Chapter 176
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Chapter 176: The Collision of Formations!
On the radar screen, dots of light appeared with changing altitude readings, the numbers increasing and gradually moving away from the radar center.
“Colonel Ali, no need to keep watching, just wait for the results!”
Captain Feng, the commander of the Persian Cat command center, patted the Pakistani liaison officer Colonel Ali on the shoulder as they watched the aircraft take off in sequence near the runway.
“I hope we can annihilate all these enemies! Those damned Indians!” Colonel Ali clenched his fists and nodded at Captain Feng. “Captain Feng, let’s go check on the ground troops’ progress. They should be getting started now.”
The Persian Cat command center had already connected to a one-way channel with the ground special forces, and everyone was listening in to the live updates.
The Pakistani special forces were seasoned veterans with combat experience, currently approaching their anti-aircraft fire targets. The special forces carried throat-shaking radios that transmitted information through brief momentary signals, disguising it as natural electromagnetic noise. After being decoded by Pakistani equipment, it would appear on the command center’s screen, displayed in both Chinese and English simultaneously.
“Approaching the target; perimeter sentries have been neutralized!”
“Team 1 is in position; eliminating seventeen guards!”
“Team 2 is in position; neutralizing twelve sentries!”
“Team 3 has secured the heavy machine gun position!”
“Team 4 has infiltrated the armored vehicle assembly point; beacon activated, it will trigger in twenty minutes.”
“Teams 5, 6, and 7 are preparing laser guidance!”
“Mobile Team 8 reports, detected an additional enemy battalion; the specific coordinates are area 45, longitude ××, latitude ××!”
“Team 9 reports normal search results!”
“Regiment 75 is engaged with the enemy and progressing well, launching an assault towards area 33.”
“Regiment 82 is encountering heavy resistance from the 9th Armored Battalion. We need air support! We need air support! Attack coordinates are longitude ××, latitude ××, immediate response required!”
“Copy that, ‘Persian Cat’ has received! The fighter jets have taken off and will be ready in 15 minutes!”
On the long ceasefire line in Kashmir, two contrasting scenarios unfolded. One side remained eerily quiet, while the other erupted into chaos, with gunfire and explosions mingling together.
The Indians reacted quickly, as the area of operations for the Pakistani special forces was gearing up for an alert status. The Pakistani special forces made a decisive move, launching their attack immediately. Multiple planted remote-controlled bombs exploded one after another, destroying two mobile radar vehicles ambushed in the mountainous region with 80mm shoulder-fired recoilless rifles, followed by explosions at the armored vehicle camp.
Both the Chinese and Pakistani fighter jet formations had taken off, with special forces striving to buy time for the air force, securing the battle that would determine the outcome.
“Attention, we will reach the attack area in 10 minutes! Ground lock-on is starting.”
All pilots heard the voice from the Persian Cat command center in their ears, activating all night navigation equipment. Under the guidance of satellites and warning aircraft, they sped toward the battlefield without losing speed.
“Beep! Detected Indian Air Force units: MiG-29 squadron and Mirage 2000 squadron, please note! Detected Indian Air Force: six MiG-29s and four Mirage 2000s.”
“Knights Squadron and Ghoul Squadron, engage the MiG-29 squadron! Wild Wolves Squadron, hold off the Mirage 2000 squadron! Team ‘Black Panther’ 1 continues the mission!”
“Knights Squadron understands!”
“Ghoul Squadron understands!”
“Wild Wolves Squadron understands!”
“Team 1 understands!”
“Action!” Captain Feng’s voice rang out in the channel.
Through the signals transmitted from the ZDK-03 warning aircraft "Tiger Shark," the radar screens of both the Chinese and Pakistani formations displayed the locations of the Indian interception aircraft. This was the advantage of the early warning aircraft: they could detect enemy planes in advance and relay that information to their own fighter jets, allowing them to gauge enemy movements without turning on their own active radars, thus maintaining a high level of secrecy.
“’Tiger Shark’ reports, distance 150 kilometers! We will make contact in 8 minutes!”
“Confirmed, the FC-20 attack formation is deployed. Team 1 will disengage in 7 minutes!”
The Persian Cat command center and the ZDK-03 warning aircraft "Tiger Shark" continuously exchanged information through the battlefield data link, refreshing the ground troop advancement status and the movements of both sides’ fighter jets every second, adjusting attack plans based on the terrain.
At the airport, the uninjured pilots from the 16th "Black Panther" Squadron and the 26th "Black Spider" Squadron gathered for the pre-mission preparations of the support team, ready to execute the second aid attack plan according to the battlefield conditions.
F-16 fighter jets from the 9th "Heron" Squadron were also preparing. If India employed a fuel strategy, then Pakistan would certainly not hold back; they were determined to fight without negotiations.
