Legendary Captain

Chapter 353 One Against Ten! Unrivaled Under Heaven!

"Down there, down there! He's down there!" Firefox One's almost screaming voice echoed in the queue channel. He just couldn't understand how such a plane could approach them so stealthily.

However, at this moment, Firefox One had no time to think about this problem, as the threat was already close at hand.

In the division's operations analysis room, Huang Jue's face was ashen. He turned slightly to the technicians behind him and said, "Connect the radio!"

At this moment, he wanted to hear how his soldiers would react in this environment.

"Commander, is it all?" the technician asked doubtfully.

Huang Jue hesitated for a moment, glancing at Wang Zhaoxin. If all radio communications were to be opened, it would involve the Luohang fleet. The Luohang fleet nominally belonged to the Third Division. If he overheard any of the Third Division's operational secrets, although it wouldn't be a particularly serious matter—after all, they were family—it was still disrespectful.

Huang Jue was also quite curious about Xu Xian's current state. He wondered what such a gifted young man would say in this situation. However, Wang Zhaoxin's permission was still needed before Xu Xian's voice recording could be made public.

Wang Zhaoxin seemed to sense something, glanced at Huang Jue, and then turned to the technicians, replying, "Play it all out."

"Yes, sir!" After receiving Wang Zhaoxin's nod of approval, the technicians began to operate the equipment.

Huang Jue simply gave Wang Zhaoxin a deep look, but didn't say anything.

Connecting the voice communication wasn't a particularly difficult technical task. After a flurry of keyboard clicks from the technicians, the voices of the two opposing sides in the sky began to emanate from the speakers in the operations analysis room.

"Down there, down there! He's down there!" Huang Jue's face immediately darkened. He recognized the pilot as the lead pilot of the attacking Third Division's air group, the commander of one of his flight regiments. However, the voice coming from the loudspeaker sounded terrified and incredulous.

Huang Jue sighed softly, "Commander Wang, what a brilliant low-altitude penetration! You've gotten right below our formation!"

"You flatter me!" Wang Zhaoxin said calmly, though his heart was pounding with excitement.

In order to carry a large number of medium- and long-range air-to-air missiles, the Guangdong Air Force's 6th Division has squeezed the space for short-range dogfight missiles. At present, the Guangdong Air Force's 6th Division's close-range dogfighting capability is not strong. If Xu Xian can penetrate to the ground directly below the Guangdong Air Force's 6th Division's aircraft, it means that there is a glimmer of hope for victory.

However, this was merely the dawn of victory. He didn't believe that the 6th Air Division of Guangdong really hadn't brought a single short-range air-to-air missile, especially since they were fighting ten against one!

The C-16 has nine weapon hardpoints, ensuring that each missile can shoot down one enemy aircraft. However, the remaining enemy can only be shot down using the cannon. In real-world air combat, due to the ever-increasing speed of aircraft, the cannon is generally only a necessary reserve weapon; in many situations, it is no longer needed. After all, in such a high-speed combat environment, the hit rate of the cannon is truly abysmal.

However, regardless of the circumstances, Xu Xian's ability to break through to the vicinity of the enemy aircraft group has already added a faint mark of uncertainty to what was originally a predetermined outcome of the battlefield.

In the cockpit of the C16, Xu Xianchong broke through the clouds and saw the sun. In the instant he shook off the cloud cover, ten enemy aircraft were clearly visible against the backdrop of the azure sky.

"Gotcha!" Xu Xian, like a apex predator, bypassed the heavy defenses and finally found the sheepfold.

Indeed, the ten enemy planes above him were like fat sheep ready to be slaughtered, at least that's how Xu Xian saw it.

Xu Xian's monologue was also transmitted to the operations analysis room, and the confidence in his tone seriously provoked Huang Jue, the commander of the Sixth Air Division of Guangdong.

To Huang Jue, his ten fighter jets were truly like fish on Xu Xian's chopping board. Didn't Xu Xian know that the current battlefield situation was one against ten? The advantage was still firmly in the hands of the Sixth Division.

However, Huang Jue's thoughts were completely different from Xu Xian's. Based on his previous intelligence analysis, Xu Xian believed that this group of aircraft from the 6th Guangdong Air Division was extremely lacking in close combat capabilities. Now that they had broken through and closed in, even if they were fighting ten against one, the advantage would still be in Huang Jue's favor!

Having identified the enemy aircraft's location, Xu Xian instantly locked onto the radar. In fact, he could have locked onto the radar earlier when he was climbing, but to avoid alerting the enemy, he delayed locking on, intending to launch a surprise attack and break the enemy aircraft's formation in one fell swoop.

The enemy aircraft still have a numerical advantage, and if they remain huddled together, it will indeed be somewhat difficult to attack them. Once their formation is broken up, they will be like headless flies, making them easier to pick off one by one.

As expected, Xu Xian, like a ghostly figure, burst out from below the formation of aircraft, piercing through the psychological defenses of all the pilots of the Sixth Division of the Guangdong Air Force like a sword piercing the sky.

Then, the radar warning systems of four of the fighter jets began to emit piercing alarm sounds.

As the most basic A variant of the C-16, its radar performance was really not good; it could only lock onto four enemy aircraft at the same time, which was its limit.

However, Xu Xian didn't care much. He had already charged into the enemy ranks, and now it was just time for slaughter.

After locking onto the enemy aircraft, Xu Xian launched four Viper missiles in quick succession without hesitation.

"Missile! Missile!" Firefox One was not locked on, so he still had a slight chance to catch his breath and observe the situation of the invading enemy aircraft.

