When the phone above his head rang, Wei Shaolong was stunned for a moment, but he hesitated for half a second, and then pulled out the microphone.

"Commander Bridge, I'm the captain."

A few seconds later, Wei Shaolong plugged the microphone back in with a "bang", and didn't say a word of superfluous nonsense.

"Right full rudder, full power propulsion, heading 030!"

Before the helmsman could react, he had already left the captain's position, grabbed the telescope handed by the master chief, and walked towards the left terrace.

By the time he came to the terrace, the Panzhihua was already turning at full speed.

Outside, the lookout who operated the high-powered vigilance telescope was visibly startled when he saw the captain, and he didn't know if he should give the telescope to the captain.

Nothing surprising that the ones who were assigned outside during the battle must have been new recruits who had just come aboard the ship.

If there is a threat in the near future, it is also possible to install a 13-mm heavy machine gun on the ring track next to it, and add a machine gun group.

Wei Shaolong ignored the recruit, and after coming out, he looked at the machine gun on the hangar in the rear.

It was no ordinary machine gun, it was a close-in rapid-fire gun with seven 30mm barrels and a maximum rate of fire of 4,200 rounds per minute, using the Gatling principle.

The number one value of this rapid-fire gun, which has a purchase price of up to 15 million gold yuan, is used to intercept anti-ship missiles!

Retroactively, in the latter part of World War II, the Imperial Navy invested heavily in research on extra-energy-driven repetitive machine guns.

Unfortunately, by the end of the war, no substantial results had been achieved.

After that, in the jet age, anti-aircraft missiles replaced anti-aircraft guns, and small-caliber anti-aircraft guns, which were outstanding in the Great War, were the first to be eliminated.

For the same reason, the range is too close and the altitude is too low to intercept jet fighters.

In the 30 years after the war, almost all anti-aircraft guns were replaced by anti-aircraft missiles, except for large-caliber high-level dual-purpose guns that could be used to support ground forces and have some value when dealing with small ships, and the navy did not develop small-caliber anti-aircraft guns.

This situation was maintained until the war that took place in the South and the sunset eight years ago.

At that time, the most cutting-edge of the Royal Navy of Bran, with a full load displacement of 4,100 tons, and the lead ship of the Type 42 destroyer, the "Sheffield", was sent to the bottom of the sea by a "Exocet" missile with a total weight of less than 700 kg and a warhead charge of only more than 70 kg!

When the news came, there was an uproar throughout the Imperial Navy.

However, there was only an uproar.

After an in-depth investigation, the Imperial Navy learned that the air search alert radar on the Sheffield was turned off at the time of the incident, because the electromagnetic waves emitted by the radar would interfere with satellite communications, and the ship was using a satellite dish to receive information from the rear.

In addition, in order to control the displacement, the superstructure of such a battleship turned out to be made of extremely flammable aluminum alloy!

As a result, before being hit by a missile, let alone opening fire to intercept it, it didn't even have time to launch a jamming missile.

According to post-war tests, the Type 42 destroyer's radar jamming bombs were able to have an impact on the Exocet, such as sending the missile off target.

In another battle a few days later, the Royal Navy successfully jammed a Exocet missile aimed at an aircraft carrier.

In addition, there is the element of poor management. For example, after being hit by a missile, the captain did not give the order to activate the fire extinguishing system at the first time!

With so many coincidences, it is strange that the "Sheffield" is unsinkable.

From the Sheffield, the Imperial Navy came to the conclusion that the battleship should be made larger to avoid interference with electronic devices.

Since then, the tonnage of destroyers in the Imperial Navy has skyrocketed, and now it is close to 10,000 tons!

If there is a means capable of intercepting missiles, it is perfect.

It was against this background that the Imperial Navy turned over the tube cannon that had been in the dust for more than 30 years, and reinvested in the development of it.

However, the initial investment in research and development is not very large.

Don't forget, only 5 years after the end of the Polish-Iraqi War, the empire is still in the stage of strategic contraction, and the first to be cut is the imperial navy.

However, this situation lasted only a few years.

Four years ago, after the "Zhaotong" was attacked by the "Exocet" missile in the Persian Gulf, the Imperial Navy immediately recognized the importance of hard-kill interception.

The point is that the "Zhaotong" did not make low-level mistakes.

If there was any mistake, it was that after receiving the attack alarm, the "Zhaotong" did not immediately turn to leave the dangerous sea area.

Under the circumstances, if the "Zhaotong" had been withdrawn in time, the Iraqi fighter might not have launched an attack.

But the problem is that turning to retreat after being threatened is definitely not the style of the Imperial Navy.

