Chapter 328

Chapter 328: The Swift Swallows in the Barrage

Nanning Island is situated on a flat reef platform, roughly triangular in shape and averaging an elevation of 2.5 meters. It is the fourth largest island in the Spratly Islands.

Now, the Vietnamese have renamed Nanning Island to Changsha Island and have even covered the tops of buildings with tiles to display the Vietnamese flag, proclaiming their sovereignty.

To prevent a counterattack from the Chinese, they not only stationed a battalion of elite soldiers on Nanning Island but also constructed a radio transmission tower and an airfield. There are two docks located on the southeastern side of the island.

Additionally, a 600-meter-long concrete runway and a helipad were built to accommodate small propeller planes.

As Lin Mo charged towards the Vietnamese-occupied Nanning Island, the air defense alarm suddenly blared. It wasn’t their radar that detected Lin Mo’s carrier-based aircraft.

Located in various observation posts along the island’s coastline, sentries observed a small black dot in the sky approaching Nanning Island through high-powered telescopes.

In this world, there’s a thing called a telescope which can rival the Light Mirror Technique.

Upon hearing the roaring sound of a jet engine overhead, the Vietnamese sentries spotted an aircraft heading their way. They quickly reported to the battalion headquarters on the island, and upon verification, they realized it was not one of their own planes.

In that brief moment, over five hundred Vietnamese soldiers sprang into action.

“It’s the Chinese! The Chinese carrier-based aircraft! What do they want here? This isn’t their territory!”

“Clearly, they come with ill intentions! Nguyen ??i Bình, take your men and bring out the air defense weapons. Set up a defensive position and drive them away!”

“Ph?m Tài Lê, Phan H?u D?ng, come with me! Let’s teach the Chinese a lesson! We’d better shoot it down! Hahaha…”

Amidst the piercing sound of the air defense alarm, the Vietnamese soldiers dashed around the tiny island of only 0.15 square kilometers, gathering weapons just like during training, fully committed to preparing for battle.

Since they were stationed on Nanning Island, a strategic point in the South China Sea, the soldiers sent to the island were all experienced veterans with strong mental resilience. Their movements were swift and showed no signs of panic.

Small-caliber anti-aircraft guns and twin-mounted anti-aircraft machine guns were set up, aimed towards the sky.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang…

A series of 12.7 millimeter anti-aircraft machine gun bullets fired, with tracer rounds mixed in. These weren’t just to improve accuracy; they served as a warning!

The Vietnamese clearly indicated their intentions: stay away, or they would show them what they could do.

Lin Mo smiled coldly, reduced the engine power output, and began a steep dive. He was unaware that the Vietnamese fighter jets above were doing the same thing over Zheng He Reef.

Anti-aircraft machine guns!

Who’s afraid of who? Lin Mo didn’t take it to heart, continuing to maneuver the "Dark Sabre" towards the island.

The fighter jet’s intimidation could at least produce a sonic boom effect, creating distractions and immense psychological pressure on the enemy.

This type of tactic is often referred to as soft kill.

However, it shouldn’t be underestimated; the moment of sonic boom accompanied by a powerful air shockwave could potentially be lethal to someone with a weaker constitution.

Disregarding the Chinese fighter jets, more than a dozen lights suddenly shot into the sky from Nanning Island, quickly encircling the “Dark Sabre.” This showed they meant business and would not hold back.

This demonstrated the audacity of the Vietnamese.

The Vietnamese have always been bold; otherwise, they wouldn’t have occupied 29 of China’s islands and reefs, ranking first among the nations in the South China Sea in terms of territorial claims.

Even the Philippines, which dares to encircle Chinese maritime supervisory vessels with fishing boats, has only occupied eight islands, while Malaysia has merely three, and the small country of Brunei has just one.

Moreover, the Vietnamese are a significant market for Russian arms exports. Although their own military industry is average, they certainly do not hesitate to spend money on weapons.

While the Russians themselves are reluctant to provide more Su-35 fighter jets, the Vietnamese have already equipped four and integrated them into their combat sequence.

Like agile sea swallows, the J-15 "Dark Sabre," with its twin engines, swiftly navigated through the intricate barrage. Its maneuverability surpassed that of the J-10 "Mighty Dragon." Although the acceleration gains were not extraordinarily impressive, the turning capabilities showed significant improvement.

Flames over two feet long flickered at the mouths of the twin-mounted anti-aircraft machine guns, causing the air around Nanning Island to tremble violently. Despite this, the fifteen twin-mounted anti-aircraft guns of the Vietnamese couldn’t even scratch the "Dark Sabre."

Although the Vietnamese soldiers desperately maneuvered the gun mounts to track the "Dark Sabre," it seemed as if the enemy had predicted every trajectory. The 12.7 millimeter anti-aircraft machine gun bullets whizzed perilously close to the aircraft but never managed to hit it.

