[World War II] Thousands of Miles in the Sky

"The final reverse Immelmann turn was quite beautiful." Before Illerman climbed out of the cockpit, Captain Dudas Pitcairn hurried up to meet him.

Illerman took off his noise-canceling headphones before he asked, "What?"

"Reverse Immelmann. It's good," Peter Cain said. "Take a break and turn."

Illerman unbuckled his seat belt, stepped out of the cabin and sat on the wing: "Thank you, sir."

"You have very good aptitude." Peter Kane leaned on the wing, narrowing his eyes, "You are indeed a fighter pilot."

Illerman couldn't help smiling, swinging his legs dangling from the edge of the wing.

"What's the matter?" Pete Kane raised his hand and patted Illerman, "I'm so proud of myself just a few days after I transferred from Berlin? It's still a long time before I want to be like your instructor."

"Have you been on the battlefield?" Illerman asked.

Peter Kane raised his eyebrows and said, "You think the Spanish Civil War is a joke? Let me tell you, those who can come back alive are not ordinary people."

"Spanish Civil War!" cried Illerman, jumping off the wing. "You are of the Condor Legion?!"

Pete Kane rubbed his chin with the corners of his mouth raised. Instead of looking at Illerman's eager expression, he turned his head slowly to look at the sky.

"You're not lying to me..." Illerman frowned.

"What did I lie to you for?" Pitt Kane laughed, "Mr. Colonel Modes, who just passed away a few days ago, and Mr. Lieutenant Colonel Bossweiler in North Africa were once comrades-in-arms. "

"It's a pity that Mr. Modes...is gone," Illerman said.

"Yeah." Peter Kane looked at Illerman, "The Spanish Civil War is over, and the plane crashed on the way to Udete's funeral."

"Udet knew him?" Illerman asked.

"Udet is his superior." Peter Kane lowered his head and took out a pack of cigarettes with a black eagle emblem printed on it, "Udet was buried next to his old comrade-in-arms, the Red Baron, and Mr. Modes was buried in the Next to Udet. Mr. Modes is a great man. Not only created the four-man formation, but also included the cross-turns that are characteristic of this formation; he was also the first person to break the record for shooting down the Red Baron in June."

Peter Kane took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, handed another to Illerman, took out his lighter, lit it, and handed the lighter to Illerman.Illerman silently accepted them all.

"People are dead, so it's useless to say anything now." Piet Kane took a long puff of smoke, "It's just that his name will probably remain in history along with the Red Baron and Udet. "

Illerman lit his cigarette and took a puff, then handed the lighter back to Pete Kane.

Seeing that Illerman was silent, Peter Kane shrugged: "Stop talking about him, talk about something else. Do you know why Udet committed suicide?"

Ellerman shook his head: "I don't know."

Peter Kane looked around and lowered his voice: "It is said that it was because he was dissatisfied with the Nazi Party, and he was even more resentful of Goering's rise to power. The Barbarossa operation that started the war against the Soviet Union this time should have made him completely lose his relationship with Germany." Confidence. He shot himself while talking on the phone with his girlfriend."

Illerman froze.

But Peter Kane changed the subject: "Know Mr. Bosweiler, Lieutenant Colonel?"

"I know." Illerman nodded, "It should be in the 26th Wing now. Among the fighter aces of the Condor Legion who are still alive, Lieutenant Colonel Bossweiler bears the brunt."

"That guy won't be able to die for a while." Peter Kane laughed.There was a hint of red in his dark golden hair that was blown by the wind, and the few wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were carved deeper by laughter.He raised his head and exhaled a puff of smoke. The smoke rose and covered the vicissitudes in his eyes.

"Do you think I always smell of tobacco?" Pete Kaning asked.

"Have."

"Mr. Bosweller's big smoking gun is much more exaggerated than mine." Peter Kane raised the cigarette to his mouth and took another puff, then shook the ashes on the ground, "You can't leave the cigarette, the smoke There are people. Even if he is the only one left from the Condor Legion, as long as there is tobacco in Germany, he still cannot die."

Ellerman couldn't help but smile too.A wisp of thin smoke slowly rose from between his fingers, and he only took a puff of the cigarette in his hand.

"When I met him, he was not a few years older than you are now." Peter Kane said with narrowed eyes, "Six or seven years have passed in a blink of an eye. Mr. Modes and I are both his subordinates, and we are in Spain together, No. 80 Eight Fighter Group. At that time, he was wearing swimming trunks and smoking a cigar every day, just flying the plane like that. This is how we fought the Spanish Civil War.”

Illerman curled the corners of his mouth self-consciously, as if to cover up, and took a puff of cigarette.

"What is the marking on Mr. Bosweiler's plane, do you know?"

