Legendary Captain

Chapter 350 I'm not a soldier! I refuse!

A room in the Western Air Force Command.

At this moment, Liao Yuan, the commander of the Western Air Force, and his staff officer Jing Chenfei were looking at a screen in the room, which displayed the view from the 3rd Division's operations analysis room. Next to this screen was another screen, displaying the battlefield situation directly, exactly the same as the screen in the 3rd Division headquarters.

From the 6th Air Division of Guangdong sweeping through the ground-based air defenses of the division headquarters, to the subsequent single aircraft wiping out almost all the remaining air power of the 3rd Division headquarters without any losses, it can be said that the 6th Air Division's twelve fighter jets alone wiped out the 3rd Division headquarters, the most elite unit in the Western Air Force, a truly humiliating defeat.

"We lost!" Liao Yuan was somewhat disheartened. The battle had really lost its appeal at this point.

General Staff Chief Jing Chenfei gave a helpless wry smile: "Yes, the Third Division performed well in the beginning, but the way it ended was a bit..."

Because the outcome of this exercise directly impacts future joint air-to-ground military exercises, Liao Yuan and Jing Chenfei paid special attention. To their surprise, the Western Air Force had always been the one being suppressed in previous trilateral joint exercises. There was no way around it; this was due to many objective factors, some of which weren't due to a lack of diligence on the part of its personnel. Therefore, Liao Yuan hadn't been particularly angry during previous joint exercises, mostly feeling helpless. Now, the Western Air Force's only chance to turn things around lies in the early deployment of the C-42.

However, in this exercise, the Western Air Force and the South China Sea Fleet at least fought back and forth in the early stages, which was their best performance in recent years. But such a good start ended with their base being wiped out in one fell swoop, which felt rather anticlimactic.

"I thought there might be some surprises this time, but I guess I was just overthinking it." Liao Yuan clicked his tongue and got up somewhat bored. "Let's turn it off, there's nothing to see here."

Liao Yuan paid special attention to the exercise this time. As the commander of the Western Air Force, he knew the details of the Third Division very well. The only remaining undetected fighter jet on the field was not a C-20 at all, but a C-15X, a stealth modified version of the C-15 fighter jet.

However, no matter how much stealth modifications are made to the C-15, its fundamental nature is already fixed, and it is impossible for it to leapfrog to the level of the C-20.

The C-15X's radar cross-section is significantly smaller than that of contemporary fighter jets, but it's certainly not difficult to detect. If the remaining aircraft were truly a C-20, there might have been some chance of turning the tide. However, the reality is that what remains is merely a C-15X with some stealth features attached, making it largely incapable of turning the tide.

That's why Liao Yuan didn't want to watch the situation below anymore. The outcome was already decided. Did he really want to watch the Third Division headquarters be destroyed?

"Yes." Chief of Staff Jing Chenfei shared the same view; given the current situation, there was indeed no possibility of further change. It was a pity that the Third Division had performed quite well in the early stages.

Just as Jing Chenfei was about to turn off the screen display, a sudden change occurred in the Third Division headquarters' surveillance footage. Li Cheng and Huang Jue, the commander of the Sixth Air Division of the Guangdong Air Force, were face-to-face.

Liao Yuan had already gotten up to leave, but was interrupted and glanced at the screen: "Is that the captain of the Luohang fleet speaking?"

Jing Chenfei squinted and glanced at it: "It seems so, but I remember all the people from Luo Hang's side have been conscripted. Where are there any people left?"

"Really? Then..." Liao Yuan watched the screen in the division's operations analysis room with great interest, "Could there really be some hope?"

In the operations analysis room, Wang Zhaoxin coldly shouted, "Li Cheng, stop talking nonsense, there's no one left!"

How could Wang Zhaoxin not know whether Luohang's fleet had any available personnel? Li Cheng must have lost his mind in anger; he doesn't even remember how much wealth he has left.

"There's another one, Xu Xian!" Li Cheng said firmly, "He didn't go with us to carry out the operation to resist the Fourth Naval Division."

"Xu Xian?" Wang Zhaoxin was stunned for a moment, then his face turned ashen: "He hasn't left the combat team yet, so in principle he can't participate in this exercise."