The enemy plane locked onto the target almost instantly the moment it broke through the clouds. No one in the 6th Air Division of Guangdong Province expected Xu Xian to have penetrated their close-range defenses. At the moment Xu Xian appeared, the ten fighter jets in his field of vision made absolutely no attempt to evade radar lock-on.

If it weren't for the C-16A fighter jet's truly inadequate radar locking performance, Xu Xian was confident that he could have shot down at least eight of the aircraft in the fleet the moment it revealed its sharpness.

Just as the Firefox One alert sounded in the queue channel, four short-range Viper air-to-air missiles roared out from the wing pylons of Xu Xian's fighter jet and shot towards their locked targets.

At this moment, Firefox One was very close to Xu Xian's fighter jet, so close that he could even identify the external features of the missile the instant it was launched. After a brief identification, a fine layer of cold sweat seeped out from Firefox One's back.

"Viper!" Firefox One roared at the top of his lungs in the platoon channel. With just one glance, he recognized the enemy aircraft's missiles as Viper missiles, designed for close-range dogfights: "Heat decoys! Heat decoys!"

The Viper short-range air-to-air missile is a prime example of an infrared-guided missile. The Viper missile series is among the oldest in the entire air-to-air missile family. Its application in short- and medium-range applications is extremely widespread, even globally.

Compared to the radar guidance of the Hawk-Sparrow missile, the Viper short-range air-to-air missile uses infrared guidance. Therefore, radar-guided missiles like the Hawk-Sparrow should use chaff or other jamming materials to confuse radar signals, while infrared-guided missiles like the Viper should use heat decoys to give the missile false heat signals in order to evade the missile.

Of the entire formation, only Firefox One, with his exceptional skill and daring, managed to get close enough to Xu Xian to detect the type of missile. The rest of the crew had no idea what kind of missile the enemy aircraft had launched; all they could hear were the incessant, piercing alarms from the radar in the cockpit.

However, even a slightly experienced pilot could roughly guess what type of missile the enemy aircraft was launching. The enemy aircraft had penetrated all the way here precisely to use short-range air-to-air missiles, which have a higher hit rate. And most short-range air-to-air missiles are guided by infrared. If they truly couldn't determine the type of incoming missile, they could only guess and use decoy flares.

However, Firefox One had given the others a definite message, and this time there was no hesitation. The four fighter jets locked on by the missiles began to perform evasive maneuvers, while simultaneously releasing heat decoys to confuse the missiles' infrared signal lock.

Suddenly, in that instant, the radar alarm abruptly stopped, as if something had choked it.

The moment the radar warning disappeared, one of the previously locked-on fighter jets tensed up reflexively, its muscles tensing instantly. Even in the critical moment of evading the missile, it didn't forget to warn the other team members in the formation channel: "He's coming for you!"

The sudden disappearance of radar warning sounds indicates that the enemy aircraft has given up locking onto them, and the missile is now autonomously guided by infrared. Unlike radar-guided missiles such as the Eagle and Sparrow, radar-guided missiles emit a concentrated, continuous pulse signal for self-guidance.

The radar early warning system on fighter jets can detect an incoming missile after receiving a series of continuous pulse signals. The warning then changes from a locked-on beep to a more urgent, low-pitched beeping sound.

However, infrared-guided missiles are different. During terminal guidance, the missile itself does not emit pulse signals. It relies on the infrared signals released by the fighter jet for guidance. Therefore, after the enemy aircraft's fire control radar gives up locking on them, the radar warning device will no longer react.

The absence of radar warnings does not mean safety; on the contrary, it is the real signal of an approaching missile.

Now that the enemy aircraft's fire control radar has given up locking onto them, it naturally won't be wandering around aimlessly; the only possibility is that it's going to look for other targets.

Therefore, even in such a critical moment, he still chose to remind the other team members.

The four fighter jets released their decoys like fireworks, filling the sky with a thick smoke screen in just a second or two. At that moment, the entire airspace was flooded with signals of varying degrees, severely interfering with infrared weapons.

"What a fast reaction!" Wang Zhaoxin exclaimed in amazement as he watched the rapidly spreading formations on the battlefield image.

The execution capability of the 6th Air Division of Guangdong was far superior to that of the 3rd Division. When Firefox One called for the use of heat decoys for jamming, the entire formation immediately dispersed to avoid the released heat decoys hitting the fuselage of friendly aircraft. All the fighter jets dispersed in different directions as if they had planned it in advance, in an orderly manner, without any possibility of collision.

In this type of clustered combat, a disorganized formation is highly undesirable. There have been numerous precedents abroad where friendly aircraft collided with each other in the chaos of battle. This is not an isolated incident, but a real problem; at least within their 3rd Division, there have been multiple instances of the risk of collisions during formation operations in chaotic battlefield situations. Although none of these incidents ultimately occurred, they were extremely dangerous. However, this problem is virtually nonexistent with the 6th Air Division of Guangdong. They don't appear to be individual pilots forming a squadron; they seem like a unified whole, moving in and out with perfect coordination and cooperation.

The response from the 6th Air Division of the Guangdong Air Force, as shown on the screen, undoubtedly pleased Huang Jue. With such a massive amount of heat decoys interfering with the missiles, the infrared-guided Viper missiles didn't even need to guarantee a hit rate.

A fighter jet can only carry a limited number of missiles. Once its weapons reserves are exhausted, the final victory will still belong to the Sixth Division.

