190: Chapter 190: At Least Thirty US Warplanes Shot Down

General Faraj watched as one USA fighter jet after another was shot down, feeling immense satisfaction. In the past, he could only watch helplessly as USA fighter jets rampaged through Syrian airspace, completely unable to resist, leaving nothing but ruins behind.

Now, seeing the USA fighter jets being shot down, his gratification was beyond words. He wanted nothing more than to launch more "Tianlei" Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles to intercept the USA fighter jets, but seeing his limited supply of anti-aircraft missiles, he could only launch them in the most economical way possible, striving to achieve the greatest results.

When General Maitang heard the news from the front lines that F-22 and F-35 Fighter Jets had been shot down, he was profoundly shocked. Furthermore, the number of shot-down jets was still increasing; how could General Maitang possibly believe this?

These were stealth fighter jets! The most advanced fighter jets, which only a few countries could equip. Yet now, they were actually being shot down. How could this not cause General Maitang immense heartache?

Every stealth fighter jet was worth a fortune, yet five of them had already been shot down. Seeing this situation, General Maitang immediately ordered all fighter jets to return at once and cease bombing missions. At the same time, he ordered all fighter jets scheduled for takeoff to cancel their missions.

Upon receiving the order, the pilots hurriedly flew their fighter jets away from Syrian airspace in all directions. Some turned around and flew directly back to Iraq, some tried to detour through Israel, and some flew straight to Turkey. Fearing that there might be anti-aircraft missile ambushes in other directions, they chose routes they deemed safe to return.

Of course, some areas were indeed not deployed with "Tianlei" Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles, allowing some USA fighter jets to escape unscathed. However, some fighter jets plunged headlong into heavily defended areas, ultimately becoming trophies for the Syrian military.

As the air battle over Syrian airspace concluded, General Faraj no longer saw any USA aircraft appearing over Syria. Only then did General Faraj breathe a sigh of relief. He had been worried that the USA would continue to send fighter jets to invade Syria.

After all, Syria did not have many Type 7 to Type 9 "Tianlei" Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles, and they would struggle to be effective against a larger number of stealth fighter jets. Moreover, some anti-aircraft missile positions had been discovered and destroyed by the USA, which further impacted Syria's air defense capabilities.

Fortunately, they had forced the USA to voluntarily abandon the airstrikes, sparing the Syrian military from further worry. Based on a rough count from the "Tianlei" Missile Defense System, General Faraj estimated that this air defense operation had shot down at least thirty USA fighter jets, many of which were stealth fighter jets.

Such a significant result was more than double the total number of USA fighter jets Syria had shot down over the past few years. It was truly an earth-shattering achievement. General Faraj ordered the troops to search for the wreckage of the downed fighter jets while simultaneously ordering the operators not to lower their guard, to avoid the USA launching further airstrikes out of embarrassment and anger.

Of course, Syria's losses this time were also significant. Not only were many visible radar stations destroyed and military bases hit by missiles, but a considerable number of "Tianlei" Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles had been consumed, and all other existing types of anti-aircraft missiles had been completely exhausted.

Seeing the losses, General Faraj felt a pang of heartache. So many military facilities needed to be rebuilt, which would cost a significant amount of money. At the same time, they needed to replenish a batch of "Tianlei" Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles, which would also cost a lot. It was all so expensive!

Initially, seeing that the USA fighter jets had stopped appearing, General Faraj had intended to launch some "Tianlong" Type 2 drones to stage a surprise attack on USA military bases. However, considering his insufficient stockpile of anti-aircraft missiles and fearing that he might provoke the USA into launching more airstrikes, he ultimately gave up the idea.

After issuing the order, General Maitang waited continuously for news of the fighter jets' return. Four batches of fighter jets had been deployed; some did not perform further missions after returning, while others had carried out two combat sorties.

Although pilots on the front lines reported instances of fighter jets being shot down, and monitoring radar also displayed relevant information, the data remained inaccurate. Only when a fighter jet was actually landing on the runway could it be considered safely returned.

Based on previous intelligence, the USA had lost at least 20 fighter jets in this airstrike, including 2 confirmed F-22 Fighter Jets and 2 F-35 Fighter Jets that had crashed. Such losses left General Maitang extremely dissatisfied.

While General Maitang waited anxiously, news quickly arrived from various military bases in the Persian Gulf region, as well as from Turkey and Israel. After flying to Turkey and Israel, some fighter jets landed directly at USA military bases in those locations. After all, some fighter jets had sustained damage and might encounter problems if they continued to fly.

When General Maitang saw the aggregated numbers, his anger flared even higher. A total of over 158 fighter jets of various models had been dispatched to carry out missions, but only 121 had returned to their military bases, meaning 37 fighter jets had been lost.

Although it was possible that some fighter jets had not yet returned to their military bases, most were confirmed to have been shot down and crashed. This included 4 F-22 Fighter Jets, 3 F-35 Fighter Jets, 1 B-2 bomber, and 3 special operations aircraft; the losses were truly massive.

General Maitang could hardly believe his eyes; such a massive loss of fighter jets was the greatest loss the USA had suffered in many years. How could General Maitang accept this?

Did Syria now possess such strong air defense capabilities? General Maitang couldn't help but wonder. Yet, Lieutenant General Green had never specifically reported that they needed to be vigilant about the improvement in the Syrian military's air defense capabilities.

Was it possible that Lieutenant General Green had deliberately concealed the truth, leading General Maitang to make a wrong judgment? General Maitang deeply suspected Lieutenant General Green; he must have been guilty of dereliction of duty, otherwise, the Central Theater Command could not have failed to gather intelligence on Syria possessing so many advanced anti-aircraft missiles.

After considering the situation, General Maitang immediately ordered the commander in Turkey to first detain Lieutenant General Green and bring him back to the USA's Maxwell Air Force Base for investigation. If Lieutenant General Green was indeed guilty of dereliction of duty, General Maitang would not mind stripping him of his military uniform.

However, with such heavy losses, General Maitang knew his own responsibility was not light either. The USA military would also investigate the circumstances of this airstrike to determine if he was responsible for improper command. General Maitang could not judge for himself whether he would face severe punishment.

General Maitang immediately ordered the military bases in the Persian Gulf region to continue maintenance on the returned fighter jets and restore their combat capabilities as soon as possible. At the same time, he ordered all military bases not to dispatch any fighter jets into Syrian airspace to avoid further incidents of being shot down.