91: Chapter 91: Treating this mission as a nightmare

Harem Air Force Base.

Located in the northern coastal region of Israel, it is an air force base directly facing Lebanon.

Major General Ita is the head of Harem Air Force Base. He once participated in the war where Israel invaded Lebanon at the age of twenty; decades later, he has become the air force commander directly facing Lebanon.

The last large-scale conflict with Lebanon occurred two years ago, when he commanded the air force to bomb and destroy tunnels Lebanon had dug on the border with Israel.

As for sporadic exchanges of fire, they basically happen every once in a while. Although small in scale, for Israel, which possesses air superiority, they are essentially crushing victories.

Today, after Major General Ita arranged a routine drone patrol mission, his eyelids twitched, giving him a trace of an ominous premonition.

He checked the flight path; it was only flying in an area not far from the border with Lebanon and had not gone deep into the country. Considering that Lebanon had no fighter jets for interception and no anti-aircraft missiles to use, he suppressed his worries.

As the drone flew away from Harem Air Force Base, the operators closely monitored the intelligence gathered through the drone's reconnaissance.

Everything was normal at first, but after entering the Lebanese border, they suddenly discovered a small-scale gathering of the Lebanese Army.

Seeing the gathering troops, Major General Ita speculated on the Lebanese military's movements.

"Does Lebanon have some military operation? Is it aimed at Israel or local armed forces?"

The drone gradually approached the gathering Lebanese troops, attempting to obtain more intelligence.

However, just as it was slowly approaching, the gathering troops suddenly dispersed. It was possible they had discovered the arrival of the Israeli drone.

The drone had not captured much useful intelligence and was about to leave dejectedly when, unexpectedly, a dazzling light suddenly shot out from where the troops had just gathered, heading straight for the drone.

Only then did the drone belatedly realize that the attack was from an anti-aircraft missile. It quickly accelerated to try and escape and released Flares in an attempt to induce the missile to self-destruct, but after some effort, there was no effect at all.

With the sound of an explosion, the drone failed to shake off the anti-aircraft missile's attack and became a dazzling fireball.

The incoming missile was none other than the Tianlei Type I Anti-Aircraft Missile. The gathering of troops was merely to lure the Israeli drone closer, aiming to shoot it down with minimal cost.

Although Lebanon had purchased a batch of Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles, the quantity was not large.

To make every anti-aircraft missile count, they had to do everything possible to take down the invading Israeli fighter jets at the lowest cost.

It seemed Lebanon's method worked. The Israeli drone had swaggered toward the gathering troops, unaware of the approaching danger.

The crashed drone caused a cheer from the troops who had just gathered; their little performance had achieved results, as the drone was unable to escape the range of the Tianlei Type I Anti-Aircraft Missile.

Major General Ita saw the drone's signal disappear from the monitor and was shocked to discover for the first time that Lebanon actually still possessed the capability to resist.

Over the past few years, the air force jets led by Major General Ita had gained the upper hand countless times, forcing Lebanon to cower in Underground Bunkers, afraid to move. Now, they had actually shot down his drone.

This situation was difficult for Major General Ita to accept for a moment.

He carefully reviewed the footage sent back by the drone. The gathering of the Lebanese troops clearly had a purpose, but they had quickly dispersed upon seeing the drone approach, meaning they must have spotted it long ago.

So, what was the purpose of the Lebanese Army? Was it just to shoot down the drone? But shooting down a drone with an anti-aircraft missile didn't require a troop gathering.

The only explanation was that Lebanon's anti-aircraft missiles had a relatively short range and could not shoot down the drone from a distance. They had to use such a tactic to lure the drone closer before launching the missile to shoot it down.

After some analysis, Major General Ita reached a conclusion. He immediately ordered two F-16 Fighter Jets from Harem Air Force Base to take off and carry out a retaliatory bombing of the drone's crash site.

As long as the F-16 Fighter Jets remained outside the range of Lebanon's anti-aircraft missiles, Lebanon had no possibility of threatening them.

As the two F-16 Fighter Jets flew away from Harem Air Force Base, they soon appeared at the Lebanese border. After determining the bombing range, the pilots immediately opened the bomb bays and began dropping bombs.

The Lebanese troops who were cheering moments ago had already hidden in Underground Bunkers, trembling as they waited for the Israeli fighter jets' bombing.

After all, Lebanon's anti-aircraft combat capabilities had left a deep impression on them; although they had just shot down an Israeli drone, it wasn't enough to give them confidence.

With several explosions, the place where the troops had gathered just now had become a heap of ruins. The flames that flared up from time to time gave the whole scene a post-disaster misery.

The F-16 Fighter Jet pilot looked at the results of his bombing with satisfaction. Just as he was about to leave, a dazzling fire suddenly shot into the sky, lunging straight toward his jet.

The two F-16 Fighter Jets quickly performed a wide turn and accelerated to escape the area. However, the anti-aircraft missile did not lose its target despite the fighter's turn and continued to lunge straight for one of the F-16 Fighter Jets.

The pilot hurriedly released all the Flares from the aircraft at once; for a moment, the sky was filled with scattering Flares.

The anti-aircraft missile completely ignored those Flares and continued flying toward the F-16 Fighter Jet. The pilot was truly panicked now, as the continuous alarm sounds in the cockpit made him feel as if he were seeing the scene of the jet exploding.

To avoid being at the center of the explosion, he quickly pressed the seat ejection button. With a soft click, he was soon clear of the fighter jet, slowly falling toward the ground.

A blinding flash of light made the pilot feel dizzy; he knew that the F-16 Fighter Jet had been hit by the anti-aircraft missile.

He secretly felt lucky that he had ejected in time; otherwise, he would have been torn to pieces by the explosion. Although he might be captured by the Lebanese Army, it was better than being blown to bits with no remains left.

The pilot of the other F-16 Fighter Jet saw the explosion and was so terrified that he quickly accelerated to escape the airspace, wanting only to return to Harem Air Force Base immediately and treat this combat mission as a nightmare.

This time, Lebanon had launched a Tianlei Type III Anti-Aircraft Missile. When the Israeli F-16 Fighter Jets were discovered, they should have launched the anti-aircraft missile immediately.

But due to unskillful operation, they could only watch helplessly as the F-16 Fighter Jets carried out the bombing, only managing to lock onto one F-16 Fighter Jet and launch an anti-aircraft missile afterward.