Huang Jue was initially worried when Xu Xian's fighter jet broke into his own formation, as he knew that this formation was not strong in close combat. However, seeing how skillfully his side evaded the missiles, Huang Jue felt somewhat relieved.

With their superior combat skills, even if they lose a few aircraft, they will still reap the rewards of victory in the end. The only difference is that the victory might not be as clean and decisive afterward.

At this moment, Wang Zhaoxin, whose hopes had just been rekindled, couldn't help but feel anxious again. If this wave of attacks couldn't guarantee a high success rate, Xu Xian would easily find himself in the awkward situation of having no shots left to fire.

It's important to understand that Xu Xian's C-16A only carried nine missiles, which is the maximum payload capacity for this type of fighter jet. However, the enemy formation consisted of ten fighter jets, and even though Xu Xian still had cannons available, frankly, given the cannon's rate of fire, he wouldn't be able to fire many more.

Therefore, Xu Xian's ammunition reserves were far too tight for a fleet. If Xu Xian's hit rate had been even slightly lower, the outcome would have been sealed.

While short-range air-to-air missiles do have a higher hit rate than medium- and long-range air-to-air missiles, it doesn't mean they're 100% accurate. Wang Zhaoxin truly hadn't expected the pilots of the 6th Air Division of Guangdong to be so skilled. Facing the incoming missiles, they executed the evasion procedures and the release of decoy flares flawlessly, almost like robots.

Such skillful and precise teamwork undoubtedly increases the probability of missile evasion, which is extremely disadvantageous to Xu Xian. If the hit rate of this offensive is less than 50%, then there's practically no point in continuing. The Guangdong Air Force can overwhelm Xu Xian simply by sheer numbers.

Compared to the worried Wang Zhaoxin, Li Cheng beside him was calm and composed, as if he really wasn't worried at all.

At the Western Air Force Command, Chief of the General Staff Jing Chenfei, who was also watching the exercise, smiled and said, "This doesn't seem too good!"

At this moment, Commander Liao Yuan had already sat back down, his gaze incredibly distant, and he murmured to himself, "So, what will you do?"

At this moment, the situation seemed to have suddenly turned around, but everything was within Xu Xian's calculations!

Gazing at the cloud of smoke from the thermal detonators filling the sky, Xu Xian's expression remained unchanged; he simply muttered to himself with disdain, "Ignorant!"

This sound was also captured and played out through the loudspeaker in the operations analysis room of the 3rd Division headquarters. Although Huang Jue knew it wasn't directed at him, he still felt greatly offended.

"What a sharp-tongued brat, I'd like to see."

Before Huang Jue could finish speaking, the radar signals of three friendly aircraft disappeared from the battlefield image. At the same time, the voice of the Sixth Division of the Guangdong Air Force came through the loudspeaker.

"Why is my radar alarm going off again! What's going on?" His voice was filled with resentment and confusion. Even when he was shot down, he still couldn't figure out what had happened.

Infrared-guided missiles do not trigger radar warnings; this is common knowledge for all pilots. The Viper missile is a prime example of an infrared-guided missile, so it shouldn't be wrong. So why did the fighter jet's radar warning system sound the missile approach warning at the end? This doesn't make sense!

Shortly after that sound faded, a fourth friendly aircraft radar signal also disappeared, indicating that it had also been shot down.

Four shots, four hits! 100% accuracy!

"Impossible! Impossible! How could this be?" Huang Jue was completely unable to accept it; it seemed to be beyond his comprehension. The timing and range of the heat decoy missile release were perfect, so how could the missile's hit rate still be so high? If even one missile had missed its target, he wouldn't be so agitated.

Huang Jue knew that heat decoys were not a panacea. Especially now that infrared-guided anti-jamming technology is becoming increasingly advanced, it was completely unacceptable to Huang Jue that such a large-scale use of heat decoys would have no effect whatsoever.

Furthermore, the pilot of the last downed fighter jet repeatedly claimed that the radar warning for an approaching missile had sounded again, which is completely illogical! As we all know, infrared-guided missiles do not trigger radar warning systems unless...

Huang Jue suddenly turned around to face Li Cheng and questioned, "Is he carrying a Viper C-type?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Li Cheng smiled.

"Viper C-type." Huang Jue gritted his teeth: "Los Angeles Airlines' fleet is truly ruthless in its tactics! Or should I say you guys were just lucky?"

The Viper C is an outlier in the Viper series of missiles. While other Viper missiles use infrared guidance, the Viper C uses a hybrid guidance system combining infrared and semi-radar guidance. This explains why decoy flares are ineffective against missiles launched by Xu Xian; decoy flares have no effect on radar guidance. In terminal guidance, the missile's active radar activates, naturally triggering the radar warning system of the locked-on aircraft.

However, the Viper C's use in actual combat was not widespread, making it a relatively niche type. This was mainly because the Viper C was rather heavy for a short-range air-to-air missile. The primary increase in weight came from the addition of an active radar to the guidance system. This resulted in the Viper C being one of the heaviest missiles in the entire Viper series.

The relatively heavy missile body slightly limited the Viper C missile's maneuverability, and its hybrid guidance system was more complex and had a higher failure rate, which is why it was not favored.

But this neglected missile played an unexpected role at this moment.

However, Huang Jue's comment that Xu Xian was lucky wasn't entirely sarcastic. The main point is that the Viper C missile ranks second to last in reliability among the Viper series, only slightly better than the original A model. The fact that none of the four Viper C missiles Xu Xian launched malfunctioned—isn't that just good luck?

