Chapter 196: The Battle Begins 5
China's devastating blow to the Vietnamese army not only dealt a blow to the arrogance of Southeast Asian countries, suppressed the confidence of some fanatical militants, but also accelerated the full-scale outbreak of war in Southeast Asia. At 8 a.m. on the 22nd, India, Malaysia and Thailand issued a joint statement, demanding that China withdraw from Vietnamese territory within four hours and stop its "barbaric aggression" against Vietnam. At 12 noon, the government of country Z demanded that the Thai government detain and disarm the two Vietnamese warships that had fled, failing which it would reserve the right to take further action. Originally, China's devastating blow to Vietnam should have been able to play a deterrent effect, but the fanatical governments of the three countries and the militants in the military refused to recognize China's "good intentions", and the demonstrations in China also broke out one after another, and the voices of the people calling on the government to take tough measures to rescue the allies became stronger and stronger, making the expansion of the war inevitable! The war between China and the three countries is also imminent, and since war is inevitable, it has become an inevitable choice for the government and military of country Z to quickly attack the opponent within a limited range. As a result, at 15 o'clock in the afternoon of the 22nd, China's Second Artillery Corps carried out a surgical strike on another tough adversary, the Philippines, launching a total of more than 200 long-range missiles of various types from missile bases in the interior and southeast coastal areas, focusing on attacking its military airports, flight facilities, and some ports and military bases. Numerous Chinese long-range bombers, escorted by fighter jets, also pounced on the Philippines, an "overseas enclave" of the United States! For a time, the air defense sirens of the Philippines sounded for a long time, all kinds of air defense firepower were launched into the sky, fighter planes and other types of fighters at various military airports took off urgently, and almost all of those who did not have time to take off were destroyed at the airfields, especially the hangars, although they were reminded by the United States in time, but the flight speed of the missiles was too fast, and the air force fell from above and carried out the order quickly enough, so at least a quarter of the planes became scrap along with the airfields, and almost every military airfield was attacked by several missiles. And almost every airfield that was destroyed had pilots martyred along with the planes, and the losses were not heavy, but they were also miserable. A large number of military planes had to land at alternate and rudimentary airfields or make forced landings on makeshift runways, and the entire air force combat system was seriously damaged. Of course, not every target was successfully destroyed, according to satellite analysis, at least a quarter of the airfields were not successfully destroyed or most of them were destroyed for some reason, and even some military airfields can be said to be intact! China's strategic goal is to paralyze the Philippine air force's combat capability, especially the ability to use military airfields, and the task of bombers taking off from the country is to sweep away the previous attack and enter the most intense period of fighting.
If the Philippine military airfields lose their ability to use, then China will have a certain upper hand in the confrontation with the United States, at least making it impossible for the US military to use these Southeast Asian air bases closest to China; As a result, the Philippine Air Force is sworn to protect these bases from destruction, with a large number of fighter jets taking off to patrol the South China Sea to keep Chinese bombers out of range. In order for Chinese bombers to penetrate close enough to carry out bombing missions, they must be protected by fighter planes, and a large number of Chinese shore-based and land-based air forces participated in this large-scale escort battle, together with three mixed strike fleets in the south, to safely escort the bombers. Because the Philippines has early warning planes and is supported by US satellites, the two sides are inseparable, and almost all the fighters that the Philippines can take off participate in the war, while China's advanced fighters also participate in the war in large numbers, and at 18:20 in the afternoon, during the period when the Chinese Second Artillery launched a long-range strike again, the two sides conducted five air battles, and at least 80 planes participated in each battle. China has sent more than 240 advanced fighters in five batches to escort more than 300 bombers in five batches, while the Philippines has also taken off to meet as many as 180 fighter sorties. Among them, the Chinese bombers suffered slight losses, none of them were shot down, only 10 were injured, and all the bombers insisted on returning home after firing the missiles, basically completing their combat mission. The air battle between the two sides was mainly carried out by more than 400 fighters, and there were losses on each other, but basically the Philippines took off fewer and fewer fighters to meet them, on the one hand, because of their limited number, and on the other hand, because the airport was seriously damaged and a large number of fighters were destroyed and shot down.
According to Chinese statistics, among the more than 400 fighter planes that participated in the air battle, the Chinese side shot down 15 and damaged 20, while the opponent shot down 50 and damaged at least 35, and the loss ratio of the enemy and us was 85 to 35, and China achieved an absolute advantage. The two sides lost a total of 35 pilots, including 5 Chinese (2 captured and 3 missing), while China not only captured 15 pilots of the opposing side, but also left at least 7 unaccounted for (fell in the sea), and the loss rate of the aircraft participating in the battle on both sides reached 30%, which shows the intensity of the battle. With the arrival of the second long-range strike of the Chinese Second Artillery, the Chinese Air Force ended its bombing mission, and at this time, the Philippines no longer had a military airfield that could be put into use immediately, and its fighters who participated in the war in the later period were forced to land on the highway that was temporarily used as an airfield. All this, the Americans, who are regarded as saviors, are helpless, because the three closest aircraft carrier battle groups to the theater of operations are still 900 nautical miles away from the Philippine coastline, and they can only look at the ocean and sigh!
