Chapter 37: Commander, You Wouldn't Want

Standing atop the hill by the bay, Tang Wen stared dumbfounded at the massive warship that had suddenly descended.

Unless one saw it with their own eyes, it was hard to imagine just how large a 27,000-ton aircraft carrier truly was.

The deck of the Hornet was longer than a standard 400-meter oval track, and its width of 34.7 meters was even wider than two basketball courts.

With a flight deck area of about 8,000 square meters, the impact was immense when viewed from the low hill; the tugboats beside it looked like mere ladybugs in comparison.

At this moment, the Hornet seemed to have just finished refueling and repainting, fully loaded with aircraft, ready to launch an assault at any time.

Six massive B-25 bombers were parked on the gray deck; one alone could occupy the entire width of the deck, while the torpedo bombers and dive bombers behind them paled in comparison.

This steel beast cast a long shadow in the slanting sunlight, and the radar atop the mast turned gently like a windmill.

Had it not been for the cold sea breeze making Tang Wen shiver, he could have stayed on the mountain watching until nightfall.

He hurriedly urged the driver:

"Drive down quickly, I want to board the aircraft carrier!"

Tang Yi was also quite stirred, after all, the shipyard was still far from being able to build an aircraft carrier.

In fact, the shipyard's dry docks were only 100 by 10 meters in size, unable to accommodate the Hornet.

The truck quickly drove down the winding mountain ridge, and upon entering the port, Tang Wen discovered that the primary port was already nearly half the size of Great Bay Town, fully equipped with various facilities, and even the roads were hardened concrete capable of resisting light bombing.

Of course, what pleased him even more was spotting a classic US Army WWII Willys open-top jeep by the roadside; although it was also an antique, it was at least much more imposing than the truck.

Having made up his mind to change vehicles, Tang Wen first arrived at the berth where the Hornet was moored, and only standing on the pier did he truly feel the massive size of the aircraft carrier.

Standing on the pier, the Hornet's island superstructure was almost as tall as a department store, and it was quite an effort to crane one's neck to see the mast at the very top.

The Hornet's standard displacement was around 20,000 tons, roughly comparable to the Type 075 amphibious assault ships built domestically before the transmigration.

The Type 075 had a deck length of 237 meters and a width of 36 meters, larger than the Hornet's 228.6 meters in length and 34.6 meters in width.

However, that was many years in the future; with a full-load displacement of 27,000 tons, the Hornet could still be considered a very good light aircraft carrier.

The Australian Navy's "Melbourne" aircraft carrier, 213.6 meters long and 24.4 meters wide, had a full-load displacement of only 20,000 tons; it was a modified Giant-class carrier named "HMS Venerable" built by the British during WWII, serving from 1945 until its decommissioning in 1982.

The Melbourne was also modified with a 5.5-degree angled deck and steam catapults, and subsequently carried A-4 Skyhawk jet attack aircraft, capable of operating 24 to 27 modern fighter jets.

The Hornet had a larger hull and a larger hangar, actually fully capable of operating medium-sized carrier-based fighter jets.

Of course, these were all beautiful delusions; without steam catapults and without suitable carrier-based aircraft, the Hornet should just honestly remain a WWII relic.

The shipyard's technology tree did include relatively modern aircraft carriers; the M-faction Navy's Tier 10 carriers, the Midway and the Essex, were both historically modified to adapt to jet aircraft, and after a massive overhaul, the Midway class could even operate the F-14, a twin-engine heavy carrier-based fighter.

Getting too far off track...

Tier 10 carriers were too far away; Tang Wen was already very satisfied with the Hornet.

In the future, when going to the high seas to salvage sunken ships, they would take the Hornet, as a 300-kilometer radius would all fall within the strike range of the air wing.

Even a WWII fighter formation would pose a threat that could not be underestimated.

Not to mention that this was a GAIJIN product; Tang Wen alone could control all the aircraft to sortie, and if they were all lost, the hangar would automatically refill in a few minutes.