"We were lucky?" Li Cheng retorted sarcastically. "I think you were lucky. If the other C-16s from our base hadn't flown away, and if Xu Xianneng had been able to pilot even one C-type, your fleet would probably only have two or three left by now."

As an improved version of the A model, the C16C also featured enhanced radar performance. Compared to the A model's lackluster radar capabilities, the C model could lock onto twelve enemy aircraft at once. If Xu Xian were piloting a C16C, the moment he penetrated the formation of the 6th Guangdong Air Division, almost none of the aircraft in the formation would be prepared, allowing Xu Xian to lock onto all ten aircraft in a short time. This would be a devastating blow to the 6th Guangdong Air Division.

However, limited by the aircraft's performance, Xu Xian could only complete the lock-on and missile launch operations in several stages. This undoubtedly prolonged the combat time and gave the 6th Air Division of Guangdong a breathing space. In this light, Xu Xian was undoubtedly placed in a more dangerous situation.

If you think about it that way, it's actually the Sixth Division of the Guangdong Air Force that benefited.

Huang Jue was speechless at this, but then the speaker rang out again.

"Firefox One, I've locked onto him! I'm going to activate the missile's active radar and engage him!" Falcon Four said urgently.

His fighter jet is currently carrying a semi-radar-guided Eagle Sparrow missile, and just now, the Falcon 4 seized the opportunity to lock onto Xu Xian's position. He can activate the missile's active radar in advance, using the medium-to-long-range Eagle Sparrow missile as a short-range air-to-air missile.

This method of activating the active radar of missiles in advance, using medium- and long-range missiles as short-range air-to-air missiles, has existed for a long time. Moreover, the enemy aircraft are now engaged in close combat, and they have just lost four fighters in an instant, almost half of their fleet, making the situation extremely critical. This has given Falcon 4 a great psychological shock, and he urgently wants to do something to quiet this formidable opponent down as quickly as possible.

Firefox One was taken aback. Falcon Four's method did have precedents, but it had many limitations and was considered an unconventional approach. Firefox One had never tried it before, nor had he ever seen anyone else attempt it, which put him in a difficult position.

"Firefox One, Captain! He's about to break free! He's about to break free!" Falcon Four shouted urgently.

Xu Xian's mobility is too strong; his fire control radar can barely keep up. If he continues to dawdle like this, the hard-won lock-on opportunity will be wasted.

"This" Firefox One was annoyed by Falcon Four's constant urging, and for a moment, his mind was filled with mixed thoughts, making it impossible for him to think calmly.

That brief hesitation was too much for Falcon 4 to bear; any longer and this only chance would slip through its fingers. So, without hesitation, Falcon 4 shouted into the queue channel, "Falcon 4, FOX ONE!"

Immediately, with the press of the weapon launch button, the pre-selected Eagle Sparrow missile was launched directly.

"Damn it!" The general tactical code that rang out in the channel directly indicated that Falcon 4 had bypassed the lead aircraft's command and decided to launch on its own, which infuriated Firefox 1.

However, he was no longer concerned about the issue of Falcon 4's substitution; what he was more concerned about now was whether Falcon 4's method would actually work.

To be honest, he could understand Falcon 4's feelings. The main reason was that Xu Xianzhen's sudden appearance and four hits out of four shots in two separate attempts caused some of the less experienced new pilots to show signs of mental breakdown. This led them to become overly hasty and unable to think rationally.

Just like the Falcon 4 pilot from before, he can no longer act as a normal pilot. Xu Xian is like a nightmare; all that remains in his mind is how to eliminate Xu Xian's existence as quickly as possible, because every second Xu Xian exists makes him feel extremely suffocated.

This is deterrence!

In the operations analysis room, Huang Jue's face turned ashen. The Falcon 4's actions were blatant overstepping of its bounds, a grave taboo on the battlefield. Moreover, the fact that a subordinate in his own unit had overstepped his superior's authority to make a decision was witnessed by the Third Division—a truly humiliating disgrace.

This situation only shows that he, as the division commander, has failed to manage his subordinates properly, and the blame still falls on him. However, Wang Zhaoxin's expression remained unchanged upon seeing this scene; he did not provoke any trouble at all, as if he had simply ignored it.

At that moment, the remaining pilots of the 6th Air Division of Guangdong Province all changed their expressions drastically upon hearing the general tactical code for FOX ONE. FOX ONE is a general tactical code for semi-radar guidance. This was originally used abroad, but since it was convenient to use domestically, they adopted it.

If we consider what Falcon 4 just said in the queuing channel about activating the missile's active radar in advance to engage enemy aircraft, then that makes perfect sense.

The Falcon 4 really used the medium-to-long-range Eagle Sparrow missile as a short-range air-to-air missile, and it actually launched it!

At this moment, everyone ignored Falcon 4's illegal actions; they were only concerned with whether this unconventional method would work.

In fact, the moment the Falcon 4 locked onto Xu Xian, his radar warning system issued an alarm. However, Xu Xian didn't pay much attention to it, and he was even slightly surprised when the radar warning system's alarm turned into a deeper and more urgent missile attack alarm.

"Taking a shortcut?" The moment the missile attack alarm sounded, Xu Xian understood what was happening: "Trying to shoot me with Eagle Sparrow missiles?"

Xu Xian hesitated for a moment on the chaff launcher switch, then finally withdrew his finger. He looked up and saw a fighter jet right above him.

Xu Xian had originally planned to take it out with a missile, but it seems there's no need to waste another one.

