Chapter 298

Chapter 298: Shielding From the Surface

In a series of barrel rolls, the J-15 "Dark Sabre" lowered its altitude again, skimming closely to the sea surface. This not only avoided the radar detection of the carrier group but also fully utilized the lift generated from the ground effect at sea level.

After such a long time of flight and maneuvers, fuel consumption increased significantly, so any savings were a positive.

The broad wings of the "Dark Sabre" performed better than the Mustang, consuming less fuel.

The pilots of the Hornet squadron had never encountered such agile and unpredictable flying from a fighter jet. It seemed like this super maneuverability was effortless for the "Dark Sabre" pilot. Wouldn’t he get tired?

They had just witnessed the "Dark Sabre" toy with Squadron C’s F-35 "Lightning II" and then drag them along like a train for a full ten minutes.

That nightmarish ten minutes felt like an eternity for the Crocodile squadron pilots. They couldn’t even lock onto their target successfully; the capabilities of the "Dark Sabre" pilot exceeded their imagination, showcasing all sorts of unexpected and never-before-seen maneuvering tactics that toyed with their emotions.

They were deeply wounded, their pride injured.

The pilots of the Crocodile squadron felt their self-esteem hurt by the "Dark Sabre."

Ultra-low altitude maneuvers had almost become a signature skill of Chinese pilots. Since the formation of China’s first air force, due to outdated aircraft, low-altitude dogfighting techniques became a mandatory course for all pilots. Whether during the War of Resistance against Japan, the Korean War assistance, or confrontations across the Taiwan Strait, Chinese pilots’ low-altitude maneuverability almost compensated for the technological gaps in fighter aircraft.

With the J-15 "Dark Sabre," which already matched the performance of the F-18 Hornet, it was like giving wings to a tiger for Chinese pilots.

“Crocodile squad, all Super Sidewinders (AIM-9X) ready!”

“Prowler confirms a target distance of 7,520 meters, target altitude 20 meters. Now initiating electronic attack!”

The professional electronic warfare aircraft EA-6B "Prowler" was more adept at tracking targets and electronic attack modes, working in conjunction with the Hornets for a combined assault.

“Crocodile squad, I am Colonel David, your commander. I order you to cancel the attack! Return immediately!”

Captain of the "George Washington" nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, David A. Laushman of the U.S. Pacific Fleet’s Seventh Fleet, interrupted the radio channel of the Crocodile squad.

“Sorry, Captain, but no, I refuse. You may start the war when you wish, but it won’t end when you are happy. The purpose of war must be peace; otherwise, the Chinese will ride on our heads again next time.” The Crocodile squadron leader rejected Captain David’s orders, quoting two famous lines from the Italian political thinker and historian Niccolò Machiavelli and Aristotle, one of the greatest philosophers, scientists, and educators of ancient history to express his determination.

“Crocodile squad, launch!”

The squadron leader pressed the missile launch button, determined. Many acts of defiance in operations are often later labeled as "friendly fire."

This kind of "friendly fire" is common among various air forces, indicating that the military has a tradition of protecting its own that is not known to outsiders, or it may just be an unspoken rule.

In the army and navy, this happens in abundance, often without any concealment.

“No, you idiots! Damn it!” Captain David clearly underestimated the anger and humiliation stirred in the Crocodile squad by Lin Mo and completely ignored the highest commander’s orders.

The missiles under the wings of three trapezoidal formations unlocked simultaneously, and nine plumes of smoke shot out, aiming at the low-flying J-15 "Dark Sabre" carrier-based fighter.

“Damn it! These fools!” What truly angered Captain David was not the Crocodile squad’s collective defiance but rather the image displayed on a large screen inside the bridge.

Just five minutes ago, an alarm that hadn’t even triggered when the J-15 "Dark Sabre" arrived suddenly blared, quickly spreading to all ships.

As the Crocodile squad relentlessly pursued the "Dark Sabre," all personnel aboard the carrier fleet grew anxious, preparing anti-submarine weapons as if facing a formidable enemy.

Occasionally glancing at the images reflecting back from his Light Mirror Technique, Lin Mo smirked. He merely adjusted his direction, added power, accelerated, and pierced through the sonic boom cloud without making any evasive maneuvers against the nine rapidly approaching missiles.

In a flash, just as the nine AIM-9X "Super Sidewinders" were about to strike Lin Mo’s J-15 "Dark Sabre," a dark shadow abruptly emerged from beneath the sea at an incredible speed, revealing a sharp apex, followed by the appearance of a massive arrow-shaped conical body that shot out of the water like a colossal battleship.

