@@@@@@@

Since the beginning of July, Afghanistan, which has been in constant fighting for nine years, has entered a period of high conflict. As in previous years, summer is the most chaotic and turbulent season in Afghanistan, with Afghans seemingly born to rebel, with armed forces digging out of the mountains and the Northern Alliance attacking Amanullah's Central Army and Soviet forces. By the beginning of September, there was a large exchange of tens of thousands of people on the defensive line called by Amanullah, but they were all routed by the reinforced Soviet troops.

At this time, Amanullah was the most nervous, and the last time China and Britain promoted a coup d'état, he still remembered it vividly, so he went to ask the Soviet military attache in Afghanistan for help.

The anti-rebellion campaign also affected the Soviet troops stationed in Afghanistan, and the ambassador to Afghanistan did not return after returning to China half a year ago to report on his work, and he did not know whether he was dead or alive. Foreign Minister Motorov probably forgot that there was still Afghanistan, so the military attache and head of the regiment in Kabul, who had just been transferred from the Ural Military District, turned out to be the highest official of the Soviet army in Kabul.

The 37-year-old commander of the regiment was originally an instructor and political commissar of a certain company in the Urals, but he was assigned here because of the report and revelation that the regiment commander was being used heavily. Although the means of ascending to the position are not very open, the loyalty to the party is the same. Knowing Amanullah's intention, he immediately patted his chest and said that he would immediately send troops to reinforce the northern defense line, and would also send planes to investigate the northern no-fly zone.

But the pilot, Second Lieutenant Kolf, hated this guy to death: "Comrade regiment commander, the Chinese have established a no-fly zone in the north, and many planes have already been expelled and destroyed. ”

"Forget these comrades Korf, the valiant proletarian fighters should not be afraid of intimidation, they could not have covered the sky with planes. You have to remember that Afghanistan is very important to us! ”

Colf had no choice but to pray secretly that he would not encounter enemy planes. Fortunately, their regiment had just been replaced with a brand new I-16 fighter. This fighter has a maximum speed of 440 km/h, so it should be no problem to escape carefully.

A few days later, two I-16 monoplane fighters took off from the Kabul airfield and rushed into the northern mountains.

As one of the few experienced pilots, he was well aware that the no-fly zone was not so easy to penetrate, and at least seventeen Soviet planes had been shot down in the no-fly zone for nine years. Worst of all, since Moscow does not want to go to war with China, it keeps the loss figures a secret. To put it simply, it is to die in vain.

Just entered the mountains. Colf immediately lowered his speed, so frightened that the novice on the wingman thought something was wrong, rushed up and kept gesturing. Due to the inconvenience of communication, the two planes almost collided together. "This imperialist idiot." Colf broke out in a cold sweat and regained control of his flight attitude. With a disdainful wave of his hand, he returned to his place.

The I-16 is a monoplane fighter developed by the Soviet Union itself, with most of the wings and fuselage made of wood, short, rough and fast, but the firepower is weak, only 2 7.62mm machine guns. Of course, it also has many shortcomings, such as no radio, and it relies on tacit understanding and gestures when flying in formation. Flare guns are also used in large formations. Moreover, it is very unstable, especially in an area like Afghanistan, where there are many mountains, crosswinds and severe turbulence, and there have been many air dangers during training, and several aircraft have been damaged.

Although not suitable for the mountains. But Colf had no choice, because flying too high would be easy to spot. To make matters worse, the maximum range of the I-16 is only 810 kilometers from Kabul to Faizabad at 380 km. Fuel consumption will increase at low altitudes, so it is only possible to go back and forth in a straight line at the simplest level. Otherwise, you will probably not be able to come back.

The two I-16s flew cautiously against the ridge, and after about 30 minutes, Colf began to worry about fuel because the pointer of the fuel gauge dropped quickly. At this time, his wingman should also have noticed that the remaining fuel was likely not to go back, so he caught up and pointed to the sky, meaning that he would climb high and use the air flow to save consumption.

Colf didn't want to take the risk, but the wingman, whom he called an "imperialist idiot", made an upward climb without permission, and had to press the gas pedal to catch up. It took six minutes for the I-16 to climb to 5,000 meters, and it was these six minutes that made it impossible for Korf to return to Kabul. When he was chasing the wingman in a hurry, two black dots suddenly appeared in the northeast sky!

"Enemy planes!"

Colf shook his wings to alert the wingman, then put his finger on the machine gun button and shook the joystick to dive quickly, hoping to reduce the altitude and use the deep mountain and gorge to engage the opponent. But at this time, the wingman who was supposed to act like him was still climbing in a daze, not knowing whether he was scared silly or hoping to seize the height. The two "snakes" with the Chinese national emblem and silver wings on their wings also spotted Colf, immediately abandoned the auxiliary fuel tanks, and rushed over at an accelerated speed like a hound. "Damn it." Wolf was taken aback by the speed of the opposition's sprint, and although he couldn't know the exact number, it was clearly faster than he had previously known.

