189: Chapter 189 The Large-Scale Air Raid Begins

After General Maitang issued the order to withdraw troops from Syria, he immediately began preparing for a large-scale airstrike mission against Syria. Since the number of fighter jets at the airbases controlled by the Central Theater Command was insufficient to complete a large-scale airstrike on Syria, he had to mobilize carrier-based aircraft from the navy's aircraft carrier fleet to participate in the airstrike.

This caused a significant delay in launching the airstrike. Lieutenant General Green had already evacuated from the Hera Joint Military Base for some time, yet the large-scale airstrike had still not begun, almost making Lieutenant General Green think that General Maitang had abandoned the plan to airstrike Syria.

After completing the mobilization of fighter jets, General Maitang immediately ordered the Central Theater Command to formulate a detailed airstrike plan. This airstrike was prepared to utilize 100 F-15 Eagle fighter jets, 300 F-16 Fighter Jets, 20 F-22 fighter jets, and 30 F-35 Fighter Jets, along with 50 B-1 and B-2 bombers, as well as 10 other special operations aircraft and 20 service and aerial refueling aircraft.

The airstrike on Syria would be divided into six waves of fighter jets. The first wave would mainly destroy military facilities such as radar in Syria, and deploy special operations aircraft for reconnaissance, command, electronic warfare, and airborne early warning.

The second wave would mainly shoot down any fighter jets within Syria that dared to take off, completely destroying Syria's air power. The third wave would begin to destroy military bases and military facilities within Syria one by one, with a particular focus on striking the Syrian military.

As for whether to deploy more waves of fighter jets, it would depend on the progress of destroying Syria's military bases. If the predetermined goals were not met, General Maitang would not mind deploying two more waves of fighter jets to let Syria know the power of the USA.

As the airstrike operation plan began to be implemented, various military bases of the USA in the Persian Gulf region began to become busy and tense, with various combat orders being conveyed to the ears of every fighter pilot.

Some pilots looked relaxed; having previously participated in battles airstriking Libya and Syria, they had not encountered any effective air defense, so they believed this airstrike on Syria should also be easily won.

Some pilots were still a bit nervous; after all, this was entering combat, not conducting daily training. No one knew if they would encounter anti-aircraft missiles, and if their luck was bad, they would really be finished.

Regardless of the pilots' moods, once General Maitang issued the airstrike order, the first to take off were the F-22 fighter jets and F-35 Fighter Jets, which began to conduct precision strikes to clear out Syria's radar and other military facilities.

As one fighter jet after another took off from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and the USS Harry aircraft carrier, the silhouettes of USA fighter jets began to appear in Syria's airspace.

Soon, many of Syria's radar stations and other facilities were hit by missiles launched by USA fighter jets, becoming ruins. The special operations aircraft that followed closely began to enter Syria's airspace to provide support for the subsequent airstrike fighter jets.

General Faraj received the news and immediately rushed to the command center of the Tianlei Missile Defense System. Looking at the situation of the USA fighter jets displayed on the screen, he could not help but feel secretly relieved. Fortunately, the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile deployed in various places had its own radar; otherwise, the Syrian military would have become blind and deaf by now.

General Faraj was not at all surprised by the appearance of USA fighter jets, but he had not expected that the timing of this USA airstrike would be a bit late, and looking at the screen, the number of enemy aircraft was not large. He could not immediately decide whether to order the launch of the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile to shoot down the USA fighter jets.

General Maitang saw that the first wave of fighter jets had completed their combat mission and immediately ordered the second wave of fighter jets to take off, while the third wave of fighter jets also prepared for takeoff.

Two Sky Dragon Mark I UAVs that had taken off from Syria were preparing to check the situation of the radar stations and other military facilities that had been airstruck, but they were spotted by the second wave of USA fighter jets. With two missiles incoming, they were shot down without any room to struggle.

After the second wave of fighter jets cleared the area, the 80 fighter jets and 10 bombers that followed closely flew over Syria's airspace and began bombing various military bases and military facilities in Syria, focusing on clearing out Syria's anti-aircraft missile positions.

General Faraj saw that there were more and more invading USA fighter jets and no longer had any thoughts of waiting further; he simply began to order the Tianlei Missile Defense System to conduct gradient attacks on the invading fighter jets.

First, he launched the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile from the southwestern region closest to the Syrian border, and then gradually launched anti-aircraft missiles to intercept the fighter jets that had penetrated deep into Syria's airspace, forcing the USA fighter jets to seek to break through from other areas and increasing the chances of shooting down the USA fighter jets.

One after another, the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles locked onto the USA fighter jets. One sound of anti-aircraft missile launches after another rang out, and suddenly, many anti-aircraft missiles appeared in the Syrian airspace.

The USA fighter jet pilots suddenly discovered that Syria's anti-aircraft missiles were incoming. The alarms in the cockpits sounded one after another, causing them to panic immediately. They quickly performed various evasive maneuvers, attempting to escape the fate of being locked on.

But it was already too late. Even though they increased the speed of their fighter jets, they were still unable to escape the attacks of the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile. Many fighter jets were hit by the anti-aircraft missiles one after another; some pilots did not react in time and were directly torn to pieces in mid-air.

Of course, there were also some anti-aircraft missiles whose operational range was too short, allowing some USA fighter jets to escape a disaster, but soon there were new anti-aircraft missiles locking onto them, making the pilots flustered and wanting to escape Syria's airspace as quickly as possible.

General Maitang received the news that some fighter jets had been attacked by Syrian anti-aircraft missiles and immediately ordered stealth fighter jets such as the F-35 Fighter Jet, F-22 fighter jet, and B-2 bomber to go and bomb Syria's anti-aircraft missile positions, completely destroying Syria's counterattack capability. The fourth wave of fighter jets that were originally scheduled to take off had to be temporarily canceled.

As the USA stealth fighter jets joined the battlefield, some of Syria's Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles with shorter operational ranges lost their effectiveness. The Tianlei Missile Defense System timely called upon a limited number of Type 7 to Type 9 Tianlei anti-aircraft missiles to begin interception.

Although the new aircraft that joined the battlefield from the USA had stealth capabilities, they were not all invisible, after all. They were soon locked onto by the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile. Even if the pilots wanted to climb in altitude, they were unable to escape the anti-aircraft missiles and eventually became a ball of fire.

And such fireballs were not just one or two, but appeared one after another. This made the pilots flying the stealth fighter jets lose any desire to participate in the battle, and they only wanted to escape Syria's airspace as soon as possible. Otherwise, they would also become a pile of minced meat, and that would not be pleasant.