Chapter 168: East Sea Thunder (Part 2) — 'Shinshin' Wings Folded, Total Annihilation

5:50 AM, Foot-Basin Chicken territory, Hyakuri Base.

Twelve 'Shinshin' improved fighter jets ignited one after another on the runway, their exhaust flames blinding in the darkness before dawn.

In the cockpit, pilot Major Jiro Yamada checked his instruments one last time.

The skins of these fighter jets were coated with the latest radar-absorbent material, and the internal weapons bays were loaded with two anti-ship missiles, with electronic warfare pods under the wings.

"Yamada, remember the tactics." The commander's voice came through the headset.

"Low-altitude penetration, use the Earth's curvature to avoid radar. After reaching the target sea area, climb, lock onto the Dragon Country tugboat formation, fire missiles, and immediately disengage. Do not get entangled."

"Understood," Yamada responded, his voice suppressing anger.

Six ships captured, over two hundred colleagues became prisoners; this was a humiliation never seen since the establishment of the Self-Defense Force.

This mission was ostensibly 'rescue', but actually revenge.

As long as one missile hit a Dragon Country ship, they could save face.

"All aircraft, take off."

The fighter jets took off one after another, forming two six-plane formations in the night sky, flying toward the southwest, hugging the sea surface.

Dragon Chant Research Institute Command Center.

The large screen displayed the real-time situation of the entire East Sea.

Twelve red light spots were moving southwest from the Foot-Basin Chicken territory, at an altitude of only fifty meters, speed 0.8 Mach.

"They're here," Chen Guang said calmly.

"'Shinshin' improved, stealth design, low-altitude penetration. Expected to enter missile launch position in twenty-three minutes."

Wang Hao rubbed his hands, eyes shining: "Twelve! That's enough! Brother Hao is going to have a blast this time!"

"They even brought anti-ship missiles, execute the revised plan next," Feng Yan stared at the screen.

"For the Foot-Basin Chicken's air power, annihilation is the priority. But try to shoot them down as intact as possible, preserving the wreckage for technical analysis."

"Understood!" Wang Hao turned to the console.

"Zhoushan 'Torch Dragon's Eye' array, full power preparation! Coastal mobile laser vehicles, enter pre-set positions!"

The screen switched, showing six laser emitters disguised as wind turbines on the hills of the Zhoushan Islands slowly turning southeast.

Beside the coastal highway, three heavy trucks uncovered their canvas covers, revealing the laser emission devices inside the truck beds.

These were mobile laser air defense vehicles designed by Chen Guang, each equipped with a 500kW-class laser.

"Step one," Chen Guang operated the control interface, "release decoys."

On the sea surface 120 kilometers from the coastline, three unmanned speedboats simultaneously released dozens of balloon-like objects.

The balloon surfaces were covered with a metal coating, showing characteristics similar to large ships on radar.

Almost simultaneously, three dense light spot clusters appeared on the radar screens of the Foot-Basin Chicken fighter formation.

"Targets detected!" Yamada reported.

"Bearing 075, distance eighty kilometers, matches the characteristics of the Dragon Country tugboat formation!"

"Prepare to attack!"

Twelve 'Shinshin' jets climbed simultaneously, leaping from fifty meters to three thousand meters, opening their weapons bays, fire-control radar beginning to lock on.

At this very moment.

Zhoushan Islands, six deep red laser beams pierced the darkness before dawn.

No sound, no warning.

Yamada only saw a blinding light spot appear in front of his cockpit, and then on the instrument panel, the temperature needle for the left engine instantly hit the red zone.

"I've been irradiated!" he exclaimed.

But what came through the headset was a series of screams:

"Right wing control surface failed!"

"Photoelectric sensor destroyed!"

"Engine surge!"

The laser didn't directly shoot down the planes, but precisely cut key parts.

Engine blades, control surfaces, sensor windows.

This was the 'surgical' strike designed by Chen Guang: let the planes lose combat capability, but keep the structure as intact as possible.

