Chapter 758: Time is of the Essence

“‘Ya Zi-2’ is still here!”

A soldier from the fourth squad exclaimed.

Another ballistic point revealed an armored vehicle wreck that had been torn apart by the explosive force, flames swirling around it, but the position of the “Ya Zi-2” combat-powered armor was completely empty, leaving only a huge crater.

A powered armor with reverse joint legs stumbled out from the smoke and flames, holding a severely deformed half-body bulletproof shield in hand. The shield’s surface was riddled with metal fragments and embedded with bits of debris, rough and uneven.

The bulletproof shield, designed to absorb various weapon attacks, had still taken a significant amount of the shockwave. The explosion had pushed the “Ya Zi-2” combat-powered armor even farther away, or rather, it had been hurled by the shockwave.

The small-caliber rounds from automatic rifles hitting the surface of the “Ya Zi-2” seemed to be just scratching it, sparks flying as the bullets collided, like locusts bouncing around until they fell harmlessly to the ground, quickly accumulating a large pile.

Those were the Kurdish armed personnel firing at it, but the “Ya Zi-2” was completely unconcerned. Instead, it turned its gaze to the sky behind it, stumbling to hide behind a pile of rocks, hoping to evade the watchful eyes above, utterly indifferent to the light firepower hitting it.

It was not entirely unscathed; the dynamic balance system had sustained some damage from the shockwave.

The warnings from the air defense early warning system had allowed it to evade during the first four seconds, and purely by good luck, it had only been swept by the shockwave or penetrated by lethal shrapnel through its bulletproof shield; it could hardly withstand the force of an air-to-ground missile that could tear apart an armored vehicle.

Fortunately, it was not a terminally-sensitive warhead; otherwise, the “Ya Zi-2” wouldn’t have had time to hide and would’ve been left lying there.

The fourth squad had long since given up on attacking the “Ya Zi-2”; it would have been a pure waste of valuable ammunition since all their heavy firepower had already been expended.

Even if they had not exhausted their resources, they would still have a hard time destroying this powerful weapon developed specifically for the battlefield in China—high defense, high firepower, and high mobility, making it a formidable opponent on the battlefield.

If it had been that easy to deal with, the fourth squad would have taken it down long ago, and there would have been no need to request assistance, bringing their aircrew thousands of miles to provide support.

The caution displayed by the “Ya Zi-2” was not unfounded. Just as it managed to hide by the rocks, a deafening roar echoed from above as fireballs, like hail, cascaded down, instantly engulfing the entire battlefield.

Dense red fireballs erupted on the ground, consuming everything in sight, including the two surviving armored vehicles and the armed personnel.

When launching air-to-ground missiles, the fighter jet must not maintain a speed of 5 Mach; otherwise, the Bernoulli effect would prevent the missile from being released.

Thus, the “monstrous” variable wings fighter jet reduced its speed to below 2 Mach, and after completing the launch, it accelerated again.

To ensure the timing of the two attack waves, Lin Mo didn’t allow the fighter jet to overtake the missiles but followed closely behind them, reaching the position of the fourth squad.

Right on the tail of the KD-88 air-to-ground missile, the variable wings fighter jet released two 250-4 low-resistance aerial explosive bombs.

The missile’s strike and the explosion of the cluster bombs were less than four seconds apart. Countless screams just had time to escape, only to be drowned out immediately by the continuous explosions, the targeted spread causing significant casualties among the attackers who hadn’t even had time to react.

Not just America, but China and Russia were not among the countries that signed the "Convention on Cluster Munitions," allowing them to produce and use them without hesitation. Those countries that signed the treaty either couldn’t produce them or couldn’t use them, which was utterly meaningless.

For ground troops, cluster bombs were absolute weapons; the mortar position was blasted to pieces. Most of the armed personnel beside the two surviving armored vehicles fell, and the flying shrapnel left these armed personnel trapped with no way to escape.

“Nice job!”

Squadron Leader Zhang Zhenyu roared, finally able to vent the breath that had been held since stepping into the enemy’s trap.

Not only the soldiers of the fourth squad but also the Kurdish armed personnel waved their fists, howling in victory.

The enemy’s casualties brought them immense satisfaction.

As the two KD-88 air-to-ground missiles were launched, the radar of the F-16 “Falcon” dual aircraft team immediately sounded the alarm. The two Turkish pilots were taken aback and then began to shout.

“Missiles?! Where did they come from? There’s no indication on the radar; it’s a stealth fighter!”

“Damn it! Someone has gotten ahead of us. Hurry, hurry!”

Both F-16 “Falcon” jets activated their afterburners, risking shortened engine life to reach the combat coordinates as quickly as possible.