"That's just in principle! The purpose of the exercise is to strive for realism. If our own division headquarters were to be wiped out, what would principles matter?" Li Cheng grabbed Wang Zhaoxin's arm. "All of our fighter jets at Luoyang Air Force Base are on combat duty right now. As long as you agree, I'll contact the base immediately and guarantee that the fighter jets will be airborne within eight minutes. Luoyang Air Force Base is right next to the Sixth Division's attack route, so we'll definitely have enough time. Moreover, we still have an air defense missile brigade to deal with them, plus there's one undetected fighter jet left in the sky. The Sixth Division will definitely still have some reservations. It's not too late to decide now. If you hesitate any longer, you'll miss this last chance."

Although there is still one air defense missile brigade left, judging from the previous performance, this lone survivor cannot be relied upon. At most, it can only delay the operation of the 6th Air Division of Guangdong.

As Huang Jue, the commander of the Sixth Division, said, the air defense division of the Western Air Force seemed to be unprepared for countermeasures against anti-radiation missiles, which doomed the remaining air defense missile brigade.

Compared to the threat posed by the air defense missile brigade, the only remaining aircraft that the Sixth Division has yet to detect might pose a greater threat. Of course, this threat only exists in theory.

Even if the air defense missile brigade and the remaining fighter jet only have a theoretical chance of turning the tide, it is still quite feasible to slow down the advance of the Sixth Division's aircraft.

As for whether Xu Xian can participate in the exercise, that's not the biggest issue. The most crucial question is, even if Xu Xian can participate, even if he can make it in time, can his presence change the already deteriorated battlefield situation?

"Xu Xian? Li Cheng, you mean you still have one trainee who hasn't joined the team? You're counting on just one trainee? Li Cheng, are you sure you're conscious right now?" Huang Jue stared at Li Cheng incredulously: "Li Cheng, I advise you to stop! This will only make you look more pathetic."

This time, Huang Jue wasn't being sarcastic towards Li Cheng; he genuinely thought so. For the elite Third Division of the Western Air Force to place its last hopes on a cadet who hadn't even left his unit yet—wasn't that an absurdly ridiculous thing?

Now that things have come to this point, it's not something one person can change. Wang Zhaoxin and Li Cheng should understand that one hand can't clap, so why are they still stubbornly holding on? This will only make them lose their last bit of face.

However, Li Cheng completely ignored Huang Jue's words and stared intently at Wang Zhaoxin. Ultimately, Wang Zhaoxin was the one who made the final decision regarding the Third Division; it didn't matter if others didn't believe him, as long as Wang Zhaoxin believed him.

"Do you really believe he can create a miracle?" Wang Zhaoxin looked at Li Cheng and sighed, "He's all alone."

"You know," Li Cheng's eyes gleamed, "he himself is a miracle."

Wang Zhaoxin's body stiffened, then he smiled wryly and said, "You really are blunt!"

The main command center of the Luoyang Aircraft Base.

Now that Squadron Leader Li Cheng has gone to the Third Division headquarters, Second Squadron Leader Wang Chenchen has temporarily taken on the role of acting commander-in-chief of the Luoyang Air Force. However, being called commander-in-chief only meant issuing orders for the entire Luoyang Air Force fleet to cooperate with the Third Division in resisting the Fourth Naval Air Division. After that, the Luoyang Air Force base was completely emptied out, leaving him with nothing to do as commander-in-chief.

In the command center, besides Wang Chenchen, Ye Qing was also present.

Ye Qing doesn't usually come to the Luohang base. He only came this time because the person in charge of the L/A project from the Second Laser Institute will be coming soon, and he needs to have a technical exchange with him.

"How's the situation up there?" Ye Qing leaned against the table and pointed up.

Wang Chenchen shrugged: "I'm just a tool responsible for giving orders. I'm not at a high enough level to know how the exercise is going."

"Ying Ruoqing will be here soon, do you want to go see her?" Ye Qing took a sip of tea. "Also, are her meals and accommodations arranged?"

"Of course! We started preparing a week ago when they said they were coming. Everything is arranged perfectly, don't worry!" Wang Chenchen assured her. "Since Captain Li isn't here, I, as the acting captain, have to go and see him, otherwise it would be impolite. However, I can't accompany him; the command center can't be left unattended for too long."

