In the Cambridge command room at 055D, Luan Yijun, commander of the Liaoning aircraft carrier formation, looked at the retreating USS Ronald Reagan, with a serious expression on his face.
In the past few days, the two aircraft carrier battle groups had actually been facing each other on the sea close enough to be directly visible, and there had even been several bayonet-style maneuvers between the ships.
However, as the date of the exercise approached, both sides chose to retreat and disengage.
From the perspective of ordinary people, such actions may be the result of mutual compromise.
But anyone with a little bit of military knowledge will know that the two sides are really at war with each other at this time.
If the two sides had not reached a tacit agreement to enter a state of radio silence, Luan Yijun would probably not just stand quietly at this time, but would begin intense combat deployment.
At this time, standing next to Luan Yijun was no longer the captain of the Liaoning, Cao Gangchuan, but the special operations staff specially configured for this test - or to put it more clearly, the technical staff in charge of the DF-21H project. Xu Qianchuan.
"How far are we from the scheduled exercise location?"
Xu Qianchuan asked.
"There are still 240 nautical miles. We must avoid the opponent's ship-borne radar identification area. This is the minimum warning distance to deal with emergencies."
"If it is lower than this distance, many countermeasures cannot be implemented in time. Once friction does break out in the future, our combat units will lose reaction time."
"Understood. But judging from the current distance between the two parties, if we want to implement Plan 2, the risk is a bit high."
Hearing Xu Qianchuan's words, Luan Yijun frowned slightly and said with some displeasure:
"Why wasn't this situation reported at the beginning? Combat is not a child's play, and every deviation may lead to extremely serious consequences."
"The arrow is on the string. You told me that the risk is too high. What do you mean? Do you mean to give up Plan 2?"
Luan Yijun's expression was extremely stern. He always had a calm and calm face, and his tone made even Xu Qianchuan, who was experienced and had studied for a long time, feel a little frightened.
He was stunned for a moment, and after organizing his words, he spoke:
"This is not a problem that can be reported at the beginning. Plan No. 2 is originally implemented dynamically. From the beginning, we regarded it as an alternative plan."
"To achieve the program goals, we have to consider the DF-21H's accuracy, range, electromagnetic environment, and most importantly, weather conditions."
"Only when all conditions are met can this plan be implemented."
"Now, according to the current course and distance, we will pass by the storm at sea - which makes us lose the biggest advantage."
"That's why I say it's more risky."
Luan Yijun nodded slowly, and he finally understood Xu Qianchuan's concerns.
However, he doesn't think the latter concern is very important, and he even thinks it's a bit ridiculous.
So, he opened his mouth and said:
"If this is the only problem, then I can tell you that you are dealing with this plan completely on paper."
"The so-called weather factor is actually just an excuse to deceive ourselves and others based on pedantic thinking. It is impossible for the other party to care about this."
"As long as Plan No. 2 is successfully implemented, no matter how strong the reasons - or excuses - we come up with, the other party will not be able to accept it."
"So, we have taken the blame and we don't need to consider so many so-called 'forward risks'. Whether or not there are forward risks is still two different things."
Hearing this, Xu Qianchuan nodded solemnly.
Although academic thinking is not a good word, from Luan Yijun's explanation, he did feel his shortcomings at the practical level.
Although in the past two years, reforms have been carried out within the technical department and attempts have been made to establish a so-called "battlefield-oriented research and development system", it is obvious that researchers who have been living in the rear for a long time have extremely limited understanding of the battlefield.
No matter how many times the organization studies and communicates, it is not as direct as going to the battlefield to experience it in person.
This is why he took the initiative to take the job regardless of the danger.
"Understood, then we have no worries and everything will be carried out as planned."
"However, there is one more point I need to emphasize."
"The DF-21H has not actually undergone a launch test, so no one can 100% guarantee its stability. Once an accident occurs, we must have a follow-up emergency response plan."
"You can rest assured about this."
