137: Chapter 137: Two Phantom Fighters Lost

Safira Military Base.

This is a military base located in the northwest of Syria, controlled by the Syrian government, serving as the most forward-deployed defensive position directly facing Turkey and the Opposition Armed Forces it supports.

Turkey has long harbored designs on the territory in northwest Syria; by supporting the Opposition Armed Forces in the region and under the guise of combating extremist organizations, it has dispatched troops into northwest Syria and effectively gained control over a significant amount of territory.

To defend against Turkish attacks, Safira Military Base sometimes has to dispatch troops into areas controlled by Turkey, actively drawing Turkish fire to prevent Safira Military Base from becoming a primary target for Turkish airstrikes.

Recently, Colonel Urbi, the commander of Safira Military Base, received a batch of Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile from the Syrian military, which finally greatly improved the air defense capabilities of Safira Military Base, at least alleviating the worry about potential Turkish airstrikes at any moment.

Colonel Urbi distributed the Tianlei Type I and Type II Anti-Aircraft Missiles to his various units, deployed Tianlei Type III to Type IV Anti-Aircraft Missiles at Safira Military Base and other important military facilities under his control, and retained the only set of Tianlei Type V Anti-Aircraft Missile for his direct command and use.

After receiving the supplement of anti-aircraft missiles, the various units had clashed with troops stationed by Turkey and shot down two small Turkish unmanned reconnaissance drones, making the Turkish military somewhat wary of Safira Military Base.

However, since the losses were not significant, Turkey had not originally planned to launch an offensive against Safira Military Base, but with the encouragement of the USA—especially after Lieutenant General Green began airstrikes against military facilities across Syria—Turkey saw an opportunity to destroy Safira Military Base.

Soon, a plan to conduct an airstrike on Safira Military Base appeared before Major General Seze, the commander of Harim Air Base.

Harim Air Base is an air base built and controlled by Turkey in northwest Syria; it is not far from Turkey and can receive reinforcements from Turkey at any time.

Major General Seze had investigated the loss of the two unmanned reconnaissance drones during this period and learned that the Syrian military had received a supplement of anti-aircraft missiles, but they were man-portable air-defense systems with limited range, posing little threat to Harim Air Base.

Major General Seze, who had not originally intended to carry out an airstrike, immediately decided to launch an airstrike on Safira Military Base after seeing this plan.

After all, this airstrike plan was based on intelligence provided by the USA and supported by domestic forces, with the promise that if Major General Seze successfully bombed Safira Military Base, he would receive two additional F-16 Fighter Jets.

Harim Air Base did not have many fighter jets, so the addition of two F-16 Fighter Jets was very important, and Major General Seze did not intend to pass up the opportunity.

Following Major General Seze's order, two F-16 Fighter Jets and four Phantom fighter jets took off from Harim Air Base and headed straight for Safira Military Base.

Although the Phantom fighter jets were second-generation fighters, they were still relatively advanced aircraft in the Persian Gulf region, especially against those Persian Gulf countries that did not have many fighter jets, where they were completely dominant.

The pilots were very relaxed about executing this airstrike mission; they had performed such airstrike missions before, and Syria simply had no fighter jets to intercept them, leaving them to watch as the Phantom fighter jets flew swaggeringly through the airspace of northwest Syria without any way to stop them.

Before long, the six fighter jets appeared over Safira Military Base, and looking at the attack targets within close reach, the pilots immediately began operating their air-to-ground missiles to lock onto their respective targets.

However, just as the pilots were still searching for targets, three brilliant fireballs shot up from Safira Military Base, heading straight for the fighter jets in the air; they were three Tianlei Type III Anti-Aircraft Missiles.

In fact, when the six Turkish fighter jets headed straight for Safira Military Base, Colonel Urbi already knew that the target of the Turkish attack was his military base.

After all, in this direction, only Safira Military Base was worth Turkey deploying six fighter jets.

Colonel Urbi immediately ordered the officers and soldiers equipped with the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile to prepare to launch the anti-aircraft missiles, but the operators had not expected Turkey to launch an airstrike on Safira Military Base so quickly, and they were caught in a bit of a scramble for a moment.

By the time the Turkish fighter jets flew over Safira Military Base, only three sets of Tianlei Type III Anti-Aircraft Missiles were ready for launch.

Without waiting for Colonel Urbi's order, the operators immediately pressed the launch buttons.

After the three Tianlei Type III Anti-Aircraft Missiles detached from their launchers, they quickly rushed toward the incoming Turkish fighter jets, with three Phantom fighter jets becoming the targets of the attack.

Seeing the anti-aircraft missiles heading straight for them, the pilots immediately forgot about launching their air-to-ground missiles and hurriedly pulled their fighter jets up, trying to break the lock of the anti-aircraft missiles.

One Phantom fighter jet aimed at the incoming anti-aircraft missile and fired two air-to-air missiles directly, attempting to intercept it.

In a short while, one Phantom fighter jet was hit by an anti-aircraft missile and exploded in mid-air, one Phantom fighter jet had part of its wing hit but did not explode, and the two air-to-air missiles fired by the third Phantom fighter jet successfully intercepted one anti-aircraft missile.

At this point, the pilots no longer dared to linger over Safira Military Base and hurriedly turned around to flee, but just then, two more Tianlei Type III Anti-Aircraft Missiles were launched.

That Phantom fighter jet with the damaged wing could not escape this time and was successfully shot down.

The other anti-aircraft missile was intercepted by air-to-air missiles fired by an F-16 Fighter Jet and failed to hit its target.

Colonel Urbi had originally intended to continue launching Tianlei Type IV Anti-Aircraft Missiles, but the remaining two F-16 Fighter Jets and two Phantom fighter jets fled in a panic, like rabbits chased by dogs.

Even if he launched a Tianlei Type V Anti-Aircraft Missile now, it would be unable to catch up.

Seeing that two Phantom fighter jets had been shot down, Colonel Urbi felt the result was quite good and did not continue trying to shoot down the remaining Turkish fighter jets.

On one hand, he arranged for officers and soldiers to head to the crash sites of the Phantom fighter jets, and on the other hand, he arranged for the operators of the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile to closely monitor the movements of the Turkish Air Force and prepare for any continued airstrikes by Turkey.

Major General Seze soon received a report from the F-16 Fighter Jet pilots that two Phantom fighter jets had been shot down by Safira Military Base without achieving any results.

He was stunned for a moment; wasn't the range of Syria's anti-aircraft missiles limited? How could they shoot down Phantom fighter jets?

Regardless of what Major General Seze thought, this airstrike mission ended in failure.

He had originally wanted to add two F-16 Fighter Jets, but unexpectedly, he lost two Phantom fighter jets first; failing to achieve his goal and suffering a loss instead, Major General Seze was filled with regret.