Ye Qing laughed, "Everyone at the base is out, right? What could the commander-in-chief possibly have to do?"

"To be precise, not everyone went out; Xu Xian is still here!" Wang Chenchen corrected.

"Xu Xian, that guy who didn't even pass the team entry test?" Ye Qing curled her lip. "Is he on duty today too?"

"That's right! The base is on Level 2 combat readiness today, which applies to all registered pilots. Although Xu Xian doesn't need to participate, he still has to comply with the combat readiness regulations. I heard he had someone visiting him today, but he's still wearing his anti-G suit! You can go check it out in the reception area if you don't believe me."

"Someone's visiting?" Ye Qing muttered, then stretched and glanced at his watch. "I heard Ying Ruoqing brought Meng Ziyang along. I wonder what she's up to? They should be here soon."

Suddenly, the phone in the command center rang. Wang Chenchen's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly answered the phone. Li Cheng's deep voice came from the other end: "Where's Xu Xian? Tell him to get on the plane immediately. He has a mission!"

"Xu Xian?" Wang Chenchen thought she had misheard. "Xu Xian can participate?"

"It's Xu Xian! Get him on the plane right now, hurry, hurry!" Li Cheng confirmed, "He hasn't left the base, has he?"

To be honest, Xu Xian wasn't supposed to participate in this exercise. Although according to combat readiness regulations, Xu Xian would also be wearing anti-G suit today, he probably felt relaxed because he didn't have to participate in the exercise and left the base.

However, based on Li Cheng's understanding of Xu Xian, although he was somewhat carefree, he was definitely not at the point of leaving the base. Li Cheng just needed to confirm this.

"No, he should be in the reception area right now." Wang Chenchen was a little confused. He didn't understand why Xu Xian was being asked to board the plane. Wasn't Xu Xian supposed to be off the drill? What went wrong?

"The reception area isn't in the duty room?" Li Cheng asked, displeased. However, he quickly realized that it was almost lunchtime, and going out for a short meal was reasonable.

During combat readiness duty, pilots should theoretically stay in the duty room, ready to accept missions at any time. However, people are not machines; they still need to eat, drink, and relieve themselves. Can they possibly take care of all these things in the duty room?

Therefore, necessary outings are permitted, such as during normal mealtimes. Of course, this outing is limited to within the base. During combat readiness duty, daring to leave the base would be a serious matter.

"You're in the command center, right? The reception area is very close to the command center. Go over there and check to make sure Xu Xian has received the duty bell signal," Li Cheng instructed. "Leave now. There will be more details about the mission on the way. We'll discuss it on the phone."

Due to the urgency of combat readiness duty, and to prevent situations where a mission needs to be received while pilots are eating (since they are not in the duty room and it's inconvenient to make immediate contact), duty bells are installed in various high-traffic areas throughout the base. When a duty officer has a mission, all the duty bells across the base will ring. This way, even if the duty officer is not in the duty room, they will know there is a mission upon hearing the bell and can quickly move towards the duty room to receive the mission.

However, Xu Xian's situation is somewhat special. In principle, he is not participating in this exercise; his duty is purely to comply with combat readiness regulations, as he is also a registered pilot in the Luoyang Aircraft Corporation fleet. Therefore, a situation might arise where, upon hearing the duty bell, Xu Xian might doubt whether he should actually go to the duty room, since he is essentially just going through the motions of being on duty.

The situation on the air battlefield is changing rapidly. If Xu Xian hesitates even slightly, who knows if he might miss the last opportunity? Fortunately, the command center is very close to the reception area, so Wang Chenchen can confirm it personally.

"Okay!" Wang Chenchen hung up the phone and said to Ye Qing, "I'm going to find Xu Xian now, are you coming with me?"

"Something's happened?" Ye Qing asked without hesitation, "Let's go!"

Restaurant in the reception area of ​​the Los Angeles Air Force Base.

"Uncle Qing, do you really want to keep this a secret any longer?" Xu Xian stared into Xu Qing's eyes, his tone rather aggressive.

Xu Qing was truly caught in a dilemma. Xu Xian, who usually seemed so carefree, had suddenly become so meticulous.