Yamada pulled the stick desperately, trying to evade.

But his fighter had already lost half its power, and the control response was sluggish.

At this moment, the second round of strikes came.

The mobile laser vehicles on the coastal highway opened fire.

Lower power, but more quantity, faster rate of fire.

Three blue light beams intertwined in the air, specifically aiming at the fighter jets' photoelectric probes and radar domes.

"I can't see!" the wingman screamed in terror. "It's all static!"

Yamada's display screen was also blurry.

He switched to the backup optical probe, only to find the backup probe had also been destroyed.

"Retreat! All aircraft retreat!" The commander's voice finally sounded.

But it was already too late.

The third round of strikes came from the sea.

On the decks of the three unmanned speedboats, honeycomb-like launchers rose.

Wang Hao pressed the button in the command center: "Little devils, Brother Hao's 'swarm' is here!"

Hundreds of palm-sized suicide drones popped out of the launchers, unfolding carbon fiber wings in the air, rushing toward the twelve 'Shinshin' jets like a swarm of angry wasps.

They were too small, too slow, and couldn't catch up to the fighter jets under normal circumstances.

But now, these fighter jets either had damaged engines, failed sensors, or difficult controls.

The drone swarm approached the targets, not by crashing, but by attaching directly to the fighter jets.

"They're on the wings!" Yamada saw from the porthole that several small black things were clinging to his right wing, then extended drills and began to drill holes.

"What the hell are these things?!"

"They're destroying the skin! Structural integrity is dropping!"

"Shake them off!"

Yamada performed a series of violent maneuvers, but those drones clung on like maggots on a bone.

Thirty seconds later, an ominous sound of metal tearing came from his right wing.

The instrument showed that the right wing main beam stress was exceeded.

"It's going to break! The right wing is going to break!"

He gritted his teeth and pulled the ejection handle.

"Bang—!"

The cockpit cover exploded, and the rocket ejected him.

Two seconds after he left, the right wing of the fighter jet broke from the root, and the entire plane tumbled toward the sea.

In the sky, the same scene was repeating.

Twelve 'Shinshin' jets, six were crippled by lasers and then finished off by drones.

Three collided while trying to evade, two escaped with damage but eventually crashed into the sea on the return flight, and only one successfully escaped back to the territory.

But the landing gear failed during landing, the belly scraped the ground, and it was completely scrapped in the Foot-Basin Chicken territory.

The whole process took seven minutes.

On the Dragon Country side, zero casualties.

At the same time, the domestic internet had already exploded.

In the live broadcast rooms of multiple military forums, the battle situation in the East Sea was being broadcast—of course, with a ten-minute delay and after review.

But even with these fragments, it was enough.

Scene one: Laser beams drew precise trajectories in the night sky, and a fighter jet in the distance fell while smoking black.

Scene two: The drone swarm rushed toward the injured fighter jets like locusts, close-ups showing dense small black dots on the wings.

Scene three: On the sea, parachutes drifted slowly, and the Foot-Basin Chicken pilots were fished up by Dragon Country coast guard speedboats.

The comment section refreshed at a rate of hundreds per second:

"Twelve in seven minutes! This is a massacre!"

"What Shinshin, it was turned into a heart attack!"

"Did you see those drones? Like ants eating an elephant!"

"Back then our planes used ramming, now their planes use laser cutting!"

"History has really turned the page!"

But amidst the boiling excitement, discordant voices also appeared.

On a well-known forum, a user with the ID 'Rational and Objective View of the World' posted:

"Is it too cruel to treat a neighbor like this?"

"War should avoid unnecessary casualties, the force shown by the Dragon Country is unsettling."

Three minutes after the post was made, there were over a thousand replies:

"Cruel? Why didn't you speak up when they were cruel back then?"

"Neighbor? A neighbor that illegally intrudes?"

"The rational person upstairs, checked your IP, you were blowing the Foot-Basin Chicken's craftsmanship spirit last year!"

"National Security should investigate, bringing rhythm at a time like this?"

