What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 573 To Fight or to Retreat, That Is the Question

The Aldgrove Air Base suffered an even worse fate, being hit by all 16 bombs, with a total of 7 Swift aircraft breaking through the blockade.

In addition to the eight F-15s and several auxiliary aircraft already stationed at the base, there are also 19 Harriers assembled by the Royal Air Force, as well as 22 carrier-based aircraft and helicopters withdrawn from HMS Ark Royal.

These 41 aircraft could not be deployed to the front lines for the time being, and were all temporarily piled up together next to the runway.

The stealth Swift was much smarter than the Fritz bomb, instantly identifying the most valuable and powerful targets, and of course, it didn't miss the massive swarm of aircraft.

Two Swifts performed a perfect collaboration: the first Swift destroyed the gate of an ammunition depot with a kamikaze attack, while the second Swift accurately flew into the hole created by the blast.

In addition to more than 200 missiles with British markings, there were also nearly 40 tons of aerial bombs, torpedoes, and ground-attack bombs.

The detonation of the ammunition was not much less powerful than a fuel explosion, immediately flattening the surrounding buildings and destroying almost all the aircraft and equipment on site with the resulting shrapnel.

The major, who had just appeared in the BB-feeding scene, happened to witness this moment, and his mind went completely blank:
"O shit, shit! Shit!"

There are four B61 tactical nuclear bombs in the underground ammunition depot beneath this ammunition depot!

The underground ammunition depot was well-defended against bunker-buster nuclear bombs, and the B61s would not trigger a nuclear explosion even if subjected to external impact. However, the depot was currently undergoing renovations, and many munitions were illegally piled up to make room. He clearly remembered that two B61s were placed next to a batch of heavy torpedoes.

If a torpedo weighing several tons were to hit, the B61's hull wouldn't be able to withstand it!
Radiation leakage could be worse than a nuclear explosion; he didn't want to die from festering sores!

Even though he was almost knocked down by the aftershocks of the explosion, the major still fled for his life toward the center of the base, climbing through a broken window into a guardhouse.

Amid the bewildered gazes of the survivors, he swiftly retrieved a hazmat suit and donned it at the fastest speed he had ever done in his life.

The other soldiers, after watching for more than ten seconds, finally came to their senses from the shock of the explosion. Seeing his actions, they were also jolted awake, and thinking of a certain possibility, they also quickly put on their hazmat suits.

Some people are still asking:
"Did Hans grow mushrooms?"

"Then how can you still be standing here, you idiot! It's B61 down below, B61!"

The soldiers immediately understood the situation, and someone quickly found the Geiger counter in the collapsed frame.

After a few simple steps, everyone crowded around, watching the pointers on the instrument panel intently.

As soon as the power was applied, the pointer immediately bounced up and stopped precisely at one position:
It's very low, just past the critical value, considered a slight range, and basic protective clothing can isolate it.

But under normal circumstances, the pointer should not move.

The worst-case scenario has occurred: a B61 missile was impacted.

The group felt a surge of electricity coursing through their bodies, and every hair on their bodies stood on end like needles.

Everyone looked at the major, who hesitated for a few seconds before issuing rescue and evacuation orders, then asking them to keep it a secret, and then ran to find a phone to report.

The underground ammunition depot has very thick walls, and the reinforced concrete has a strong insulating ability, so there is actually not much left when it reaches the surface.

Simple leaks will not cause too much trouble and are essentially still within a controllable range.

But he forgot one thing:
Most of the base personnel have lovers or family members in the area. They don't care whether the wind is controllable or not; they almost immediately choose to tell their relatives about the radiation and urge them to flee.

……

During the three minutes that 32 stealth Swifts launched their attack, a fierce battle also broke out in the air.

联军第一轮148枚导弹只命中了67架蚊蚋和3架雨燕，同时又有29架雨燕成功利用固体火箭强行加速追上了机群并发射了116枚AIM9L，并且采用的是2枚锁定1架。

在疯狂的数量压制下，即使联军使出各种机动以及热诱弹，依然有9架F16、7架狂风和1架F15中招。

The Swifts themselves, however, only lost 7 aircraft because they were in an offensive position.

The number of fighter jets was reduced from 47 to 30, and for the first time, the stealth Swift achieved a positive combat record.

In fact, the high-altitude hit rate could have been even higher, but most of the aircraft were too fast for the missiles to catch up with. Only 26 outdated fighter jets were engaged in close combat, and in the end, 9 fighter jets remained, 2 of which were damaged.

The surviving fighter jets lost high speed due to maneuvering to evade missiles and were forced into dogfights with the remaining 22 Swifts.

At this point, the latter's solid propellant fuel had been exhausted. However, the air combat version of the Swift had consumed most of its fuel and weighed only about 3.8 tons. With a thrust of 4.1 tons, its thrust-to-weight ratio reached 1.1. Coupled with its small size advantage, it was not bad in dogfights!

