Time went back to when Li Zhan was preparing to land at Dachang Station again. This time he and Niu Jun were just resting and waiting in the flight briefing room. It was time to solve personal problems, and it was time to replenish energy. After the maintenance and ground crew had finished supporting the fighter planes, he returned again.
Take off to support the eastern front of the no-fly zone.
In the second half of the night, the surface detachment and the air assault detachment will conduct nighttime live ammunition shooting, and the scale of ammunition used is larger than that during the day, so the security pressure in the no-navigation zone is even greater.
There are not many examples of the HNA troops dispatching continuously day and night. It is a great test for the fighter planes, the support team, and the air service team. Especially for the pilots, flying is inherently high mental labor, and ten consecutive hours of flying is very difficult for the pilots' physical fitness.
High demands were made.
Fortunately for Li Zhan, he could at least land at the main station for rest every few hours. Because the Flying Shark Squadron had the ability to refuel in the air, their role was maximized.
When the PR-44 crashed into the sea, Li Zhan took off for the third time. In view of the more arrogant attitude shown by the simulated Blue Army aerial reconnaissance force than before, the command post ordered half of the fighters responsible for guarding the no-fly zone to carry air-to-air reconnaissance units.
missiles in case of unexpected events. The Flying Shark Squadron received the order at short notice, so they took off half an hour later than planned. Each fighter plane was equipped with two PL-9 short-range air-to-air missiles.
The No. 81198 JH-7 driven by Li Zhan also carried two PL-9 short-range air-to-air missiles. In addition, the integrated tactical pod is still retained and can serve as a relay guidance aircraft at any time in the worst case scenario.
Provide precise guidance for anti-ship missiles launched by surface squadron ships.
This response does not mean that the atmosphere is tense, but it just shows that the confrontation drill between the two sides has entered a new level and is more practical.
Li Zhan is in good spirits and has always maintained a calm and calm mood and a stable mentality. Niu Jun's situation is a bit different. After all, she is not a professional air crew. From four o'clock in the morning yesterday to now, it is only in the afternoon.
She had slept for two hours. Her face was flushed and she was excited. It was certain that once her nerves relaxed, she might not even have the strength to speak.
But Niu Jun insisted on continuing to follow the dispatch. This was her task as a rear cabin operator.
Li Zhan did not refuse. He knew that Niu Jun's physical potential had been stimulated and he could carry it until dawn.
More than a dozen fighter jets coming from two directions gathered on the eastern front of the no-fly zone, and even a certain division of China Eastern Airlines sent out J-8Ds, even if they could only stay in the eastern airspace of the no-fly zone for more than ten minutes. It can be seen from this that
The exercise headquarters is determined to control the eastern front of the no-navigation zone and will not give in during this confrontation exercise with simulated blue forces.
Li Zhan waited with great hope for the fighter jet formation simulating the Blue Army to appear. If they did not have the fighter jet formation appear, they would not be able to get close to the eastern front of the no-fly zone with just reconnaissance planes.
As a result, after more than ten minutes of air patrol, the airborne early warning aircraft discovered an unknown target due east.
"Two batches of four in the 60-degree direction. You are the closest. Go up and check." This was the instruction given to Li Zhan from the command post.
Without saying a word, Li Zhan turned around and turned on the afterburner and rushed toward the southeast.
He vaguely guessed that since it was coming from the east, it was unlikely to be the simulated blue army that opened the island. Two batches of four meant they were fighter jets, and it was unlikely that electronic reconnaissance aircraft would form such a formation. Since
If it's a fighter jet, then it's most likely a West Pacific pirate!
There is a distance of 2,500 kilometers from the island. No fighter jet can fly over to perform its mission without aerial refueling, such as strategic reconnaissance aircraft like PR-44, long-range tactical reconnaissance aircraft such as EP-2 and P-8A.
Anti-submarine aircraft have a combat radius of more than 2,000 kilometers.
The West Pacific pirates control a relatively large island. It is a semi-military place less than 500 kilometers away from the exercise sea area. Basically, aircraft there will be caught by airborne early warning aircraft soon after taking off, but they have to identify the specific
The model is still relatively difficult.
Li Zhan is a little worried about meeting the West Pacific pirates. Those beasts will not talk to you about international principles and will definitely use the most despicable means to deal with you. However, he only has two PL-9s and more than a hundred aircraft cannon shells in his hand.
.The simulated Blue Army came over and it was a confrontation exercise between each other. Everyone had formed a certain tacit understanding and would not really say hello. Pirates were different, especially the West Pacific Pirates, who had a strong armed force.