Luan Yijun nodded and replied:
"The DF-21H has not been tested, but we have done the YJ-21 test more than once, and all processes are complete, because the possibility of accidents caused by process and operational errors is infinitely close to zero."
"That's good."
Xu Qianchuan stopped talking, and Luan Yijun also devoted himself to his command work.
In the next nearly ten hours, this aircraft carrier formation, which can be said to be "brand new" and has not undergone too many postgraduate examinations, retreated 260 nautical miles and finally anchored at the edge of the Reagan fleet's shipborne radar scanning range. On the sea.
At this time, it was exactly 9 a.m., and after confirming that the surrounding seas were cleared of civilian ships and enemy aerial reconnaissance was suppressed, each combat unit immediately entered a state of combat readiness.
Immediately afterwards, on the plywood of the 055 large drive, the hatch of the vertical launch unit located at the front of the ship was opened, and the much-anticipated DF-21H revealed its true appearance.
——
Perhaps it should be called YJ-21H more appropriately.
In the command room, Luan Yijun looked at this scene with his expression as calm as water, but Xu Qianchuan on the side was inevitably a little nervous, and his voice even trembled.
"The self-inspection and self-inspection have been completed. The missile body is in good condition and can be launched at any time."
"Understood. Enter the launch coordinates."
"The launch coordinates are confirmed and ready to launch."
Commander Luan Yi took a breath and issued this important order.
"emission!"
The countdown followed, and in these short three seconds, many thoughts flashed through Luan Yijun's mind.
Yes, as a high-level commander, how could he not understand the recent series of actions by the United States? How could he not know that the other side was actually gambling?
This is an extremely risky behavior. But in fact, the same is true for ourselves.
Even our own strategy is more radical than theirs.
This is no longer a collision of equipment, tactics, and fighting will. To a certain extent, this is even a collision of equipment, tactics, and fighting will.
The collision of national destiny.
The result of the collision, perhaps in a few minutes, will be presented to everyone.
On the deck, flames and smoke exploded into the sky, and two YJ-21Hs took off one after another.
After a brief acceleration, they dragged a long trail and pounced on the target that seemed a bit "too close" to them at a high speed of Mach 3 or above.
At the same time, the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier formation was in the sky.
Jaylen was driving his FA-18, cruising back and forth at an altitude of 6,000 meters. The chattering sound of Patrick in E2-C came from his headphones, but he had no interest in chatting with him.
"This drill is really ridiculous. What kind of drill is this?"
"The island country only sent a few warships that should have been towed to the scrapyard a long time ago, plus a few small boats and a few F-16s bought from us. The Izumo mentioned before was not even seen. arrive."
"With these things, what do they expect to be able to train? How can the training drag China into the era of big guns and giant ships in the era of missiles, and use their Yamato and our F-16 to launch onboard assaults?"
"Moreover, the exercise subjects are set up to be ridiculous, including flight escort, escorting, machine gun shooting. There is not even naval gun shooting."
"I really don't understand what the higher-ups are thinking. We worked so hard to get here, are we just doing a show of friendship with these people from the island country?"
"This makes me feel that our target is not China at all. Instead, we are deliberately making such a move to defraud Congress of funds."
Seeing that what Patrick said was getting more and more outrageous, Jaylen had no choice but to respond:
"Stop complaining, Patrick."
"You are an AWACS pilot. Logically speaking, you should see more and further things than a fighter pilot like me."
"Haven't you seen it yet? This exercise is just a performance."
"It's just that we are not performing to Congress, but to China."
"It doesn't matter what the exercise subjects are. Compared with our previous high-intensity training, it's like we are on vacation now."
"And you don't know what a sudden vacation means, right?"
Hearing Jaylen's words, Patrick fell silent for a moment.
The radio was silent for a full two minutes. It wasn't until Jaylen flew to the edge of the intended navigation range and began to pull up and turn around that Patrick spoke again:
"Okay, maybe you're right but I still think there's no way a war could break out."
"Obviously, the other party has begun to show weakness. The previous confrontation was nothing more than a deliberate performance by them to calm domestic public opinion."
