Great Power Long Sky

Donghai Station, 7:15 AM.

The maintenance crew refueled the JH-7 fighter-bomber numbered 81291 with sufficient aviation kerosene and completed the pre-flight checks.

Li Lu and Xue Shuang checked the payload, confirming that the external safety devices for the two PL-8 air-to-air missiles and the two 90mm air-to-ground missile launchers had been disarmed, and that the reconnaissance pod under the fuselage was in normal condition before boarding the aircraft.

The reconnaissance pod was still experimental, with only basic photography and radio signal collection capabilities. Technicians would need to retrieve the data from the pod and analyze it after the aircraft returned to base to obtain the results.

Li Lu has fully qualified to fly the JH-7, while Xue Shuang has completed all the training courses for rear cockpit pilots.

Gu Chen and his team were "outsiders" and were unfamiliar with the sea area corresponding to the No. 3 airspace. Ultimately, the reconnaissance missions had to be carried out by the pilots of the 7th Air Regiment.

The JH-7 has a long loiter time, making it a suitable aircraft for this reconnaissance mission.

"Calling Yongqiang from home, check everything is ready for takeoff," Xu Hailiang called from the control tower via radio.

During this aerial reconnaissance mission, the JH-7 fighter-bomber piloted by Li Lu had the radio call sign "Yongqiang" and the tower, which is the East China Sea Front Command Post of the Air Force, had the radio call sign "Laojia".

Li Lu replied: "Yongqiang received!"

He pushed the throttle lever, and the Spey turbofan engine roared with a deafening roar. The fighter jet glided towards the runway like an arrow, suddenly pitched up in the middle and rear of the runway, retracted its landing gear, accelerated and climbed straight into the sky.

The JH-7 completed a turn over the airspace, its nose pointing directly at the strait.

Xue Shuang stared intently at the instrument panel, continuously reporting flight parameters: "Altitude 5000 meters, speed 800 kilometers per hour, heading 90 degrees, everything is normal."

The fighter jet pierced through the clouds and soon saw the coastline. Li Lu began to climb steadily. Looking down, the coastline below gradually became a thin line, and the sea in the distance shimmered in the sunlight.

According to the planned route, Li Lu was to use a low-altitude infiltration method to reach the designated reconnaissance airspace and conduct close-range reconnaissance of the enemy's naval formation, beachhead firepower configuration, and personnel deployment.

Li Lu adjusted his flight attitude, maintaining the fighter jet at an altitude of 3,000 meters. The air-to-air missile launchers under the wings trembled slightly in the airflow, and the two PL-8 air-to-air missiles were his only weapons for self-defense.

After crossing the 12-nautical-mile zone, Li Lu adjusted his course to 180 degrees, that is, due south, in order to confuse the enemy's judgment.

As soon as it took off, the "Pave Paws" early warning radar on the island detected the signal, and the flight path of the JH-7 was immediately drawn in an "L" shape.

The feint attack tactic worked.

"Yongqiang, be careful, you have reached the first node," the control tower announced.

Li Lu replied, "First node, understood!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly pressed down on the lever and plunged down the height.

In just a few seconds, the JH-7's flight altitude dropped to within one thousand meters, and its speed increased rapidly!

"300 meters!" Xue Shuang, in the rear cabin, stared at the altimeter and reported loudly.

Li Lu pulled the lever forcefully to lift the machine head.

As the JH-7 continued to descend under the influence of inertia and gravity, the enormous lift lifted the aircraft as its nose rose, and the fuselage structure even emitted some slight creaking sounds.

Once the plane was leveled, its altitude was precisely set at fifty meters.

This is a sea-skimming flight altitude that is almost impossible to detect by ground-based radar on the island.

The island's Pave Paws early warning radar immediately lost the JH-7's radar signal, but they didn't take it seriously, considering it just a fighter jet.

Apart from that regiment of Su-27s, they didn't take any of the People's Liberation Army Air Force's fighter jets seriously.

This is for a reason.

Because two US Navy carrier strike groups have arrived in the waters east of the island, with the USS Kitty Hawk alone carrying more than 80 fighter jets, all of which are advanced third-generation aircraft such as F-14s and F-18s.

Seven or eight cruisers and destroyers with regional air defense capabilities form an air defense circle with a radius of 500 kilometers that is impenetrable.

"Second node!" the control tower issued another command.

As Li Lu answered, he turned, adjusting his course from 180 degrees to 90 degrees, that is, due east, and continued to fly at an ultra-low altitude of fifty meters skimming the sea.

On the sea, a fleet of ships is sailing, their bows pointing straight east.

"Yongqiang, look!" Xue Shuang reminded him.

Li Lu turned his head and looked down. It was a landing fleet composed of various civilian ships, cargo ships, large fishing boats, roll-on/roll-off ships, a motley crew. It was a fleet that was pieced together and could not even maintain a consistent combat speed.

The navy couldn't even muster enough ships to transport landing troops!

Suddenly, Li Lu saw tanks and cannons neatly arranged on the deck of an ocean-going fishing vessel. From the spacing between the tanks and cannons and the uniform pointing of the cannons, he immediately understood that this was a firepower ship temporarily converted from tanks and cannons!

On a volatile sea, how much of a threat can tanks and cannons placed on the deck pose to large warships?

Even if they braved the gunfire and got close to the shore, how much damage could such a gunship do to the coastal defenses?

Li Lu knew the answer, the army's elder brother knew it, and everyone else knew it too.

But there's nothing I can do!

With outdated and insufficient warships and limited air support, where will the landing force get its support firepower, and where will it get its self-defense capability during the crossing?

The army is out of options!

They knew the situation of the navy and air force, but they couldn't just stand by and watch the landing troops risk their lives to fill the landing zone. They would gather as much firepower as they could, and they even had a plan to have these firepower ships directly beach themselves and use them as fixed fire positions!

Li Lu felt his eyes burning.

They are high above in the sky, and to put it bluntly, even if they are hit, they still have the opportunity to parachute to safety.

However, the army troops tasked with the amphibious landing mission were truly advancing under heavy enemy fire. Many might perish along with sunken ships during the crossing, and even more might fall during the amphibious assault.

For every additional bomb the air force drops on enemy positions, it might save the landing force from losing an entire platoon or company of soldiers!

Li Lu took a deep breath and shook his wings three times as he flew over the fleet.

He said in a deep voice, "We will have more, bigger, and more advanced ships—aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships, dock landing ships, large destroyers—everything that others have, we will have!"

"We have an iron will. One day, when our equipment surpasses that of our powerful enemies, they'd better also have an iron will!"

Xue Shuang listened to Li Lu's deep whispers and gazed at the fleet that was getting further and further away, seeing only tragedy.

Inside the control tower, Xu Hailiang and the others were in a somber mood.

They increasingly felt the importance of their responsibility to support the amphibious landing operation—a responsibility that would be closely linked to the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers in the landing force.