Chapter 124: Shoot Down
Auro looked at the few airplanes on the radar screen, and his heart instantly sank to the bottom.
It’s over!
After seeing the remaining 8 sorties of airplanes, whose pilots were all people Wells had once awarded medals to, Auro understood many things in that instant.
“Commander, what do we do now?”
The orderly’s voice trembled slightly; he knew what this scene meant.
Once those fighter jets opened fire on Great Xia’s dual aircraft carrier group, he didn’t know if Great Xia, in anger, would sink every warship here one by one.
Did Auro have a choice?
No!
“Officer, Great Xia’s carrier-based aircraft have taken off!”
Auro glanced at the adjutant, picked up the microphone, took a deep breath, and slowly spoke:
“Order all fighter jets to enter combat status, disperse to the eastern sea area 200 nautical miles out, and await further orders.
Order all aircraft carriers to accelerate carrier-based aircraft launches!”
He had no way back.
Space Hub: After receiving the order, the two Young Dragon spaceships completed a series of preparations within 1 minute and directly departed the port.
They even ignited intense plasma flames at the tail before fully adjusting the ship hull direction, shooting straight toward Blue Star below.
Meanwhile, Fan Ren in the nearby workshop at command headquarters couldn’t help but feel curiosity rise after seeing Space Force spaceships successively departing the port.
After hesitating for a bit, Fan Ren put on his pressure suit and headed to the command room.
As soon as he entered the command room, he was infected by the heavy atmosphere and became serious too.
“White Alliance’s joint fleet might take action.”
The adjutant pointed to the radar map from the aircraft carrier group, which was densely packed with aircraft, and gave a brief introduction.
Fan Ren nodded; this was probably the United States trying to save face after the Nasa space station incident they had dragged back earlier.
In the sky over the Pacific Ocean, the two lead South Australia fighter jets that had detached from formation had already reached 200 nautical miles from Great Xia’s fleet.
“Severe warning: You have entered our air defense warning zone. Turn around and return immediately, or you will be shot down!”
The driver’s earphone rang with a stern warning from Great Xia.
But he showed no reaction, directly cutting off the communication channel, then continuing to control the fighter jet toward Great Xia’s fleet.
As long as they got another 100 nautical miles closer, they could launch air-to-ship missiles.
150 nautical miles directly ahead of his airplane, the pilots of the two lead Great Xia carrier-based aircraft exchanged a glance across the sky.
They now knew the other side had cut off communications, and the opposing airplanes hadn’t turned around, still flying full speed toward the fleet.
A hint of determination flashed in the two pilots’ eyes, and they flicked their thumbs up slightly to flip open the firing covers.
At this distance, they could guarantee 100% shooting down those two leading fighter jets.
But once they fired, they would also be exposed to the firepower range of the other 8 fighter jets behind the enemy.
The two fleets were only 400 nautical miles apart.
This distance was too close for fighter jets.
Especially in this era where everyone had 200 km air-to-air missiles, a fighter jet pilot stepping a bit harder on the throttle might enter the enemy’s range.
“Target locked, 2 air-to-air missiles launched!”
The lead captain didn’t hesitate much; they had a dense air defense network behind them too.
Even if the two of them were in danger, the enemy’s remaining 8 fighter jets couldn’t escape their fleet’s anti-aircraft missiles.
“Launch!”
The wingman’s calm voice sounded at the same time; the fighter jet’s ventral bomb bay opened instantly, and four white-and-blue missiles shot out rapidly.
“Keep locking the remaining fighter jets!”
Those carrier-based aircraft pilots awarded medals by Wells silently watched the flashing red dots on the radar record; they knew these were air-to-air missiles launched by Great Xia’s two carrier-based aircraft, targeting the South Australia fighter jets ahead of them.
But due to the extremely outdated model and other reasons, those two pilots probably had no idea of the impending doom.
As expected, just over 1 minute later, the markers of those two distant fighter jets disappeared from the radar.
Air-to-air missiles had a speed of up to 5 Mach, covering 100 km in just over 1 minute.
The lead carrier-based aircraft pilot was still silent when Great Xia’s warning communication rang in their earphones again.
“Severe warning: Your unit has entered our air defense warning zone. Turn around and return immediately, or you will be shot down!”
The content was no different from before, just with an even sterner tone.
“Lock those two Great Xia fighter jets, await my order!”
This pilot hesitated a bit; this operation was unlike previous regional wars facing forces with extremely outdated fighter jets.
Great Xia’s current carrier-based aircraft were not inferior at all compared to theirs.
Moreover, behind the enemy was an air defense network composed of the top No. 55 missile destroyers on all of Blue Star.
He was completely certain that after his side launched missiles, they might shoot down those two Great Xia fighter jets, but his side had zero chance of survival.
“Locked on! Locked on!”
A piercing alarm sounded.
Not just him; the same alarm rang in the cockpits of the other teammates’ fighter jets nearby.
Images of loved ones involuntarily flashed in his mind, finally settling on his newborn child.
“Warning: GP4 failed! GP4 failed!”
Another warning sounded; unlike before, this warning alert was something he had never heard on a fighter jet in nearly ten years as a pilot.
“Damn it! My airplane has a problem, positioning system failed!”
“Damn it, me too!”
“Oh god, is it Great Xia’s electronic ship? Captain, without the positioning system, we can’t fly for long. We might not even find the way back!”
The team members’ panicked voices came through the radio, one after another in his cockpit.
This captain was extremely panicked too.
Perhaps triggered by the image of the child just now, the captain gritted his teeth and said, “Follow my orders: Lock Great Xia’s fleet, launch all air-to-ship missiles immediately. Then return immediately!”
As soon as he spoke, without the slightest hesitation, a look of relief flashed on his face. His hands didn’t stop, launching all the 100 km range air-to-ship missiles across 230 km in one go.
“No, Captain, range is completely insufficient. We’re still nearly 100 km short for the missiles to enter effective…”
This pilot’s nervous voice didn’t finish the sentence; perhaps realizing something, he held back the rest.
In the sky, the eight fighter jets all dropped their ventral air-to-ship missiles one by one. Then, upon entering the range of Great Xia’s two fighter jets, they nimbly performed large maneuvers to turn around, went full throttle, and flew toward their fleet.
