“Copy… fault log cleared, HQ-91 slaved to air-search radar only, no target illuminations, beam-riding mode only… launcher crew reports ready.”
“Four-missile salvo… shoot.”
It was the definition of a long shot all the way — a faint radar return from the suspected stealth bomber, no solid lock-on, heavy jamming, no target illumination for the HQ- 91 to follow, no lead-computing mathematics or sophisticated intercept trigonometry, no proximity detonation — the missiles were going to either miss or hit the target square-on.
The second B-2 had the unfortunate luck to make a slight turn to line up on a Chinese patrol boat that had locked onto it with a fire-control radar. The first HQ-91 streaked by just to the left of the bomber, but the second of the four-missile salvo hit the Black Knight on the left wing, exploding and turning the entire left side of the high-tech bomber into a huge yellow fireball in seconds.
The bomber hit the warm waters of the Celebes Sea with the force of a car crusher, killing the crew instantly. The boomerang-shaped aircraft cartwheeled edge-on across the water for several thousand yards before plunging into the waters and disappearing from sight forever.
“Target hit! Good hit on number-two aircraft!” A cheer went up in
…. but it was very short-lived. “Warning! Incoming missiles, multiple contacts, bearing.… opposite side, one-four- three, range thirty miles, altitude… altitude less than fifty meters, speed six hundred knots!”
It had to be the Tomahawk missiles, the ones that had survived
“B-52 bombers launching missiles, bearing two-zero-five, range fifty-one nautical miles… encountering heavy jamming now, all frequencies…”
Missiles coming from two sides now… one, maybe more B-2s roaming around… a B-52 that everyone has lost track of… things were not going well all of a sudden. At less than thirty miles’ range, the Tomahawk missiles were his first priority. Captain Jhijun screamed so loud into the intercom that it probably didn’t need an amplifier:
“Jamming is heavy, but I think we can manually maintain a lock. Intercept confidence is good. But the number of inbounds is unknown…”
“Engage as many as you can,” Jhijun said. “Our close-in weapons should get the rest.” Along with its 130-millimeter, and 25-millimeter antiaircraft guns, the destroyer
“Sir! Three B-52 bombers that were reported turning west and disengaging — they are now turning northbound and appear to be re-engaging. They are at forty-three nautical miles, at extreme HQ-91 range.”
Damn them! Jhijun cursed to himself. There were just too many of them. Well, the bombers were out of range — at least he still had a chance to get the cruise missiles before they started attacking the landing ships. “Message to all units: at least three, perhaps as many as six B-52s and at least one B-2 inbound from the south of Davao Gulf. Destroyer
He received a reply moments later: “Sir, destroyer
Captain Jhijun swallowed hard when he heard the name
Aboard the flag bridge of the flagship of the South Philippines Task Force, three large grease boards were kept constantly updated on the deployment of warships in this operation. It was beginning to resemble a child’s crayon- drawn rendering of a beehive — Mindanao — with swarms of angry bees surrounding it. And the bees were getting closer and closer to the hive every minute…