Someone had stolen the initiative?!

Moreover, it was a fighter jet with exceptionally advanced stealth capabilities, and the ground radar showed no reaction at all. Who on earth was this, and how many were there?

The tower controllers at Ankara Air Force Base stared at each other in shock as an unidentified stealth fighter had secretly infiltrated Turkish airspace and launched an attack—truly a shocking situation.

Where did this bold individual come from, daring to provoke NATO’s third-largest aerial force?

Suddenly, the Ankara Air Force Base was lit up as bright as day. Alarms blared, causing chaos as ground crew members shouted and rushed about while pilots were jolted awake from their beds.

Twelve F-16 "Falcon" jets were towed to the waiting area.

“‘White-shouldered Eagle’ squad, find it and take it down!”

Ankara Air Force Base buzzed with activity, like a disturbed hornet’s nest, and the Turkish Air Force Headquarters immediately activated emergency protocols, quickly sending out directive after directive.

“Received! ‘White-shouldered Eagle number one’!”

“Received! ‘White-shouldered Eagle number two’!”

The two pilots of the "White-shouldered Eagle" squad responded loudly from the cockpits of their F-16 "Falcon" jets.

An unnamed fire ignited within them as their anger boiled over.

To attack right under their noses was a complete disregard for the Turkish Air Force.

That Mi-24 helicopter from earlier was undoubtedly a decoy, drawing their attention while the real target was stealthily attacked. That was utterly despicable.

Both Ankara Air Force Base and the "White-shouldered Eagle" squad believed the Mi-24 had some connection to the attackers, not realizing they were actually the same fighter.

The camouflage function module of the X-8 "monstrous" fighter jet worked surprisingly well, fooling everyone completely.

Two minutes were enough to dramatically change the entire situation; that’s the advantage of speed. The "monstrous" aircraft at 5 Mach raced against the "Falcon" at 1.75 Mach. With just a slight opening, the positional advantage of the "Falcon" would be completely lost.

Lin Mo had a minute and a half left. The "monstrous" aircraft deployed its four drag flaps, supported by the pulse detonation engine, balancing the fighter jet as it spun around like a helicopter.

If an observer from the "Abyss Nirvana" in Syria were present, they would point at the "monstrous" fighter, exclaiming that it was the Chinese X-1 forward-swept wing fighter jet. However, this forward-swept wing fighter’s maneuverability was even more astonishing; the wings could tilt at certain angles, making it appear to transform from a forward-swept wing to a swept-back wing. The aerodynamic changes allowed the jet to perform a series of seemingly impossible maneuvers.

Was this still a jet fighter?

For Lin Mo, every second was precious.

Before the two F-16 “Falcon” jets arrived, Lin Mo needed to use every precious second to give the ground attackers and the Turkish forces a profound lesson.

The turning "monstrous" variable wings fighter jet lunged toward the six armed helicopters, which were still reeling from fear, not even having a chance to see what aircraft had flown past them.

“What was that just now? So fast!”

“Look, it’s back! Open fire, quick!”

“Be careful, scatter quickly!”

A silver streak cut through the dark sky.

Boom!

One armed helicopter exploded into a beautiful fire rose before it could even fire its mounted machine gun.

Using an onboard electromagnetic railgun against helicopters was astonishingly easy—much simpler than firing missiles.

Though the speed of the "monstrous" had decreased, its maneuverability was soaring; whenever the nose pointed at any armed helicopter, it would be shot down in mid-air.

The 30-millimeter electromagnetic shells, without any propellant components, had a larger combat payload than typical shells of the same caliber, resulting in a more devastating effect.

Accelerated by the electromagnetic railgun, even a steel rod could act as an armor-piercing round, with each helicopter being torn apart and exploding into horrific fragments.

Taking down those armed helicopters didn’t even require a second shot; the onboard computer assisted in targeting, and even someone other than Lin Mo could easily achieve precise kills.

In just thirty-five seconds, under public gaze, the six armed helicopters suppressing the fourth squad and the Kurdish forces were shot down one after another, turning into streaks of fire falling from the sky.

Everyone on the ground gasped in shock.

The non-reflective black matte coating, coupled with the overcast sky, along with the infrared suppression technology at the nozzle hidden under the vector nozzle shield, produced only a faint blue-white tail flame that moved with ghostly speed, making it difficult to track.

The two F-16 "Falcon" jets closed in even further. A cold smile crept onto Lin Mo’s lips. To deal with the "monstrous," only dogfighting was the way forward; at this distance, launching missiles with guidance would not be an easy task.

“Fourth squad! Prepare to withdraw!”

Lin Mo passed the message to Squadron Leader Zhang Zhenyu.