Chapter 111

With the decoy flares exhausted, the pilot had no way to evade.

Amid an explosion and a burst of fire, he was reduced to fragments.

At this moment, the situation for the last three remaining aircraft was no better.

They too were being pursued by several missiles.

It was as if Xuzheng Prefecture's surface-to-air missiles cost nothing.

Moreover, these current surface-to-air missiles were far more advanced than previous models.

Although they were also launched from the S-300 system, their speed was incomparable.

In addition, they possessed advanced infrared guidance capabilities; although, being on the S-300 launch platform,

they lacked more advanced fire-control processors, four-band search and stealth-detection facilities, and counter-high-performance electronic warfare systems.

However, they were sufficient to deal with the non-stealth F/A-18E Super Hornet.

One of these three aircraft was destroyed, while the pilot of another ejected immediately.

The last one narrowly avoided the S-400 missiles by using decoy flares.

Afterward, daring not to make any further moves, it fled in a sorry state.

As it scrambled away in disgrace,

the soldiers of Xuzheng Prefecture immediately cheered, especially the air defense troops.

Every member of this unit felt immensely honored.

Because they had annihilated the invading enemy; although one fish had slipped through the net,

this achievement should surely be enough to silence those nations that had underestimated Xuzheng's military strength.

So what if it was the Ugly Country?

Their advanced warplanes had also met their end at the hands of Xuzheng's military forces.

However, this was not the end of it.

On the Red Sea, two aircraft carriers were sailing through the night.

Suddenly, the command center received a terrified report from the fighter squadron dispatched for the bombing mission.

"This is James Squadron, repeat, this is James Squadron... We have come under attack by Xuzheng Prefecture's air defense systems.

Two aircraft lost, requesting immediate return, requesting immediate return..."

Before the carrier command center could even respond,

the other side fell completely silent.

Along with it, other aircraft also went silent.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, the command center immediately reported upward.

The Commodore Captain of the carrier reported to the homeland while ordering the command center to continue calling.

What they needed to know now was exactly what had happened.

Finally, after a while, a somewhat terrified voice came over the communication device.

"This is James Squadron, repeat, this is James Squadron, I am Captain Luo Luo Bote... Captain Luo Luo Bote!"

"Thank God, Captain Luo Luo Bote, you are safe. This is the command center. Can you tell us exactly what happened?"

Thus, Captain Luo Luo Bote recounted his encounter with a more advanced air-defense missile whose speed was unimaginably fast.

From the other party's account,

the Commodore and ship captain surmised that the Xuzheng Prefecture side might not be using the old-style S-300 air-defense system,

but rather the more advanced S-400 air-defense system.

According to the understanding of the U.S. military,

this air-defense system was developed by Mao Xiong to counter stealth fighters.

Its targets were the F-22 or the F-35.

The F-18's performance was relatively weak, so it was not too surprising that it was hit by such an air-defense missile.

However, the incident itself was no small matter.

On one hand, the destruction of an F-18 would naturally draw global public opinion's attention.

The invincible image of the U.S. would be called into question.

On the other hand, Mao Xiong providing the S-400 air-defense system to the Xuzheng Prefecture at this time

raised the question: did this mean Mao Xiong also intended to intervene in this war?

Furthermore, if the Xuzheng side possessed such a formidable weapon as the S-400,

the deterrent power of the F/A-18E/F, as carrier-based aircraft, would be far too low.

As long as the opponent had a sufficient quantity of such missiles, it would pose an enormous threat to the U.S. Air Force.

Conducting airstrikes as recklessly as in the previous two instances was now impossible.

Unless the U.S. could destroy the Xuzheng Prefecture's S-400 air-defense system or exhaust the opponent's missile supply.

However, neither of these options was easy.

After all, the U.S. had never truly engaged the S-400 air-defense system in direct combat.

Although F-22 stealth fighters could be launched from some bases in the Middle East,

once the F-22 Raptor, representing the pinnacle of U.S. technology, was destroyed,

the unblemished aura of U.S. military power would be utterly shattered.

This was absolutely no minor matter.

Since World War II, the U.S. had been able to dominate the world and act as its policeman,

relying above all on its invariably victorious military might.

Once this invincible aura was broken, the consequences would be profoundly far-reaching.

Of course, all this was not something a mere carrier captain needed to consider.

He simply reported the matter truthfully up the chain of command.

He awaited discussion among those generals in the Pentagon and high-level government officials

regarding what actions to take next against the Xuzheng Prefecture.

However, at this moment, the ship captain had no idea

that not far from their location,

the Hu Sai armed forces in Yemen had already located and found news of one of the U.S. carriers.

Meanwhile, on a stretch of open ground along the coast of the Red Sea,

at least dozens of missiles lay quietly on launcher vehicles, facing the direction of the sea.

These missiles were naturally the Yingji-18, the most advanced anti-ship missile still in the testing phase by Long Guo.

In this transaction, because the Xuzheng Prefecture side had learned the carrier's location in advance from media within the U.S. homeland,

they did not take delivery of the Yingji-18.

Instead, they made contact with the Hu Sai armed forces in Yemen, who had also suffered bombing.

All fifty Yingji-18 missiles were delivered to the other party.

This was because they were closer to the location of the U.S. carrier.

The Hu Sai armed forces in Yemen had also monitored the carrier's movements during this period using disguised surface vessels.

Finally, tonight,

they ascertained the carrier's precise location,

and so, shortly after this U.S. setback in the Xuzheng Prefecture,

along the coast of the Red Sea, streaks of fire shot skyward with a "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh."

Like meteors, they swiftly vanished over the sea surface.

As a new type of subsonic-supersonic combined anti-ship missile, the Yingji-18

could adapt to sea conditions, conducting ultra-low-altitude sea-skimming flight at 0.8 times the speed of sound.

Its flight altitude could be said to be the lowest in the world, and its anti-jamming capability was also extremely strong.

In this flight mode, the Aegis ships of the U.S. carrier battle group surprisingly failed to detect anything at all.

Two hundred nautical miles... one hundred nautical miles... fifty nautical miles...

— Author's Notes —

(PS: Seeking flowers, tips, and review votes for the new book; your support is the author's motivation!)