Chinese warplanes involved in the bombing and escort, which do not include the South China Sea Fleet's two carrier battle groups, are engaged in a tense standoff with India, Malaysia and Thailand to prevent them from undermining China's efforts to bomb the Philippines; Although the two aircraft carrier battle groups have declared war, they cannot bring practical benefits to their allies, and only contain part of China's troops, but China's campaign goal is only limited to this?
From 6:20 a.m. on the 22nd to 6:20 p.m. on the 22nd, within 12 hours, China's powerful navy, army, and air force not only destroyed Vietnam's navy and air force, causing heavy losses to this powerful army, but also paralyzed the Philippine air force's combat system, which could not form combat effectiveness in the short term, and it is said that the repair of the destroyed airfield could not be completed until at least a month later. A series of lightning strikes have made all parties in the world realize the powerful combat power of the squadron and effectively deterred the ambitions of some countries. According to statistics, during the 12-hour battle, China flew a total of 1,200 sorties of various types of aircraft to carry out air battles and sea and ground attacks, shooting down more than 80 enemy planes in total, and only 15 of its own planes were shot down. China's fighter planes participating in the war are mainly divided into two types: J-16 and J-15, of which the former is a shore-based aviation aircraft, and the carrier-based aircraft on an aircraft carrier is an improved version of this type of aircraft, while the latter is a land-based aviation aircraft, both of which are China's latest generation fighters, and their performance is relatively close; although two-thirds of the fighters China lost in the later period are land-based fighters, it is because they have more escort missions. These two aircraft will also be the most important fighters of the Chinese Air Force for a period of time to come, and because of their outstanding performance in the war, they will be praised as one of the "most popular" aircraft in the world in the middle of the 21st century.
The 2nd HNA Division was one of the most combat-driven divisions on this day, and it was also one of the most outstanding aviation divisions, and Lin*'s flying regiment also participated in many battles. He took part in two rounds of attacks and escort battles against Vietnam, first at about eight o'clock in the morning, together with his comrades-in-arms to attack the ships of the Vietnamese Navy, when a total of eight fighters carried out multi-angle attacks, after a round of teasing, a comrade-in-arms made a fatal blow to the warship that "refused to surrender", so that the main ship of about 4,000 tons of Vietnam, which was hit by multiple missiles, slowly sank into the sea, and then carried out a saturation attack on a medium-sized frigate that was detected, and sent him directly into the coastline of Vietnam. At that time, most of the attack planes of the HNA attacked the Vietnamese Navy in groups, and some aviation regiments participated in the battle of Cam Ranh Bay, and some pilots almost ran out of fuel and had not yet found a target, so they had to return to the base in a hurry, and even some pilots were very unfortunate to be chased by the few fighters of Vietnam and fled, which became a very humiliating thing. At about 10:20 a.m., Lin * and his comrades-in-arms attacked the stubborn fighters and shot down more than 30 advanced Russian fighters, among which he was very honored to add a red five-pointed star to the fighter plane, and continued to be one of the pilots who shot down the most enemy planes in the division!
In the battle with the Philippines for air supremacy, the Second Division of the Navy's Second Air Force carried out a total of two batches of escort missions, of which the Third Flight Regiment participated in the last batch of combat escort at 17:20 p.m., which was also the escort mission completed by the division independently, with a total of 36 fighters from three flight regiments participating in the battle, escorting more than 50 bombers to carry out the last air attack on the Chinese Air Force. All the bombers were divided into three formations and swooped towards the Philippines from three directions, while the bombing detachment escorted by the 3rd Flying Regiment consisted of 14 bombers. After the two fighter formations converged in the designated airspace, they swaggered to the Philippine coastline, and did not encounter the interception of the other side until they were 50 kilometers deep into the airspace. China has a large number of planes participating in the war, most of which only need to be dispatched once, while Philippine fighter jets often have to take off urgently as soon as they land, and every time they take off, they will find that there are a lot fewer teammates, and each time the enemy goes deeper and deeper into the airspace. From 200 kilometers from the coastline, to 100, to the coastline, and even deep into the airspace, and even near the base. For Chinese fighter pilots, they not only want to go deep into their airspace, but also want to fight above the sea, because in the open sea, once they are shot down, there are often naval ships cruising nearby to rescue them, but once they reach the opponent's land, they can only be taken prisoner, and if they unfortunately become prisoners, it is estimated that the future merits will not be earned; However, every kilometer deep into the enemy's airspace, the bombers will have a better bombing effect, so everyone cheered up with the spirit of 12 points. According to information from the AWACS aircraft, 8 fighters took off 300 kilometers in front of the 3rd Flying Regiment to meet them, and the distance between the two sides quickly approached every second and soon entered the attackable range. The two sides discovered each other almost simultaneously and launched an over-the-horizon attack, the Chinese aircraft formation began to separate, and some continued to escort the bomber detachment on bombing missions, and the eight fighters separated to entangle the opponent and prevent the other side from attacking the slower bombers.