The most important thing is that at the western end of the Qingqing Strait, in order to rescue the Great Wall boat, the Hainan Airlines and the Air Force carried out a devastating blow to the West Pacific pirates entrenched there. With the vengeful character of the West Pacific pirates, they will never let go of the slightest revenge.
Opportunity. According to incomplete statistics, in the past few months, many merchant ships passing through the Western Pacific waters have been hijacked, and ransoms paid were as high as 200 million yuan.
The exercise headquarters is deployed at the Xiahai base to uniformly command the live-fire exercises of all combat units through the naval communication system, while the early warning aircraft in the air are mainly responsible for the command of the air unit. The characteristics of the air force and naval aviation that are not separated here reflect the lack of equipment of the naval aviation unit.
It is a large AWACS aircraft, so it was strengthened by the Air Force AWACS unit. The command team on the AWACS aircraft are Hainan Airlines personnel but they wear Air Force air service uniforms.
Frontline commander Wang Jiaqi sat on the command chair and smoked, looking expressionlessly at the search results synchronized by the early warning aircraft. Two batches of four air targets in the airspace just east of the exercise area were rapidly approaching. In fact, he had a copy of the naval intelligence in his hand.
The department reported that the unowned island Bawang Island to the east of the exercise area has gathered a number of illegally armed ships and a large number of fighter planes with strong attack power. The intelligence department analyzed that it is the main force of West Pacific pirates whose main force has moved from north to south. It is recommended that
Troops maintained high alert to the east during the exercise.
Another piece of information was more detailed, listing all the details of the pirates in the West Pacific, including several hijackings in recent months.
Wang Jiaqi had a complete idea in her mind. After putting out her cigarette butt, she decisively issued an order: "The Operations Department will immediately come up with a combat plan to combat pirates in the West Pacific!"
"Yes!" Chief of Staff Peng Hongbing frowned a few times and immediately turned around to organize the staff to formulate a combat plan.
It is not up to them to decide whether to fight or not, but when superiors decide to fight, they must have multiple sets of combat plans and complete combat scenarios.
Wang Jiaqi was not in a hurry to report it. He still had to wait for the verification results from the air security team.
He asked Peng Hongbing, "How long does it take for the troops to move from exercises to combat?"
"It will take at least three hours. The surface and underwater detachments can be transferred directly to combat. The ammunition they carry is sufficient. The main thing is that the air detachment must return to replenish fuel and ammunition." Peng Hongbing knew these situations well.
Wang Jiaqi pondered as he thought about the strength of the bases along the coast, especially the aviation units. He said in a deep voice, "Order the front-line troops to mobilize their combat readiness and let them take over from the participating air units. The participating air units will return immediately."
Replenish fuel and ammunition and wait for orders!"
"Yes!" Peng Hongbing said without any nonsense, "The Flying Shark Squadron has been flying for more than ten hours. Should we replace them?"
"No, it's just to deal with a group of pirates. Besides, Deputy Leader Zhang has instructions to take this opportunity to attack the flying shark troops' combat capabilities. Let them all be sent to Dachang Station to receive supply support." Wang Jiaqi waved her hand gently and said.
"Okay!" Peng Hongbing immediately gave the order.
Wang Jiaqi's face was as cold as ice, and she slammed her fist on the command table and said, "This group of pirates is too rampant, I will deal with it!"
Peng Hongbing said with a smile, "They can't stand it if we just move our fingers. It's just that they are entrenched in international waters, and some of our operations are not easy to operate."
With the current strength of the navy, only one fleet and one task force are needed to wipe out pirates in the West Pacific. However, combating piracy in international waters usually has to be carried out within the framework of the United Nations, and the contact work in this area is relatively cumbersome.
Of course, as military commanders, they do not consider these issues, they only consider how to conduct operations after the order is issued.
More than 100 kilometers east of the no-navigation zone, there are only a few stars in the dark night sky. The clouds are very high, covering an airspace layer of about 8,000 to 7,000 meters, stretching for hundreds of kilometers, and will probably form an ocean in the future.
Stormy weather.
Li Zhan turned on the airborne radar to search the front hemisphere. He had no intention of hiding his traces. On the contrary, he had to let the other party know his whereabouts because it was a means of warning.
Unfortunately, the combat performance of Lao Feibao's airborne radar is really limited, and he has not been able to detect any air targets. However, the early warning aircraft has already maneuvered eastward, and the huge phased array radar of the Air Police-2000 has been tracking the target.
, the target’s orientation changes are constantly reported to Li Zhan.
During this short period of time, only one fighter plane, Li Zhan, came up. Li Zhan also heard the order from the exercise command center on the radio for all air units to be diverted to the large field station for supply support. As long as the superiors give the order
, the participating troops will transition from exercises to operations.
