What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 479 The Fruit Has Been Stealed

The pace of aerial combat was astonishingly fast; even Wayne could only trust the frontline squadron and quietly await the outcome from the AWACS aircraft.

"The EF-111A detected a signal that wasn't from gnats; it's from a completely new aircraft type!"

E3, acting as an airborne command post, was still analyzing the intelligence transmitted back before the start of the battle; the unknown aircraft type was one of the few variables.

But those were 15 fully loaded F-15s, even if... cries for help were heard on the radio.

"Even EF-111As have been shot down?"

He stared in disbelief as two small dots representing friendly forces disappeared from the radar, but before he could ask what was going on, another small dot representing his own side also disappeared.

It's F15!

Within just two minutes, the enemy's and the F-15s' signals disappeared from the radar one after another, and in the blink of an eye, four F-15s went offline.

Although a Super Swift also crashed, it still couldn't overshadow the shock of the F-15 losses.

However, at this moment, the Mirage 2000 arrived on the battlefield and easily dispatched the Super Swift, whose solid propellant fuel was almost exhausted and which had emerged from the rainforest.

……

Amazon River
"Thank God, we can get a good night's sleep tonight."

Ryan, who had been acting as bait, breathed a sigh of relief when he discovered that the F-15s were escorting him.

Although they were meant to be bait, they couldn't afford to lose too much.

According to the plan, once the potential danger is confirmed after tonight, one-quarter of the fleet will remain to Santarém to prepare for the arrival of the main force, while the remaining ships will return to pick up the real army in batches.

Torres has finally shed his reputation as a coward, since Ryan did indeed observe a "buzzing flying object" today, but after reporting it, he believed it was some kind of surveillance method.

However, they ultimately failed to catch the thing and decided to increase vigilance at night for defense.

Around 20:30 PM, half the team was about to go to rest when Hunter's order forced Ryan to get up:

"What, change the destination to Malouse?"

Ryan opened the map and saw that Marlaus was also a port city, requiring him to continue upstream along the river for about 700 kilometers, which was far beyond his original plan.

Hunter: "Not everyone, it's you, Ryan. The enemy most likely has a military base in the C2 area. After you land in Santarun, you will be taken to Marous by helicopter."

The only road leading to Zone C2 is from Marous. After that, you'll need to camp in Caracalla and venture deeper into the forest.

Following Hunter's instructions, Ryan calculated the route and discovered that his team needed to advance at least a thousand kilometers!
The distance from Zone C2 to the nearest city, Karakara, is over 200 kilometers of wilderness, making even airdropping by helicopter extremely dangerous.

He instinctively felt that the plan was extremely flawed and tried to buy more time:
"General, a last-minute change requires at least a few days of preparation, and I don't have time..."

"Okay, three days at most, that's all."

The call ended abruptly. Ryan pushed open the door, shook his head at the team members who were eavesdropping, and they immediately looked as if they had lost their parents.

Needless to say, they are always fighting in the most dangerous places, and new orders are coming soon.

Ryan: "We..."

The phone rang again, interrupting him. When he answered, it was still General Hunt:

"There are no more than three days left, it's time! The helicopter will take you away in three hours, so pack your gear and get ready to leave!"

"Now?"

Ryan asked incredulously, not believing the general didn't know what this meant, but the general's next words left him no choice but to answer:
"Our pilots have been shot down. Go there and rescue them!"

"...We shot down 7 enemy aircraft, and another 9...were shot down with the assistance of our allies."

"What about our losses?"

"Two EF-111As and five F-15s were lost, with three others damaged. One of them, after barely making it to Sulinan, suffered engine failure and has already ejected near a residential area. It will be rescued soon. However... Vincent, the commander of the 27th Fighter Squadron, was also shot down and was unable to eject."

After the servant finished his report, Huai En felt dizzy and his legs went weak and bent. He was only able to stay upright because someone was supporting him.

Eight planes lost!

Even though the EF-111A is nearing retirement and doesn't need to be replaced, the loss of just six F-15s is enough to break his heart.

A 7:8 casualty ratio means less than a one-for-one exchange?

"Where are they? How many pilots have successfully parachuted out?"

"It has been confirmed that the pilots of both EF-111As ejected, and four of the five F-15s shot down successfully ejected."

"Quickly, find them! Send a telegram to Hunter immediately! We must rescue them!"

Eight pilots is no small matter. Last time, the Enterprise lost almost 70 planes, and Calvin was only demoted and sidelined because there were no personnel losses, with only two seriously injured.

The disappearance of eight Army Marines is not a big deal, but the Air Force cannot afford such a loss, especially since those were F-15 pilots!
To emphasize the importance of this operation, he specially assembled a full formation of heavy fighter jets, and the personnel were also carefully selected experts.

After making the arrangements, he suddenly realized and asked:

"Wait, why didn't you mention the losses suffered by the chickens?"

When asked, the attendant stammered in response:
"They didn't have any fighter jets shot down."

"No?"

"Yes, our fighter jets were engaged in dogfights at the time. Those Mirage 2000s only needed to find an opening to launch missiles, so... In fact, if they hadn't come, our F-15s could have shot them all down in a few minutes at most."

The attendant couldn't help but show his resentment, as he heard the pilot cursing quite a bit when he relayed the message.

Indeed, this is true. If the Super Swift's solid thrusters are fully activated, it only has a few minutes of attack window. If it fails to strike, it is no match for the F-15 in a dogfight.

As a result, Mirage 2000 stole the prize by accident, and Team B was so angry that they almost wanted to shoot down their ally!
Looking at it this way, the Empire's record is 7:8, while the Chicken's is 9:0?

The thought that the Empire had sent E3s, EF-111As, F15s, and ground troops to assist them, only to have all their efforts ultimately benefit the enemy, made Wayne feel a lump in his throat.

What's more terrifying than failure is the success of allies.

In the last naval battle, the Clemenceau fleet was completely wiped out while the Enterprise survived. Johnson managed to save Fern by doing so.

But what about this time?

Huai En forced himself to stay awake; every second now was extremely important.

……

Tang Wen originally planned to finish off the F15 squadron and call it a day, but the battle he had just fought had his adrenaline pumping and he was getting excited, so he decided to put up another bet.

"Damn it, the Q-97 is still too small."

As he muttered to himself, he ordered the Zeppelin to continue boarding the plane. This time, it was a ground attack version of the Swift, equipped with Fritz 1400X stealth guided glide bombs. The bombs were in the belly, and there was one infrared air-to-air missile on each wing, which was just enough for the flight range.

He is currently unaware of how many F-15s are near the fleet simply because the T6 drones deployed by Q97 have such short flight times.

In the darkness, 16 Super Swifts were launched again, heading straight for the fleet.

(End of this chapter)