In just about 10 minutes, the six "Z-10A" of this squadron led by Lian Mingyang ran out of rockets.

In the enemy's armored group, there are not only tanks, but also a large number of armored vehicles such as infantry fighting vehicles.

Because they were worried about being attacked by anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft missiles, Lian Mingyang and the others all lingered around the periphery and did not get close to the armored group.

However, this situation did not last long.

"Head, ten o'clock!"

"See!"

At the same time that Jiang Shanggui shouted loudly, Lian Mingyang had already operated the helicopter to evade to the right, and at the same time released the jamming bomb mounted on the tail boom.

Those were two missiles fired from the left side.

Judging by the flight route, it is quite possible that the missile was launched by a helicopter, and not by infantry on the ground.

It's just that the helicopter is a few kilometers away.

Lian Mingyang's judgment was immediately confirmed, it was indeed the armed helicopter that attacked, and there was more than one, and more than a dozen came, which was almost the size of half a brigade.

MI-24 "Hind".

Judging from the tandem cockpit, it is still a later model with better performance.

Fortunately, the enemy aircraft fired anti-tank missiles, not anti-aircraft missiles!

When Lian Mingyang controlled the "Z-10A" to complete the steering, those "Hinds" had already entered the field of vision, and several other "Z-10A" in the squadron had also completed the steering.

"Head, the brothers are here." Jiang Shanggui was not only observing the enemy's situation, but also paying attention to the movements of friendly planes.

"All of them, take a squad as a unit, and take out those 'hinds'. Swallow 02, follow me! ”

"Swallow 02 received, behind you."

Lian Mingyang quickly glanced back at the back, and at the same time pushed the throttle stick to the end.

Earlier, Jiang Shanggui had already adjusted the fire control channel, and also operated the machine gun to rotate up and down, left and right, to confirm that the weapon system could work.

The key, of course, is the choice of ammunition.

The 30mm lightweight cannon of the "Z-10A" adopts a two-way ammunition feeding system, which mainly uses armor-piercing shells against armored targets and high-explosive shells against non-armored targets, so before firing, the weapon operator needs to select ammunition according to the target.

The gunship that killed the helicopter gunship, but it could only be regarded as an unarmored target.

The size of the "Hind" is much larger than that of the "Z-10A", for example, the length of the aircraft is close to 19 meters, and the diameter of the rotors is more than 17 meters, but the take-off weight is not much different from the "Z-10A", both of which are 10-ton heavy gunships. Because of the large size, the area of protection is also larger, so in the case of little difference in take-off weight, the "Hind" is actually inferior to the "Z-10A" in terms of armor protection.

In fact, the "Hind" itself was designed as a multi-purpose helicopter.

In addition to its attack capabilities, the Hind also has a crew pod that can carry several infantrymen.

It is precisely because of this that it has the same size as a utility helicopter.

As for the performance, it is actually about the same as the "Z-7" series.

In the Iran-Iraq war, Iraq's "Hind" and Poland's "Cobra" fought dozens of times, although the record was better than the "Cobra", but it was not much stronger, basically at the same level, and the "Cobra" and "Z-7" were both first-generation light armed helicopters.

It was not until the later stage that the Army's "Z-7W" and the Marine Corps' "Z-7T" became a heavy armed helicopter with a take-off weight of nearly 10 tons through comprehensive improvements, such as installing two engines, using four-bladed main rotors, replacing them with 30-mm machine guns, and strengthening the protection of key parts.

It's a pity that because the cost performance is not high, neither the "Z-7W" nor the "Z-7T" are equipped on a large scale.

Compared with the Z-10A, the gap between the Hind is quite obvious.

For example, these MI-24Vs were killed with a 4-barreled 12.7mm Gatling machine gun under the nose!

This configuration was also 15 years ago, the early level of the "Z-7".

"Jiang Shanggui, fire quickly!"

The distance of several thousand meters is actually only about ten seconds for the two teams of helicopters flying in opposite directions.

Of course, you certainly can't wait until you get close to fire.

Interestingly, it was the "Hind" who fired first.

About 2 kilometers into the reunion, the Hind flying at the front used a Gatling gun, as well as rockets hanging under its short wings.

However, when rockets are fired into the air, there is basically no accuracy at all.

As for the machine-gun bullets, apart from the scary sound of "crackling" on the fuselage, they will not cause other serious consequences.

It's just that the sound of being hit by bullets is really scary, especially when a few bullets hit the bulletproof glass on the front of the cockpit.

