Chapter 17: The Timing of Declaring War (Part One)

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  "If there were no wars, this would be a paradise indeed!"

  December 21, 2007 New Delhi time at 7 am, after working for 13 days in the dark and damp underground fortress command center, Indian Eastern Command Commander-in-Chief General Prakash finally walked onto the ground to touch the long-lost sunlight. Accompanying this *-year-old man was his staff - young Air Force Major Adwani from the Eastern Military Region of India.

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  "A person of advanced age, still as greedy as I am in pursuing glory. Isn't it a bit laughable?"

  Facing the azure sea in the morning, Prash walked slowly on the seaside street of Blyth Port. Suddenly he turned his head and asked.

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  "How is it? As soldiers we are just long swords in the hands of politicians. It's New Delhi that seeks glory, not us."

  Advani comes from an Indian Air Force family. His ancestors even flew the Hurricane fighter during World War II in Burma.

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  "Same to you." Prashad gazed out at the distant sea, where unknown seabirds wheeled and dived, a faint smile on his face. Glory did not belong to New Delhi. Tomorrow the world would know who had defeated the combined forces of ASEAN, who had planted India's tricolor flag along both shores of the Malacca Strait?

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  On the other side of the Andaman Sea, a fierce sea-air battle was unfolding in blood outside Port Klang. The Indian "Nehru" aircraft carrier fleet that broke into the Malacca Strait encountered strong resistance from the Singapore Navy. Although the 1st Fleet of the Singapore Navy had been intercepted by the Indian superior naval and air forces since the waters off Changi, they still managed to advance to outside Port Klang.

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  In fact, the actions of the Singapore Navy were not unexpected by the Indian Navy, although they were outnumbered and outgunned, but the Singaporeans would still have shed blood to defend their dignity in Malacca. However, this tragic voyage was closely monitored by the Indian Navy from the very beginning.

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  Under the guidance of 2 Ka-31 airborne early warning helicopters taking off from INS Vikramaditya, 6 Russian-made MiG-29K carrier-based fighters broke through to the outside of Changi's Singapore land-based air defense missile fire circle and launched the first round of attacks on the newly departed Singapore Navy fleet. To avoid being hit by Singapore's land-based air defense missiles, the Indian naval aviation mainly used X-31A supersonic anti-ship missiles with a range of over 90 kilometers.

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  Anti-ship missiles flying in easily sank 3 of Singapore Navy's most combat-effective

  "Victory-class" light guided missile corvette (hull number 89)

  Courage No. 93

  Two corvettes (the Revenge and the Brave with pennant numbers 91), one "Sea Wolf" class missile boat (the Sea Lion with pennant number P77).

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  The "Victory" class corvette is an improved version of the largest type of missile boat, the "Lürssen" 62-type, produced by the German Lürssen shipyard. It can be said to be the absolute main force of this Singaporean assault fleet. It has a considerable anti-ship, anti-submarine and air defense capability. Its firepower is stronger than that of the "Sea Wolf" and "Fearless" class missile boats. It is equipped with 1 x 76mm super rapid-fire gun, 4 x 12.7mm machine guns, 2 x triple-tube ILAS-3 anti-submarine torpedo launchers, and 2 x octuple "Barak" air defense missile vertical launchers. In particular, the Israeli IAI company's "Barak"-1 air defense missile can provide a maximum range of 10 kilometers for air defense capabilities. However, in reality, such small warships have proven to be vulnerable in front of supersonic anti-ship missiles.

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  After that, although the Singapore Navy took multiple routes and "Z" shaped navigation to avoid air raids, 2 of its "Sea Wolf"-class missile boats were still sunk by Indian naval aviation during the advance.

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  The "Sea Hawk" RSS Sea Hawk, a "Sea Wolf"-class missile gunboat commanded by Lieutenant Chen Xinhe of the Republic of Singapore Navy, was one of the few Singaporean ships that managed to break through the intense firepower blockade and reach the war zone. Another MiG-29K carrier-based fighter jet flew over the 40mm forward main gun's firing net on the bow of the "Sea Hawk", dropping an X-29T short-range TV-guided air-to-ground missile onto the "Sea Hawk".

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  "The Sea Eagle" released tactical smoke while stubbornly evading on the sea surface, the incoming missile fell into the sea less than 20 meters behind "The Sea Eagle", but the subsequent massive explosion still shook "The Sea Eagle" almost to pieces.

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  It's already forgotten how many times it has been intercepted by the Indian Navy Aviation, and it's unknown whether other missile boats are still advancing towards the target in the narrow strait filled with smoke. Chen Xinhai, who is nearly thirty years old, stands in front of the shattered glass window of the boat room, gazing into the distant distance.

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  He had only one chance to hit, after finding the target of Indian Navy, he would fire the two "Harpoon" anti-ship missiles on the boat at the first time. The rest could only be left to fate.

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  "Ahead, Indian naval vessels have appeared." Along with the appearance of two huge blips on the radar. Chen Xinhai could clearly feel his adrenaline surging. "All hands enter combat readiness. Prepare to launch anti-ship missiles." At this moment, every passing second felt like a century to Chen Xinhai.

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  The target was initially identified as 1 Indian Navy destroyer and 1 missile frigate. The radar operator judged the type of Indian warship based on the strength of the radar reflection wave. In fact, Chen Xinhai encountered a patrol fleet consisting of two "Bangalore"-class destroyers and one "Godavari"-class missile frigate from the Indian Navy's "Nehru" aircraft carrier formation.

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  The picket flotilla was commanded by young Indian Navy Captain Garg. The surprise attack on the Singaporean naval missile boat squadron didn't faze him at all. In his view, this suicidal attack would never be able to break through the strike circle of the carrier-borne aircraft of the "Nehru". At this moment, he was sitting in the captain's rest room of the "Bangalore"-class destroyer "Madurai", sipping tea with priority.

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  The "Bengaluru" class of destroyers is the mainstay of the Indian Navy's new strategic development, and an improvement over the "Delhi" class. The Bengaluru-class guided missile destroyer retained the hull design and overall layout of the Delhi class, including 60% of the ship's design and propulsion systems, helicopter and anti-submarine warfare systems are identical to those of the Delhi class.

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  At this moment, the destroyer "Madurai" is sailing at a speed of 15 knots on the azure waters of the Malacca Strait with the missile frigate "Ganga" of the Godavari class. It seems to be completely unaware of the danger that is gradually approaching.

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