Chapter 607

Chapter 607: The Strength of the "Abyss Nirvana" Ace Pilot (Part 2)

Flight altitude: 20,000 meters!

The J-8II pulled up at a high angle, piercing through the sky amidst intense tremors and the roar of jets.

As the old saying goes, you can reach the sky, but that doesn’t mean you can dominate the blue heavens.

20,000 meters is the maximum altitude for the J-8II. In reality, Lin Mo would also consider the aging and maintenance of the fighter jet and wouldn’t easily reach this theoretical limit. The aging J-8 could very well experience a stall at this height.

Stalling isn’t frightening; China has a detailed and comprehensive set of techniques to recover from a stall, techniques that even Russia and America might not possess in such completeness. These techniques are typically reserved for the best pilots.

However, Lin Mo’s current opponent is an ace pilot returning victorious from "Abyss Nirvana." A mistake means an opportunity, and an opportunity can be deadly. Even Lin Mo himself would not miss such a rookie error from his opponent.

But I believe Colonel Jiang would choose the same altitude. The pilots from Team 7759 are nearly all skilled in energy warfare techniques, highly proficient in altitude switching speed and intricate close-range combat techniques. Although their regular training may seem simple, when combined, they create an astonishingly powerful combination.

Lin Mo and Colonel Jiang are both enduring accelerations of over 7G, yet they simultaneously ignore it. A regular person sitting in the cockpit would likely have already collapsed by now.

The J-8II itself isn’t a fighter jet with supersonic cruising capabilities; it’s just a supersonic afterburner fighter jet. It excels in close combat but cannot maintain supersonic speeds for long without continuously burning fuel, which results in high fuel consumption.

Lin Mo still wears the "Dragon General," which has a standard combat data link that can connect to the simulator automatically.

This is a standard application protocol and interface set by the military, allowing Lin Mo to leverage a strong advantage over Colonel Jiang.

Lin Mo didn’t bother to remove it, believing in the unfairness of war; one wrong move on the chessboard could lead to defeat, and losing means the end without question.

However, he couldn’t unleash his full potential; due to the simulator’s limitations, Lin Mo’s Light Mirror Technique was almost rendered useless here, putting him and Colonel Jiang on equal footing, erasing his previous all-seeing advantages.

Beep!

A dot appeared on the radar screen, flashing momentarily.

The pulse Doppler radar seemed to have detected some signal.

Lin Mo was performing a large-radius climb, which, while not as fast as a straight climb, allowed him to use the radar system of the J-8II to detect his opponent early.

He just passed 15,000 meters in height.

The once lofty blue sky now felt as if it were at his feet, woven like a white cotton blanket right above the ground.

Beep beep beep beep!

Just as Lin Mo was about to initiate a search, a weapon threat warning suddenly sounded in the cockpit.

It was short-range air-to-air missiles.

So fast?

Lin Mo was startled and quickly tilted the control stick to level off; maintaining a high angle of climb would surely result in losing maneuverability.

He could perform an S-shaped horizontal evasive maneuver, but Lin Mo chose a quick barrel roll instead. He wanted to find Colonel Jiang’s position as soon as possible.

During his time at the aerospace training center, Lin Mo’s attention allocation ability was the best, and he was confident he could locate Colonel Jiang’s J-8II amidst such chaos. The refresh rate of the special screen in the simulator could reach nearly one millisecond, allowing even the most dynamic images to be displayed with incredible clarity.

Supersonic fighters calculate rounds in seconds; at subsonic speed, that translates to over two hundred meters per second. A slight miscalculation could mean disaster, and precision matters greatly in a fighter jet.

I see it!

Time to eliminate him.

Lin Mo slowly pulled the control stick, stepping on the tail rudder to adjust the J-8’s direction. As for the air-to-air missile, well, that was simply a bait to divert his attention, setting up for the next attack.

Boom!

The aircraft shook violently as the PL-4 air-to-air missile detonated 200 meters away. Just at that moment, Lin Mo’s J-8II rolled into the outer circle during a barrel roll.

As Lin Mo’s J-8II passed to safety, several tongues of flame suddenly shot down from above, narrowly missing the wings by just a few meters.

That was close!

While maneuvering, Lin Mo realized that his opponent wasn’t idle; Colonel Jiang took advantage of Lin Mo’s moment of inattention to seize a favorable position.

Lin Mo’s heart skipped a beat. If his evasive action had been just a moment slower, the wing would surely have been sliced off, and the outcome would be unimaginable.

Compared to the J-10 or F-22, the J-8II is by no means inferior in close combat. Its 23mm cannon, even grazing an enemy aircraft, could easily inflict serious damage, and if it struck the cockpit, it could result in a horrific scene of blood and gore.

As a generation’s main battle fighter and a key export, the J-8 holds a special pride.