Otherwise, Lian Mingyang would not have reminded Jiang Shanggui to fire.

Jiang Shanggui only delayed for less than 2 seconds.

In fact, he did not deliberately delay time, but the fire control system needed time to lock on to the target and control the machine gun to aim at the target.

The 30-mm cannon was mounted on the turret and was aimed differently from the fighter's gun.

"Tom-tom-"

When the 30-mm cannon fired, the entire "Z-10A" trembled.

In order to be used in helicopter gunships, the 30mm gun not only adopted a lightweight design, but also reduced the rate of fire from 600 rounds per minute to 450 rounds per minute for the vehicle-mounted version in order to reduce recoil. But even so, the recoil of this machine gun is still amazingly large.

In the blink of an eye, the "Hind" flying in front was blasted into a ball of fire.

In this world, there is no helicopter that can withstand a direct attack from 30-mm shells.

In order to avoid colliding with the helicopter that was already approaching and was still falling, Lian Mingyang controlled the "Z-10A" to make an emergency turn.

As a result, the opportunity to fire again was missed.

Later, the wingman who called the code name "Swallow 02" had also opened fire, knocked out another "Hind", and then turned to evade with the long plane.

Lian Mingyang did not drive the helicopter to climb, but stayed at an ultra-low altitude.

Now they have flown above the enemy's armored clusters.

It is not only the helicopter gunships that are not shot down that need to be worried, but also the anti-aircraft guns on the ground and the anti-aircraft missiles in the hands of the infantry.

Climbing is tantamount to targeting anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft missiles.

As for the light weapons in the hands of the infantry, on the contrary, there is nothing to worry about, at least there is no possibility of being able to directly shoot down the "Z-10A".

After going around, Lian Mingyang found that there was one more wingman following behind, and there were two "Z-10A" thousands of meters away.

One "Z-10A" was shot down by the enemy.

To the southwest, those "Hinds" have not yet completed their turn.

Obviously, the "Hind" was much less agile and, therefore, had a much larger turning radius.

"The next one will follow, and we will return in one more round!"

"Swallow 02 received."

"Swallow 04 received."

Sure enough, the squad leader called the codename "Swallow 03" was shot down.

The three Z-10A planes were arranged in a zigzag pattern, and the distance between them was increased to more than 500 meters, and the two wingmen were behind the side of the long plane.

This is an air formation adopted in the face of a large number of enemy aircraft.

The distance was drawn in order to avoid being surrounded by enemy aircraft.

In addition, for a 3000-mm gun with an effective firing range of more than 500 meters, a distance of 500 meters does not affect at all.

On the opposite side, there are 8 more "Hinds", and 4 more in the distance.

Lian Mingyang began to say that he was not frightened by the large number of enemy planes, but because he did not have enough fuel!

The Zhangara base is more than 300 kilometers to the east, and according to the original plan, it will return home immediately after completing the ground strike mission. In the event of an accident in combat operations that consumes more fuel, you can also fly to Akhtubinsk and replenish fuel and ammunition at the field airfield there.

Now, of course, there have been accidents.

The point is that after more than 10 minutes of fighting, especially a huge fuel-guzzling air battle, the remaining fuel is only enough to fly to the field airfield.

If it continues to be consumed, it will not even be possible to go to the field airfield.

If you are shot down in battle, it is not lucky, and if you lose non-combat losses due to love war, the leader commander will be fully responsible.

Go back and replenish fuel and ammo, and it's never too late to fight again!

When the three "Z-10A" were lined up, those "Hinds" had also completed their turn and were divided into two formations to kill this side.

4 of the formations flew towards the "Z-10A" formation, and the other 4 made a detour to the west.

Obviously, the pilots of these "Hinds" have also discovered that their main air combat weapon, the 12.7-mm machine gun, cannot deal with the "Z-10A", and the chance of winning a head-to-head exchange is almost zero, so they choose to make a detour from the side and strive to break up the "Z-10A" group.

The point is that the 2 engines of the "Z-10A" are installed on the sides of the fuselage.

The frontal projection of the engine is only one-tenth of that of the side projection!

In addition, the armor plates that protect the engine, which are actually installed under the engine compartment, are mainly used to cope with anti-aircraft fire from the ground.

That is, a 12.7 mm machine gun bullet is capable of piercing the engine compartment from the side and destroying the engine.

The key is that the side projection area of the helicopter is definitely much larger than the front, and the probability of being hit is also greater.

In this way, those rockets carried by the "Hind" have a place to use.

