Chapter 325

Chapter 325: Manipulated in the Palm of One’s Hand

It wasn’t that the J-15 "Dark Sabre" had superior stealth performance; rather, the Vietnamese radar system was too outdated to effectively track China’s carrier-based aircraft.

Using the advantage of high altitude, Lin Mo’s "Dark Sabre" suddenly burst into the formation of Su-27s, leaving two white smoke trails from its wingtips, descending at a lightning-fast speed.

With the glaring sunlight behind him, Lin Mo had the best cover as he dove from an altitude of ten thousand meters at such high speed that the fighter jet nearly reached its theoretical maximum supersonic speed of 1.8 Mach.

The cockpit filled with the noticeable vibration of the aircraft and the sharp beeping of the monitoring equipment. Lin Mo tightly grasped the control stick, skillfully maneuvering the aircraft and adjusting its posture.

The roar of the jet engine plummeting through the sky was gradually being overpowered by a strange shrill sound.

“What’s happening? What’s going on? Has he locked onto us?”

“No, no, I’m not locked on! He won’t fire; don’t worry! Just like before, he is only trying to scare us.”

“Still, White Conical Hat, I have a bad feeling about this!”

“Red Conical Hat, I also feel that something is off!”

Due to the angle of the light, they couldn’t clearly see what kind of fighter jet was diving down from above. They only had a few seconds, and the situation changed in an instant.

The "Dark Sabre," reducing altitude to exchange for speed, danced a mysterious dance, moving left and right, tracing a curve in the sky that seemed to follow some special pattern. The airflow wrapping around the body also exhibited some unimaginable changes.

This was not the aerial knight tactics of this world, and the Vietnamese pilots began to panic.

“Should we withdraw? Be careful, it’s coming straight for you!”

A gray shadow suddenly swept past the front of a Su-27, generating an incredible blast of airflow that caused the aircraft, still turning sideways, to shake violently.

“Okay, I see it! Oh, it dove down in front of me—wait, my plane seems to have lost control! Oh no, I’m hitting wingtip vortices! He created wingtip vortices for my aircraft; I’m going to stall.”

“White Conical Hat, pull up! Pull up, quickly!”

“It’s a spin! I can’t control it! Altitude 2,700 meters! I request ejection.”

“Eject immediately! Your altitude is below the optimal ejection height.”

The orders sent urgently from the Vietnamese air force base quickly approved the pilot’s ejection request.

“Okay, I’m ejecting!”

A Su-27 completely lost control amid the raging airflow created by the diving "Dark Sabre," plunging directly toward the sea without being hit by any bullets.

As a white parachute opened in the sky, a towering water column shot up from below, mingled with countless fragments of the aircraft scattering in all directions. Despite the Su-27 being constructed with titanium alloy components and known for its robust quality, it still could not withstand the high-speed impact with the ocean’s surface.

“What’s happening? White Conical Hat, are you okay?”

The remaining Su-27, shaken, began to roll quickly, searching for the sudden attacker. It was so fast that the pilot only caught a glimpse of the gray shadow passing by his comrade’s aircraft, followed by the instant loss of control of his friend’s jet.

Diving at such high speed could result in a devastatingly fast descent; if not controlled, it could easily lead to a crash into the sea, resulting in a suicide crash.

“I’m fine! Red Conical Hat, that was terrifying! I’m getting ready to land in the sea; the people on Hongxiu Island have already received my signal.”

“Take care! White Conical Hat, be careful; it’s coming for you! At your six o’clock!”

“Is it the tailing tactic?”

“Quick, dodge! It’s too close!”

However, the remaining Su-27 from Vietnam’s "Conical Hat One" squadron did not see a second water column. Fortune favors the bold, and victory also comes with risks. The Vietnamese pilot, Red Conical Hat, was filled with fear but could hardly imagine what kind of enemy would employ such a self-destructive, mutually damaging strategy.

Boom!

Once again, a loud boom erupted from the left side of Red Conical Hat, as if the enemy carried an endless power. The Su-27 shook violently, and Red Conical Hat desperately controlled the fighter jet, striving to perform a serpentine maneuver to shake off the pursuit.

He had spotted the mysterious attacker, which looked almost identical to his Su-27, as if they were twin siblings.

With twin engines and traditional three-beam wings, it was still not the same as their Su-27, even having some details different from the Su-30. The biggest difference was that beneath the cockpit, there was a pair of canards, and the wing area seemed even larger.

Canards refer to a particular layout of the aircraft.

