Eagle Strikes the Vast Sky

  Seeing the four fighter jets painted in gray-blue color, Liang Guoxiang first threw away three auxiliary fuel tanks and then pushed the throttle to the end.

  "Hawk, this is Nest. Interdict enemy aircraft, do not fire first. Repeat, do not fire first."

  "Understood!" Liang Guo replied very briefly. "Not to fire the first shot" means that after being attacked by the opponent's armed forces, they can counterattack with weapons.

  At this time, the speed of the fighter jet was approaching the speed of sound, and it was shaking violently.

  Across from them, four Japanese fighters split into two pairs and began accelerating.

  "One squadron takes care of the enemy planes on the left, two squadrons take care of the enemy planes on the right, bite to death, don't let them escape." Liang Guoxiang grasped the control stick tightly, "Bo Qing, start the photoelectric tracking device, let those bastards know our strength."

  "I understand!"

  Just then, four high-speed flying fighter jets flew past in a crisscross pattern, and the formation was immediately disrupted.

  "Left, left, enemy fighter at nine o'clock." During the dogfight, Di Qing also took on the role of observer, responsible for reporting the direction of enemy planes to the pilot.

  In less than a second, Liang Guoxiang completed several manipulative actions. As the Su-30MKK performed a left-side roll, its speed quickly dropped. In another flash, as the Su-30MKK made an extremely elegant horizontal turn, the F-15J rushed to the front of aircraft 711. With the ignition of the afterburning chambers of the two ALF-31 engines, aircraft 711 immediately accelerated.

  "Got it, got it." At this time, the most excited was Di Bo Qing, "Lock onto target, launch missile. You're done for, you son of a bitch!"

  Of course, this is just Di Baoqing's fantasy, and the power to launch missiles is in Liang Guoxiang's hands.

  At this time, the Japanese pilot on the F-15J that was being bitten must have felt like he was sitting in a hot pot. The F-15J accelerated and decelerated alternately, rolled sideways, and made large-angle turns, but could not shake off the 711 fighter behind it, and even couldn't see where the opponent was.

  After the most intense maneuvering, the F-15J pulled up its nose and started climbing.

  "Get out of here, no way!"

  Under Liang Guoxiang's low curse, the Su-30MKK fighter also quickly lifted its head, and under the output of twenty-six tons of thrust from the two engines, it shot straight into the high sky.

  In terms of climbing performance, the two heavy fighters are evenly matched, and the maximum ceiling of the other two fighters is not much different.

  Rapidly climbing, the fighter's overload became greater and greater. At this time, Liang Guoxiang and Di Boqing's anti-G suits played an important role.

  Before long, two fighter jets arrived at an altitude of 15,000 meters.

  Appearing to have lost confidence in the climb, the F-15J quickly executed a roll-off-the-top, transitioning from climb to dive.

  "Brother Liang, catch up, don't let the son of a bitch get away."

  In the screaming sound of Di Boqing, the 711 fighter also turned into a dive.

  For pilots, diving is more dangerous than climbing. Greater overload aside, over the sea surface, it's hard for pilots to find a height reference object, and thus difficult to judge the plane's altitude by visual means. In intense combat, pilots can't keep staring at the altimeter all the time. If they fail to pull out in time, the plane will plummet into the sea like a meteorite.

  In terms of dive performance, the F-15 is no better than the Su-30MKK.

  When you can't use onboard weapons, it's a matter of guts for pilots.

  Through the cloud layer, below is the azure sea. Still 1,500 meters away from the sea surface, the F-15J pulled up.

  "Coward! You've already changed into a dive so quickly, and you still dare to fight with Grandpa!"

  Liang Guoxiang also came strong, taking advantage of the opportunity that Japanese fighter jets had to accelerate after diving, Su-30MKK quickly rolled three times in mid-air while also diving, and its speed didn't decrease much.

  In the end, the F-15J was completely suppressed by the 711 fighter and didn't even have a chance to counterattack.

  "Brother Liang, nice one! Want to give those sons of bitches a show?"

  "No way, we can't stir up trouble."

  After saying this, Liang Guoxiang also felt a bit funny. After one round of confrontation, except for not using airborne weapons, both sides used all air combat tactics. If this is not called provoking, what is provoking?

  At this moment, the missile warning device in the cockpit suddenly sounded.

  "Damn it, in the back!"

  Without any hesitation, Liang Guoxiang pulled back the control stick, pressed down on the accelerator, and flipped open the cover of the missile launch button.

  Rapidly climbing, Liang Guoxiang only felt that the objects in front of him became blurred and his reaction slowed down. This is a physiological response to high-G force, under which blood cannot flow into the pilot's brain due to excessive overload pressure, causing hypoxia in the pilot's brain, leading to blurred vision and slow reaction. If the overload is not reduced as soon as possible, it will cause the pilot to lose consciousness.

  Liang Guoxiang gritted his teeth and maintained the last bit of clear consciousness.

  As the nose of the aircraft rose rapidly, 711 continued to maintain its forward flight state, and the angle of attack quickly exceeded 90 degrees, reaching 110 degrees, while the flight speed dropped sharply. In just a few seconds, the F-15J that had been biting onto 711 was unable to slow down in time and suddenly rushed to the front of 711.