It wasn't that Xu Xian was particularly observant; it was mainly that Xu Qing was simply not suited to lying. When he was probing Xu Xian's intentions, he practically had the words "ulterior motives" written all over his face.

Seeing Xu Qing's increasingly distressed state, Xu Xian gradually became certain that something really must have happened.

"What exactly happened to Jing Shu?" Xu Xian's voice began to turn slightly cold. His mind raced, considering all sorts of possibilities. Suddenly, his body trembled; a possibility had occurred to him!

If Wen Jingshu really had some serious illness, then Xu Qing would never have kept it from him like this. But if it was just a minor illness, then there was really no need to hide it, and not even a need to come and mention it to him.

If Wen Jingshu wasn't sick, Xu Xian couldn't help but think of the time he slept with Wen Jingshu after drinking.

"No way!" Xu Xian himself couldn't believe the possibility. He stared wide-eyed at Xu Qing in disbelief: "Jing Jing Shu, she's pregnant?"

Xu Qing's eyes widened in surprise, showing utter shock.

Xu Qing didn't say much, but his expression said a lot.

Xu Xianguang knew his guess was correct just by looking at Xu Qing's reaction. However, even so, he still couldn't quite believe it.

Did you really hit the mark on the first try?

Just then, the restaurant's alarm blared, immediately interrupting Xu Xian's somewhat blank thought process.

"What's wrong?" Xu Qing didn't know what had happened, but the urgent ringing of the phone clearly indicated that something important must have occurred.

"Duty bell?" Xu Xian was taken aback. He stood up instinctively, but his eyes were filled with confusion. However, out of a sense of discipline, he should still head to the duty room, even though he thought the duty bell shouldn't concern him.

Although Xu Xian is easygoing, he is quite disciplined. Regardless of whether he is participating in the drill or not, he should go to the duty room when the duty bell rings.

"Uncle Qing, I have something to do right now. Don't wander around here. I should be back soon." Xu Xian still felt that he would only go to the duty room symbolically, and would come back as soon as he confirmed that it had nothing to do with him.

He had many things to verify with Xu Qing.

"Okay, go ahead." Xu Qing waved his hand, actually feeling a little relieved. However, judging from Xu Xian's current state, he was likely to face a barrage of questions when he returned. The only saving grace was that Xu Xian's departure gave him time to talk to Mei Tingting.

Xu Xian nodded, then pulled back his chair and walked out of the restaurant. Just as he reached the entrance, he bumped into Wang Chenchen and Ye Qing who were coming over.

"Huh? Xu Xian!" Wang Chenchen never expected to run into Xu Xian so suddenly, and immediately grabbed his arm: "Come on, come on, we have a mission! You're wearing your anti-G suit, right?"

"Hey Captain, what's wrong? Didn't I say I wasn't going to participate in the drills?" Xu Xian was being dragged along by Wang Chenchen, but he was still a bit dazed. Listening to Wang Chenchen's words, he realized he really did have a mission—that didn't make sense!

"What do you mean, not participating in the exercise? The division headquarters is about to be taken over, so we have to go if we can!" On the way here, Li Cheng had already briefly explained the situation to Wang Chenchen. However, many details were withheld because everyone in the operations analysis room was an observer and was not allowed to provide detailed information to the participants from a god-like perspective.

Of course, after Wang Zhaoxin agreed to Xu Xian's participation in the exercise, the Third Division headquarters transmitted all the information they could gather to Wang Chenchen, including the Mole Squadron Leader's speculation about the composition and weapon configuration of the Sixth Air Division's fleet.

Before being hit, Mole One had already informed the division headquarters of its analysis, which was then passed on to Wang Chenchen as intelligence. This was already considered relatively in-depth information about this interception mission.

As Xu Xian walked, he listened to Wang Chenchen's words, but after only a few steps, a look of shock and disbelief appeared on his face: "You're saying there are at most eleven fighter jets left in the sky, and you want me to hold them off alone? Captain, are you kidding me?"

While it's true that soldiers are duty-bound to obey orders, there's a basic principle to follow, isn't there? Trying to stop eleven people at once is just sending them to their deaths! We're not gods! Besides, strictly speaking, he's not even a real soldier.

