Chapter 1526: Running Faster Than a Mouse
Later in the day.
Hainan Province, Lingshui Base.
Zhou Kaili was the last one to walk down the gangway of the fighter plane.
The moment his feet touched the ground, he subconsciously looked back at the bomber that had just completed its historic mission.
Under the dim floor lamp, the red letters "20516" on the side of the fuselage are shining brightly.
In fact, judging from the appearance alone, apart from the slightly protruding refueling pipe on the nose, the H-6S is no different from the common Air Force H-6K.
But the large belly rack that has undergone special reinforcement has given this new model almost unlimited possibilities.
Under certain circumstances, it can even achieve performance close to that of the three Tu-160s.
"Old Zhou!" Co-pilot Pan Zhijian was already standing at the bottom of the gangway, with an unconcealable smile on his face, "This time we are really..."
Zhou Kaili made a swishing gesture, but the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes also revealed his mood.
Not far away, a dozen ground crew members and technicians were busy surrounding the UAV that had just landed. The drone that had created a miracle was parked quietly on a special trailer. Its streamlined black body had almost no reflections at all, blending perfectly into the night.
"Deputy Captain Zhou, welcome back!" A loud voice came from the side.
It is Major General Zhang Xi, the commander-in-chief of this mission.
Taking into account the particularity of the mission area, the entire plan was actually completed and designated by the South China Sea Fleet and the Naval Staff, and only the Air Force's equipment was borrowed for specific equipment.
Zhang Xi strode forward. Behind him, Wang Zhijin, Chief of Staff of the 9th Naval Aviation Division, was talking in a low voice with a technical officer wearing glasses.
Apparently, the Air Force's new toys also made the Navy a little jealous.
The upgraded H-6M can carry up to four cruise missiles or heavy anti-ship missiles, which is basically sufficient for tactical requirements, but its electronic equipment and range are completely incomparable to the new generation of H-6 sub-models that have been replaced with turbofan engines.
Not to mention aerial refueling capability.
Zhou Kaili immediately straightened his back and saluted: "Report to the commander, the H-6S crew successfully completed the launch mission of the WZ-8 and returned safely!"
Zhang Xi returned the greeting and shook Zhou Kaili's hand: "Well done! Your action has demonstrated the national prestige and military power!"
His palms were rough and strong, and the warmth from his palms made Zhou Kaili feel at ease.
"It's mainly because of the excellent performance of the Wuzhen-8," Zhou Kaili said modestly, his eyes still unconsciously drifting towards the direction of the drone, "We just completed the launch procedure as required."
Having said that, he still took a half step forward and asked in a low voice:
"Commander, what is the other party's reaction?"
The other party just specifically emphasized the "national prestige and military power", which is not a term that can be used in any situation.
Zhang Xi's mouth was almost stretched to the sky:
"The movements of the main fleets of the USS Washington and USS Reagan remain to be seen, but we just received a report from the destroyer Jiangcheng, saying that the tactical formation of the USS Hyuga, which was sent out to perform air defense cover missions, turned around and retreated at full speed towards the Sulu Sea about twenty minutes ago!"
The three Maritime Self-Defense Force ships were obviously responsible for the forward cover mission. Their turning around and retreating basically means that the main fleet will also choose a relatively conservative action posture in the next step.
"Then...what about the other two transport ships?"
Zhang Xi was stunned for a moment before he realized what Zhou Kaili meant by "transport ship".
"News from the Xiangfan frigate: They have successfully intercepted the Atrio Richard patrol ship formation and forced them to return!"
At this time, Chief of Staff Wang Zhijin, who had been following behind half a step, also added: "The helicopter on board the Xiangfan has visually confirmed that there are a lot of construction materials piled on the deck of the Laguna tank landing ship."
"Building materials?"
Zhou Kaili looked puzzled.
"Yes." Wang Zhijin nodded. "Although we can't see the situation inside the dock directly, judging from the satellite images of the loading process at the port, it should be some special engineering vehicles."
“Are they going to build new permanent facilities?”
"It's hard to say," Wang Zhijin said hesitantly. "We haven't found any signs of construction preparation on Zhongye Island before, so we speculate that there may be problems with the buildings that did not meet the marine construction standards in the past and need to be repaired... In short, the superiors are planning to take advantage of this opportunity to completely control and block the surrounding waters."
The gains from this unexpected action far exceeded expectations. If handled properly, it is likely that the actual control range will be pushed hundreds of nautical miles southward and several key control points will be indirectly recaptured.
Just when Zhang Xi was about to say something else, a young voice accompanied by hurried footsteps sounded from the side.
"report!"
Is an office worker:
"While checking the international waterway information, we found that all US warships participating in the exercise had turned on their automatic ship identification systems again. Judging from the signals, the other fleet was sailing towards the Basilan Strait at a speed of 28 knots, and should be preparing to withdraw to the Sulawesi Sea."
The tarmac fell into silence for a moment.
Then, Zhang Xi's heroic voice came:
"it is good!"
Then, there was a burst of warm applause.
"The Americans were frightened by our warning and ran away faster than mice..."
This was the first time Zhou Kaili showed obvious excitement since he got off the plane, and he even waved his fist vigorously in the air.
As a bomber pilot, he has also carried out several cruise flight missions out to the open sea in recent years. He not only took low-altitude photos of naval ships of many countries, but also took photos with the Central Mountain Range more than once.
But those can only be regarded as "training missions close to actual combat" after all. Both sides are polite and courteous, and there is not much tension that fighter pilots often face.
And today, they are like Zhang Yide standing in front of Changbanpo, single-handedly scaring off more than a dozen large and small warships of the powerful enemy.
It's definitely a first.
"It's not too surprising actually." Zhang Xi smiled and patted Zhou Kaili on the shoulder. "Fifty-three years ago, the Americans also turned around and ran away in the face of our coastal artillery."
In contrast, Wang Zhijin seemed slightly calmer and analyzed:
"The entire 'Confrontation-North' exercise was conducted in the Sulu Sea and near Manila Bay. The withdrawal to the Sulawesi Sea means that the plan can no longer be carried out as scheduled. No matter how they make up for it later, it will be a heavy blow to their military credit. It can also encourage forces in neighboring countries that are close to us..."
"..."
After more than ten minutes, the atmosphere around the H-6S finally cooled down.
At the same time, technicians have successfully dismantled the data storage device of the reconnaissance module. Two researchers wearing blue aviation industry work clothes carefully placed it into a special metal box and then moved it onto a flatbed cart.
"Let's go to the War Situation Center together." Zhang Xi called, "Engineer Yuan said that we can see the preliminary analysis results in about half an hour."
On the way to the combat situation center, Zhou Kaili noticed that the alert level of the base had been significantly increased.
Armed guards set up checkpoints at key intersections. Several electronic warfare vehicles disguised as ordinary transport vehicles were parked in hidden places, and some antennas were rotating at extremely high frequencies.
It’s not that there are any hostile forces that can sneak into the core area of the base, but that the ground crew and security departments are also involved in this actual combat plan.