Simultaneously, the J-15 "Dark Sabre" narrowly skimmed past the unidentified object that had erupted from the depths, catching the nine AIM-9X "Super Sidewinders," which approached at Mach 3.3, off guard, hitting the gigantic object that surged out of the sea like a wall.

No matter how "super" the infrared guidance technology was, it couldn’t account for the fact that the missiles had no brakes, and in fact, no one had ever thought of equipping missiles with brakes.

Part of that object remained submerged, not fully breaching the surface.

The result was a huge explosion, with dense black and red fireballs exploding with tons of seawater rushing upward, sending countless water droplets flying into the air, resembling a torrential rain, creating countless tiny ripples across the nearby sea surface.

“Oh my God, what is that?”

Not just the pilots of the Crocodile squad, but also the Captain and senior officers of the "George Washington" nuclear-powered aircraft carrier task force all exclaimed in unison.

The nine AIM-9X "Super Sidewinders" missiles, aimed at the "Dark Sabre," were completely swallowed by the giant arrow-shaped object that had suddenly emerged from beneath the sea.

This was an unbelievable coincidence, with timing so precise that it seemed rehearsed. The Chinese J-15 "Dark Sabre" carrier-based fighter nonchalantly shook its wings and flew away unscathed, not even making the slightest evasive maneuver throughout the entire encounter.

It blatantly disregarded the lethal attack from the Crocodile squad, a blow to their pride more painful than any slap in the face.

This absurd shield reminded all the American naval personnel of the famous figure Lei Feng from China. Who exactly was this "Lei Feng"?

The enormous arrow-shaped object, appearing unharmed, seemed to crash back into the sea like a leaping whale, creating a dip in nearly a thousand square meters of ocean, resulting in a towering water column that shot up over two hundred meters, nearly brushing against the hastily pulled-up Crocodile squad.

The sea roiled violently, as if stirred by a storm of force ten.

One could imagine a battleship-like leviathan crashing into the ocean from a height of several dozen meters, capable of generating a mini-tsunami, akin to a small-scale doomsday storm, tearing the sea surface apart and leaving a gaping, terrifying wound.

“Aliens!”

A guy on the Ticonderoga-class cruiser pointed at the massive entity that had surged from the depths, screaming hysterically like a woman in distress.

On the flight deck of the nearest aircraft carrier, sailors frantically pulled out their phones to capture this rare spectacle. If the fleet weren’t currently implementing radio jamming, these images would have instantly flooded Facebook and Twitter.

The giant waves spread out, even affecting the "George Washington" nuclear-powered aircraft carrier task force. Ships on the surface and submarines beneath the water swayed slightly in the sudden onslaught of the water flow, forcing the personnel on the carrier’s flight deck to either lie down or grab hold of something stable to withstand the rocking hull.

“Target confirmed, it’s the ‘Gudgeon’! Approaching speed estimated at 200 knots. Fleet anti-submarine operations ready!”

A female soldier in the sonar monitoring department of the carrier’s command center quickly reported the newly acquired data, surprised by the numbers she saw.

“What kind of monster is that? It’s simply terrifying.”

Captain David of the "George Washington" was so pale that he couldn’t even bother thinking about the previous “fare-dodging tourist” on the fleet; a carrier-based aircraft seemed trivial compared to their current significant target.

Just moments ago, an unidentified submersible had surged into the sonar detection radius of the carrier group with astonishing speed—200 knots, equivalent to 307.4 kilometers per hour on land, it could reach you in the blink of an eye.

The P-51 Mustang needed only 280 kilometers of ascent acceleration to take off.

In nautical terms, one nautical mile equals 1852 meters; quickly remember this name: "a pot," and how many cups can 200 pots fill?

His full attention focused on the unidentified submersible "Gudgeon" discovered by the Virginia-class nuclear attack submarine "Hawaii" and the Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine "Hampton" in the South China Sea.

At 177 knots, this unprecedented underwater speed raised a series of questions: unknown nationality, unknown model, unknown displacement—a mysterious shroud enveloped this enigmatic submersible.

Even gaining a tiny bit of technical information could vastly enhance the U.S. Navy’s underwater capabilities. As a senior member of the Navy, Colonel David A. Laushman deeply understood what this mysterious submersible could signify.

However, witnessing the high-definition optical image relayed by the Prowler electronic warfare aircraft, the visual shock presented by the "Gudgeon" far surpassed the clear reconnaissance parameters they had received from their first intel about two submarines.

In that moment, they almost believed this submersible could break the surface and take off into the air.