He knew that this fighter named after the monster in the Classic of Mountains and Seas had long been replaced with a new engine of 1050 horsepower, and the earliest sailwood model had all been replaced by an all-aluminum model, and the speed had risen to 510 kilometers per hour. In air combat, speed and agility are life, and the "Snake" is significantly higher than the Yi 16 in these two aspects. Moreover, the Chinese pilots were obviously veterans, and when they found that their opponents could not support each other, they immediately gave up the dodging Colf and went all out to deal with the rising wingman.

Almost as soon as they were in front of each other, the eight 12.7mm machine guns of the two "snakes" pierced through the wingman's fuselage, and from Wolff's point of view, he saw that the tracer bullets above his head were trained into a line of fire, mercilessly passing through the cockpit and wings, and then his wingman caught fire and smoked and fell headlong.

This scene made his whole body tense. Obviously, the opponent was faster than him and had stronger firepower, so he completely gave up the idea of grappling and tried to escape by clinging to the ridge. But how could the two "snakes" that had finally seized the opportunity to make meritorious service let their prey leave, and when the long plane roared towards him, the wingman accelerated forward, using the speed advantage to block the escape course.

The "snake" behind him kept firing, and lines of fire erupted from the wings. But Colf is not easy to mess with, although he is unable to fight back, he constantly evades flying left and right, and uses the valley to dive and sink many times, which also makes the opponent waste a lot of bullets.

Unconsciously, it was less than a 15-minute flight from the northern defense line controlled by the Central Army of Amanullah, and at this time the three planes chasing had dropped to an altitude of about 1,000 meters. Just when Wolf thought that Lady Luck would be able to escape, the "Snake" behind him suddenly swooped down, and then, it flew close to the side of the mountain wall next to him and forcibly overtook him. Then he continued to turn backwards, forcing Wolf to pull up all at once.

The weakness of the slow lifting of the I-16 was completely exposed at this moment, and the wingman who had been on standby for a long time quickly cut in from the flank, and Wolf saw the fire of the opponent's wing flash, and the nose of his I-16 was hit

Black smoke billowed out. Originally, he wanted to parachute to escape, but before he could climb out of the cabin, the long plane that forced him to pull up had already circled back, and four machine guns used semi-armor-piercing incendiary bombs to sweep at the cockpit.

Wolf didn't even know that he was dead. If he had been able to fly forward for an extra five minutes and escape back, I am afraid that the first classic air assault in the history of human warfare would have died completely.

At the same time that Wolf and the fighter plane crashed into the ground and were killed, one after another newly equipped Y-9 large transport planes landed at Faizabad Airport. When this huge beast with four 1,600-horsepower engines, each capable of "spitting" out a full 86 heavily armed Chinese airborne troops, fell in front of him. Inside the airport, the soldiers of the Northern Afghan Army thundered with joy.

When Long Yun stepped out of the engine room, the two "snakes" that shot down the enemy plane had also landed, and the Afghan soldiers who learned the news surrounded the two pilots like heroes. It wasn't until the pilot returned to the command post to report the situation that the Afghan soldiers were busy with the air force ground crew.

At this time, the airfield was on high alert, and there were soldiers on alert everywhere. In the anti-aircraft artillery position, two 85-mm and six 40-mm antiaircraft guns pointed diagonally into the sky, and the lookouts on the tower looked vigilant. Left of the position. It is a transport aircraft formation consisting of 36 Y-6 and 32 Y-3, which will transport two regiments of the Northern Army and one reinforced regiment of the Asian Brigade to Kabul after the airborne battalion gains control of the airfield. On the right is a mixed aviation wing composed of 44 "Snake" fighters of the Chinese Air Force, 16 white-shouldered Eagle fighters of the Northern Alliance of Afghanistan, 22 "Ghost Car" dive bombers, and 22 twin-engine bombers and six "Venus" bombers, which will be responsible for interdiction and protection missions. And at the end of the runway. In addition to the five Y-9s that just landed, there were two of the most mysterious aircraft in the operation, 12 Bird Assault Gliders and 22 Dapeng Heavy Gliders.

Both aircraft are of wooden construction, the former can transport 15 airborne troops. The latter can transport 52 airborne troops or a 7.5-wheeled armored vehicle of the LZ33 Type 6-wheeled armored vehicle. They also have large, open hatches for easy access, with the nose of the latter opening wide to the left. It is convenient for large items to enter and exit.

