Thunder Strikes Back

Chapter 39 The Retreat
Hassan tried his best to get rid of 2 R73 missiles with too large vertical axis angle. The enemy fired these weapons definitely not to hit him, but to destroy his further aiming. This surprised him. The level of Indian pilots has improved. so much.Hassan had to fly his plane south of the glacier to the west, not knowing where to go, knowing that he was alone and helpless, and his old partner Rashid might be finished because his radio station could not be found.Rashid's last radio report stated that the enemy had three fighters, plus a fourth fighter that was about to turn around and follow, and the strength ratio in this area was 3 to 4.

"Falcon leader, do you still remember the operation on the Afghan border?" Sami's voice was on the radio.

"Colonel, what do you want to say, you'd better hurry up." Hassan replied impatiently. He turned his head and saw that the Su-7 was turning 8 or 30 kilometers behind him. This plane would probably choose to keep tracking, or Contact other planes in front to outflank, in short, the 4 Sus will converge around you within a few minutes.

"Think about the valley north of Kabul, and those fitters and MiG-23s, they wanted to surround us, but we took a little risk and got rid of them," Sami continued to point out on the radio, Hassan I have already remembered what Sami wanted to express, and it sounds a little reasonable. The terrain here is indeed close to the mountains in northern Afghanistan, if I drill lower. The APG68-shaped radar can do terrain following/avoidance, but this aircraft is not designed for ultra-low altitude penetration.How low you can fly depends on the pilot's personal ability and courage.Especially when the plane is flying close to the bottom of the valley, the threat may not come from the uneven ground, and the radar cannot track/measure the cliffs on both sides.

"I'll just trust you this time."

"Concentrate, you can do it."

Hassan had no choice. He looked down slightly, found the narrowest ravine, and then lowered the nose of the aircraft and plunged in. Now the test is not the ability of the radar, but the ability of the pilot to respond quickly. He had to keep an eye on the front and left and right and the radio altimeter.Many years ago, when the two F16As of Sami and Hassan fell into a trap and were besieged by 7 MiG fighters, Sami also chose to drill into the ravine in northern Afghanistan. This risky move can destroy most of the opponent's Tracking and aiming actions, but it is not what it used to be. The downward aiming ability of the Su 30 far exceeds that of the MiG 23 back then.But Hassan couldn't care less. He knew that the Su-30 was famous for carrying more bombs, and he could only avoid being destroyed by flying to places they couldn't reach.

Hassan waited for the plane to stabilize, and glanced at the electronic tactical threat display below. The radar tracking at the rear was uninterrupted. It can be seen that the downward vision ability of the Su-30 is far stronger than that of the MiG-29, but after a few tens of seconds, the radar Still can't complete the tracking, old Sammy may be right, this kind of near-suicide method can get rid of the enemy, but this kind of flight almost makes Hassan collapse, the hillsides on both sides seem to be very close to the outside of the wings on both sides place, he didn't think he could last long.

Goya's team has already converged, and they flew to the top of the valley one by one for radar tracking, but the F16 flew too low and could not complete the aiming. Several times Goya tried to aim with the cannon, but every time the F16 just landed When entering the middle part of the funnel-shaped collimator, the Su-30 had to pull up the plane to avoid hitting the mountain. This F16 must have gone crazy, he was flying close to the bottom of the valley.

"Eagle squad, keep track, don't let him look up, I bet he'll knock himself down the hill." Goya said to his teammates.

"If he can persist for a while, there may be a chance." A wingman pilot said that he has checked the terrain from the mission computer. If the F16 does not show up, it will eventually disappear into the mountains, and there will be no radar detection at that time. catch him.

"Brothers, today we have gained enough, there is no need to take risks for the last F16."

"Eagle called the fort, what's the final situation? I mean, did the brothers from the 1st Wing go home?" Goya then asked the AWACS.

"Eagle leader, unfortunately, one MiG-21 disintegrated in the air, and another MiG-21 failed to return to the airport. He crashed during an emergency landing. Today's result is 2-2."

"It's a pity. These MiG-21s shouldn't be racing against the enemy. Turning on the afterburner will consume too much fuel." A pilot in the formation said angrily, seeming a bit critical.

"Don't say that, they did their best," Goya said.He knew that the MiG-21s that took risks as bait flew too far and could not return to the airport. The chase with the F16 was also very helpless. Srinagar is surrounded by mountains. If the fuel is exhausted, there is nowhere to go. Forced landing.

A base in the far central and western China.Lin Huaisheng was standing in front of the podium in the stepped meeting room and continued to read his manuscript. He could not have known about the air battle on the border of Pakistan. However, he had foreseen that the Pakistani air force would not last long on the first day of the war.

"As I said earlier, what we're discussing today will only make sense if the war lasts until the end of September, however, I think it will be very difficult for Pakistan to do this without external support unless India attacks on the ground The Chinese side is very hesitant, but we can imagine that if the Indian Army did not dare to engage in ground combat, they would not have transferred several divisions of troops from Assam and the illegal Arunachal Pradesh, where they are now full of troops. 9 divisions have been stuffed in, and they are always on guard against us."

"What's the current situation in Arunachal Pradesh?" The colonel, who likes to ask questions, continued to ask.

"That's right. According to our current reconnaissance, the real Indian regular army in this area is only a part of the 5th Mountain Division, and the rest are paramilitary troops. The number of regular troops is evenly matched with the troops in front of us."

This answer made some people down there slightly relieved, they waited for Lin Huaisheng to tell them where the other 9 divisions were

"But behind it, that is, the central part of Assam is the 21st Mountain Division. Behind this division is the military headquarters of the 4th Army. I believe these are the Indian Army's lessons learned in 1962. The subordinates are the 2nd Mountain Division on the side close to Myanmar. The Imphal area is the 56th and 57th infantry divisions of the Third Army and the military headquarters of the Third Army. In the middle of Nepal and Bhutan, that is Opposite the Nathu La Pass, India has deployed the 33rd Army, specifically 3 mountain divisions, the designation is the 17th, 20th and 27th Mountain Division, this army is obviously used to defend the Sigurd Corridor."

"So many?" Someone in the audience sighed.

"Yes, I estimate that half of all mountain divisions in the world today are in India, and these are not all. India also has a 7th Mountain Division with relatively rich combat experience in the above-mentioned areas. This division will occasionally be maneuvered to the Kashmir region in the northwest , participated in the attack on Pakistan."

(End of this chapter)