Although there weren't many thick clouds in this airspace, there were many scattered clouds, making it difficult to maintain a continuous line of sight. This gave Xu Xian room to maneuver.

Upon learning that a medium-to-long-range Eagle-Sparrow missile was pursuing him, Xu Xian fixed his gaze on a fighter jet overhead, pulled up sharply, and headed towards the jet from below.

The Eagle Sparrow missile, with its active radar activated, followed closely behind, tracing a graceful arc.

Pushing aside the wispy clouds, Xu Xian headed straight for the fighter jet, which was indeed completely unknown to him. Xu Xian was positioned in Xu Xian's blind spot, and directly below him was a radar blind spot. He was completely unaware that a C-16 and a Hawk-Sparrow missile were hurtling towards him from below.

However, he couldn't see it, but his teammates could. When someone spotted Xu Xian heading straight for him, they immediately shouted in the channel, "Tiger Number Three, you're below! He's below you!"

"Down there?" Tittrium No. 3 didn't react for a moment. Suddenly, he felt his plane being pushed upwards by some kind of airflow. The next moment, the noisy sound in his headphones instantly went silent, as if the wires had been cut off.

Titman No. 3's mind went blank for a moment before he realized that he had been judged to have been shot down.

Just now, the other pilots of the Sixth Division watched as Xu Xian charged straight up towards the Tit 3. Just before he was about to collide with the Tit 3, he pulled back, drawing a graceful arc near the underside of the Tit 3's belly, and then began to descend.

The Eagle Sparrow missile following behind was not a short-range air-to-air missile and lacked maneuverability, making it impossible for it to accurately track Xu Xian's fighter jet. As a result, the Eagle Sparrow missile did not have time to turn downwards and instead collided directly with the Sparrow III's aircraft.

The Falcon 4's unorthodox approach resulted in it hitting one of its own friendly aircraft. This dramatic outcome left Huang Jue, watching on screen, with a livid expression.

On the big screen, the signals of the 3rd and 6th Divisions' fighter jets and missiles were displayed in different colors. However, Huang Jue saw that the signal representing his own missile had hit his own fighter jet, and then the fighter jet's signal disappeared. Wasn't that an act of "attacking one's own ally"?

Such a huge blunder was witnessed by the Third Master's men; he wished he could disappear into a crack in the ground.

Upon seeing this scene in the command center of the Luoyang Aircraft Base, Meng Ziyang immediately cursed, "What the hell are they doing?!"

Xu Xian's fighter jet was truly like a tiger descending the mountain, causing chaos and confusion among the aircraft of the 6th Air Division of Guangdong. Despite having the advantage of one against ten, the 6th Air Division lost half of its aircraft in a short period of time, a truly humiliating defeat.

Compared to the furious Meng Ziyang, Wang Chenchen watched with bated breath. In this air battle, the 6th Air Division of Guangdong had an almost overwhelming advantage, both in terms of the number and quality of its aircraft. However, Xu Xian was toying with the 6th Air Division's aircraft like a monkey. Wang Chenchen simply couldn't believe that air combat could be fought like this.

Meanwhile, Ying Ruoqing, standing beside him, had a gleam in her eyes.

"Tiger Number Two, take him down!" Fire Fox Number One's voice rang out in exasperation. In the blink of an eye, half of their forces had been lost, and to make matters worse, their own side had turned into a laughingstock. If Xu Xian were to cause further trouble, even if they ultimately won, it would be a disgrace.

Therefore, we must take down this slippery enemy plane as soon as possible in order to salvage our last bit of dignity.

The Tittusan II was the only fighter jet in the entire fleet equipped with short-range air-to-air missiles, serving as the last line of defense for the entire group. Even though the Guangdong Air Force's vision for future air combat heavily favored beyond-visual-range engagements and dismissed close-range dogfights, they would still maintain a minimum level of close-range combat capability to handle certain extreme environments, given the painful lessons learned abroad.

In fact, Guangdong Air Force did not think that this close combat capability would be actually used, but today it really needed this barrier to protect the entire fleet.

The Tit II not only had a weapon configuration that was very different from the rest of the fleet, but it was also the only C-16 in the fleet.

Of the 6th Division aircraft in this sortie, all except the Tittus 2 were twin-engine heavy fighters, the C-15K. However, if maneuverability is more important in close-range dogfights, then the C-16, designed from the outset based on energy conversion theory, would undoubtedly be a better choice.

Unlike the C16A, the basic model piloted by Xu Xian, the C16 of the Sparrow II was an improved C-type, which was indeed superior in terms of fighter performance.

Due to the chaos of the battlefield, Tittush II hadn't found an opportunity to enter the fray. Yet, in that short time, the enemy aircraft had wiped out half of their force, leaving Tittush II terrified. If things dragged on any longer, their entire squadron would be destroyed by that single enemy plane; if word got out, the entire air force would laugh at them.

Thinking of this, after receiving the order from Firefox One, Sparrow Two charged aggressively towards Xu Xian.

After eliminating an enemy aircraft using a strategy of using one to defeat another, Xu Xian suddenly saw a fighter jet heading straight for him with unstoppable momentum. Moreover, Xu Xian could distinguish this fighter jet from the other aircraft in the Sixth Division of the Guangdong Air Force with the naked eye.

"C16?" Xu Xian paused for a moment, then realized, "So this is a bodyguard! Too bad, I don't have time to deal with you right now!"

This C-16 stood out conspicuously among the C-15s. Xu Xian speculated that this C-16 was likely the group's only close-combat protection force.