  Immediately afterwards, 711 aircraft nosed down and accelerated again.

  "Awesome move, Liang Ge! You just pulled off an awesome Glasses Snake move!" Di Boqing shouted out again after catching his breath.

  Indeed, the 711 fighter made a very beautiful cobra maneuver, not only avoiding danger but also gaining an advantageous position, putting both F-15Js in front.

  When he came to himself, Liang Guoxiang was already drenched in sweat.

  The Cobra maneuver is not something that just anyone can do, Hainan Airlines has strict regulations, apart from the aerobatic demonstration team's pilots, other pilots are not allowed to perform this unconventional tactical maneuver at will. Therefore, for several years, Liang Guoxiang could only practice this maneuver on a flight simulator and had never actually operated it before.

  At this time, the other two Su-30MKKs of the formation also rushed over.

  The two F-15Js that were completely defeated looked like defeated roosters, and after discovering they could not break through the Su-30MKK's defense line, they fled north.

  At this time, the sea surface in the south is empty.

  Six more Su-30MKK fighters also encountered four F-15Js and made them concede defeat.

  Twelve "Flying Leopard" aircraft were divided into four formations, constantly shuttling back and forth at ultra-low altitude.

  On the sea, the bulk carrier "Dongfang Shenli" reached a speed of twenty knots, cutting through the waves and heading west. Not far away, a "Kongo"-class destroyer and two "Murasame"-class destroyers could only gaze at it in awe, not daring to approach the "Dongfang Shenli".

  On the destroyer "Kongō", Commander Hashimoto Tatsukichi anxiously watched as the cargo ship disappeared into the distance, but there was nothing he could do.

  He was not afraid of the warplanes in the air, the "Aegis" radar on the destroyer had already locked onto the twelve attack aircraft, and it only took six seconds for the two sets of MK41 vertical launch systems to fire off twelve "Standard" anti-aircraft missiles, taking out the twelve attack aircraft.

  What really scared him were those few submarines under the sea surface.

  As he led the Kongō over, a submarine had already sent out a warning using its active attack sonar. Afterwards, Hashimoto Tatsunosuke ordered the warship to accelerate in an attempt to shake off the submarine, but it was ineffective. The ghostly submarine continued to follow closely behind and even issued a second warning using its active attack sonar as the Kongō approached the cargo ship Tōhō Maru.

  Hashimoto Ryūta was at his wit's end.

  It must be a nuclear submarine, and it is very likely to be an attack nuclear submarine. The two Japanese submarines that accompanied the activity of "Jin Gang" could not keep up with the pace of the warship and were left far behind.

  In addition, after the fleet entered the East China Sea, there must have been multiple conventional Chinese submarines lurking nearby.

  What's more serious is that the "Jinggang" is only an air defense destroyer, and its anti-submarine capability is not very good. The two "Village Rain"-class destroyers' anti-submarine helicopters that were acting together had already been dispatched and couldn't come back for a while.

  If it really comes down to a fight, Hashimoto Ryūsuke would first have to consider the submarines under the sea.

  "Kongo" can easily take down those attacking planes, but the hidden nuclear submarine can also easily sink "Kongo", as well as two "Murasame"-class destroyers.

  It's obviously not a good deal to exchange twelve fighter jets for three destroyers.

  Moreover, Hashimoto's orders were to intercept the SS Soochow and board her for inspection. Without receiving orders to fire on Chinese naval submarines and aircraft, Hashimoto could not make a decision to engage in combat on his own initiative.

  Under the dual threat of Chinese naval bombers and submarines, Hashimoto Ryutaro did not want his spirit tablet to appear in Yasukuni Shrine.

  Hashimoto Ryūta's hesitation ultimately cost him the opportunity.

  The "Flying Leopard" helicopters had not yet left when four double-body missile boats rushed over and gathered around the "Dongfang God of War". Immediately, the Chinese naval officers on the missile boat began to use loudspeakers to warn the SH-60J helicopter that had just arrived, demanding that it leave the airspace above Chinese ships and naval vessels immediately.

  Before long, three large warships appeared in the west.

  One "Modern" class guided missile destroyer, two "Travelling Ocean" class guided missile destroyers.

  The second batch of aircraft carrying heavy anti-ship missiles also arrived before the "Flying Leopard" fleet returned.

  From start to finish, the "Jianggang" and two "Villaray"-class destroyers could only follow far behind the Chinese naval fleet, watching as they sailed away.

  When the sky grew dark, Hashimoto received the order.

  Three Japanese warships and a group of fighter planes that had rushed to escort them immediately turned around and left the dangerous waters.

  At this time, 550 nautical miles northeast, on the USS Washington of the Seventh Fleet, Colonel Powell had just received the order to end the exercise and stop all military activities. The four F/A-18E fighter jets that had been towed to the takeoff position were sent back to the hangar again.

  Until then, Powell had no idea what was happening.

  Two consecutive large-scale exercises, high-intensity patrols and search operations, consumed more than 100,000 tons of aviation fuel, dropped thousands of sonobuoys, and had several frictions with the Chinese Navy. Is this just an exercise or is there something special behind it?

  It didn't matter for Powell and the crew of the Seventh Fleet.

  More than three months after going out to sea, I can finally return to Yokosuka and give my tired body and mind a good rest.