The canard layout was invented by the Soviets, who discovered before World War II that moving the horizontal tail surfaces to the sides of the nose of the main wing could achieve similar control effectiveness with a smaller wing area. Both the canard and main wing could generate lift at the same time, unlike horizontal tail surfaces that often produced negative lift while balancing pitch moments. Early canard designs resembled a duck in flight, which is how the term "canard layout" originated. The forward wings on these aircraft are called "canards."

Similarly, Chinese fighter jets, inheriting the style of Soviet aircraft, mastered the canard layout exceptionally well. The J-10 is equipped with maneuverable canards, while the J-14 and J-20 utilize upward-turned canards. It seems that the Chinese have an unbreakable bond with the canard layout.

“What’s going on? Is that our aircraft? Why is it attacking us?”

At that moment, the Vietnamese pilot completely failed to recognize the enemy’s identity, stunned for a moment. However, he soon saw a clear "August 1" insignia on the aircraft cutting through the sky in a scissor trajectory, and he screamed in anguish, “It’s the Chinese! Chinese aircraft!”

“Red Conical Hat, open fire! Bring it down!”

“No, no! I can’t lock onto it! The radar isn’t responding! It’s a stealth fighter!”

“Use the cannon or rockets, or you’ll be shot down too.”

Even suspended by parachute, the Vietnamese pilot White Conical Hat shared the same hatred for the enemy and willingly acted as an observer to provide visual support for his comrade. After ejecting, his helmet’s radio automatically switched to the rescue frequency. Although the power was reduced, communication was still possible within a few kilometers.

“Okay, I’ll teach him a lesson…”

“Be careful…”

But in high-speed conditions at altitude, fighter jets vanish in an instant. Both sides were incredibly fast, each having only one chance for a desperate strike. It was not easy to switch between attack and defense; even a brief second could determine victory or defeat.

As the Vietnamese pilot tried to intimidate the Chinese fighter jet, he completely failed to keep up with the enemy’s aggressive pace, falling into the rhythm of the enemy’s rapid attacks.

The terrifying maneuverability of the enemy aircraft reached a shocking degree, and the remaining pilot, Red Conical Hat, didn’t even have the opportunity to point the nose of his aircraft at the target before the enemy seized another attack point.

Boom! A powerful airflow swept past.

The Vietnamese pilot, Red Conical Hat, felt as though he had fallen into a dizzying state of passivity; he wasn’t barrel rolling but rather losing control of his fighter jet, which was spinning in a continuous 1080-degree roll in the sky. The result was that he could not level the aircraft, and the immense airflow forced it to awkwardly tumble through the air.

The Su-27 also employed a statically unstable aerodynamic layout, and the unfortunate Vietnamese Conical Hat One squadron faced a true expert in aerodynamic design, a devastating turn of events where the features of their aircraft were fully exploited by the enemy.

Like a martial arts master, no matter how fierce your moves are, if you encounter a skilled physician of the human body, they can see right through your weaknesses. At this moment, no moves were needed; a single touch could be fatal.

The advantages of the "Dark Sabre" and the disadvantages of the "Guardian" became crystal clear in Lin Mo’s mind. This was not merely an attack move; it was the way of nature.

When the techniques of attack reached their essence, they transcended into the realm of "Dao."

With rich experience in aerial knight combat, the Dragon Knight gradually integrated the complete scientific knowledge gained from this world into his aerial tactics, analyzing the rules, uncovering their principles, and grasping the essence. He understood even the smallest changes in the aircraft, using them as his means of attack.

At that moment, the Vietnamese Su-27 resembled a toy top in the hands of a mischievous child, spun around by a small whip, uncontrollably rotating. Even though the pilot in the cockpit screamed desperately, almost pulling the control stick into a crutch, he couldn’t stop the "Dark Sabre" from repeatedly executing a scissor cut and rolling acceleration.

The Su-27 had completely lost control, and the alarms in the cockpit rang sharply. Multiple systems malfunctioned, and the fighter jet wasn’t built for such wild rolling maneuvers, leading to critical damage in some equipment that exceeded safe thresholds.

“Red Conical Hat! Red Conical Hat! Steady yourself! You can’t maintain altitude!”

The other Vietnamese pilot, White Conical Hat, who had ejected after being ambushed by the "Dark Sabre" and caught in wingtip vortices, stared in disbelief as his comrade piloting an advanced Su-27 appeared powerless, completely manipulated by the enemy.

It was truly being "manipulated in the palm of one’s hand"!

Such manipulation!!!

This was simply terrifying!!!

“I surrender! I surrender! This is against international rules! I surrender!”

At this moment, the Vietnamese pilot, Red Conical Hat, remembered to communicate with the enemy, enduring the "crazy Ferris wheel" sensation akin to astronaut training, resisting the overwhelming G-forces. With his exceptional physical abilities, he pressed the button to call on the public channel.