Chapter 888 On the verge of breaking out

Tu-4 flew away into the night sky with the good news.

The two surviving groups of enemies also began to send messages to their own headquarters, reporting the tragic situation.

"What? The bridge leading to the eastern section of Shannan was blown up?"

"Yes, and half of the brigade we sent to reinforce was blocked on the south bank of the bridge."

Depending on the organization and staffing level, a brigade of Zang San would have approximately 2000 to 4000 people.

"Bad news, bad news, all bad news!"

"And there's bad news. Our brigade that was divided by the broken bridge was bombed by the Eastern University in both parts, and lost more than half of its personnel."

"Impossible, it was night time!"

"It seems that the East University has the ability to launch bombings at night. And..."

"And what? Bad news?"

"The bridge was destroyed so thoroughly that it was almost impossible to repair it within a quarter. To make matters worse, the East University people used airplanes to lay mines on both ends of the bridge, which made 'almost impossible' become 'completely impossible'."

It seems that our comrades even overestimated them. We said it could not be repaired in one month, but Zang San himself thought it could not be repaired in three months.

If our comrades knew about this, they would certainly lament that we were too lenient in our assessment of the enemy.

"Then at least the brigade in the eastern section of Shannan has received almost a battalion of reinforcements. As long as they hold on firmly and wait for the American and White Bears to free up their hands, everything will be fine."

In Zang San's opinion, a reinforced brigade is enough to hold the Shannan area, which has rugged terrain and is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and wait for reinforcements.

But he seemed to have forgotten one thing. The two brigades that were annihilated at the end of October had a total of 10 people, and were no weaker than this "reinforced" brigade in strength, but they didn't even survive four days.

They are considering the brigade in the eastern section of Shannan, and we are also considering it.

At the Shannan East Section Forward Command, several commanders were jubilant: "The joint ground and air command has sent us good news. The road leading to here from the enemy's plains has been cut off. The enemy can no longer send any reinforcements here. The enemy brigade that had already sent reinforcements was wiped out by our air force halfway. Now at most one battalion of the enemy can reinforce the opposite brigade."

"Then shouldn't we take action now? When the enemy on the other side also gets wind of this news, if they disregard everything and flee in all directions, we'll be in trouble. Even if they are pigs, it will be difficult for us to catch them all if they flee in such a scattered manner."

"Well, you do have a point. If we don't destroy them now while they are still gathered together, we will wait until they are scattered like stars in the sky, and then a good annihilation battle will become a battle of defeat, and the duck in hand will fly away."

"It's settled! Send a message to the Joint Land and Air Command. We have decided to preemptively strike the current enemy and quickly annihilate part of the enemy in Shannan, so as to clear as much obstacles as possible for the battle in the western section of Shannan. Please ask the Joint Command, is this plan feasible?"

As the enemy increased its troops, nearly 10,000 enemies gathered in the western section of Shannan. By annihilating the enemies in the eastern section of Shannan on the spot, we could also completely cut off the possibility of the enemy moving reinforcements within the Shannan area.

The roads to the outside are gradually being cut off, but we are still able to preserve as much of our own territory as possible inside Shannan. It would be a pity if it was bombed too badly.

Of course, if this group of enemies really escapes, we will have to bomb them.

As for whether the enemy has the ability to wage mobile warfare, we don’t care. Since we have it, we assume that the enemy has it too.

The plan was quickly approved and the action was taken.

Since we have decided to fight, we still have to do some preparatory work. At least some of the troops that will be interspersed and maneuvered in advance will need time to prepare.

What no one expected was that in this short period of time, the largest and only large-scale air battle since the counterattack broke out.

The battlefield of this war was not on the Eastern Front where both sides had heavy troops gathered, but on the Western Front which seemed much calmer.

The cause of the war was still due to the unlucky capital location of Zang San. They always felt that our plateau western airport was a huge threat to them.

As the situation gradually worsened, they felt that the airport was a thorn in their throat and they would not be happy until it was removed.

Since the battle had come to this, they couldn't care less. Moreover, a batch of F-86s that the Citigroup personnel transferred from other bases became their greatest confidence.

These are advanced fighter jets from the Citigroup people. The University of East China will surely flee in panic in front of these advanced weapons and be defeated without a fight.

They seemed to have forgotten that we had experienced this thing over the peninsula ten years ago. The exchange ratio of the Americans was not good at all. At that time, we were still using the MiG-15.

Near the border, at one of our radar stations, the radar antenna was humming and the radar soldiers were concentrating on looking at the circular afterglow display in front of them.

Suddenly, a patch of light dots lit up on the monitor. As the scanning line moved in circles, the light dots slowly moved on the monitor. The target was confirmed, and the radar soldier reported loudly: "Report, direction XXXX, distance XXXX, targets found, number unknown, preliminary judgment, more than ten."