Xu Xian has never been afraid of close-quarters combat with anyone, but this isn't a one-on-one fight, it's one against many. He doesn't have time to be impulsive; his immediate priority is to eliminate the other aircraft. Otherwise, he'll be vulnerable to a sneak attack when he engages this C-16 in close-quarters combat later.

With this in mind, Xu Xian immediately released a large number of heat decoys. Compared to releasing heat decoys after being locked on, releasing them in advance could prevent the enemy aircraft from using infrared-guided missiles for about nine seconds.

The vast and chaotic heat signature made it impossible for the proactively attacking Tigress II to lock onto Xu Xian's location. However, the drawback of Xu Xian's approach was that once the heat signature from the decoys dissipated and cooled down after about nine seconds, he would be completely unprotected. And for a fighter jet, the number of heat signatures it carries is actually quite limited.

In those few seconds that were gained, Xu Xian, like a sharpshooter, accurately hit two enemy fighters with Viper missiles one after another.

This is where Xu Xian's overwhelming advantage in piloting skills becomes apparent. Xu Xian can use his superior abilities to closely follow the enemy aircraft and achieve a lock-on. Few pilots from the 6th Air Division of the Guangdong Air Force can keep up with Xu Xian's trajectory. The Falcon 4's initial lock-on with Xu Xian had an element of luck; later on, it almost lost the lock.

Before Firefox One could react, only he, Titten Two, and Falcon Four, which had just attacked their teammate, remained on the battlefield.

In this situation, Firefox One was truly terrified. This suddenly appearing 3rd Division fighter jet was unstoppable, its murderous aura boundless. He couldn't understand why the heat decoys were completely ineffective against the Viper missiles. Why couldn't they lock onto the enemy, while the enemy could lock onto them so easily? Was the difference in piloting ability really that great?

With the war at this point, even if the Sixth Division of the Guangdong Air Force wins in the end, it won't be anything to be proud of.

Being taken down by one against ten, and then being knocked down seven times, is not something to brag about anywhere.

Huang Jue's face had been frozen ever since the Falcon 4 missile struck his friendly aircraft. Seeing this, he looked up to the sky and sighed, "Is it truly a case of one man holding the pass against ten thousand?"

Xu Xian is now truly like an invincible war god, guarding the headquarters of the Third Division. The Sixth Division of the Guangdong Air Force is not only helpless, but also in danger of annihilation. Thinking back to how he thought the situation was already settled not long ago, it's really laughable.

At that moment, Xu Xian had already locked onto the Falcon 4 and immediately pressed the launch button. However, to his utter surprise, after the missile was launched, the signal flew directly in another direction.

Xu Xian was dumbfounded. This was clearly a recurring problem with the Viper C; the failure rate of this missile was indeed somewhat high. However, Xu Xian hadn't expected that the air combat simulation pod could even simulate the Viper C malfunctioning; it was truly remarkable.

One missile wasn't enough, so Xu Xian fired another, with the same result. This was the last missile. This Viper missile finally didn't malfunction again, cleanly and decisively shooting down the Falcon 4.

Now, only Firefox 1 and Tit 2 are left.

Two against one!

Even if they were beaten like this in a 10-on-1 situation before, wouldn't a 2-on-1 situation be a huge disadvantage?

At this moment, the sky was filled with smoke from heat decoys, almost to the point of obstructing visibility. All the fighter jets that Xu Xian had just shot down had tried to release heat decoys before being shot down, but none of them were effective. This was driving Firefox One almost crazy; he couldn't understand why.

Just now, ten against one and they were already beaten like this, now two against one, they still have no chance of winning.

If people from other theaters knew that a squadron of their 6th Air Division in Guangdong had been wiped out by a single enemy, they might as well transfer to civilian life and go home, to avoid losing face in the military.

Just then, as Firefox One was trying to keep up with Xu Xian and lock onto him, it discovered crucial information. It immediately shouted to Titmouse Two, "He's out of missiles! He's run out!"

Firefox One couldn't keep up with Xu Xian, so it couldn't lock onto him. However, during this process, it noticed that Xu Xian's fighter jet's pylons were empty. After a brief recollection, the number of C-16s it carried matched the number of missiles the enemy aircraft had just launched, so there was no mistake.

The enemy aircraft are no longer carrying missiles, making their attack capability extremely weak. Of course, the Xu Xian fighter jet is still nominally equipped with cannons. However, in modern air combat, hitting a high-speed aircraft with a cannon is extremely difficult; cannons were mostly more useful in the era of subsonic propellers.

Of course, this doesn't mean that machine guns are completely useless. It's just that machine guns have many limitations in their use, and their effectiveness is not ideal.

Moreover, there's another important issue: reality isn't like the movies; there's no such thing as unlimited ammunition. The rate of fire of aircraft cannons is incredibly high; a few shots are enough to deplete the stored ammunition. This undoubtedly limits the cannon's power.

Now, the Tittusan II also has short-range air-to-air missiles, while the enemy aircraft only have machine guns available. This has suddenly turned the tide of the battle in their favor.

"What a pity!" Wang Zhaoxin sighed. Fighter jets without missiles are basically useless in combat. Although it is a pity, Xu Xian has already done an unprecedented job.

However, Huang Jue, standing beside Wang Zhaoxin, had a grim face. Even though there shouldn't be any surprises now, the fact that one against ten was reduced to only two aircraft was still due to the limited ammunition capacity of each unit. Otherwise, it would have been hard to say who would have won or lost.