Anyway, after being beaten, the Imperial Navy immediately increased its investment in the terminal defense system.

Only one year later, the rapid-fire gun, codenamed "730", was developed, and the Imperial Navy's first terminal defense system capable of intercepting sea-skimming missiles was developed.

The official equipment is actually the second generation, that is, the "730B" nicknamed "Fire Whirlwind".

It's not that the "730A" is bad, but the design was not well thought out, and the vital fire control system was placed elsewhere and was not linked with the artillery system, so there were problems such as slow response speed and low accuracy, and it did not meet the tactical indicators proposed by the Navy.

Interestingly, because the "730A" is cheaper, export sales are several times higher than the "730B", equipping hundreds of warships from dozens of countries.

Relatively speaking, the main improvement of the "730B" is the integration of the search fire control radar into the gun mount.

In order to improve the damage effect, the Imperial Navy also specially developed a shell for countering anti-ship missiles, that is, 30 mm sub-caliber armor-piercing shells.

Theoretically, only 1 shot is needed to destroy a tactical missile of the class of Exocet.

Even if a heavy missile is intercepted, it only needs to hit 3 to 5 to ensure its destruction.

According to the tests conducted by the Imperial Navy, the probability of hitting an anti-ship missile of the size of the Exocet is as high as 85% in a short point shot with a duration of 3 seconds. If the firing time is set to 5 seconds, the accuracy rate can reach 95%, but the continuous combat ability will be greatly reduced.

As for whether to choose a short point shot or a long point shot, it depends on the actual situation.

After that, in just 2 years, the Imperial Navy concentrated on the procurement of more than 600 sets of "Fire Whirlwind", equipped with all large warships.

There is generally only one set of 3,000-ton frigates like the "Panzhihua".

In fact, the "Panzhihua" has been in service for more than 10 years, and it was designed without taking into account the need to install a rapid-fire gun weighing 10 tons.

Fortunately, the top of the helicopter's hangar is spacious enough, and it is not difficult to install a set of "Fire Tornado".

As a result of this, it is impossible to cope with anti-ship missiles from the front.

Of course, anti-ship missiles are generally fired from the broadside direction.

When he saw the "Fire Whirlwind" turning, Wei Shaolong secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but then raised the portable telescope hanging on his chest and looked in the northwest direction.

The initial call was made by the first mate from the operational command center.

The AWACS aircraft detected a target flying at high speed, inferred that it was an anti-ship missile launched by the attack aircraft, and issued a missile attack alert.

If it is really a missile, it will definitely not have time to dodge.

"Woo-woo-"

Seconds later, a mournful air raid siren sounded.

It's just that it wasn't rapid-fire guns that fired first.

With a "whoosh", an eight-pack general-purpose missile box located in front of the bridge fired a short-range anti-aircraft missile nicknamed "Sea Serpent".

The "Panzhihua" is only a 3,000-ton frigate, and its armament is not powerful.

The eight launchers in the bow of the ship are usually loaded with four anti-submarine missiles and four anti-aircraft missiles, and the fire control channel can only deal with one incoming target.

It's a pity that that missile was simply wasted.

Of course, there is nothing to be sorry for.

The "Sea Serpent" is the first short-range anti-point-to-air missile of the Imperial Navy, because it does not attach much importance to it, and because the budget is really very tight, the Imperial Navy can only settle for the next best thing, and directly use the "KK-6" medium-range air-to-air missile, which will be used as an anti-aircraft missile after being improved.

The performance is certainly not advanced, the main thing is that it is inexpensive.

To say, it's actually cheap.

In fact, it was the advent of the "Sea Serpent" that allowed 3,000-ton anti-submarine frigates such as the "Panzhihua" to obtain effective air defense means for the first time.

Prior to this, frigates could only perform air defense tasks with their main guns.

Most of the time they were hiding under the wings of cruisers and destroyers.

Not to mention dealing with anti-ship missiles flying over the sea, even if they intercept enemy planes at medium and high altitudes, the "Sea Serpent" has a single-shot hit rate of only 60 percent.

In a complex environment, there is only the effect of psychological comfort.

In fact, it's only about 10 seconds.

This time, we are talking about the main gun set in the bow of the ship, a rapid-fire 80 mm naval gun.

As for the effect, it's better than nothing.

The main gun fired, which means that the missile has entered the field of view, and the column of water raised by the shell on the sea surface indicates the direction of the missile.

After searching with a telescope for a while, Wei Shaolong saw the small point of light.

There is indeed only one point of light, and it is affected by the water column blown up by the shells, and it still appears and disappears from time to time.

"Captain!"

After being reminded by the sailors, Wei Shaolong noticed the supertanker in front of the left.