"Angry Old Leopard, the target formation has opened the battle line, a batch of two aircraft heading 270, a batch of two aircraft heading 210, the distance is 80 kilometers!" the air command post on the large early warning aircraft reminded Li Zhan.
The formation displayed by the opponent was a two-wing assault with strong offensive meaning. Will they launch the attack first? Li Zhan did not dare to take it lightly. He slowed down the airspeed slightly, allowing the airborne radar enough time to repeatedly scan the front hemisphere.
Condition.
At the same time, he decisively selected the targets heading 270 degrees and quickly turned to meet them. With the support of early warning aircraft at the rear, Li Zhan felt much more at ease.
Niu Jun also realized something was wrong and whispered, "Is there going to be a war?"
"It may be the fighter planes of the West Pacific pirates. They have done many evil things, and this time they dare to provoke my training troops. The higher-ups are probably going to deal with them." Li Zhan said, "Don't be afraid, the pilots who can shoot me down have not been born yet."
Niu Jun was not afraid at all, only excited.
At this time, the command post suddenly announced: "Attention everyone, all the electronic reconnaissance aircraft simulating the Blue Army have withdrawn, and the superiors have instructed to let them go!"
"Withdrawn?" Li Zhan was shocked. The simulated Blue Army, which always liked to join in the fun, actually withdrew. This was not in line with common sense! Even if they couldn't come to fight pirates together, they wouldn't let go of the opportunity for reconnaissance and confrontation!
Li Zhan and others still don’t know about the air crash of PR-44. At this time, even the simulated blue army has not yet figured out what happened to PR-44 that caused it to crash into the sea. With such a heavy loss, the simulated blue army
Of course, all air activities were stopped, so there was no time to engage in confrontation with the Red Army troops. Besides, there would be plenty of opportunities for Japan in the future.
Li Zhan had no time to think about this. He caught up with the unknown targets on the left wing. He rushed over with quick movements, rushing from the target's flank to directly close the distance to visual distance. The target's navigation lights, indicator lights, and engine tail flames
Very eye-catching.
The target seemed to have not yet reacted. Li Zhan took the opportunity to accelerate closer and finally saw the appearance of the target clearly. They were two F-15J heavy fighter jets armed to the teeth. The auxiliary fuel tanks under the wings were the most obvious configuration. This heavy fighter jet
The biggest shortcoming is that the legs are short. Whenever it is dispatched, it will definitely carry an auxiliary fuel tank, which is exactly the opposite of the long-legged Su-27. However, countries generally equipped with this fighter have strong aerial refueling capabilities, so the shortcomings of this fighter have been well addressed.
compensation.
How did the Westpac Pirates obtain the F-15J heavy fighter jet?
Li Zhan, who has very good eyesight, even saw four air-to-air missiles hanging on the semi-buried pylons on both sides of the air intake of the F-15J heavy fighter. Both fighters were equipped with standard air combat configurations!
Last time, their F-5 fighter was shot down in the waters of Qingqing Strait. This time, they probably obtained an advanced third-generation fighter like the Eagle through some unknown means, and came here to take revenge.
The skull and crossbones pirate flag logo on the vertical tail is the best proof.
Li Zhan immediately reported: "Command post command post! Angry Old Leopard reports! The target is found to be a pirate fighter plane, fully equipped for air combat! Repeat, it is a West Pacific pirate!"
After reporting the report, he immediately occupied a favorable attack position and worked up his spirits. He was not afraid of one against two. The problem was that he was driving an old Feibao with limited air combat capability, and his opponent was two aircraft.
One of the most advanced third-generation aircraft in the world today is the infamous F-15 "Eagle" heavy-duty air superiority fighter.
The pilot who had just boasted that he could shoot him down had not yet been born, but he met a huge slap at the corner.
He attached great importance to it and quickly carried out fire control locking, but the opponent was not in vain. After discovering that Li Zhan occupied a favorable attack position in the rear hemisphere, he immediately disbanded the formation, quickly separated and accelerated the turn in an attempt to bite Li Zhan.
Li Zhan tried his best to deal with it.
The order from the command post came immediately: "Angry Old Leopard, withdraw immediately! Our reinforcements are still on the way!"
However, Li Zhan strongly felt that the opponent would really open fire. His keen sense of crisis prevented him from having the idea of turning around and returning. He immediately reported to the command post: "Command post, I can no longer retreat. The target has opened fire."
Control the radar!”
They are already entangled, and withdrawing at this time will expose the back hemisphere to the opponent.
At this time, in the exercise headquarters, Commander-in-Chief Wang Jiaqi received an order from his superiors, and the troops switched from the exercise to combating pirates. He immediately issued an order: "Let the fighters in front come back! Lead them over!"
After receiving the order, Li Zhan was filled with question marks.