The difference between hitting and missing was stark; even worse, the enemy hadn’t even launched an attack yet. Suddenly, black smoke erupted in the sky, and the anti-aircraft artillery joined the fray. Two flames shot up from the ground, with the Vietnamese’s most familiar anti-air weapon, two "Graal (SA-7/SAM-7)" missiles, lunging at the "Dark Sabre," weaving through the hail of bullets.

Boom! A blast resonated as the sonic boom cloud encased the "Dark Sabre" and vanished in an instant. At this moment, the "Dark Sabre" still had some energy left.

The carrier-based aircraft suddenly accelerated, causing the Vietnamese SAM-7 shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles to expend all their energy futilely, falling into the nearby sea. During the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese had shot down 27 American helicopters using the "Graal" within three months.

This weapon might work well against helicopters, but could it stand against China’s most advanced carrier-based aircraft? With a pursuit range of 3,400 meters, the enemy didn’t even need to deploy infrared flares.

It was like a tiger toying with a flock of lambs. Not just any lambs, mind you—these were armed to the teeth. Unlike the story "King Sheep Dominates" from the twelve zodiac series written by Zheng Yuanjie, this group of lambs had the "Dragon Knights," who had rich experience in both offense and defense.

The only tactical tool utilized by the entire aviation crew, the TS-091 “Dragon Eye” aviation tactical helmet, quickly sprang into action, integrating with the onboard television and radar scanning systems to identify the fire points on Nanning Island and display them as light rings.

The primary device on the tactical helmet, the HMD head-mounted virtual display, allowed Lin Mo to pinpoint the locations of fire points on the island, even from obstructed angles due to trees and buildings, marking the positions of individual soldiers firing at the air using AK-47s.

Despite the Vietnamese arrogance, Lin Mo had no intention of retaliating. His visit was entirely spontaneous; it wasn’t in the airspace of his homeland. As long as he remained within his airspace, a slight deviation from the flight path was permitted for various reasons, such as high-altitude turbulence or bird flocks.

Moreover, Lin Mo hadn’t received authorization to attack Nanning Island; he was merely toying with them. However, the Vietnamese couldn’t stand the provocation, and their fear caused them to fire indiscriminately. This reaction took Lin Mo by surprise and intensified his desire to tease them further.

Imagine a fighter jet that couldn’t be shot down becoming the most terrifying nightmare for the Vietnamese stationed on Nanning Island throughout their lives. Only Lin Mo could completely ignore the fierce anti-aircraft fire from the ground and navigate freely through the barrage without a scratch, frustrating the Vietnamese to the point of wanting to vomit blood, wasting countless ammunition without touching a single hair of the enemy.

What kind of monster was this?! Not just the Vietnamese thought this; even in the command hall of the "Shilang" aircraft carrier, hundreds of nautical miles away, it was eerily quiet.

Lin Mo’s antics towards the Vietnamese stationed on Nanning Island had already been transmitted in real-time via optical satellites and surveillance cameras, broadcasting live footage. The onboard computer had sufficient redundant resources to relay live information back.

As China’s largest combat training platform, the "Shilang" had ample military authority to mobilize satellites over the South China Sea to serve its needs. The soldier responsible for communicating with Lin Mo was so shaken by his reckless actions that her whole body trembled. Who knew how much trouble this officer, Lin, was going to stir up, and it seemed the Vietnamese might suffer internal bleeding from the shock.

It was wild; while the Vietnamese had gone insane, why was Lin Mo acting just as mad? The ammunition expenditure remained at zero! What a terrifying number that was.

The operational command center’s computer silently logged the data transmitted from Lin Mo’s "Dark Sabre," which resembled a flawless demonstration of countering anti-aircraft fire, especially since Lin Mo hadn’t fired a single shot.

Those in the command center felt both anxious and reluctant to interrupt Lin Mo’s unprecedented performance, reaching a peak of contradiction.

Somebody quietly tapped into the microphone in Lin Mo’s helmet, broadcasting the sounds from the cockpit and his mutterings in the command hall.

“…Turn left 120 degrees! Roll and add a tail surge; let the anti-air missiles go screw themselves… Not bad, finally learning to shoot in a matrix pattern, but can you level it out? Twin-mounted anti-air machine guns aren’t a Phalanx CIWS… Are you being dumb? Is this tree chopping or house demolition?”

Lin Mo’s calm voice echoed in the hall, contrasting with the urgency of the situation, as he spoke in his normal tone and pace, as if he wasn’t sitting in the cockpit but rather playing a game from afar.

A strange sense of discomfort washed over everyone. Some felt dizzy, their hairs standing on end, and those unfamiliar with the situation might have thought Lin Mo was directing the Vietnamese in a demolition effort.

“May Mazu bless Officer Lin!”

“Definitely, Mazu shares the same name as Officer Lin.”

Unbeknownst to Lin Mo, his Light Mirror Technique had missed a detail: at the altitude of 21,000 meters, a white shadow was approaching the coordinates of Nanning Island from the west at an astonishing speed.