The tanker has been in that direction, and after the "Panzhihua" steered and accelerated, the distance was reduced a little, and the relative position changed.

Simply a fatal change!

By the time Wei Shaolong reacted violently and looked in the northwest direction again, the small point of light had disappeared, replaced by a white trail of smoke.

The missile has already turned, apparently abandoning the "Panzhihua" and is heading towards the tanker.

"Whew-"

At this time, the "fire whirlwind", located on the roof of the hangar, opened fire.

It is a pity that the distance is too far beyond the effective range of rapid-fire guns, and the dispersion of the shells is too large to pose the slightest threat to missiles.

About 20 seconds passed, and Wei Shaolong felt that it was just a matter of an instant.

When the missile hit the tanker and a huge fireball was raised, Wei Shaolong gritted his teeth and smashed his fist on the iron fence in front of him.

It was not until several officers and men came out that he controlled his emotions and returned to the bridge.

Subsequently, he gave an order to change the whole ship from a combat state to a combat rescue state, and asked the second officer to immediately arrange for a helicopter to rescue the crew of the tanker.

However, the helicopter that took off in an emergency did not come to the rescue of the crew.

A few minutes later, the commander of the battle group on the "Zhu Shijian" sent an order, asking Wei Shaolong to immediately send a helicopter to search for the Iraqi pilot who had parachuted.

…………

At this time, the "Zhan-11B" piloted by Li Tianling flew over the "Panzhihua."

At the beginning, it was the "KK-12A" launched by him that shot down the "Super Military Flag".

About 20 minutes ago, he received an order from the Navy's early warning aircraft to carry out a cover mission in the waters northwest of Posha Bay.

As for why the navy didn't send carrier-based fighters over, Li Tianling didn't ask much.

According to the new command structure, the theater joint command is the highest operational command organ, and it will no longer distinguish between the branches of the armed forces, still less may it refuse to carry out combat tasks assigned by other branches of the armed forces.

Prior to this, Li Tianling and his men were carrying out escort missions, covering a carrier-based transport plane that took off from the "Zhu Shijian" to Riyadh.

For this mission, Li Tianling and they carried out a second air refueling in the airspace of Saudi Arabia.

Luckily, everyone had prepared in advance, each pilot carried 2 high-energy rations, and an additional plastic bag for urine.

Don't be surprised to know that on a long-haul flight, the first thing to think about is eating and pulling.

In order to avoid being relieved during the mission, as long as the flight time of the mission is more than 4 hours, the pilot will empty his belly before boarding.

Of course, try not to eat foods that can easily cause diarrhea.

In addition, when the Iraqi attack plane appeared, the "Zhu Shijian" was recovering the carrier-based plane that had been dispatched in the morning.

Anyway, only a few "Zhan-11Bs" on Li Tianling's side can rush to the western waters of Posha Bay in time.

It was precisely for this reason that after the quick kill, Li Tianling, with the support of the navy's early warning plane, fired missiles at the Iraqi attack plane.

It's a pity that it's still half a beat slower.

As for whether to shoot down the enemy plane, in fact, Li Tianling did not know the bottom of his heart.

He was firing at a distance of about 60 kilometers while the enemy aircraft were flying at an ultra-low altitude, and the specular reflection from the sea surface caused serious interference with the fire control radar.

This, if anything, is also a big problem for fighters in the Air Force.

The fire control radar used in naval fighters is optimized for specular reflections on the sea surface, making it more suitable for fighting against the background of the ocean.

It's just that when the two "KK-12A" entered the stage of active guidance, the enemy aircraft did not evade them.

If you want to say, this is also a big advantage of the "Battle-11B".

During the entire attack, Li Tianling did not use the fighter's fire control radar, and all the fire control data was provided by the navy's early warning aircraft.

Here, thanks to the fact that both the Air Force and the Navy have adopted Data Link 15.

In addition, both "KK-12A" use the attack mode of mid-course command guidance.

That is to say, after obtaining the target data provided by the early warning plane, the "Zhan-11B" piloted by Li Tianling only needs to let the radar work in communication mode and send ballistic correction instructions to the launched "KK-12A" missile, and does not need to continuously irradiate the attack target.

The biggest advantage of this tactic is that enemy aircraft will not be aware that they have been locked on until they are attacked!

Of course, this set of tactics can only be used against attack aircraft that lack air combat capabilities.

If the opponent is a fighter, then it will be difficult to work.

If nothing else, at a distance of 60 km, the radar of enemy fighters will definitely be able to detect the "Battle-11B", and there will be no chance of a sneak attack.

It's just that Li Tianling didn't know that he fired the first shot of the empire in this battle!