Hundreds of ground crews began to make final checks, and Afghan soldiers rolled out gasoline and bombs that had taken months to bring in from Kashgar. For this operation, Nadir Khan and the Northern Alliance Army also used all their strength, not only completely blockading Faizabad ten days ago, but also recruiting warriors from many tribes, so that the total number of coalition troops suddenly increased to 70,000.

The command post was set up in the Nadir Sha Palace not far from the airport, and when Long Yun arrived, it was already full of people, and the tribal elders, officers of various troops, religious imams, Nader Shah, and Mei Sheng, who had arrived in advance, made the final deployment around the map and the sand table.

"Brother Zhidan, what were they cheering for just now?"

Nader Shah and the others all knew Long Yun, so when they saw him, they were very affectionate, and even took the initiative to ask him to be the commander-in-chief. Only after finally getting rid of them did he have a chance to inquire about the situation.

"Shot down two Soviet fighters." Zhang Zhidan said.

"The Soviets found out?" Seeing that the action was imminent, Long Yun's heart tightened. However, Zhang Zhidan was not nervous, and said: "It should have been caused by our attack during this time, in the past two months, we have deliberately put on a posture to make a false appearance of attacking Kunduz and Baghlan, which has attracted the attention of Amanulla and the Soviet army, so we should be here to investigate." ”

"Ready? When to get your hands on? Long Yun breathed a sigh of relief and walked to Mei Sheng's side, and the sand table full of various flags made him gradually excited. Soldiers, who doesn't want to make a contribution? More than a decade of peace has already made many people impatient. Although there are occasional border conflicts, they are all trivial matters at the company and battalion level, and they are not worth their help. But this time it was different, the Military Intelligence Bureau, the Air Force, the Airborne Division, the Asian Brigade, the Northern Army of Afghanistan, the Indian Muslim League, and so on were all involved, and it was already a small-scale multi-service joint campaign. More importantly, this small alliance not only strengthens China's relations with neighboring countries, but also gives the IDF a chance to re-experience long-lost multinational joint operations.

"It's all set! The main forces of the Soviet troops stationed at the Kabul airfield had already been drawn, and only an infantry regiment and an aviation regiment remained, about a thousand people. There are still 3,000 puppet troops loyal to Amanullah in the palace. Fei Wenhua with two regiments of the Asian Brigade, one division of the Northern Army and 16 tanks were already on standby on the outskirts of Baghlan, and in front of him were 10,000 puppet troops and 2,000 Soviet troops. After Mei Sheng introduced the overall situation, he beckoned a tall and thin lieutenant colonel: "This is Dong Hao, the fifth phase of the Changsha Air Force Academy, and now the lieutenant colonel of the Second Airborne Division." He and his two reinforced battalions have been training at the Yanshan simulation base for two months, and they will go up in person this time. Dong Hao, give General Long an introduction. ”

"Yes!"

Dong Hao, who has a brain door, saluted and introduced the specific details of the operation to Long Yun and others: "The Afghan airport is open and there are no obvious tall buildings around, which is very suitable for gliders to land suddenly. The first option is for 12 birds to land directly on the runway. Then they were divided into four squads, the first squad controlled the anti-aircraft artillery, the second squad raided the dormitories and checkpoints, the third squad was responsible for blowing up the arsenal, and the fourth squad was on guard and trying to get the vehicles. At the same time, the pilot will operate the machine gun on the glider to strafe the aircraft to prevent it from being exploited by the enemy. After destroying the plane, they will release flashbang grenades, lighting up the runway and allowing the Roc behind them to land. By the time the 16 Roc have landed, we should have grabbed enough trucks to immediately divide our forces to attack the palace. The remaining troops will be stationed at the airfield to protect the landing of subsequent transport aircraft.

If the assault team does not go well, the second plan is adopted, allowing the Roc to land in an open space three kilometers away from the airfield, and then storm the airfield when the bombers arrive. In Dong Hao's plan, the commando team will be the key to victory or defeat. If you can quietly land at the airport, then half the battle will be won. If it fails, the Soviet army will definitely defend desperately, and once the troops of the Hindu Kush are withdrawn and cooperate with the Amanullah puppet army in the city, the pressure on the airborne battalion will be very great. What worries Long Yun the most is that due to the lack of heavy equipment of the airborne troops, it will be difficult to block the artillery fire of Kabul City once it is revealed.

However, in this regard, Dong Hao is full of confidence: "We have experimented many times, the glider can approach the airport without any sound, and it can stop at most 30 meters after landing, and the time is only tens of seconds, so the Soviet army will definitely not be able to react in such a short time." We also have heavy firepower, and before coming out, the chief of the General Staff specially strengthened us and did not install 6 80-mm recoilless guns and 6 107-mm rocket artillery, so that even if we attack strongly, we can take the airport. ”

"When does that start?"

"Nine hours later!" Mei Sheng looked at his watch