Legendary Captain

Chapter 396 Raid on the S300 Air Defense Missile Position

The day before the evacuation operation, Xu Xian had already transferred from the Luohang base to Bisu Airport in Yunnan Province to stand by, and a temporary evacuation command center was set up at Bisu Airport.

The headquarters of the Western Air Force is in Chengdu, which is too far from the southwestern border, making deployment very troublesome. Therefore, the day before the evacuation operation, the three fighter jets participating in this escort mission were transferred to Bisu Airport, which is very close to the border.

Bisu Airport is only a ten-minute drive from either the entrance to the Linsong Corridor or the entrance to the Lijiang Corridor, making it very fast in terms of support speed.

To facilitate command and control, the command center was also moved here. Fortunately, Bisso Airport has very few flights, and there were no other flights scheduled during the evacuation period, so it did not affect the operation of civilian aircraft.

According to the plan, on the day of the evacuation, they will take off from Bisu Airport 20 minutes earlier to meet up with Xingyou 835 flight from Dianyungang Airport. After dropping off Xingyou 835 flight at the entrance of the Lijiang Corridor, they will wait in the designated airspace.

International flights differ from domestic flights in that they use three-letter codes instead of four-letter codes. After exiting the Lijiang Corridor, the aircraft enters the Alaman Control Area of ​​Konbaung State. Whenever an aircraft enters an Alaman frequency, it signifies that it is under the control of Konbaung Air Traffic Control.

After seeing off Xingyou 835 flight, Xu Xian and his two companions would not return to Bisu Airport. Coordination was made between the Xi'an Air Force and Yunnan Air Force control to allocate an airspace near the entrance to the Lijiang Corridor for Xu Xian and his team to circle and wait.

Xu Xian and his two companions will each carry auxiliary fuel tanks with sufficient fuel to allow them enough time to circle and wait. At least as long as the plane heading to evacuate the citizens is within Konbaung, they must ensure they are ready to go to the rescue at any time.

If we return to Bisu Airport and wait until we receive a distress call before taking off, it will be too late.

After arriving at Bisu Airport, Xu Xian invited Wang Qixian to have a meal at the airport cafeteria before continuing their conversation.

After ordering a few dishes, Xu Xian and Wang Qi sat down and waited for the food to be served.

"This is my first time in Bisu, and the food is pretty good. I thought it would be the kind of communal dining I'd find here," Wang Qi said with a smile. "The standard of living has definitely improved a lot these days."

It must be said that the cafeteria at Bisso Airport is quite good. They offer meals for airport staff, which cost only ten yuan and include meat, vegetables, and soup—very cheap. However, the only problem with the meals is that the variety of dishes is a bit limited, and they are all cooked in large pots, which makes the taste slightly lacking.

However, considering its low price, the taste and portion sizes of the dishes here are quite good value for money. Moreover, if you're willing to spend a little more, you can order like you would in a restaurant. This way, you'll have a much wider variety of dishes, and the taste will definitely be much better, just a bit more expensive.

Xu Xian poured tea for himself and Wang Qi, took a sip, and said it was just ordinary buckwheat tea: "I didn't expect a small airport canteen to have such differentiated services. Not bad, not bad."

"Differentiated services?" Wang Qi was taken aback, but quickly understood what Xu Xian meant: "If I hadn't become a pilot, I'd probably be helping out at the restaurant back home. Tsk tsk tsk, probably even a chef?"

"A cook?" Xu Xian looked at Wang Qi, whose face was somewhat gloomy, and sighed, "That's right, with your appearance, you can only stay in the kitchen. If you go to the front, wouldn't you scare away all the diners?"

Wang Qi was stunned, and touched his face: "What's wrong with my appearance?"

Xu Xian shook his head and sighed, "If you were working at the restaurant counter, customers would come in and think they'd stumbled into a gangster's den when they saw your face! Don't you know how fierce your face looks?"

At first glance, Wang Qi's appearance gives the impression of being a cunning and ruthless person, as vicious as a venomous snake.

"Is that a personal attack?" Wang Qi rubbed his chin, then looked at Xu Xian's face, feeling a deep sense of inferiority. "I can't compare to you. But just now, I saw one of the munitions that the Logistics Department brought over that I'd never seen before. They said it's some kind of high-power microwave bomb, transported from the headquarters of Luohang Industrial. What is that thing?"

"You might not know about high-power microwave bombs, but you must know about EMP, right?" Xu Xian said. "This is a good thing that I personally asked Ye Qing for. If the flight encounters danger right after takeoff tomorrow, it will be too late for us to go around it. If that happens, I'm prepared to go straight through the rebels' air defense zone. The high-power microwave bomb is for them."

