Only twenty-five of the fifty Chinese aircraft survived the brief but furious
ACM after being deserted by their supposed Vietnamese allies.
The aircraft straggled into a loose formation and watched in stunned
silence as the Americans broke off the attack. Had the Chinese had the
Americans’ tactical advantages, they would have pursued the retreating enemy.
Burning airframes out of the sky was a good method of ensuring there would be
no counterattack.
Ten miles from the coast, the Chinese flight leader–the senior pilot
left alive–began to understand why the Americans had not come after them.
CHAPTER 27
Thursday, 4 July
1921 local (Zulu -7)
Chinese F-10
Mein Low initiated shutdown procedures on the damaged engine, holding his
breath while he watched for any indications of fire. None. Good, perhaps
he’d shut down in time.
The aircraft felt oddly sluggish and heavy, although one engine was more
than enough to keep him airborne. Not that that mattered right now–they were
out of the battle for good, limited to 370 knots on one engine and such
sluggish maneuverability that they’d be easy prey for anyone.
He headed for the deck, intent on avoiding any interest from the fighters
circling and maneuvering above him. After he put some distance between them,
he’d climb back to a more fuel efficient altitude and pray that his remaining
fuel could at least get him to within range of the carrier. If he couldn’t
kill fighters, then at least he could turn their flight deck into a fiery
inferno. They couldn’t stay airborne forever. Ruin their landing area and
they’d be forced to either eventually ditch or break off immediately and try
to reach land with their remaining fuel and the tankers currently aloft.
“What are you doing?” his backseater demanded. “You’re way off
course–we’re only a hundred miles from rescue forces.”
“Shut up.” Backseaters. Just for a second, he smiled with grim humor.
He wondered if American pilots had to put up with pushy backseat drivers as
well.
1925 local (Zulu -7)
Chinese Flanker
“Bien, you coward!” the Chinese lead pilot raged over tactical. “You
slimy dogs, turning tail and running away from the strike. We lost over half
of our forces, escaping with barely enough fuel to make it back to base.
You’ll pay for this, you bastards!”
Bien clicked his mike a few times, wondering if he had the strength to
resist temptation. He didn’t, he decided. He’d spent too many months under
the crushing imperialism of the Chinese to not savor the sweet radar picture.
A ragged line of Chinese fighters limped toward the coast, eking out every
last mile from their remaining fuel.
He keyed his mike for the last time on the Chinese tactical frequency and
said, “Go ahead, punk. Make my day.”
At that, the Vietnamese fighters broke formation and descended on the
remaining Chinese fighters like starving sharks on a school of fat tuna. Only
this time, the tuna didn’t have enough energy to run.
1927 local (Zulu -7)
CDC
USS Jefferson
“We got contact on them while they were still in the high-altitude
portion of their profile,” the Vincennes TAO told his counterpart on
Jefferson. “They’re running about Mach 3, it looks like. Damned tough to
see–if we’d stayed down south with the carrier, we wouldn’t have detected
them until they’d gone into the sea-skimmer mode. Ten, maybe twelve seconds
warning.”
“You got them targeted?” the Jefferson TAO asked. “Oh, never mind.
Symbology just coming up on the LINK,” she finished, as the NTDS symbol for a
missile raced away from the Vincennes on course to intercept the Chinese
cruise missiles. “Looks like a good firing solution. Just what do you think
the range on those bastards is?”
“About two hundred miles shorter than China planned,” Vincennes replied.
“Look, I hate to be rude, but don’t you have something else to do besides talk
to me right now? I mean, it’s okay with me–my missiles are off the rails,
and it’s just a matter of wait and see. But according to the LINK, you’ve got
a hell of an air battle going on to your west.”
“Oh, that,” the TAO replied off-handedly. “Our part’s already over. The
first Tomcats are back on deck as we speak.”