Both sides launched missiles simultaneously, occasionally passing each other by.

One of the Tornadoes, with the agility of its variable-sweep wings and its superior skills, successfully shot down a Swift with its cannon at point-blank range.

Using the light from the exploding wing, his eyes keenly swept towards the cockpit of the Swift that was confronting him:

There were no seats, no pilots in sight.

The creature that was flying up and down in the air with him, performing all sorts of extremely dangerous maneuvers, occasionally pulling up to 8G or more, and whose brain was struggling with all its might, was not a Hans colleague, but a cold machine!

In that instant, he was stunned, completely ignoring his teammates' frantic shouts in his headset. When he came to his senses, he realized that dozens of gnats had rushed over while he was fighting.

They swarm their prey like vultures when it is about to die.

Before ejecting from the capsule, the captain screamed in despair into his earpiece:

"They're machines, there's not even a human being, hahaha!"

His voice was transmitted through the public channel to everyone's earpiece, immediately eliciting a silence. Even his teammates, who were fighting hard, couldn't help but feel a pang of bitterness.
Everyone knows that the ratio of human to machine is at most 20%, but they choose to deliberately ignore it, and even prefer to fight against real people.

To be shot down by a bunch of vacuum tubes in a dogfight would be the cruelest insult to thousands of hours of hard training.

Of the final nine fighter jets, only two managed to escape the battle; the other seven either burst into flames in the air or parachuted to safety.

……

Five minutes later, not counting the 18 fighter jets that went to protect the airport, there were still 23 fighter jets left in the airspace above the war zone.

The Mirage 2000C was the fastest this time. After being badly let down by the Empire in South America, the Mirage learned its lesson and would never again try to take credit. All six Mirages were safe and sound.

Once the remaining aircraft had finally separated, each team had time to report the situation:
Five minutes into the game, when Mark saw that one-third of the casualties had been suffered, his face was expressionless.

There was no anger, no sadness, only rational thinking about the best solution now.

A few minutes later, he glanced at his hand and said expressionlessly:

"It is now 18:08. The interception line has completely failed after one attack. There is no force within 300 kilometers to the south that can stop the enemy aircraft. We have lost, completely lost."

The Royal Air Force captain standing nearby grew anxious. His hometown was right beneath his feet; how could he abandon it? His tone hardened: "General, we still have plenty of fighters. The lads aren't afraid to die!"

"All that's left for them is death. Just think how much fuel they have left!"

Mark quickly and forcefully refuted him, and the others immediately came to their senses.

Although 41 of the 65 aircraft remain, the actual situation is dire:

All the fighter jets arrived at the scene with half fuel, and they maintained supersonic flight while en route, resulting in significant fuel consumption. They also frequently engaged afterburners during the high-intensity combat.

Especially for the 18 fighter jets that perform afterburner round trips between bases, although the round trip is only two or three hundred kilometers, the fuel consumption in afterburner mode can reach 10 times that of normal.

The entire internal fuel of an F15 is only enough for five minutes of afterburner operation.

At this point, the 18 fighter jets only had about 20% fuel left, and the pilots were gritting their teeth and insisting on going into battle.

The remaining 23 aircraft are also struggling, with fuel levels around 30%, and the short-range Mirage 2000C has seen its fuel levels plummet to the critical 15%.

Mark's voice continued as everyone contemplated this terrible truth:

"To fight or to retreat, that is the question. If we fight, all we can do is activate the afterburner one last time and then everyone parachute out."

If we retreat... oh, that's not an option. We'll die after landing anyway; the gnats won't let us go.

Others lowered their heads even further, some even closing their eyes in despair.

Although Mark remained expressionless, he sighed inwardly.
Was that promise to fight to the very end, made twenty minutes ago, a self-fulfilling prophecy?
But... Mark suddenly turned around, straightened up once more, and calmly issued the most outrageous order:
"We cannot retreat, we cannot allow our allies to fight over the dense urban airspace. I now order all aircraft to enter free combat and annihilate all our enemies."

This includes the E3B, which can turn around and press forward to draw significant fire.

"General!"

The captain who had just reprimanded him thought he was crazy, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything to dissuade him.

If you're sitting in an AWACS plane watching dozens of your fellow aircraft get shot down, wouldn't it be better to crash together?

There was a moment of silence in the cabin. This suicidal decision seemed to have caused no ripples. The sergeant paused for a moment before preparing to issue the order, and the others returned to their positions to work diligently.

But at that moment, a large number of targets suddenly appeared on the radar from the east.

"Griffin! It's Griffin! Our allies have arrived!"

Mark immediately rushed to the monitor, utterly astonished by the appearance of the Griffin.

Although the Gripen takes off from Switzerland, which is closer, everyone actually believes that the F-15, which came from across the sea, must have arrived earlier.