Since Xu Xian broke through to the 6th Division of the Guangdong Air Force, the air combat skills he displayed can only be described as dazzling. He manipulated the entire 6th Division's air force with ease. The individual abilities displayed by this pilot of the Luoyang Air Force squadron are truly terrifying.

However, no matter what, winning is always better than losing.

By this time, Huang Jue felt a bit thirsty. He grabbed a paper cup and went to a corner to get some tea.

In the Western Air Force Command headquarters, Commander Liao Yuan remained silent for a moment, then suddenly asked Chief of Staff Jing Chenfei, "What do you think about recommending this kid for the Air Force talent pool?"

"Old Liao, are you sure? We only have one recommendation slot per year for the entire Xikong unit. Isn't that a bit hasty?" Jing Chenfei advised.

"Was it a bit hasty?" Liao Yuan thought about it carefully and realized that it was indeed the case: "There's no way around it, I haven't seen this kind of pilot in a long time, it was ill-considered."

In the vast Xi'an Air Force, with so many pilots, there's only one recommendation slot per year. Note! This is a recommendation slot, not a formal one. In other words, those recommended by the Xi'an Air Force must pass an assessment organized by the Air Force Command; if they fail, they are sent back.

Every year, countless outstanding pilots from the Western Air Force fight tooth and nail for this opportunity. But if it were simply given to an unknown kid, it would probably be hard to convince the public.

"After this exercise, go and investigate this kid's background first. Regardless of whether you recommend him or not, you should keep an eye on him in the future," Liao Yuan said.

Jing Chenfei nodded: "Of course! Actually, if this kid had been able to turn the tide this time, the recommendation might have been easier to arrange. Unfortunately, it was the last step."

"Yeah, what a pity!"

Xu Xian destroyed eight fighter jets from the Guangdong Air Force with nine missiles, a remarkable achievement. However, limited by the number of missiles a fighter jet can carry, he was truly powerless to achieve his goal.

Of course, if Xu Xian could truly defeat the Guangdong Air Force's attack single-handedly, it would be a feat that could be described as turning the tide and saving a collapsing empire. Such an achievement would warrant a recommendation, which is certainly negotiable.

Just then, upon learning that the enemy aircraft had already launched all its missiles, Tit II was greatly encouraged. In that case, wouldn't that kid be his for the taking?

However, visibility in the airspace was extremely poor. There were already many scattered clouds, and the smoke from the numerous heat decoys made it impossible for the Tittusan II to locate the enemy aircraft for the time being.

The radar on the fighter jet showed that the enemy aircraft was nearby, but he could not spot it with the naked eye.

"Firefox One, can you see the enemy aircraft's location? My vision is obstructed!" In desperation, Sparrow Two could only turn to Firefox One for help, since having more eyes would greatly expand its field of vision.

No sooner had Titmouse No. 2 finished speaking than Firefox No. 1 chimed in, "He's eleven o'clock below you, damn it, can't you see him?"

From the side, Firefox 1 could simultaneously see both Tittush 2 and the enemy aircraft; the two fighters were flying at almost the same altitude, relative to each other. Due to the scanning angle of the airborne radar, Tittush 2 failed to detect Xu Xian's fighter's position.

Just now, Firefox One even thought Sparrow Two was locking onto an enemy aircraft, but it turns out it didn't detect it at all. It only has bombs left; if it had missiles, it would have already gone up and attacked.

The direction at 11 o'clock below is roughly directly below. The Tigress II slightly lowered its stick, causing the nose to point downwards. This allowed the onboard radar to scan a wider area downwards, instantly locating Xu Xian's position.

However, when Xu Xian noticed the Sparrow II diving towards him, he immediately knew he was about to be locked on. The two fighter jets were now flying diagonally opposite each other, making them the easiest targets for fire control radar lock-on.

Xu Xian was not about to sit idly by and wait for his death. He immediately pushed the lever to the left and prepared to maneuver away from the lock-on of the Sparrow II.

Through the gap in the clouds, due to relative flight, Xu Xian appeared to be turning to his right in the line of sight of the Tittus 2. This sharp turn caused it to miss its target.

Seeing Xu Xianzuo press down on the stick, Firefox No. 1 immediately relayed the message to Tit No. 2: "Turn left, turn left, fly the double loop!"

Tittush II was an experienced pilot, so how could he not know that he now had a missile advantage? Of course, he would fly the double ring and look for an opportunity to launch the missile.

The term "double loop" is a basic aerial combat term. Simply put, if two fighter jets flying towards each other turn in the same direction, they will form a double loop flight path. Conversely, if they turn in different directions, they will form a single loop, also known as a single-loop flight path.

Whether to fly a double-loop or a single-loop was actually determined by the air combat situation at the time; there was no fixed choice. It was related to the aircraft's weapon configuration, turn rate, and turn radius. Pilots had to decide between single-loop and double-loop in a very short time; a wrong choice could easily put them in a very dangerous situation.

Therefore, deciding how to shift course is not only a personal matter, but also requires considering how the other party will choose. Thus, it is essentially a game of strategy.

The choice between single-ring and double-ring missiles involves many factors, but there is a fundamental point: flying with a double-ring missile is advantageous for finding opportunities to launch the missile, while flying with a single-ring missile is the opposite. The key point here is the minimum range of the missile.

That's right, missiles have a minimum range; if two fighter jets are too close, the missile cannot be launched. However, it's important to note that machine guns do not have a minimum range.

Therefore, a double-ring configuration allows for greater distance, making it easier for the side with missile superiority to find opportunities to launch missiles. Conversely, a single-ring configuration makes it very easy for the two aircraft to get too close, thus reducing the missile advantage.