"EMP? There are already finished electronic pulse warheads like this in China? I really didn't know." Wang Qi tried hard to recall the strange-looking missile he had seen before: "Although that thing was a bit different from other missiles, it didn't look too different. I really didn't realize that it was an electronic pulse weapon that I hadn't seen in person."

"The missile still uses high-energy explosives to deform the armature tube, thereby generating a high-intensity current, which then generates high-energy microwave radiation through a virtual cathode oscillator to destroy the enemy's electronic equipment." Xu Xian briefly explained the working principle of the high-power microwave missile, but to Wang Qi, it was like listening to gibberish.

"Forget it, stop lecturing me. I don't understand a word you say." Wang Qi glanced at Xu Xian: "You said you were going to cross the enemy's air defense zone. I don't remember that being a contingency plan. Doesn't that mean you're disobeying orders? Was that what you and Captain Li were arguing about on the parade ground?"

Xu Xian nodded: "There are priorities. When it really comes down to it, I'm sure I can't afford to go through all that trouble again."

"But you can't talk to Captain Li like that, it's not appropriate," Wang Qi criticized. "Now that you've been promoted and have the same rank as Captain Li, his seniority is what matters. How can you talk to Captain Li like that in front of so many people? Where does that make Captain Li feel? After this is over, you should apologize to Captain Li."

Xu Xian fell silent. He had indeed been a bit impulsive at the time and had spoken without thinking: "What I said earlier was indeed a bit inappropriate. I need to apologize to Captain Li after this is over. Anyway, after this is over, I'm going to the Third Division, so I won't be staying at the Luohang base anymore."

"What? You're going to the Third Division, the First Regiment of the Third Division?" Wang Qi remembered that Xu Xian was the deputy battalion commander of the First Battalion of the First Regiment of the Third Division. If he was going back, he would definitely be going to the First Regiment of the Third Division.

However, Xu Xian is currently in the Luohang fleet as a special trainee, and the division headquarters is not in a hurry to recall him. Why would he want to go back on his own initiative?

"The situation at the Third Division is much tougher than with the Luohang fleet. You should think it over carefully," Wang Qi warned. "If you go back to the Third Division, it might be difficult for you to come back."

The army isn't a marketplace where you can come and go as you please. The status of a special training officer was originally just a temporary measure; it can't be used again and again. Once Xu Xian returns to the First Battalion of the First Regiment of the Third Division as his deputy battalion commander, he can forget about returning to the Luoyang Aircraft Fleet under normal circumstances.

Wang Qi knew Xu Xian's temperament. Since the division headquarters hadn't made any demands, he figured he might as well stay in the Luohang fleet; there were far too many uncomfortable options.

"Bitter?" Xu Xian chuckled. "No pain, no gain. Don't you know that?"

"Wow!" Wang Qi exclaimed, as if he were seeing Xu Xian for the first time. "I know that saying, but you're really capable of enduring hardship? You must be joking."

Xu Xian's laziness was well-known throughout the Luohang fleet. Anyone could say that "no pain, no gain," but Xu Xian was different.

"At this point, I have to say something more: 'A scholar who has been away for three days should reflect on his actions.'" Xu Xian was halfway through his sentence when he suddenly noticed the news content on the TV screen hanging in the middle of the cafeteria.

The image currently displayed on the screen appears to be a handheld camera shot, and it's very shaky. Below the news footage is a label that reads "Live Footage from Kampong Airport."

Just as Xu Xian was wondering what had happened and was about to broadcast it live, the building at Kampong Airport's control tower suddenly exploded in the footage, as if it had been hit by a shell.

In the video, large crowds began to scatter and run away, creating a chaotic scene.

"What are you looking at?" Wang Qi noticed Xu Xian had stopped speaking halfway through his sentence, so he followed Xu Xian's gaze and turned to look up. However, Wang Qi had just missed the scene of the explosion at the top of the tower; he could only see a large number of people scattering in the image.

"What the hell?" Wang Qi asked, confused. "Live footage from Kampong Airport? What's going on?"

Suddenly, Wang Qi heard the sound of a chair being pulled out. Turning around, he saw Xu Xian standing up: "What do you want to do?"

Xu Xian didn't say a word, pulled out a chair, and ran straight outside.

"No, what are you doing? Aren't you going to eat?!" Wang Qi shouted in the direction Xu Xian had left. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the television screen, which was showing a replay of the control tower being hit by a shell and exploding. Wang Qi's face immediately fell: "Holy crap!"

After sighing, Wang Qi stood up, pulled out a chair, and followed the direction Xu Xian had left in, saying, "Wait a minute, wait for me!"

Xu Xian went straight to Wang Zhaoxin's office in the temporary command center, where Wang Zhaoxin was serving as the commander-in-chief of the escort mission.