The reason is simple: although the Gripen has a range of 3000 kilometers, its empty weight is only 6.8 tons and it has very little internal fuel. To fly long distances, it can only maintain a slow and steady speed of around Mach 0.7.

The fuel level inside the tank can only maintain power for 1.4 minutes, and once you turn on the fuel gauge, you can clearly see it dropping!
But they actually arrived before the F-15s, which is simply unbelievable!

But in any case, the addition of 24 Gripen aircraft has at least solved the immediate problem.

Everyone silently thanked God in their hearts.

……

"That bastard Gustav, he's practically extorting money!"

The object of "God's" tirade was Mark's savior, the eagle-lion, whose name was Wayne.

When Mark first arrived in England, Wayne gave him a pep talk, but he felt that relying on a young player was not safe enough. He also thought the plan was too tight and that something unexpected might happen.

So he contacted his allies again, and on behalf of Prism, he shouted the slogan "borrow money to send troops".

Simply put:
Don't just stand by and watch, everyone. Today I'm determined to save my gentleman cousin. Send all your planes over here!
The Empire not only provided financial assistance (under the guise of aid), but also replaced every lost fighter jet and covered all personnel losses!
Most of the Dutch, Norwegian, and Spanish sides agreed, but the Spanish side put on a show of pride and wanted to negotiate for cash.

In order to speed up the Gripen's sortie speed, Wayne told Gustav that all Gripen casualties would be replaced with F-16s on a 1:1 basis, with ammunition packs and training included, and personnel compensation would also be fully covered, on the condition that they arrive 10 minutes early.

The Gripen has a very low fuel capacity. Arriving 10 minutes early means that there is a high probability that the Gripen will run out of fuel for landing after the operation. So it is essentially a default setting to use the Gripen as a disposable emergency rescue device, which will result in a very high casualty rate or even total annihilation.

The old king readily agreed, then slyly said that the F-16 was too advanced and he didn't know how to use it. He suggested that the Empire should send money to Saab to buy 24 more Gripen aircraft, and that any Gripen aircraft that were currently deployed would be taken along with their pilots.

After all, the Swiss mercenary army is a historical legacy, and they are absolutely effective in fighting as long as you pay them!

In fact, Gustav saw through his trick instantly:

Theoretically, the F-16 is indeed stronger, but what about the subsequent maintenance and upgrades of the fighter jets after accepting free services? What about the domestic Saab aircraft industry that has been so hard-won?
As one of the very few third-generation fighter jet projects in Northern Europe that has been maintained independently, the Gripen is Saab's only remaining aircraft, so how could it give up its already limited niche to outsiders?

On the surface, it seems like Ruiyi has made a profit, but in reality, if they had agreed, they would have fallen into the empire's trap!
While demanding that the Empire pay for 24 Gripen replacements might seem like a loss, it actually brought Saab a new order, and the newly manufactured Gripen will definitely be an upgraded version with better performance.

When Wayne asked about the price, Saab quoted a bill of $16 billion, more expensive than the latest F-16!

The old king even argued that the loss of 24 Gripen aircraft would significantly reduce Switzerland's security, and that the extra money should be used to purchase missiles to strengthen defenses.

This would have been nonsense in the past, but now that the Third Fleet can actually emerge from Greenland, who knows, they might land in Switzerland?

In a moment of desperation, even though he knew the old king was extorting money from Huai En, he gritted his teeth and agreed.

With the esteemed Chief of the Air Force at the Prism Building vouching for him, Gustav no longer hesitated. All 24 Gripen aircraft, along with their crew, were placed under Huaien's command, and they raced towards the war zone with no way out.

When news came from E3B that there were over 400 fighters at the front instead of 200 at the front, Wayne's first reaction was not panic, but rather a sense of expectation, and he immediately foresaw that Mark was about to suffer a humiliating defeat.

If Mark hadn't stopped them, the 10-minute gap would have been enough for the swarm to fly over the entire Scotland and possibly even reach the south!

Fortunately, the Gripen squadron was very loyal to its contract and managed to arrive ahead of schedule, fearlessly charging towards the more than 300 fighter jets that outnumbered them tenfold!
"It's reinforcements! Our reinforcements have arrived!"

Mark was well aware that these Griffins had probably used up most of their fuel while traveling and were in no better condition than his own. He immediately cheered them on in the public chat, preparing for a second counterattack.

The appearance of the Gripen was a miracle, but miracles only happen once, and he only hoped that the F-15 could arrive on time.

"All units, spread out and coordinate with each other, let these sons of bitches Hans know that our fighter jets are in no way inferior to their junk!"
I know we don't have much fuel left, but the enemy has even less. Victory will surely be ours!
Below lies the land of our allies, where you will be welcomed with flowers and wine!

Even though the remaining 41 fighter jets had just been through a major battle, they quietly turned around and formed small teams under the organization, dividing into more than ten small groups to cooperate with the Gripen in a large-scale encirclement.

(End of this chapter)