Chapter 25

Xu Feng knew he had encountered wind shear. Wind shear refers to a sudden change in wind speed in either the horizontal or vertical direction. The reason airplanes can overcome gravity (strictly speaking, lift is equal in magnitude but opposite in direction to gravity) and fly in the sky is because the air flows at different speeds over the top and bottom surfaces of the wings. The shape of the wings causes the air above to flow much faster than the air below. According to Bernoulli's principle, faster-moving air has lower pressure, so the air below creates an upward force, which is the source of lift. To maintain this pressure difference, the airplane must maintain a certain speed. The sudden change in airflow that Xu Feng encountered caused the airplane's speed relative to the air to drop suddenly.

Such incidents usually occur at low altitudes. This was not the first time Xu Feng had encountered this situation. At this moment, the airplane's lift was less than its weight, and the center of gravity of the J-24 aircraft was near the rear of the fuselage, so the airplane rolled backward instantly, with the nose tilting upward. This would exacerbate the stall. Xu Feng quickly pushed the control stick down, and the elevator produced an aerodynamic moment that pressed the nose down. He then adjusted the canard and leading-edge flaps to increase the airspeed over the wings and added fuel to the engine combustion chamber to increase the airplane's speed.

The stall was halted, and Xu Feng pulled the airplane up, quickly ascending. Suddenly, he saw a cluster of black dots in the sky ahead.

Misfortune never comes alone. A flock of swallows had emerged from the clouds. Another important reason airplanes do not fly at low altitudes is that low altitudes are a haven for birds. Except for a few large birds like vultures, eagles, geese, and swans that can fly above 1500 meters, most birds are active below 1500 meters.

Xu Feng tried to avoid them, but it was too late. The relative speed was too high, and the airplane quickly passed through the flock. Since the cockpit was fully enclosed with good soundproofing, Xu Feng did not hear the impact sounds; he only felt several vibrations.

His first reaction was to check the engine's tachometer. The needle was about to hit zero, indicating that the engine's compressor had stopped working.

Swallows are small and usually do not cause significant damage to the engine blades. However, this was a flock of swallows, and multiple impacts eventually caused the compressor blades to fail. One blade in the first stage of the compressor could no longer withstand the stress and broke instantly. The engine, which was spinning at 10,000 revolutions per minute, caused the other blades in the same stage to strike the broken blade, completely "shaving off" the first stage's blades. The engine's significant pressure difference sucked the fragments backward, and few of the subsequent stage blades survived!

The compressor is a necessary component of the aircraft engine, used to compress air. Without the blades, the engine could not function. The airplane, now without power, quickly decelerated due to air resistance. Xu Feng knew a crash was inevitable. He decisively pulled the ejection seat activation lever, and the ejection rocket ignited. The cockpit canopy was blown open, and Xu Feng was ejected from the airplane.

Now, let's talk about Lin Yuan in the Qing army camp. The method he thought of was to forge a telegram from Li Hongzhang!

Technically, this was not difficult because the early warning aircraft had been monitoring all telegrams to and from the Korean Peninsula. The encryption methods of that era were primitive compared to the 21st century. After intercepting enough Qing court telegrams, the Beijing ship used basic frequency analysis to decipher the Qing court's code.

Frequency analysis involves analyzing the frequency of each symbol and comparing it to the frequency of individual characters in Chinese to determine which symbol corresponds to which character.

Soon, Ye Zhichao received a telegram from Li Hongzhang. The content was simple: attack the Japanese army. Ye Zhichao was somewhat surprised. Li Hongzhang usually treated his subordinates with a patriarchal attitude, often barking orders and scolding them, which was reflected in previous telegrams. Why was this telegram so concise?

However, it was Li Hongzhang's order, and he could not disobey. He decided to deploy troops.

Wei Rugui volunteered to lead 1,500 cavalry to attack the outer defenses of Mount Dan. The remaining troops were kept as a reserve to guard against a Japanese counterattack from Pyongyang. In fact, they were overthinking it. Due to prolonged hunger, there were fewer than 1,000 combat-ready Japanese soldiers in Pyongyang, and the elite forces were already engaged in the battle at Mount Dan.

At this point, Mount Dan was on the brink of collapse. All the machine gun ammunition and grenades were exhausted, and each soldier had only six magazines, about 100 rounds of ammunition left. These bullets would soon be used up. Despite the recent bombing, the Japanese saw a large opening in the fortress wall and surged toward the breach like a swarm of leeches.

In Lin Yuan's time, cavalry had long been phased out of the battlefield, and he had only seen cavalry in movies. In those movies, the cavalry would charge with sabers, and he always secretly cursed the commander for being foolish. Such a charge might disperse the enemy's formation, but if it failed, the cavalry would become mounted infantry.

Wei Rugui did not charge into the enemy like the cavalry leaders in the movies. He stood on a high ground and commanded from there. He divided the cavalry into two groups, with the first group leading the charge.

The sound of 1,500 horses charging was enough to terrify anyone. The outer Japanese forces quickly organized a defense. Without heavy artillery, they could not inflict significant damage on the cavalry at a distance. When the Qing cavalry reached 400 meters from the Japanese, the two groups split to the left and right, surrounding the Japanese. The Qing cavalry then opened fire. The Qing army was equipped with imported repeating rifles, which had a much higher rate of fire than the Japanese. The Japanese were quickly mowed down.

The remaining Japanese soldiers hurriedly took cover in the woods. The woods were not dense, and the fighting had made them even sparser. Such woods were not enough to stop the cavalry. The two groups of cavalry did not charge into the woods but instead flanked around to the sides and then charged up the hill, aiming to outflank the Japanese attacking the hill.

At this moment, the second group of 500 cavalry set out. Lin Yuan noticed that these 500 horses were small and well-suited for fighting in the woods. They quickly charged into the woods.

These 500 cavalry drew their sabers and engaged in close combat. One cavalryman charged at a Japanese soldier, who was decapitated before he could react.

The remaining soldiers, seeing the close combat, charged with bayonets, shouting in anger. One cavalryman, seeing a Japanese soldier charge, pulled on the reins, and the horse, as if in sync with its rider, reared up and kicked the Japanese soldier in the chest. The sound of bones breaking was heard, and the Japanese soldier was kicked away.

These cavalrymen were skilled with their sabers, and each strike took a Japanese head. The Japanese could not hold their ground and soon retreated.

At this point, the situation at Mount Dan was even more dire. Chen Fei had no choice but to order the abandonment of the outer defenses and retreat into the fortress, hoping to engage in street fighting.

The Qing army outside had already begun to outflank. The Japanese opened the fortress gates and attacked the interior. Which would happen faster?