Beep!
On the radar screen, a yellow signal began flashing around the ten Indian Air Force aircraft, indicating they had turned on their active radar, and both sides had entered a range where on-board radar could detect one another.
“Active radar activated!” The pilots from both China and Pakistan were undeterred; at this moment, there was no need to hide. A distance of one hundred kilometers was merely a blink of an eye for supersonic fighters.
With their blades out, the bravest would prevail in a narrow encounter.
“Launch!”
“Team 1 will disengage in 2 minutes!”
Four FC-20s and three A-5 fighter jets simultaneously broke the sound barrier, like charging heavy knights, accelerating with all their might to protect the trailing Pakistani Team 1.
Chinese pilots were strong in air combat capability, while the local Pakistani Team 1 was well-acquainted with the terrain, so the interception task naturally fell upon the shoulders of the Chinese volunteer pilots.
“Victory!”
The voice of Team 1’s pilot sounded in the channel. Though they didn’t point to anything specific, they expressed heartfelt admiration and support for the bravery of their Chinese volunteer pilots, who faced seven opponents head-on!
“Knights Squadron reports, the enemy has launched the first wave of ‘Astra’ medium-range air-to-air missiles, four in total. Be careful to avoid!”
“’Tiger Shark’ has confirmed and activated electronic jamming!”
Just like the fighting style from the previous day, the intense electronic jamming was enough to turn Indian hybrid missiles into headless flies.
The Indian Air Force was not without its early warning aircraft; recently, an Israeli-made "Phalcon" early warning aircraft was shot down by a Chinese HQ-9 surface-to-air missile shortly after takeoff from a forward base in Arunachal Pradesh.
The whereabouts of the crew remain unknown, and the Indian Air Force felt the pinch, no longer daring to carelessly launch their early warning aircraft. They relied only on ground mobile-carried radar to complete the C4IKSR (military command automation) system.
Indians typically favored buying the most expensive and best equipment, without considering logistics issues, which caused significant problems when actual combat situations arose.
The Astra medium-range air-to-air missile had a theoretical maximum range of 80 kilometers, but as the first strike, it did not pose a threat to the Chinese volunteer fighter teams; it simply spread the formations further apart.
Creating more maneuvering space to prepare for more intense air combat.
“Detected the enemy launching a second wave of R-77 missiles, four in total!”
The Indian Air Force continued its typical American-style tactics, launching a first wave of supersonic attacks to disrupt the formations of the Chinese volunteer teams. By the time of the second missile launch, both sides had entered each other’s missile engagement zones, and air duels could erupt at any moment. Indian fighters would likely engage immediately after launching the second wave of missiles, creating a high-density barrage.
This rigid strategy might work against inexperienced newcomers in battle but was far from sufficient for seasoned Chinese volunteer pilots.
“Light Mirror Technique activation!”
Before activating the Light Mirror Technique, the gold coin-like device on Lin Mo’s wrist automatically fell into the cockpit. As usual, before Lin Mo unleashed his special technique, he controlled the black box system to filter the data, all made in China. He was very skilled with the gold giant dragon, avoiding capturing anything unnecessary.
Lin Mo transformed his battle energy into the Light Mirror Technique, and a glow radiated from the cockpit, illuminating the entire space. Arrays of unique light mirrors stitched together, relaying the external visuals as brightly as daylight. Lin Mo could see everything outside the cockpit clearly, especially several small disc-shaped light mirrors floating before him, calibrating the fire control system.
Originally used only for reconnaissance by the Dragon Knight Corps, the Light Mirror Technique was now expertly wielded by Lin Mo, seamlessly forming a panoramic light mirror array. The energy consumption from converting battle energy was sufficient to sustain one hour of full-power output.
“Drop the external fuel tanks! Begin evasive maneuvers!”
All pilots almost echoed the command in unison as the two formations of four FC-20s rolled over and climbed in a barrel roll maneuver, trading speed for altitude while also conserving maneuverability, as the resistance during the roll was lower.
“Air-to-air missiles, lock and fire!” The A-5 fighter jets charging towards the Indian aircraft group unleashed fire from under their wings, with three AIM-7F Sparrow air-to-air missiles launching out, retaliating without hesitation.
Then, the Wild Wolf A-5 team quickly pulled into a McManus spiral, rapidly raising their noses, executing a 180-degree roll while dispensing shimmering infrared flares until they scattered again at an altitude of 13,000 meters.
Simultaneously, the Knights Squadron and Ghoul Squadron, which had initiated evasive maneuvers, began releasing infrared flares, making them particularly noticeable in the night sky.
The first round of Astra medium-range air-to-air missiles clearly had minimal effect, as two collided foolishly with the infrared flares, and two others lost their way due to interference, crashing straight into the mountains.