The regiment commander Meng Haibo led seven fighters to drag the enemy planes, while the deputy regiment commander continued to carry out escort missions, and Lin* also stayed behind as the regiment commander's wingman. However, the Philippine side obviously did not want to entangle with them too much, and immediately divided four planes to continue to attack the bomber group, for them, even if all four fighters were glorious, as long as they could shoot down at least four bombers, it would be a huge victory, and if the other side did not command properly, it was very possible to shoot down six or even eight bombers. But the experienced Meng Haibo was obviously not fooled, and while the eight fighters stayed to block the enemy, he divided the planes into two groups, and the major pilot commander Luo Min commanded six fighters to destroy the opponent, while he led the wingman to attack the fighters who tried to attack the bombers, which was almost an instant decision made after the separation of the entire aircraft formation, as if the two sides had agreed. The slight difference in time made the whole battle unfold in layers, and the six fighters left behind to block the enemy were already under fire, and neither side could spare it to take care of the others, especially the four fighters of the Philippines, which were at a numerical disadvantage, and the airspace would explode if they hesitated; And Meng Haibo and the others have already bitten the remaining 4 enemy planes, and the other side does not change its combat policy, but still decides to give priority to attacking the bomber formation.
It may be very likely that a slight change in the thinking of the Filipinos, or a flash of inspiration from a commander, can bring about dramatic changes in this war, and even change the situation of the entire war, affect the course of the war, and strangle some people in the cradle, but the Filipinos do not attach much importance to the two Chinese pilots in front of them. Due to the numerical superiority, leaving two fighters to drag the opponent, the rest continue to pursue in the direction of the bomber group, if one fighter can drag the opponent, they will definitely do it, but after a few battles, no one will despise the Chinese fighters and pilots! As for the two enemy planes that escaped, they had their own teammates to clean them up, not to mention that they were not sure to deal with four enemy planes! The two sides quickly bitten, the radar kept locking on each other, and the air-to-air missiles had been fired several times...... Everyone realizes that they have met a tough opponent! The fact that the Philippine fighter plane was able to survive several battles shows that the pilot's ability is definitely not weak, which both Meng Haibo and Lin * know very well, but they believe in their own technology and their beloved fighters.
Meng Haibo is in his 30s, a whole round older than Lin*, a meritorious pilot with more than ten years of driving experience, one of the old backbones of the Second Division of the HNA Army, and one of the meritorious pilots in the entire Air Force Force. Lin * learned a wealth of flying knowledge from the regiment commander, admired the regiment commander's ability and personality very much, and even often compared the other party with his father, and found that the other party was a different type of person, but he was also very good, he loved flying, studied seriously, excelled in performance, and finally became the wingman of the regiment commander, and became the envy of the same group of comrades!
For Meng Haibo, Lin* was a fan, and he liked this young man very much, capable, serious, shrewd, and very knowledgeable; He thinks that the young man is a mystery, because according to his intuition, this young man has an unusual background, and he knows the family situation of everyone in the whole regiment, but he does not understand this young man, not even the political commissar of the division. In addition to the doubts about his identity, the young man was a mystery himself, he was generous, apparently from a wealthy family, and never valued money; But he was not extravagant, and was himself quite frugal, even from his point of view, in contrast to his wealth; Young people are rich in knowledge, although they have not graduated from high school when they joined the army, they have some understanding of many advanced knowledge, and they are very wide-ranging, and they have a deep literacy in many aspects. In addition, young people have obviously received rigorous martial arts training, both some skills of special forces and traditional Chinese advanced martial arts*, which can never be practiced in just a few years in a military school, and it is likely that they have been cultivated since childhood, and their skills can be counted even in the whole division; And this young man is obviously very well-trained, and even some of the underworld terms are very familiar, if it weren't for the gentleness of his performance, he would have thought that he came from some underworld family. The families of all the officers and soldiers of the regiment have come to visit relatives in the army, but this young man has not, but the strange thing is that he can adapt to this kind of life alone, but the young man must have a family, and the family is very harmonious, every time the army visits relatives, he always can't hide the excitement in his heart, it seems that the family has a great attraction to him! But since family has such a huge attraction, why do you want to come to join the army and keep a life alone, and if you love your family, why do you return to the army within 10 hours of being notified, which is almost immediately after being notified...... He can ignore these, as long as the young man is an excellent pilot, and this is the reason why he admires him very much, being able to become his own wingman is a good note, and the first battle with the Philippines, the young man's performance is even more impeccable, from the video, everyone found that the timing of his missile launch is one of the best, and it is also the first to shoot down the enemy plane, and at the same time, the young man shot down the opponent's captain is also impeccable, although there are their own factors in the rear to catch up, But the ability to grasp the moment is definitely first-class, and it is only natural that such a good and lucky young man will paint 3 red stars on the upper body of the fighter!