This is the most uncomfortable thing for Zang San. On this mountain range, we have too many places to deploy radars, which are enough to see clearly what they are doing below.

The stationmaster of the radar station hurried over, stared at the monitor for a few seconds, picked up the phone, and began to report to his superiors.

At the Western Front Joint Command located at the Western Front Airport, the commander answered the phone.

"Are you sure? ... A large group of enemy aircraft is flying towards my border? ... Yeah, okay, I get it."

He put down the phone and discussed with another commander.

"More than ten crosses? It seems the enemy is ready to fight to the death."

Even though more than ten planes may not seem like a lot, it is not a small number for the Dirty Three at that time. The number of jet planes they can effectively command is probably of this order of magnitude.

"Well, we have deployed twelve fighters at the western airport. This number does not seem very safe. After all, the number of enemy aircraft has not yet been fully determined."

"Then send reinforcements from the Baiyu Airport in Northern Xinjiang?"

The courage to build an airport on the western front naturally meant that there was no lack of support and depth. The Baiyu Airport in northern Xinjiang was opened to traffic in 56. And what is different from the original history is that not long ago, we completed the concrete transformation of the runway of Baiyu Airport two years ahead of schedule.

Originally, the conditions were not there, but with some people fanning the flames, the conditions were there in advance. Since we were going to fight a war, we naturally made preparations early.

From Baiyu Airport to the western line of the plateau is approximately 600 to 700 kilometers. At this distance, the modified Zhan-6 flying from Baiyu Airport may not be enough for offense, but it is sufficient for defense.

"Yes, that makes sense. Order the planes patrolling the sky at Baiyu Airport to rush to the western airport. We will let the enemy in and fight. What do you think?"

If we take off from Baiyu Airport and rush over, it will be too late. However, there are some planes already patrolling in the air at Baiyu Airport, so it will still be in time. The gaps in air patrols can be filled by planes taking off from Baiyu Airport.

"Yes, this is reasonable. It also takes into account the combat radius of the fighter jets at Baiyu Airport, allowing them to stay in the air longer. Moreover, the battlefield is above us, so if there is any accident, it will be convenient for us to rescue people."

Let the enemy cross the red line of not entering the other side's air force first, then our things will be easier to handle.

As for the evidence, it's easy to explain. We don't have it now, but we'll have a few fights later to get the evidence. Your plane fell on my soil. Don't you have any idea what happened?
"Well, then give the order. Four fighters will be sent to reinforce the Baiyu Airport, and all 4 fighters will take off from the West Front Airport. A total of 12 fighters will fight the enemy! It doesn't matter if they don't come in. As long as they enter our airspace, we will resolutely destroy them!"

"By the way, order the helicopter search and rescue team at the airport to remain on standby and be ready to depart at any time." There are three helicopters here, which are mainly used for the transportation of VIPs, important items, and outdoor search and rescue.

Whether it is searching for our own people or enemies, it can always be used. It is not a loss. At least it makes our comrades feel more at ease.

All of a sudden, the West Plateau Airport became tense. Ground crew members were busy preparing for the fighter planes. Pilots carrying helmets ran towards their fighter planes. Fighter planes slowly taxied on the runway. Every few dozen seconds, a fighter plane roared, raised its head and flew into the air.

Within ten minutes after the order was issued, all 12 fighter jets at the West Plateau Airport took off.

At this time, the latest news came from the radar station, and it was initially determined that there were a total of 21 enemy planes, and they were coming in with great force.

That's right. It seems that it is right to mobilize the patrol fighters from Baiyu Airport. 12 against 21 may be a little stressful, but 16 against 21 will be no problem.

At this time, the enemy planes were still more than 100 kilometers away from the border line in the direction of the western airport, and more than 300 but less than 400 kilometers away from the western airport.

The 12 fighter jets we launched headed straight for the border without waiting for the planes from Baiyu Airport to meet up.

An aerial battle is about to begin!
Our planes flew forward and pulled upward at the same time. To put it bluntly, we were bullying the enemy because their planes were not flying as high as ours. We knew exactly what kind of planes the enemy had.

The practical ceiling of the Zhan-6 interceptor type equipped with the LYP-6 engine is over 18000 meters, and the top speed is over Mach 1.5, which is out of reach for all the aircraft of Zang-.

The feeling of equipment crushing is really fun.

As for whether the enemy will fly very low and lure our planes from high altitude to low altitude combat, this problem does not exist here, because in this place, they cannot fly low.

The base altitude is around 5000 meters, and fighter jets cannot fly at low altitudes for long periods of time, which means that enemy aircraft must be flying at an altitude of at least 8000 to 10000 meters.

As long as we maintain an altitude advantage of about 2000 meters over enemy aircraft at all times, we can suppress the enemy.

The practical ceiling of the F-86 is 15000 meters.

(End of this chapter)