Therefore, for the Tit 2, which has an absolute missile advantage, it will definitely fly the double ring.

Since Xu Xian was pushing the stick to the left, he did the same. As long as they turned more than half a turn, they would create enough distance, and his nose would be directly facing the enemy aircraft, making it easier for him to lock on.

However, what he didn't know was that Xu Xian immediately disappeared into the clouds after pressing the left lever, and FireFox One instantly lost visual observation of him. Meanwhile, Titmouse Two, having begun to turn, was no longer focused on Xu Xian and had no idea of ​​his situation.

However, the next moment, whether it was the Western Air Force Command, the 3rd Division Headquarters, or the general command room of the Los Angeles Air Base, everyone who could see the battlefield situation images, everyone who had even a little knowledge of air combat, showed a strange expression.

Among them, Meng Ziyang, who had the most explosive temper, angrily shouted, "What on earth is he doing?"

At this moment, Huang Jue returned to the screen after getting water. But when he saw the bright spot indicating the location of the fighter jet on the screen, he was stunned. His right hand involuntarily squeezed the paper cup so hard that it deformed. The scalding tea spilled out and landed on Huang Jue's hand, but Huang Jue was completely unaware.

"He's flying in a single loop? How can he fly in a single loop?" Huang Jue almost roared. The movement trajectory of the bright spots on the screen showed that one of their fighter jets was flying in a single loop with the Luohang fighter jet. Wasn't this wasting their greatest missile advantage? What were his soldiers thinking?

After circling halfway, Tittusll II felt it was about time and began trying to locate the enemy aircraft, but after searching for a long time, it couldn't find it at all. Suddenly, a signal dot appeared on the radar directly in front of it.

FireFox One, located on the side of the air battle battlefield, finally broke free from the cloud cover and spotted Xu Xian's position. However, when it saw Xu Xian's fighter jet, it was filled with great confusion and bewilderment.

However, this feeling lasted only a moment before Firefox One immediately yelled into the channel, "He's in front of you!!!"

"How the hell did he get in front of me?!" No matter how hard he tried, No. 2 couldn't understand how Xu Xian got right in front of him; it just didn't make sense.

Xu Xian seemed to have been waiting for this moment. He had set the enemy aircraft's model data and calibrated the machine gun's aiming sights on the target management page long ago.

The cannon sights on fighter jets are funnel-shaped and do not have a front sight. However, a front sight can be set in target management, and the accuracy can be adjusted according to the type of enemy aircraft.

When Tittusan II was about to attempt to launch the missile, he discovered that the enemy aircraft was already smaller than the missile's minimum range, making it impossible to launch the missile.

Xu Xian's side was always ready. The moment the enemy plane appeared, he aimed at the machine gun sights and pressed the fire button.

Tigress II initially had no idea that Xu Xian would appear directly in front of him, so he barely maneuvered, allowing Xu Xian to easily aim his machine gun. He even tried to switch to machine gun mode, but as his headset suddenly went silent, Tigress II's mind went blank. He had been shot down!

With such close relative flight distance and the opponent having the upper hand, wouldn't that be the best opportunity for the machine gun to be used?

The other side was fully prepared! Everything was part of his plan!

After Xu Xian launched the missile, everyone thought it was all over. But Xu Xian turned the tide in this unexpected way.

"Damn it, damn it! How could this happen!" FireFox One was so shocked by Xu Xian's incredible aerial combat skills that he lost the ability to think. He couldn't understand why such a person existed in the world. He couldn't understand why the Guangdong Air Force had no information about such a powerful person if the Western Air Force had one.

Now that his fighter jets were only carrying ground-attack bombs, they were completely incapable of fighting, leaving him with no choice but to retreat.

Firefox One was quite adaptable; after a quick assessment of the battlefield situation, knowing that things were hopeless, it immediately retreated, preserving its own strength.

"We won? We won!" Wang Chenchen could hardly believe her eyes. The bright spot representing the Guangdong Air Force was flying in the opposite direction from the division headquarters, which clearly meant they were retreating.

Huang Jue stared at his own fighter jet turning back, utterly speechless. Ten against one, and they were reduced to a single aircraft, forced to flee in disarray—it was truly...

He raised his head somewhat dejectedly, looked at Li Cheng, and said sadly, "What's his name, Xu Xian?"

This was originally a complete victory for the 3rd Division, with the loss of just one fighter jet wiping out almost all of the 3rd Division's air defenses. However, it was all turned around by some nobody who appeared out of nowhere!

A resounding victory turned into a crushing defeat, all thanks to one man! Huang Jue has been in the Air Force for over twenty years, and he has never seen such a remarkable person before!

Just then, Wang Chenchen's voice came through the loudspeaker: "Xu Xian, don't pursue a cornered enemy. The mission is over, let's return."

The operations analysis room is also connected to the Luohang General Command Room, so they can hear Wang Chenchen issuing orders to Xu Xian via radio.

Logically, they shouldn't be pursuing them anymore. However, to everyone's surprise, Xu Xian's reply was: "I said I would shoot down all eleven. If only one is left, then I broke my promise! Is our territory something he can come and go as he pleases?"

It's not what I expected; there's a little ending. However, I'm worried that one chapter is too much and you'll think it's too expensive and not subscribe, so I've decided to leave it at that.

However, this chapter is quite long; it's a record-breaking one.

As usual, I'm asking for monthly votes or something.

(End of this chapter)