"Commander, something has happened at Kampong Airport." As soon as Xu Xian entered the office, he saw Wang Zhaoxin on the phone and immediately fell silent so as not to disturb Wang Zhaoxin.

"Understood, Commander. I will relay this to Xu Xian." Wang Zhaoxin said into the phone, "Please rest assured, Commander, we will resolutely complete the mission."

After saying that, Wang Zhaoxin hung up the phone and stared at Xu Xian, who was breathing heavily: "Did you run here?"

"Commander, I just saw the news, there was an accident at Kampung Airport!" Xu Xiangan ran all the way from the canteen, and he was still a little out of breath when he spoke.

"Calm down, take a breath." Wang Zhaoxin beckoned to Xu Xian: "I have a task for you now."

"What mission?" Xu Xian's mind raced. "Is the operation being moved up?"

"No!" Wang Zhaoxin shook his head: "I just received news that the rebels are besieging Kampong Airport. The only remaining runway at Kampong Airport has also been damaged by shelling and is now unable to take off or land."

"What? An attack on the airport? There are quite a few of our people over there!" Xu Xian's eyes widened. "Is anyone injured over there?"

"We have not received any reports of casualties among our citizens so far. The rebels seem to have deliberately avoided the terminal building, only shelling the control tower and runway. So far, there have only been casualties among our own citizens in Konbaung," Wang Zhaoxin said with a worried expression.

Many of those who needed to be evacuated arrived at the airport a day in advance. The situation in Kampong is changing daily; today you can get from the agency to the airport, tomorrow the roads might be filled with fighting. It's safer to arrive a day early than to be stuck in traffic and unable to reach the airport; at worst, you can sleep there overnight.

Therefore, all domestic personnel are currently concentrated in the Kampong Airport terminal. It appears that the rebels deliberately avoided the terminal when attacking Kampong Airport, resulting in no casualties among domestic personnel.

Xu Xian gritted his teeth: "They even know who they can mess with and who they can't!"

"That's only true for now!" Wang Zhaoxin sighed. "The runway at Kampong Airport is damaged, making it impossible for planes to land. The biggest problem now is how to get Kampong Airport out of this predicament."

"What do you mean? Isn't Kampong Airport under government control? Their own airport is under siege, and the government forces aren't trying to take it back?" Xu Xian's face darkened. "What, they want us to intervene? So they can get away with it?"

Geographically speaking, Kampong Airport is in an area controlled by the government forces. Therefore, if it were attacked by rebels, the government forces would be responsible. But after hearing what Wang Zhaoxin said, does it mean the government forces are unwilling to intervene?

"They don't have the guts. Do they even think they can take advantage of us?" Wang Zhaoxin licked his dry lips. "Government troops are stationed inside Kampong Airport. The rebels are hesitant to launch a full-scale, life-or-death assault, so Kampong Airport can hold out for now. The government troops are also willing to relieve the siege of Kampong Airport, but the reality is that Kampong Airport's terrain is classic example of being easy to defend and difficult to attack from the land. If the government troops want to achieve results by land, the cost would be too high. Therefore, they want to use airstrikes."

"Air strikes? Didn't they say that two-thirds of Konbang's air force is with the rebels? If the government forces use the air force, why won't the rebels? With a difference of two times, are the government forces just handing over their food?" Xu Xian complained.

"That's not it! Although the rebel air force is larger than the government forces, the sophistication of their aircraft and the combat skills of their pilots are incomparable. If the two sides clashed, the government forces would actually have a slight advantage."

"Then what are you still worried about, Commander?"

Wang Zhaoxin scratched his head: "The biggest threat to the government's air force does not come from the rebels' air force, but from an S-300 air defense missile site 90 kilometers away from Kampong Airport."

"S-300 anti-aircraft missiles?" Xu Xian's pupils contracted slightly. "The rebels actually have S-300 anti-aircraft missiles?"

"That's right! Konbang only has this one system, and it's in the hands of the rebels." Wang Zhaoxin sighed. "Konbang Airport is right within the range of the S-300 air defense missiles. Any government air force aircraft that want to attack the rebel forces besieging the airport will be directly threatened by the S-300 air defense missile system. Do you think they would dare to send in their air force under these circumstances?"

Xu Xian fell silent for a moment. The S-300 air defense missile system was not a domestically developed weapon of Konbaung, but an import from abroad. This air defense system is a top-tier international system, posing a significant threat to fighter jets. No wonder the government forces dared not send aircraft over.

"So, what does the government army want?"

Wang Zhaoxin stared at Xu Xian and slowly said, "They hope we can help them eliminate the S-300 missile site!"

This book is almost finished; it should be at the beginning of this month or next month.

(End of this chapter)