No matter how strong the "Z-10A" is, it will definitely not be able to withstand the rockets.

"Keep up with them, kill the ones in front!"

At this moment, Lian Mingyang felt that time had slowed down.

Of course, he knew that it was an illusion caused by the excessive secretion of adrenal hormones, or that the whole person had entered a state of extreme euphoria.

This is a normal physiological response when faced with life-and-death challenges.

According to common sense, the remaining 3 "Z-10A" are all in danger.

The most likely to be shot down is the long plane at the front.

It's a matter of seconds, though.

When the helicopter shook violently, Lian Mingyang was startled at first, but then realized that it was not the vibration caused by the machine gun fire.

Shot!

"Head, we've been hit!"

"Prepare to ramble!"

The 3 displays in front of you have all stopped working, showing some meaningless images that indicate that the helicopter's electronic systems are finished.

The Z-10A also has a backup hydraulic operating system, and it starts on its own.

After feeling the tremendous force fed back from the joystick, Lian Mingyang seemed to grasp the hope, because that was the signal for the hydraulic system to start working.

Only then did he glance outside.

The helicopter was hit by a "Shilka", and it was hiding in a wood, and it was still firing into the air, perhaps aiming at the "Swallow 02".

Fortunately, when the long plane was hit, the wingman had already turned and narrowly avoided anti-aircraft fire.

"Head, engine number one is finished!"

"See!"

Lian Mingyang didn't give up, he had already pushed the throttle stick to the bottom.

Although the No. 1 engine on the left side has already burst into flames, it must have been damaged by shells, but in emergency mode, one engine can make the "Z-10A" fly.

However, the No. 2 engine on the right has also emitted black smoke, which is likely to be caused by overload.

With just one engine, there is definitely no way to return home, and crashing is an inevitable result.

What Lian Mingyang is doing now is actually to stay as far away from the battle line as possible, fly to his own control area and then make a forced landing.

Unfortunately, his efforts were of little significance.

The tail slurry has fallen off, the helicopter has lost its ability to control its direction, and it is spinning faster and faster around the spindle, making it difficult for even the best pilots to accurately discern the direction.

In fact, even if you can identify it, there is no way to control the helicopter to fly in the right direction.

Lian Mingyang's efforts are actually to keep the helicopter in the air for as long as possible, that is, to reduce the speed when it falls.

"Head!"

"Hold on!"

It's as if the whole world is spinning.

As the helicopter rushed towards the woods, Lian Mingyang saw a fireball rising from the ground, and also saw a black shadow flying from above.

This was followed by a violent impact.

The Z-10A hit the ground headlong after breaking a few large trees, and in the process of crashing, the main rotor and short wing were thrown out.

In fact, the moment he hit the ground, Lian Mingyang passed out.

Although the "Z-10A" has the best crash resistance among today's armed helicopters, it does not mean that the pilot can be unscathed at the time of crash.

If anything, there has never been a helicopter that has left the pilot unscathed when it crashes.

It's nice to be able to save the pilot's life, and to keep the pilot from serious injury is perfect.

The design index of the "Z-10A" can only save the lives of 2 pilots when it falls to non-paved ground at a speed of 15 meters per second.

In fact, Lian Mingyang's efforts are not meaningless.

Thanks to his efforts, the helicopter's speed at the time of the fall has been reduced to less than 10 meters per second, while the crash-resistant box-shaped fuselage absorbs most of the impact.

At this falling speed, the pilot's survival probability exceeded 90%.

He was unconscious for a few seconds.

The bulletproof glass on both sides of the cockpit had fallen off automatically at the time of the crash, and there was white smoke all around, which was the extinguishing agent sprayed by the automatic fire extinguishing system.

Climbing out of the cabin, Lian Mingyang's first thought was his partner Jiang Shanggui in front.

He just fainted.

After confirming that Jiang Shanggui was not seriously injured, Lian Mingyang went to take out the life kit.

At this time, a "Z-10A" flew overhead, but it did not stop and flew away directly.

The fighting was still going on, and helicopter gunships were unable to carry out rescue missions.

In fact, Lian Mingyang had already thought that the wingman had destroyed the "Shilka" self-propelled anti-aircraft gun that shot him down.

It's also the only thing a wingman can do.

In addition, it was not possible to fly to the zone of control of the enemy, to fall in the enemy-controlled zone, to be precise, behind the enemy's armored clusters!

The enemy is still advancing, and the defenders certainly can't launch a counterattack right away, so don't expect to be rescued, be prepared to save yourself!