Chapter 103 - Book 4 Chapter 6-2 Expedition to North For Unification: Fierce Dogfight

October 31, 2020, 21:05 (China Standard Time, 20:15)

20 km west of Ben-Xi province, China

The J-11B jets, which duplicated the Su-27 jets’ superior maneuverability, made defensive maneuvers by turning left to right. When Major Choi Young-ho gave chase, the Chinese pilot reduced his speed to make an overshot and turn perform Caesar’s maneuver. Then, the Chinese pilot continued to make reverse maneuvers in an attempt to tail Major Choi Young-ho. As a response, Major Choi Young-ho responded with a tumbling maneuver that defied standard aerodynamic movements. The jet leaned forward, turned a 180, and then turned upside down in front of the J-11B jet.

Wooooooooosh~

The Chinese J-11B pilot, who thought he had successfully tailed the Korean jet, was shocked by the Korean jet appearing upside down in front of him. He tried to press the button to launch his 30mm GSh-30-1 Vulcan gun. However, the laser beams that pierced through the canopy tore apart his body, and the jet plummeted and exploded in the air.

After a few minutes of tail-chase aerial combat, the J-11B Chinese jets that fought against the Sonata flight wing were all shot down. As the Sonata flight wing scanned its radars to assist the other squadrons, information about newly detected Chinese jets came from the Apollo reconnaissance satellite and was transmitted to all the jets in the 103rd Fighter Wing Battalion. The 103rd Fighter Wing Battalion commander gave the check order to each flight wing.

-Hummingbird, each flight wing! West South Point, multiple bogies, distance 130 check.

-Raison, Sonata, Low kick, Whiskey, Black Pink, Copy that.

That moment, an urgent radio message came in from the commander of the 8th Fighter Wing.

-This is the commander. Can you fight with your remaining weaponry? Over!

-Hummingbird, each flight wing equipped with six rounds of short-range missiles! Capable of battle. Over!

-This is the commander. Over a hundred enemy jets have been detected. The additional battle would be dangerous. Over.

-Hummingbird, if we back down now, the 7th Mobile Corps will be in danger. Requesting approval for battle. Over!

The request to continue the fight made the radio fall silent. Then, the voice of the 8th Fighter Wing commander came on.

-This is the commander. Very well! Six Black Phoenix flight wings from the 19th Fighter Wing are taking off. Put your safety as top priority and return immediately after using allowed weaponry. Understood? Over.

-Hummingbird, confirmed. Over!

-Lt.Colonel Ahn! Remember that you’re responsible for the lives of your men, so mind the orders you give and fight well.

-Hummingbird! Copy that!

After his request was approved, Battalion Commander Ahn Hyung-il gave the order for battle through the communication line.

-Hummingbird, West South Point, multiple bandits, bandits, closing distance 120 check! Raison, Sonata, Low kick Engage Offense.

-Raison, Copy that.

-Sonata, Copy that.

-Low kick, Copy that.

-Contact Whiskey, Black Pink will join after taking out the engaged bandits first, Over.

-Whiskey, Copy that.

-Black Pink, Copy that.

Soon, four of the six flight wings moved away from the battlefield and turned southwest, then operated their afterburners to transition to high speed. The remaining Whiskey and Black Pink flight wings continued the fight with the remaining twenty Chinese jets.

Bee bee beep beeeeep~

The exact information and location of the enemy jets came in from the Apollo reconnaissance satellite. Forty-eight J-11BS jets, which were illegally copied from Russia’s Su-30MKK multi-purpose fighter jets, and ninety-six of the modified J-10B jets were headed toward the Korean jets. The additional 144 jets that were deployed by the Chinese Central Military Commission were flying toward Sun-Yang while maintaining a formation of six flight wings. To fight against them, four flight wings of the K-21P Phoenix jets, armed with 12 rounds of short-range Magpie Viper missiles, were flying at high speed in their direction.

The method for achieving victory in modern jet battles is to simply look far and shoot while in stealth mode. So far, the Phoenix jets were winning the battle by using this method to the best of their capabilities. However, the sixteen Phoenix jets flying southwest were outnumbered nine to one, and were only armed with twelve short-range missiles and laser Vulcan beams.

When the distance between the Chinese jets and the Phoenix flight wings closed to 50 km, the 103rd Fighter Wing Battalion commander gave the order to attack through the communication line.

-Hummingbird, each flight wing standby with Magpie Vipers.

-Raison, Copy that.

-Sonata, Copy that.

-Low kick, Copy that.

-Fire! Each flight wing! Dogfight and engage offense go.

At the commander’s order, the last sixteen rounds of the short-ranged Magpie Viper missiles flew out while spitting blue flames. The Magpie Viper missile, which had a range of 50 km and heat-seeking capabilities, increased its speed to Mach 8 and penetrated China’s 10th Fighter Wing Battalion’s formation.

Woooosh~ Booo Booom~

Woooosh~ Boooo~ Bang! Bang!

As their alarms rang out, sixteen Chinese jets from the 10th Fighter Wing Battalion were hit by the first magpie Viper missile that flew out. The J-10B jets from the 17th Fighter Wing Battalion all switched from their fingertip formation to line Everest and locked-on the Phoenix jets that came into their visible range.

Beep.

When the Radar Warning receiver sounded the alarm to warn the Phoenix jets they were being detected by the J-10B jet’s radar, the four Phoenix jet flight wings all made evasive maneuvers in all directions while emitting their SECM jamming signals.

Wooooosh~

However, the 70 km mid-range air-to-air PL-12C missiles from six of the J-10B jets, which maintained the lock-on, flew toward the six Phoenix jets.