"Otherwise, they should at least try to conduct electromagnetic interference on us and disrupt our exercise process like before, right?"
"But it was already obvious that they had no signs."
"But we have entered the second level alert state, and the aircraft carrier has also entered the FQ state. Isn't this a clearer signal?"
In fact, as Jaylen said, the entire USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier battle group has entered the second level alert state, and all ships with the ability to take off and land aircraft have entered the FQ aviation operation state.
Generally speaking, level two + FQ means that the current level two alert may be upgraded to the highest level level one alert at any time.
This is basically the state that occurs when the aircraft carrier formation is located at the edge of the war zone, so Jaylen said that this is a clear signal, and there is really no problem at all.
But Patrick still didn't want to believe it.
"They are acting, and we are also acting. Isn't this normal? Chinese people are weak. They have not experienced a real war in nearly twenty years."
"Their leaders have changed one after another, and the current decision-makers are no longer the lunatics of the past."
"Don't worry, they won't do anything. They are just squealing gophers. As long as someone comes over, they will immediately shrink back - SHIT!"
Patrick suddenly exclaimed in the middle of his words, and then, on Jaylen's radar, two bright spots moving at high speed suddenly appeared.
That was not the target scanned by his airborne radar, but the information transmitted to him through the data link system after the early warning aircraft discovered it.
Jaylen's heartbeat suddenly accelerated. He felt that the hairs on his body under his anti-gravity suit were standing up one by one, and his scalp under the flight helmet also felt as if it was tight.
"What's this!?"
Jaylen shouted.
At the same time, the aircraft carrier fleet just below him had also received the information from the data link system. The entire fleet immediately entered a first-level alert state. The aircraft carrier's aircraft were released at a faster speed, and the four shield ships also immediately Tracking begins, the anti-aircraft missiles and close-in defense systems are ready to go, the hatch of the anti-ship missile vertical launch system is opened, and the preset position coordinates are input. Only the last command is left, and a full-scale counterattack will begin.
Patrick in the AWACS obviously no longer cared about answering Jaylen's questions. He had just received an order asking the AWACS to go forward to find the specific location of the opponent's ship and track and lock the flying unit.
——
But this is definitely not a task that can be completed at the same time.
Those two flying units are missiles.
And it is an anti-ship missile flying at hypersonic speeds.
"Target! Where is the target?!"
Patrick shouted hysterically in the cockpit, and just a few seconds later, the radar operator gave feedback:
"It's not for us!"
Patrick paused for a moment, and at this moment, he felt a sense of relief.
But soon, the radar operator's second words made him nervous again.
"Judging from the flight path, one of the missiles flew to the northeast. There was nothing there. It was their planned test sea area."
"But the other one flew to the southwest, towards Akao Island."
"Akao Island?"
Patrick's head jumped suddenly, and he suddenly woke up and understood the opponent's combat intention.
Less than 30 nautical miles away from Chiwei Island, two island nation ships participating in the joint exercise are anchored.
——
But this seems a little unreasonable.
The first wave of attacks is often the one that determines victory or defeat.
How could they let go of the Reagan and instead choose an insignificant target?
The two blips on the radar were still moving rapidly, and the tension in the entire fleet had almost reached its limit.
Ten seconds later, the fleet commander made the final decision on whether to intercept and launch a counterattack.
And the result of the decision is.
"negative".
reject.
In the cockpit of FA-18, Jaylen, whose back was soaked with cold sweat, let out a long sigh of relief.
Then, he accelerated his altitude as ordered and flew towards Chiwei Island.
But he was too slow.
When it was still one hundred and twenty nautical miles away from Chiwei Island, the blip on the radar had disappeared.
And when it was determined that the threat was eliminated and he began to descend for visual inspection, a scene that stunned him suddenly appeared in front of him.
That small island disappeared.
The smoke of gunpowder is still drifting away, and the waves are still rolling, but the solid island that has stood on the sea for hundreds of years has been completely destroyed by that light spot.
Just one shot.
(End of chapter)
