Great Power Long Sky

Peng Fei was a member of the investigation team. He was a well-known technical expert in the Air Force of the Military Region, even though he was just a volunteer soldier.

He participated in the investigation of the malfunction of J-6 modified aircraft No. 101.

Soon, a frightening conclusion emerged—the cannon on the right side of the fuselage was not malfunctioning!

This is the complete opposite of what Li Lu said.

The investigation team disassembled the aircraft cannon for further inspection.

After five days of repeated checks, the conclusion was consistent—the cannon was functioning normally.

This is dying.

Li Lu is likely to be punished for firing without authorization.

The investigation results were presented to Wang Yong and several other leaders, who then held a private meeting behind closed doors.

"The investigation results ruled out the possibility of a malfunction in the cannon; in other words, the pilot fired the shell intentionally."

Wang Yong looked at the leaders from the headquarters and the Air Force of the military region with a serious expression and first shared his views.

Among those present were three of the highest rank: Wang Yong, Chief of Staff of the Air Force Command; Wang Yong, Deputy Chief of Staff of the General Staff Headquarters; Wang Yong, Deputy Commander of the Military Region and Commander of the Military Region Air Force; and Wang Yong, all of whom were deputy regional-level cadres.

The other three are the heads of the second-level departments of the above three agencies, and all of them are officers at the rank of major general.

Wang Yong said, "I have a personal relationship with the pilot involved, Li Lu, and according to investigation regulations, I should recuse myself."

Deputy Chief of Staff Zhang from headquarters said, "Old Wang, the facts are very clear, there's no need to avoid suspicion."

He glanced at the others and said, "The pilot involved, Comrade Li Lu, insists that it was a cannon malfunction. He wrote a guarantee that he did not touch the firing switch during the interception and expulsion mission."

"The problem now is that the investigation results contradict what Comrade Li Lu said."

"Old Wang, Old Chen, my personal opinion is to look at this matter from two perspectives."

Deputy Commander Chen of the military region nodded. "Shooting down a U-2, whether intentional or unintentional, is a good thing. I agree with looking at this from two perspectives."

Two of the three leaders reached a consensus, and there were no further objections to the direction to follow.

Deputy Chief of Staff Zhang said, "First, was there a problem with the aircraft? The situation has been clarified, and there was no problem with the aircraft. Second, assuming that Comrade Li Lu opened fire and launched the attack, it is a fact that he violated the rules, but the results of the battle are undeniable."

Several heads of secondary departments thought to themselves in unison, "Isn't this blatant favoritism towards the pilot in question? They might as well just say so directly."

Deputy Commander Chen immediately agreed with Deputy Chief of Staff Zhang's words.

Wang Yong shook his head and said, "This can't be done like this. Now that the matter has been investigated, there's at least one thing the pilot involved can't escape—he lied to the organization."

"It's not that serious." Deputy Chief of Staff Zhang waved his hand with a smile. "What kind of lie is that? There is evidence that the aircraft cannon is working properly, but there is also no evidence that Comrade Li Lu opened fire on his own initiative."

Deputy Commander Chen chimed in, "That's right. We don't follow the principle of 'presumption of guilt'; we can't say that just because the cannon wasn't damaged, it must be Comrade Li Lu's responsibility."

Good grief, these two big shots are sticking their necks out, making it clear that they won't let Li Lu get punished no matter what.

However, Wang Yong, who was closest to Li Lu, always insisted on handling the matter according to regulations.

Deputy Commander Chen smiled and said, "Old Wang, the matter definitely needs to be dealt with, but we can't just kill off such a talented young man, can we? It's good for young people to have drive, but it would be terrible if they didn't."

"In my opinion, it is in line with our principle of training cadres to let Comrade Li Lu go to the logistics department to reflect for a few months before returning him to the combat unit."

Deputy Chief of Staff Zhang immediately smiled and agreed, "That's right, I agree with Lao Chen's opinion."

Wang Yong looked at this and then at that, and he had no choice but to agree.

"Okay, let's do it that way."

Once the direction is determined, the rest is simple.

The investigation report was submitted normally, and the Air Force of the Military Region took action against Li Lu. First, it was handed over to the army level, and then to the division level. After a long time, no decision was made.

Finally, Wang Yong lost his temper and immediately instructed Fang Zhenwei, the political commissar of the 7th Air Regiment, to transfer Li Lu to the station's cooking squad as a feeder.

When Li Lu received the notification, he almost broke down.

Before returning to Beijing, Wang Yong called Li Lu over. Seeing Li Lu's resentful expression, Wang Yong felt helpless.

He explained, "I am going to deal with you strictly according to the regulations; you are at least responsible for acting without authorization."

"Your Uncle Zhang and Uncle Chen are stopping you, trying to lift the bar high and then gently lower you down, making you feed the pigs for a while—that's the lightest punishment!"

Li Lu retorted, "I shot down a U-2, and not only did they not give me credit, they even removed me from my position as acting squadron leader! There's no justice in this world!"

The flight crew and officers waiting quietly in the corridor looked toward the office in surprise. Why were they arguing? How dare that pilot argue with the chief of staff?

In the office, Wang Yong nodded repeatedly. "Oh, so you're admitting you opened fire now? What did you answer when I asked you something on the first day?"

Li Lu turned his head and snorted coldly.

"And who are you calling 'father'? Whose father are you?" Wang Yong roared, pointing his finger at Li Lu's nose.

Li Lu suddenly turned around and stared at Wang Yong, "I'm my own father! I don't have a father, okay?!"

He turned and left.

Wang Yong panicked, filled with regret, and hurriedly chased after him, yelling, "You little bastard, stop right there!"

The officers waiting in the corridor witnessed a shocking scene: a lieutenant pilot quickened his pace toward the stairwell, with the Chief of Staff of the Air Force jogging after him.

"Li Lu, you stop right there!" Wang Yong was really anxious and shouted loudly, not caring about the consequences.

Li Lu didn't stop walking at all, and clattered down the stairs.

Deputy Chief of Staff Zhang and Deputy Commander Chen were downstairs talking with the leaders of the 3rd Air Division, the 7th Air Regiment, and the East China Sea Air Base, while waiting for Wang Yong to finish his business so they could leave together by plane.

Hearing the commotion above, they all stopped talking.

Then they saw Li Lu come down the stairs with a face full of anger, not even glancing at them, and walk straight towards the dormitory area.

Wang Yong caught up, followed by a large group of officers from the air force, all of whom looked bewildered and confused.

"What's going on?" Deputy Chief of Staff Zhang and Deputy Commander Chen strode forward to greet them.

Wang Yong was both angry and regretful. He said, "I said a couple of things to him, and that little bastard turned around and left. What a dog's temper!"

"What did you say?" Deputy Commander Chen asked hurriedly.

Wang Yong opened his mouth, then shook his head and waved his hands, saying, "Don't ask that, hurry up and find him. Where did he go?"

Fang Zhenwei quickly reported, "Reporting, sir! Comrade Li Lu just went towards the dormitory area."

Wang Yong hurried towards the dormitory area, not even taking a car.

Deputy Chief of Staff Zhang and Deputy Commander Chen followed closely behind. They could guess that Wang Yong's words must have touched a nerve with Li Lu, otherwise Li Lu would not have reacted this way.

Senior officers from other units had no idea what was going on, let alone why three deputy regional leaders were chasing after a junior lieutenant...