-Launch! Launch! Arms.

Flight Wing Commander Choi Young-ho (call sign: Sonata) was targeted by the missiles. He maneuvered toward the PL-12C missile flying toward him and sprayed the laser Vulcan beam. Like the top gun of the Korean air force, Major Choi Young-ho struck down the missile flying toward him and looked over his canopy at his 3 o’clock. His wingman, Lieutenant Oh Gil-sung, could be seen making a 270 degree turn to avoid the PL-12C missile. However, the PL-12C that had just missed the tail wing of the jet maintained its turning force and chased after the lieutenant’s tail. Major Choi Young-ho urgently radioed Lieutenant Oh Gil-sung.

-Contact, Tico check six! Six! Six! Break turn!

The PL-12C missile, which was chasing the tail of the Lieutenant’s jet again, flew toward the jet’s engine as if it were being sucked in, but when the lieutenant made the break turn evasive maneuver under Major Choi Young-ho’s order, it flew back into the sky. Then, when the PL-12C missile tried to turn and hit its target, it was shot down by Major Choi Young-ho, and exploded.

Pew pew pew pew pew ~ Boooom!

The four flight wings from the 103rd Fighter Wing Battalion overcame being outnumbered by 16 to 128 and engaged in dog fights in the skies 60 km southwest of Sun-Yang province.

* * *

October 31, 2020, 21:10

Korea

After the news about the flag raising ceremony at Dan-Dong city, the public’s support for war rose sharply, and this same attitude carried over to today as well. Numerous reserve forces, and even those over the age of forty who had finished their civil defense duty, called in to reenlist. With the number of phone calls coming in, the Military Manpower Organization had met a situation they had never faced before, and were unable to continue their regular duties. In order to relieve the situation, the government and its related departments issued an official statement through the press, asking Korean citizens to remain calm about the war and continue with their daily lives.

The news agencies explained that this phenomenon was caused by the continuous reports of victory and the patriotism that evoked, while also claiming that this was the time for Koreans to reclaim the territory of their ancestors.

Meanwhile, nations around the world were carefully watching the war between Korea and China with varying perspectives. The reason for this was China’s resolution of sanctioning Korea through the UN Security Council, and how the tide of war was turning in Korea’s favor, despite their expectations. Therefore, each nation had begun making calculations in order to profit from the ongoing battle.

The eight nations that had participated in the Korean war in 1950 and received aid from the Korean War Veterans’ Welfare Institute invoked their blood alliance and notified Korea they would send troops for the war effort at any time. However, the Korean government only expressed gratitude, and did not make a request for military aid.

Inversely, the allied nations close with China, along with communist nations, all labeled Korea as a criminal nation that could bring forth a third world war and topple world peace. The Korean government responded with an active rebuttal through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and retaliated economically by banning exports and imports to and from those countries.

The nations the Korean government was most concerned about were its neighbors Japan, Russia, and America. America had opposed the UN’s resolution and continued its favorable relationship with Korea, while Russia had agreed with the resolution. Therefore, both nations were being closely watched. Also, the Korean government always knew Japan was a two-faced nation, and therefore mobilized all of its intelligence agencies to identify the country’s intent.

* * *

October 31, 2020, 21:13 (China Standard Time, 20:13)

Skies 62 km west of Ben-Xi province, China.

The four flight wings from the 103rd Fighter Wing Battalion had been dog fighting while deeply penetrating the Chinese jets’ formations.

Now, the two remaining flight wings had joined the fight, and the Korean jets used their superior maneuverability and cloaking system to strike down 41 Chinese jets out of the 128, despite being outnumbered.

But, when five or six jets tailed a single Phoenix jet while firing Vulcan guns and heat-seeking missiles, three of the Phoenix jets were struck down.

To make matters worse, the KJ-2000 early warning air radar, along with the vehicle-mounted YJ-26B stealth detection radar, moved near the battlefield and, sweeping the area with powerful radio waves, detected the 103rd Fighter Wing Battalion. When the Korean jets were detected by the Chinese radars for the first time, the Chinese anti-air forces started launching their HQ-16B missiles indiscriminately. Although the Chinese jets could also be hit during the dogfight, it seemed the Chinese military wanted revenge and didn’t want to miss their chance to detect the Korean jets. Therefore, their land-to-air missiles began to rise into the sky.

Woooosh~ Woooosh~

-Mud launch! Altitude high! Break turn!

The commander of the 103rd Fighter Wing Battalion alerted each flight wing about the land-to-air missile attack. When the commander had determined that they had reached their limit and was about to give the order to retreat, a radio message from the 101st Fighter Wing Battalion came in through the external communication line. It was the twenty-four Black Phoenix jets from the 201st Fighter-Wing Battalion under the 10th Fighter Wing at the Su-won air force base.

-This is the 201st Fighter Wing Battalion, King Kong. Requesting confirmation from the 103rd Fighter Wing Battalion commander. Over!

-Hummingbird, 103rd Fighter Wing Battalion commander. Over.

-King Kong, accepting missions from Hummingbird, Over!

-Hummingbird, handing over the mission to King Kong, Over!

-King Kong, requesting Hummingbird battalion to high altitude, Fox Two, three standby plan, Over!

-Hummingbird, Copy that.

When the battalion commander received the request to leave the battlefield in lieu of the 201st Fighter Wing Battalion’s attack, he gave the order to each flight wing.

-Each flight wing, leave the battlefield at high altitude and return to base.

When the twenty-one Phoenix jets all raised their bodies and used their afterburners to increase their altitude and speed, they began to lose the HQ-16B land-to-air missiles that were chasing them.