If he were to take off now, would he simply go up, get shot down, and end up slinking back home? There's no other possibility than that he'd bring shame upon himself.

"This is really going too far, it's pointless." Not to mention Xu Xian, even Ye Qing couldn't understand the interception mission plan when he first heard it. Wasn't this a joke?

Wang Chenchen looked slightly embarrassed. He expressed his helplessness regarding a mission with virtually no chance of success: "Yeah! I heard that the Sixth Division's fighter jets are all equipped with improved radars this time, with a much wider detection range. Moreover, they seem to have brought a large number of medium- and long-range air-to-air missiles, probably not even short-range dogfight missiles. With so many medium- and long-range missiles, coupled with more powerful radars, they'll be shot down beyond visual range."

The Mole and Warthog squadrons that had taken off from the division headquarters earlier were taken out in the same way; they never saw the enemy aircraft on radar. However, the direction from which the missiles came could roughly indicate the direction the enemy aircraft were coming from.

"You mean the planes of the Sixth Division didn't carry short-range air-to-air missiles?" Xu Xian asked, frowning.

"That's right! This was transmitted back from a frontline fighter jet that we intercepted not long ago. Actually, it's not surprising. Doesn't the Guangdong Air Force adhere to beyond-visual-range combat? It's nothing unusual, nothing unusual!" Wang Chenchen said.

"Didn't bring any close-range combat ammunition?" Xu Xian's eyes gleamed, as if a flash of inspiration had crossed his mind.

Upon seeing this, Wang Chenchen's heart tightened: "Is there a way?"

Xu Xian glanced at the increasingly excited Wang Chenchen and said indifferently, "No."

"Xu Xian!" Wang Chenchen growled, his voice slightly urgent.

Ye Qing chimed in, "Is there really a way?"

Looking at the eager gazes cast upon him by Wang Chenchen and Ye Qing, Xu Xian said helplessly, "There is a slight chance, but I won't try."

"Why?" Wang Chenchen asked, puzzled. There's clearly a solution, so why won't you try?

Even Ye Qing looked at Xu Xian with a questioning gaze.

Xu Xian sneered, "Why? Because there's a risk, a real risk, a risk to my life. Do you think I should risk my life to salvage a simulated exercise?"

Wang Chenchen's body stiffened as he fell into deep thought, a hint of hesitation flashing in his eyes. However, his eyes quickly cleared of doubt, replaced by unwavering determination: "Xu Xian, if I were you, I would try. This is the mission of us soldiers!"

Wang Chenchen's words were passionate and inspiring, stirring the blood of all who heard them. This wasn't just Wang Chenchen being hypocritical; he genuinely believed it.

However, Xu Xian remained unfazed: "Unfortunately, I am not a soldier. In fact, my presence here is merely a transaction."

"A deal!?" Xu Xian had barely finished speaking when a loud shout came from not far away: "Captain Wang, are you blind? How could you let someone so utterly irresponsible and lacking in any sense of honor into this place?"

As the voices became clearer, Meng Ziyang's robust figure slowly approached, followed by the icy Ying Ruoqing.

Clearly, Meng Ziyang was a soldier with a strong sense of honor. Upon hearing Xu Xian's somewhat "treasonous" words, he was immediately enraged and reprimanded him severely.

In his view, as long as Luohang was nominally under the Third Division, it was part of the Air Force. A relaxed approach to training and management during peacetime was fine, but there could be no slackening on the bottom line. What was this "transaction"? It was an insult to soldiers!

Xu Xian slowly turned his head to look at Meng Ziyang, but his gaze was quickly drawn to Ying Ruoqing behind him.

Ying Ruoqing had no interest in what was happening here, nor did she have much feeling about the so-called military responsibility or honor. She had simply followed Meng Ziyang along casually.

However, after taking a few steps, Ying Ruoqing suddenly sensed something, slowly raised her head, and met Xu Xian's face. In an instant, Ying Ruoqing's usually icy expression changed drastically, and she took several steps back, almost stopping her breathing.

The man before her gradually overlapped with the image in her memory.

"Young Master!" Ying Ruoqing uttered these words almost tremblingly.

Xu Xian squinted, his face frosty: "It's you, Ying Ruoqing!"

My grades have started to drop again recently, which is upsetting.

(End of this chapter)