Chapter 113: The Strongest Fighter, Tejas

The next day.

Zhang Wen got up, turned on his computer, and checked the forums and the news.

He looked at the front-page headlines.

It was news about our country's soldiers repelling the Bharat invasion at the border.

Zhang Wen couldn't help but feel a bit curious.

He clicked to take a look.

The article contained a lengthy description of the drones' utility.

"It seems the factory is executing things quite well."

Zhang Wen thought back to how he had previously sent some senior engineers—those who currently had no other tasks on hand—to remote areas of the motherland to teach them how to use the drones.

Their wages were calculated at five times the normal rate.

With that, their enthusiasm was surely high.

The locations he sent them to were decided upon after discussions with the military and the Ministry of National Defense.

First, re-equip the elite units to test the results.

The second batch was for the border and remote regions, as these areas had a need for border defense.

The third batch was for all other soldiers.

The Qingtian Factory's drone production was currently surging.

And as people's lives gradually improved,

the sales of some civilian drones had also gone up.

This had allowed the Qingtian Aircraft Factory's drone production lines to expand their capacity several times over.

Costs were also continuously dropping as sales climbed.

Subsequently, Zhang Wen connected to the foreign internet to see if there were any latest weapon releases.

To his surprise,

he saw that the front-page headline on Twitter was actually:

"Dongda Suffers Heavy Losses, 108 Dead or Injured in Conflict with Bharat."

"Huh?"

Zhang Wen rubbed his eyes when he saw the headline.

He looked at the news on his computer again.

These two couldn't be called identical; they were completely unrelated.

This made Zhang Wen suspect something.

Are we living in the same world? Did you run off to a parallel universe?

Then Zhang Wen clicked on the headline to take a look.

It was released by the Bharat National News.

Got it.

Zhang Wen knew there was nothing to worry about.

No need to verify it either.

Zhang Wen continued reading with the mood of someone watching a spectacle.

By the time he finished, Zhang Wen narrowed his eyes.

The content released by Dongda included not only photos of Bharat soldiers but also their uniforms, dog tags, and other information.

Meanwhile, the news released by Bharat was entirely about how, under the leadership of the great President Modi,

we had achieved countless victories.

Dongda suffered 108 casualties.

Below that was a list of names.

But the more he looked, the stranger Zhang Wen felt.

Had he seen these names somewhere before?

Until he opened a translator.

One look,

and Zhang Wen was dumbfounded.

No way! Aren't these the 108 Heroes from the Water Margin?

No wonder they were so familiar!

Below, there were also some netizens mocking them.

"Oh my, isn't this my great Bharat? What, did you travel back a few hundred years and start fighting the Song Dynasty?"

"Or has Bharat mastered time-travel technology?"

"If you lost, you lost. You don't have to lie. And if you're going to lie, can't you at least make it up properly!"

"Why are you putting the Water Margin in here!"

Zhang Wen laughed so hard under his covers he sounded like a pig.

This Bharat, they were too talented.

And at this moment,

inside a Bharat frontline camp,

a pilot was stammering as he looked at the Minister of National Defense, Arun, before him.

"Minister, regarding this matter, I think there's still..."

"No."

Arun said decisively.

"You must take off today."

"Drop some bombs inside Dongda territory."

"Do not give me any excuses."

After saying this, Arun turned and left.

"Minister! Can I fly a Su-27 instead!"

The pilot said in a panic.

"No!"

Arun didn't even look back.

He walked away on his own.

The pilot, Karuni, was trembling slightly.

Bharat's HAL aircraft were simply widow-makers for pilots.

Despite multiple iterations and the cost of hundreds of lives,

they had only just managed to make the Tejas fighter barely usable.

But he still valued his life.

Yet, he didn't dare refuse the Minister of National Defense's order.

He had to tell himself,

just drop one bomb and it will be fine.

Just drop one bomb and it will be fine.

As long as he slipped away before the other side reacted,

there would be no problem.

That's right, just like that, there would be no problem.