"It's Mickey Mouse," Illerman replied.As soon as the words fell, he seemed to think his answer was very funny, and laughed silently again.

"That Mickey Mouse with a cigarette in his mouth was the first one I drew for him."

Peter Kane's tone was proud.He was about to say something more when a voice came from the other side of the tarmac: "Captain Peter Kane!"

Illerman looked over and saw a man in uniform who looked like a mechanic, waving at them.

Peter Kane raised his right hand, which was not holding a cigarette, and the opponent immediately straightened his right arm, palm facing down, and made two movements of "come here"; An arc pointed at the other party.The mechanic turned his palms outward and gave a "stop" gesture; Peter Kane pointed to Illeman beside him, who finally retracted his right arm, raised his hands to the height of his forehead and showed two thumbs.

"Call you over." Peter Kane shrugged and looked at Illeman beside him.He suddenly raised his hand again, stretched out his index finger, middle finger and ring finger towards the tarmac, then retracted his three fingers, and made a fist in a circle; the mechanic made a fist with one hand, extended his index finger horizontally, raised his thumb, and then turned his palm outward Make a fist, only extend the index and middle fingers together and move up and down, and finally cross the two fingers.

"Go to the gate, someone is looking for it." Peter Kane turned his head and said.Illerman was still looking at the mechanic in the distance in disbelief, and after being urged by Peter Kane, he woke up like a dream and walked towards the gate.

Peter Cain leaned on the fuselage and smoked leisurely, and when Illerman came back, he asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Illerman waved his hand, stepped on the wing and jumped into the cockpit.The evening sun coated the transparent roof with a layer of golden light.He was about to pull down the roof, but Pete Cain raised his hand to stop him.

"Who is looking for you?" Peter Kane raised his eyebrows, "Girlfriend?"

Illerman smiled as if embarrassed.He suppressed his smile and stared at the dashboard in front of him: "Yes."

Peter Kane suddenly called out, "You're not going to send the girl back, are you?"

"I haven't finished flying the lesson today..."

"Are you stupid, kid?!" Piet Kane threw the cigarette butt far away with a flick of his hand, lifted the roof of the plane with one hand, and reached into the cockpit with the other hand to slap Illerman on the head. "If you tell me that your girlfriend is coming to see you, I will not let you go? Come out, don't fly today, I will tell you, and then you go to her earlier, and I will give you leave."

Illerman was stunned: "I told her that I don't have time today, and I'll be free tomorrow weekend."

"If you are told to go, you can go, and take him to the city for a few drinks at night." Pitkanin frowned involuntarily.Illerman had no choice but to step out of the cabin again.

Peter Kane hurriedly asked, "Do you still remember the point of turning?"

"Stalled while yawing, and the wing on the side that stalled first dropped, increasing the angle of attack."

"What's the difference between a spin and a spiral dive?"

"The wind speed of the spiral dive is high, and the angle of attack is small." Illeman replied.

Pete Kane raised his hand in satisfaction: "Okay, let's find a girlfriend to play with!"

Illerman smiled as he took off the leather gloves on his hands, and said, "Thank you, sir."

Pete Kane tapped Illerman on the shoulder.He turned up the collar of his leather jacket in the evening cold wind of the Rhine in Neustadt, turned and left.

"Sir!" Illerman suddenly called out to him.

Peter Kane turned around: "What?"

"You...why are you in the Condor Legion?" Illerman hesitated for a moment before continuing, "I remember that the Condor Legion only accepts Germans."

Peter Kane squinted his eyes and looked at Illerman for a moment, then finally pulled the corners of his mouth and smiled: "I don't look like a German?"

"But your name, in English, should be Douglas..."

"Douglas Pitkahn," said the bright-haired Air Force captain in English, "you seem to be learning English well."

"You..." Ellerman continued in English, "are you British?"

六

Pitcairn coughed suddenly.Covering his mouth with his left hand, he coughed violently for a while before gradually recovering his calm breathing.He looked at Illerman quietly, sighed for a long time, and said in English: "Do you think my surname is really Pitt Kahn? My name is Douglas Case, which is a typical British name and surname. Pete Kahn is a title - I am the Earl of Pitkahn of Perthshire, Scotland."

Illerman bit his lower lip slightly, waiting for him to speak.

"My mother was German. I grew up in Germany and fought as a German in the Spanish Civil War; I was leader of the 51st Squadron 'Modes' of the 51st Regiment when the Thirty-Nine War began." Piet Kane resumed using German , "The first shot down of the 25st Wing was on September 230th, the French Curtiss Eagle fighter I shot at [-] hours."

He suddenly smiled: "My wingman at the time, Lieutenant Oskar-Heinrich Bea