Lin Mo never expected to be knocked down after just three exchanges; he thought he would at least have to fight dozens of rounds first. It seemed that not a moment could be taken lightly.

Colonel Jiang truly was a top-notch pilot, honed by the trials of "Abyss Nirvana," with superb tactical awareness that prevented Lin Mo from feeling too pleased.

A shadow swept past Lin Mo’s J-8II. In that split second, the two J-8IIs’ cockpits were sharply contrasted against one another, allowing both pilots to see everything clearly inside each other’s cockpit.

Time seemed to freeze. Though wearing helmets, they could both sense the strong fighting spirit emanating from one another.

If you want to fight, then let’s fight.

Lin Mo spared no effort, releasing the throttle as the fighter executed a tail slide in mid-air, flipping over to pursue Colonel Jiang, who was diving toward the ground.

Tail-chasing.

Though being pursued in aerial combat is extremely dangerous, a dive allows for extra acceleration. Boom! A cloud of lightly colored smoke erupted in front of Colonel Jiang’s cockpit.

That was the effect of breaking the sound barrier.

Two slender shockwaves abruptly formed from both sides of the wings, resembling the flowing silk of a dramatic performer, flaring beautifully as the fighter maneuvered.

However, Lin Mo knew Colonel Jiang wasn’t using afterburners. This was an energy warfare technique, cleverly using altitude to increase speed and break through the sound barrier for free.

Even propeller fighters could achieve near-supersonic speeds during a dive. During World War II, the American P-51 Mustang famously employed such techniques to hold its ground against the German jet fighter Me262.

Indeed, Colonel Jiang was an experienced pilot, making the most of every drop of fuel. The J-8 isn’t a long-range fighter, and its fuel tank capacity and body size don’t allow for wastefulness.

Locked on, a PL-4 missile detached from Lin Mo’s wing, heading straight ahead.

If I don’t respond, it’s impolite.

The nose of the aircraft pointed directly at Colonel Jiang’s fighter, continuing to maintain a lock.

The PL-4 air-to-air missile, a second-generation Chinese-made missile, resembled the American AIM-7D Sparrow, utilizing semi-active radar guidance to avoid the effects of infrared decoys. It has not stopped production to this day.

Though its range is only 2 kilometers, Colonel Jiang, having seized the high ground, applied the strengths of energy warfare techniques to the missile, gaining the benefit of Earth’s gravity to extend its range beyond theoretical limits.

“Kid, you’re still too green.”

Colonel Jiang heard the alarm sound in the cockpit and smiled lightly, quickly operating his controls.

The pilot and the aircraft became one.

It felt as though his entire essence was attached to the J-8II, trembling, breathing, and roaring together with the fighter jet.

In sync, in destiny.

The ace, tempered by life and death, exhibited an utterly unique reaction.

Ignoring the rapidly approaching missile, Colonel Jiang completely released the throttle, thrusting the J-8II to its maximum speed.

The PL-4 air-to-air missile had a speed of Mach 2.2.

The J-8II’s maximum speed was also Mach 2.2.

The two aircraft entered a rare standoff. Oh no, rather it should be said that Colonel Jiang was slightly faster, gaining acceleration from trading altitude for speed. With this slight advantage, Colonel Jiang’s J-8II managed to escape the PL-4 missile’s pursuit, gradually widening the distance.

Boom!

Exhausted, the PL-4 missile detonated in mid-air, failing to even approach.

Colonel Jiang showcased a fighting technique to Lin Mo that was fundamentally different—more a display of raw power than technical finesse, purely overcoming skill with strength.

To throw off a missile like this appeared on an old fighter like the J-8, and if told, not even ten people would believe it.

But Lin Mo did not let this fleeting opportunity pass; he squeezed the cannon trigger, and a fiery trail shot out from below the wing as the 23mm cannon shells roared from the barrel.

Yet Colonel Jiang wouldn’t give him that chance. He abruptly maneuvered, vanishing from Lin Mo’s sight, spinning around to the belly of Lin Mo’s aircraft, and released another PL-4 missile.

When masters clash, the speed of attack and defense transitions far surpasses ordinary people’s reaction ability; opportunities are fleeting, yet Colonel Jiang expertly seized that moment to launch a counterattack.

If not for the PL-4 needing the J-8II’s radar for continued guidance, Lin Mo might have initiated another synchronized attack. But just as he realized that the missile wouldn’t hit, and was about to abandon the guidance, Colonel Jiang unexpectedly switched the attack geometry at the instant of the missile’s detonation, easily bringing Lin Mo within the missile’s attacking envelope.

The J-8II’s close combat was like this, rooted in the army’s tradition of bayonet fighting; as long as the bayonet hasn’t pierced the opponent’s vital point, one should never declare victory too soon.

Turning sideways and flipping, Lin Mo pushed the J-8’s performance to the limit, and the PL-4 air-to-air missile quickly closed in…