fang Dong on a tour of the station to familiarize them with its layout.

Li Lu wasn't exaggerating when he said that the environment around Donghai Station is indeed very beautiful.

Looking out, there are endless hills, not very high, with the most prominent ones only three or four hundred meters high. Everywhere there are lush green trees and vegetation, intertwined with each other, with distinct layers of color. Further away, there are even light clouds near the ridgeline, like a fairyland.

Needless to say, the air was crisp and clear, with a chilly wind blowing in. Taking a deep breath felt like eating an ice pop while wrapped in a coat on a winter's day.

Xue Shuang's gaze followed the runway, and she gasped slightly. "Old Li," she said, "you guys usually take off and land in this kind of terrain, right?"

Li Lu smiled and nodded: "That's for sure, so you made the right choice coming here. At least your takeoff and landing skills will get better training."

One side of the runway is a mountain, and the other side is the control tower. The distance between the two ends of the runway and the mountain... doesn't seem to exceed three kilometers.

To put it bluntly, the Donghai Station was built in a valley.

This also means that when an aircraft takes off, it must immediately consider climbing after lifting off the landing gear, otherwise there is a risk of crashing into a mountain.

Landing was even more terrifying. The mountains three kilometers away were about 300 meters above sea level. In other words, the plane only had a short distance of three kilometers to lower its altitude to the landing altitude. If it was even slightly slow, it would probably have to go around and start over—if it flew too far, the runway would not be long enough.

Pilots all have a certain arrogance, or rather, all airplane pilots have a certain arrogance.

The difficulty of takeoffs and landings at the Donghai Air Base undoubtedly aroused Xue Shuang's competitive spirit, and his resentment at being transferred to the 7th Air Regiment lessened considerably.

Li Lu suddenly said, "Do you know how much the lever fee is for those Su-27s driven by the Ninth Regiment?"

Upon hearing this, Xue Shuang's ears perked up, and even Fang Dong's eyes widened with curiosity.

Li Lu said mysteriously, "One hundred and twenty yuan."

"What?!" Xue Shuang exclaimed in surprise, "One hundred and twenty yuan? That's twice ours?"

Fang Dong was dumbfounded. He had been working for five years and his monthly salary was only a little over one hundred yuan!

Someone can earn 120 yuan in an hour just by flying a Su-27!

Xue Shuang exclaimed in surprise, "How can there be so many? How can this be allowed?"

Li Lu said casually, "The planes are advanced and expensive, but to be honest, for us soldiers, the amount of money isn't important. What difference does it make what kind of plane we fly?"

However, the fleeting look of envy in his eyes betrayed his true feelings.

If Xue Shuang knew that Li Lu wanted to seize the Su-27 of the Ninth Regiment, he would definitely vomit in his face.

The situation was similar for the 7th Air Regiment and the 87th Air Regiment, both of which were mainly composed of J-6 fighters, with J-7s accounting for one-third of the total.

The lever fee is the same for both models—sixty dollars per hour.

To be fair, considering the current level of military salaries, the pilot's flight allowance is quite generous.

A lieutenant's salary is over 500 yuan, while a professional sergeant in a technical position like Fang Dong only earns a little over 100 yuan.

Of course, the treatment of aircrew is incomparable to that of ground crew.

At this point, Li Lu started making empty promises. He said, "If you stay in the 87th Regiment, you might get a Su-27 sometime soon, but in the 7th Regiment, that time is predictable."

"I'm not bragging, but the next batch of Su-27s will definitely be from our 7th Regiment. The 8th Regiment was brought in from outside, so they'll definitely be ranked after us."

Xue Shuang nodded in agreement.

After all, the Air Force's 30th Ace unit has a reputation for excellence; they are the Air Force's top ace and a veteran unit.

The 29th Air Division, to which the 87th Regiment belongs, is a junior division, and is the little brother in front of the 3rd Air Division.

Li Lu said, "Our group has an emergency allowance of 200 yuan per month."

Upon hearing this, Xue Shuang's brows relaxed.

This is a lot of money. Their 87th Regiment is located inland and does not receive this subsidy.

Li Lu walked up to Fang Dong, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Old Fang, I applied for a special subsidy for you from the regiment. It's not much, only seventy or eighty yuan."

Fang Dong was surprised and asked, "For me?"

Li Lu smiled and nodded, "What's given to you is only for you."

Fang Dong was stunned. His lips trembled, his nose stung, and tears welled up in his eyes.

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing? What are you doing?" Seeing that something was wrong, Li Lu quickly said, "It's just seventy or eighty yuan, it can't be that serious!"

Fang Dong turned his head away, wiped his eyes haphazardly, and choked out, "Thank you."

Li Lu patted Fang Dong on the shoulder and laughed, "We're comrades in the same trench, don't talk about that. Old Fang, you've got a great name, Fang Dongfangdong, you'll definitely be a landlord someday! A landlady!"

One sentence enlivened the atmosphere.

"Let me take you to settle your food arrangements and stuff, come on, come on," Li Lu called out, leading the two towards the cooking squad.

Li Lu is very young, but in the 7th Air Regiment, including the East China Sea Air Base, many people who are older or higher in rank call him Sixth Brother.

Xue Shuang quickly realized this, and at first she found it strange, but she gradually understood.

Li Lu is very thoughtful in his dealings with people and things. He considers things that others have thought of, and he also considers things that others haven't thought of.

Take Fang Dong, for example, who was transferred from Yuanling Radar Station. It's unlikely that the higher-ups would bother to find out about a soldier's family situation, but Li Lu did.

To ensure his subordinates could focus on their work, he needed to help them resolve their concerns.

The volunteer soldiers of that era had a very tough time. Many of them did the work of officers but were paid the wages of ordinary soldiers.

It is common for volunteers to serve as acting platoon leaders or acting deputy company commanders.

Everyone gave their all without complaint or regret.

The country is currently facing increasing external pressures, and its economic development is in its initial stage. Under the general guidance of prioritizing economic development, the military must be patient, and soldiers must make sacrifices.

Specifically, for the coastal frontline troops, since the beginning of 1995, the string of combat readiness has been tightened more and more, and they are ready to be deployed at any time. All troops have participated in live-fire exercises and maneuvers, and as soon as the order is changed, they are engaged in real combat.

But we must be patient; only through patience can we preserve the hard-won achievements and the hard-won economic progress.

For the 7th Air Regiment, the pilots' thoughts were simple: when the order came, take off and do it!

The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder as the military frequently deployed fighter jets to carry out live-fire combat patrols. Under such circumstances, the military had to maintain normal combat training.

Maximum intensity.

As a result, Xue Shuang quickly came to fully understand what Li Lu had said—the remoteness of the airfield was not a problem, because there was no time to rest, let alone go out.

To put it bluntly, "Forget about resting or going out, there won't be time to do anything else for a long time to come, except masturbate."