Sky Masters полностью

Admiral Yin Po L’un could easily see the American tactic now: strike at the Chinese fleet from simultaneous, multiple axes of attack. Along with the reported B-2s and B-52s coming in from the south and the Tomahawk cruise missiles from the southeast, he had also received word of more B-52s from the east and B-ls from the northeast, followed by more B-52s and faster bombers, possibly F-111s, accompanying them. Jamming was heavy in all areas, so obviously a few of the aircraft were not strikers but electronic-countermeasure planes.

Captain Sun Ji Guoming, Yin’s chief of staff, said, “A rough estimate so far is twenty-six B-52 bombers, six B-l bombers, four B-2 bombers — one reportedly shot down already by Jinan — possibly two EF-111 electronic-countermeasure planes, and perhaps four to six F-111 fighter-bombers involved in this raid. If this is so, the First Air Battle Wing has committed at least three-fourths and possibly as much as four-fifths of its force on this one escapade.” Sun smiled knowingly. “We can crush the American Air Force in one night’s work.”

“Is that so, Captain?” Yin asked in a low voice. “You say we have shot down only one plane so far, yet they have sunk one destroyer and one frigate, damaged two other frigates, and sunk or damaged nearly two dozen patrol boats. In less than thirty minutes they can be over Davao Gulf itself. I see no evidence of anyone being crushed so far.”

“They have suffered a great loss well before striking the target area or even coming within range of concentrated firepower,” Sun explained. “They will suffer tremendous losses when they come within range of the destroyers Yinch- uan and Dalian near Davao itself. The American forces are undisciplined — they are launching antiradar and other guided weapons at every small patrol boat they encounter, without bothering to save their weapons for the frigates, destroyers, or landing-craft carriers. It was sheer luck that they sunk Huangshi and Kaifeng, and Yingtan is still operational…”

“You failed to adequately take into account the possibility of a Tomahawk cruise missile attack,” Admiral Yin said angrily. “They were able to overwhelm our outer defenses too easily. And why was I never advised of the presence of B-2 stealth bombers on Guam…?”

“Sir, the fleet intelligence center reported that the Ranger's battle group was still in Manado and that Indonesia had not given permission for offensive operations,” Sun explained. “If those cruisers launched their missiles from Indonesian waters, that is an illegal act…”

Yin glared at Sun, not satisfied with that explanation at all.

“Admiral, Hong Lung is engaging B-52 bombers at extreme range,” the communications officer reported. They could feel the distant rumble of the destroyer’s two big combination diesel-turbine engines spooling up to maximum speed, and the ship made a hard turn to starboard briefly before settling down. “Antiship missiles launched… jamming ineffective at this range, good radar contact, intercept confidence is high on all tracks.”

Yin looked away from Captain Sun, finding it hard to fault Sun too much — had he not suggested that Hong Lung travel east to assist in the invasion defense, all these aged

American bombers might well be attacking his Marines by now. “Report on the invasion force,” Yin ordered. “Are they ready to land?”

“All vessels in position,” Captain Sun reported. “The bombardment was to commence in two hours, and the invasion was to begin in three…”

“It can no longer wait,” Yin said. “Order the landing craft to head ashore immediately.”

“But sir, we have not had time to prepare the beachhead for our forces,” Sun argued. “There could be anything waiting for them. We should proceed with the bombardment first and shell the beachhead for at least an hour before—”

“We may not have an hour before those bombers and cruise missiles are on top of them,” Yin said. “Issue the orders and get those Marines on the beach.”

“There is no need for haste, sir,” Sun tried one last time. “We should wait to see if any of the American bombers go overhead — perhaps the American bombers will even bomb the beach for us. In any case, our forces should not be on the beach when the bombers come in…”

“Neither should they be in the landing craft on Davao Gulf,” Yin said, his voice louder and sharper this time. Sun knew enough to hold his tongue then. The uncomfortable silence in the flag staff was broken by the combat-alert horn as the destroyer began prosecuting its attack on the B-52s swarming around them…