Long Yun not only knew nothing about NATO's ban on engaging in war, but in fact did not have obvious feelings.

Unlike the high-level commanders who are obscure and forbearing, even under the terrifying cloud of the "Caucasian Grim Reaper", there are still many confident pilots in the NATO Air Force, eager to try the Russian ace who is rampage in the sky.

"Immediate disengagement, no visual engagement", this kind of order in the eyes of the soldiers is completely insulting, and of course it is impossible to tie their hands and feet; Many people still lack experience of the horrors of "Mad Ivan", and often do not wake up until the fighter plane is mercilessly hit, falls and catches fire - by which time it is of course too late.

In the course of day-to-day sorties, on a wide front stretching from the Crimean Peninsula in the east to the shores of the Caspian Sea in the west, across the snow-capped Greater Caucasus Mountains, the Red Seventeen swept through and slashed, leaving only a terrifying figure painted with a large red five-pointed star, and fragments and black smoke dissipating into the sky. In the face of the imposing "Crazy Ivan", the activity intensity of the NATO Air Force continues to decrease; But to say that a huge war plane will be completely contained by his actions alone is also extremely abnormal. Piloting a fighter plane to patrol the overcast Caucasian sky, Long Yun did not know that he was behind the wide battle line, and under the temporary calm on the surface, there was a huge conspiracy surging like a turbid current.

This dark turbidity current is directed at Viktor Rezenov.

……

The time is in the evening when the sun is shining.

CVN-70 in the eastern Mediterranean, in the waters off Cyprus, where the sun is slanting to the west: the aircraft carrier "Carl Vinson" looks like a long inconspicuous dark gray iron plate from high altitude; Against the backdrop of the blue sea, the silhouette of the originally huge aircraft carrier also looked a little dim and blurred.

Just a few days ago, when I returned from the front line of fierce fighting, I was able to see such a scene from above.

Standing on the still somewhat hot broad deck of the aircraft carrier and looking north, the soles of his boots tightly engaged with the rough deck beneath his feet, Major Sean Phelps' line of sight, the faint black dots that gradually protrude from the horizon are gradually approaching and growing. The helicopter's characteristic paddle tuk tuk sounded rather weak in the open sea, and it was the CH-47 helicopter that had taken off from northern Turkey in the afternoon to escort the two partners back.

"Hey, Sean, they're coming!"

Standing next to Phelps, Radar Operator Pearson looked relaxed, reaching for the collar of his flight suit to block the gust of sea breeze that had crept in.

Squinting his eyes slightly and staring into the distance, Sean's words were slow and flat, in fact, he was still quite happy about the safe return of the pair in his heart: "It's best to come back along with Lì, I hope they are still alive." ”

"Of course. -- But I missed the rare port stop to recuperate, so it's useless to be frustrated now! ”

Immersed in the pleasure of berthing and replenishment, Pearson seemed to miss the cold and refreshing beer and the hot and enthusiastic Mediterranean girl, and the fierce battle that had preceded him did not seem to have had any emotional effect, presumably because he was not the pilot of the fighter.

For Sean Phelps, the aerial encounter a few days ago was not at all pleasant.

In his remaining memory, the battle in the air that broke out in the afternoon began when he received an interception order from the command center and turned on the afterburner to cross the Asia Minor peninsula; However, the most indelible impression on him should be that after launching a salvo of "immortal birds", they met the attack vanguard of the Russians unexpectedly and saw the impressive red No. 17 "Flanker" fighter.

In previous battles, the "Red Boar" squadron had never encountered a "flanker", of course, because they had not been in the combat zone for a long time. But in spite of this, it is indeed mentioned in the air briefing sent above that the Russian "flankers" in the Caucasus have their number one trump card; Unexpectedly, during visual contact, he stumbled upon the seventeenth mentioned in the report, which made Sean, who took the initiative to enter the fight, quite nervous, but at the same time he also had an inexplicable competitive spirit.

Having previously participated in the "Golden Canyon" operation in Libya and won quite a lot in the Gulf War, Sean's aviation service career was not short, and the record of shooting down a total of six aircraft also made him the top ace of the "Red Boar" squadron.

Suddenly he found himself facing the legendary terrifying "Mad Ivan", Phelps did not panic, but immediately entered the fierce combat with his wingman, he wondered if this oncoming and lonely but obviously unscrupulous Russian, he was really as powerful as the legend?

Entering the grappling with the "flanker", within a few rounds of fighting, Phelps keenly observed and judged that the opponent had no missiles; He was pleasantly surprised by his strong desire to win, and he thought that maybe this time he was really lucky, and they could take this opportunity to chase and fight fiercely and knock down the rumored invincible Russian ace!