Karuni kept convincing himself.

Finally, under the constant urging of others,

he got into the plane.

Ignition, takeoff.

He flew to the border and began circling it.

And just at this moment, the border radar station also received the news.

The radar station's detection range was not just within Dongda territory;

a large area outside the border was also within the radar station's detection range.

It was just that because it was another country, they didn't issue alerts.

The duty officer immediately discovered this plane circling the border.

Due to the current tense situation,

they immediately notified the nearby airbase.

Because the J-20's production capacity hadn't been fully unleashed,

the airbase here was still using the J-16.

It was also newly equipped.

The J-20 wasn't suitable for use here.

Cheng Yunjun, who was on standby in the sky, immediately received the order to head to the area.

Cheng Yunjun glanced at his fuel; more than half remained.

That was enough.

"Cheng Yunjun received!"

Subsequently, Cheng Yunjun piloted the J-16, changed direction, and flew toward the border line.

Meanwhile, on the Bharat side,

Karuni looked at the border line,

constantly making up his mind, then constantly giving up.

Until a voice of urging came through the communication channel.

"Karuni! Why haven't you crossed yet!"

"Are you waiting for the enemy to arrive?"

"Do you want to tarnish your family's honor?"

Karuni couldn't help but sigh upon hearing this.

His family was considered a famous family in Bharat.

Belonging to the Brahmin caste.

In fact, in the South Asian subcontinent and Central Asia, the air force was a noble branch.

Not only was the treatment extremely good, but their family backgrounds were also very good.

Karuni felt a surge of ruthlessness in his heart.

He turned the nose of the plane directly and flew toward Dongda's border line.

Seeing that he was about to arrive,

Karuni nervously closed his eyes.

He kept making "ah, ah, ah" sounds.

After waiting a few seconds, he realized he had already crossed Dongda's border.

He let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!"

Karuni discovered that nothing had happened at all.

A joy of surviving a disaster washed over him.

But the radio that followed immediately interrupted his thoughts.

"Identification code, Bharat Tejas fighter, number 32."

"You have crossed the border!"

"Please return immediately, otherwise we will take military measures against you!"

A cold voice came over the radio.

Karuni didn't answer.

Instead, he kept flying forward on his own.

Just a little further, just a little further, as long as he dropped the bomb,

he could be reported to the President as a model example.

If that happened, it would be a meteoric rise!

But the next moment,

the sound of being locked onto by a fire-control radar immediately dragged him back to reality from his fantasy.

He looked front and back, only to find a Dongda plane watching him.

He immediately took out his walkie-talkie.

"I have no ill intent!"

"I just entered by mistake!"

Cheng Yunjun had flown over twenty kilometers in the J-16.

He didn't come to listen to that.

Moreover, he had been stationed here for years.

Naturally, he knew that everything coming out of a Bharat person's mouth was bullshit.

But he still said, "Fine, turn around and go back now."

Karuni couldn't possibly go back after hearing that; the mission wasn't completed yet.

As long as I pretend to go back, the moment he turns around, I'll shoot him down with a missile.

A bold idea popped into his mind.

"Okay."

Then, the Tejas fighter turned its nose.

But Cheng Yunjun still had him firmly locked on.

If there was even the slightest dangerous move,

Cheng Yunjun would fire a missile immediately.

He had already applied for weapon release when he came over.

Karuni kept descending, flying lower and lower.

Then he shot up into the sky, making a huge loop.

He locked onto the J-16 with his fire-control radar.

At the first sound of the fire-control radar alarm,

Cheng Yunjun pressed the launch button.

Karuni saw the long tail flame of the missile.

He was scared out of his wits.

His hands were faster than his brain; he directly pressed the ejection button.

The plane spiraled and crashed.

And he opened his parachute and descended slowly.

"Calling headquarters, the enemy has crashed here."

"Coordinates have been sent, please arrange for ground personnel to clean up immediately."

Cheng Yunjun picked up the walkie-talkie. ===== CHAPTER 114 =====