This was just like the ammunition logic of system warships: the ammunition in the magazine was indeed limited, but it could be automatically replenished; after the battle ended, the ammunition cost would be deducted from silver coins, effectively meaning infinite ammunition.

With such bug-level combat power, unless the warship was sunk, simply exhausting the ammunition could wear the opponent to death.

"Let's go, go up and take a look."

As soon as a thought flashed through Tang Wen's mind, someone immediately set up a movable gangway leading to the cabin door on the side of the carrier, and Tang Wen and Tang Yi almost ran up one after the other.

Upon entering the interior of the carrier, Tang Wen was dizzy from the dense array of cabins and corridors; fortunately, Tang Yi was well-traveled and, relying on the signs inside the ship, quickly found the stairs leading to the deck.

Once on the deck, Tang Wen immediately ran towards the B-25 bomber parked in the middle of the deck.

Both the B-25 and the Hornet were designed and launched around 1940, adopting a twin-engine layout and tricycle landing gear, with a maximum bomb load of 1.5 tons, and possessing machine gun turrets on the nose and tail, providing very strong defensive firepower.

The B-25s on the Hornet were late-stage deep-modified models; the engines were R2600-92 Wright Cyclone 14-cylinder piston engines, each capable of outputting 1,700 horsepower, with a maximum flight speed exceeding 430 kilometers per hour.

The B-25's cockpit door was located in front of the landing gear; as Tang Wen approached, it automatically opened and extended a folding boarding ladder downwards.

Climbing the ladder into the cockpit, Tang Wen found the pilot's seat on the left and sat down; his consciousness instantly took control of the entire aircraft.

Just like controlling warships, he could control the aircraft on the carrier with his mind at will, and all data appeared directly in his mind.

Moreover, unlike real flight which required checking dense instrument panels, this B-25 was now Tang Wen's own body.

Confirming sufficient fuel, the B-25's two piston engines made a soft "boom" sound before clicking into rotation; the wheel brakes locked tight, automatically entering the pre-takeoff state.

Tang Wen turned to look at Tang Yi in the co-pilot's seat; the latter made an "OK" gesture.

The throttles of the two engines were immediately pushed to maximum; the high-speed rotating propellers and engines produced a hair-raising buzzing sound, and the immense thrust caused the nose to dip slightly.

The brakes on the nose landing gear released just as the thrust reached its peak; Tang Wen instantly felt a recoil, and then watched the island superstructure on the right side rush backwards.

The fully fueled and fully armed B-25 deployed its flaps and slid forward with an incredible acceleration, almost comparable to being catapulted.

When the distance to the end of the forward deck was less than 30 meters, as the front and rear landing gear successively left the deck, this brand-new, grandfather-generation medium bomber had already flown lightly into the sky.

However, before the aircraft broke through the clouds, Tang Wen decisively leveled out, lowering the flight altitude to below 300 meters.

He had not forgotten the coastal warning radars; the all-metal B-25 blatantly entering the radar field of view meant that, whether one believed it or not, a J-8II carrying PL-5 missiles would charge over at Mach 2 within 10 minutes.

But below 300 meters low altitude, it was very safe; the sea surface would reflect a lot of clutter, and low-altitude sea-skimming flight remained a very effective penetration method decades later, as radars found it difficult to detect such targets.

Of course, ultra-low altitude flight carried huge dangers, but who could help it when one encountered a cheat code? For Tang Wen, even descending to 50 meters allowed for flexible and free movement.

Piloting the bomber full of mechanical beauty, Tang Wen continuously lowered the altitude to ultra-low levels, even able to see schools of fish beneath the seawater.

He suddenly turned his head and asked Tang Yi:

"The B-25 has a range of 2,000 kilometers; shall we go take a tour around the Pratas Islands?"

"Absolutely not necessary!"

Tang Yi's eyelid twitched:

"Commander, you wouldn't want to be chased by an F-5, would you?"