It was precisely because of such rash consideration that when it was discovered that the Russians took the initiative to avoid the war and break away from the north, the two "Super Cats" would chase after each other, and finally were caught off guard by the fleet air missiles that appeared out of nowhere, and almost lost their lives in the waves of the vast Black Sea.

Recalling the scene at that time, missiles dragging white smoke came one after another, and that kind of scene can only be described as terrifying.

Although his solid piloting skills and knee-jerk evasion allowed him to dodge the attack, the wingman was not so lucky: another F-14D, which was hit by a split-head missile and stopped with one of its engines, lost control due to a malfunction of the flight control system and crashed into the Black Sea waters close to the coastline after struggling to fly for tens of kilometers.

The narrow road met but ended with the escape of the wolf, and this fruitless aerial battle made Phelps truly feel the horror of Russia's number one trump card, but at the same time he felt sorry for not being able to seize the opportunity and take out the opponent who ran out of missiles; However, after the fierce battle, the most thought that came to his mind was probably when he would encounter that "crazy Ivan" again and have the opportunity to fight that extremely skilled guy again.

――What if it's the number one ace?

The Russians' "flankers" are certainly tough, and the "super cats" of the "Red Boar" are not easy to mess with!

After a two-on-one pursuit, but being calculated and losing his wingman, Phelps still had considerable confidence in his skills, at least now he was not afraid of the Russians who made many air force pilots talk about it.

No matter where he came from or how many shootdowns he had, he's still a pilot, isn't he?

Since he is a pilot, not a devil who is not afraid of swords and guns, there will always be a time when he will show his flaws and be defeated.

Immersed in the idea of fighting will, Major Phelps watched the light gray CH-47 helicopter gradually approach and fly over the aircraft carrier and slowly land; After greeting and hugging the young man who jumped from above, he asked the two partners, who had been rescued at sea and had traveled long distances, to the infirmary for routine check-ups, and he also needed the close cooperation of his wingmen in the later operations.

It's good that the pilots are fine, as for the lost F-14D, that's not a big deal.

Waving his hand to the figure who had followed the doctor away and disappeared through the hatch, Major Phelps was about to call his partner Pearson off the deck to go to the dining room for dinner and then to the squadron meeting, when he followed Pearson's finger and saw two small black dots in the sky.

- What are they, like two helicopters again?

A few minutes later, under the curious gaze of Sean and Pearson, two dark green CH-47 helicopters also landed one after another; On the wide aviation deck of the "Carl Vinson", three "Chinooks" with a rather distinctive appearance are parked at once, and for a time people thought that they were on the deck of an amphibious assault ship.

The blades were still slowly spinning, and the roar of the engine had not stopped, and several Marines in camouflage uniforms jumped from the helicopter, and the officers behind them waved to the deck crew to call the battery car, and then ordered the Marines to form a cordon; The soldiers armed with M4A3 carbines immediately signaled to the nearby people to stay away for the time being, and Sean and the two were also beckoned to leave, they walked with doubts, and looked back from time to time with curiosity.

-- It looks like a Marine Corps helicopter, where did they come from, and what are they doing on the carrier?

Looking back as he walked, Sean was still thinking about his doubts, but the sharp-eyed Pearson deliberately walked more slowly, and then quickly caught up with Sean's footsteps.

"Sean, did you see that?"

"Didn't you see, - what?"

"I saw the battery car dragged out, ......," Pearson hesitated a little, "looking at the specifications of the box, it seems to be an 'immortal bird' missile." ”

"...... 'Immortal Bird'?"

Phelps wondered, what does this mean?

Two Marine Corps CH-47s from afar, just to transport a few "immortal birds"?

The Carl Vinson is not at all unusual for the Carl Vinson missile: it was originally from afar, and it had not been on the battlefield for a few days, and the aircraft carrier's ammunition depot still had a lot of AIM-54B stocks for the "Super Cat". It is a bit incomprehensible that these Marines went out of their way to escort a few missiles.

Of course, it is the duty of the military to obey orders, and although it feels strange, Sean and his partner still don't think much of it; It's not surprising what kind of strange things happened during the war, and who knows what secret missions or arrangements were made from above?

The two people who were talking and chatting quickly forgot all their doubts and came to the aviation personnel cafeteria on the lower deck of the aircraft carrier for dinner; After sitting down and eating a few bites of food, Major Phelps received a call over the intercom, saying that the captain of the ship, Vice Admiral Mitchell, had something to look for them, and ordered the two to report to the captain's office immediately after dinner.