Five minutes later, the post was deleted, and the account was banned.

But even more eye-catching were the actions in reality.

At 8:00 AM, the Ministry of Public Security held a press conference, and the spokesperson faced the camera with a serious tone:

"Recently, national security agencies discovered in their work that a very small number of people are using the internet to spread rumors, acting as shills for foreign forces, attempting to undermine national stability and ethnic unity."

"According to the 'National Security Law' and other relevant laws, we have legally taken compulsory measures against the personnel suspected of crimes."

The screen switched, playing a processed law enforcement video:

Plainclothes police entered high-end residential areas, office buildings, and even a university laboratory, taking away relevant personnel.

The screen was mosaicked, but the background could reveal some clues.

On Weibo, several 'public intellectual' big V accounts with millions of followers suddenly cleared their content, showing 'This account has been closed for violating relevant laws and regulations'.

At a university's School of International Relations, a professor publicly questioned the legality of the East Sea operation and was recorded and reported by students.

Two hours later, the school announced that the professor was 'suspending teaching work for personal reasons and accepting investigation'.

Spontaneous actions by the public were also unfolding.

In many cities, the public spontaneously gathered at the War of Resistance Memorial to offer flowers.

A veteran in his nineties came to the scene in a wheelchair and only said one sentence to the camera: "Children, you fought well."

In a coastal fishing village, descendants of survivors who had been massacred by the Foot-Basin Chicken army back then went out to sea collectively and scattered wreaths in the sea area where their ancestors perished.

The village party secretary shouted through a megaphone: "Today we don't have to be afraid! We have lasers! We have drones! We have mechs!"

Even more moving was the reaction of the young people.

In the campus forums of major universities, students spontaneously organized 'Technical Support Groups'.

Science and engineering students provided algorithm optimization suggestions, liberal arts students organized foreign language materials, and medical students discussed battlefield first aid plans.

In a graduate student group of a national defense university, someone sent a message:

"My advisor was just summoned by the military, saying there's a bottleneck in the laser cooling system that needs our lab's assistance."

Below followed a row: "Envious!" "Senior, go for it!" "Hit them harder!"

East Sea, 6:30 AM.

Wreckage of fighter jets and parachutes floated on the sea.

Dragon Country coast guard ships and rescue ships were salvaging, mainly salvaging fighter wreckage, and incidentally checking if there were any lucky prisoners who survived.

In the command center, Wang Hao looked at the battle results statistics constantly updating on the screen and smacked his lips:

"Twelve annihilated, nine pilots captured, three missing. Wreckage salvage rate is expected to reach over 80%."

"Brother Hao can finally study their stealth coating properly this time!"

Chen Guang organized the data: "Laser system operated at full power for four minutes and seventeen seconds, energy consumption within expected range."

"Mobile laser vehicle cooling performance is 5% better than lab data. Drone swarm loss rate 23%, acceptable."

Li Yang focused on another issue: "The Foot-Basin Chicken suffered such a big loss this time, next they might use long-range missiles or more extreme means."

"Then let them come," Feng Yan pulled up the strategic map.

"East Sea direction, we have already demonstrated absolute air superiority. If they still want to escalate the war, we have the 'Kuafu-2' and 'Torch Dragon's Eye' full-domain defense mode."

He paused: "But now more importantly, the Southwest and South Sea directions. Seeing the results in the East Sea, the White Elephant and Eagle Country might adjust their strategies."

As soon as the words fell, the red light on the communication console lit up.

"Southwest emergency telegram! White Elephant mountain troops have started shelling! Using long-range rocket launchers and 155mm howitzers, targeting our border outposts!"

"South Sea emergency telegram! Eagle Country 'Carl Vinson' carrier-based aircraft have launched on a large scale! Number exceeds thirty! Heading toward our reef direction!"

Feng Yan stood up, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the command center.

"It seems they want to apply pressure on all three fronts simultaneously."

"Then let them know—"

"Three lines, we can handle them all." ===== CHAPTER 169 =====