Chapter 935 - 872: The Troublesome F-15E

Song Heping stood in front of the map in the tent, lost in thought.

Hunter came over with food, and at the entrance, he met White Bear, who was sitting on a stool eating. He glanced inside and asked, "Still thinking?"

White Bear, fully focused on the lamb leg in his hand, mumbled with his mouth full of grease, "Yeah, been standing all afternoon."

Hunter thought for a moment, then quietly walked into the tent, placed the meal box on the table, and his gaze followed Song Heping's direction, also falling on the map.

This was a map of the Western region of the Nase Republic, also depicting all the territories currently controlled by the anti-government armed alliance.

These territories were painted light red, with large red thumbtacks marking the specific deployment locations of each armed organization.

The intelligence was provided by Lumar. According to the current situation, the anti-government armed alliance, with covert support from the Americans, had seized control of approximately 60,000 square kilometers of land in the West. For the Sena Government, this was a lethal threat.

If they continued to advance at the current pace, it was estimated that they could reach the capital in less than ten days.

No wonder Lady M was so anxious, urging Song Heping to hurry to the Sena Republic for counter-insurgency.

"Boss, time to eat."

"Hmm..."

Song Heping responded, without turning his head, his gaze still glued to the map.

"You've been standing all day."

Hunter reminded him, "Even if there's going to be a war, you need to rest."

Only then did Song Heping turn around, walk to the table, pick up the meal box, and smile, "Now I understand how exhausting it is for those generals commanding major battles. Although they don't have to go to the battlefield, commanding a battle probably wears them out."

He scratched his head while sitting down in the chair, opened the meal box, and began to eat ravenously.

Hunter glanced at the various markers and colored lines on the map, pointing at the blue lines and asked, "What are those blue lines?"

"Flight paths."

Without looking at the map, Song Heping directly gave Hunter the answer.

"Flight paths?"

Hunter was a bit puzzled.

After all, the rebel forces weren't known for having air power.

According to previous battle reports, the rebel alliance consisted of ground forces, but with American support, they obtained "Stinger" anti-air missiles.

Although these missiles were ineffective against advanced fighter jets, they posed a significant threat to the outdated MiG-23s in the hands of the Sena Republic's government forces.

The Sena Republic only had 6 MiG-23s in total, their only air power. For a cash-strapped Central African nation like the Sena Republic, having a few such planes was already a luxury.

However, supported by the Americans, the anti-government forces utilized shoulder-launched "Stinger" missiles to shoot down 4 of them in previous battles, dealing a lethal blow to the government forces.

This was because the new American "Stinger" missile used infrared and ultraviolet dual-band seekers combined with rose line scanning technology, effectively distinguishing targets from decoys, achieving omnidirectional attacks. Compared to early man-portable air-defense systems, its anti-jamming capability and head-on interception success rate were significantly improved.

The Stinger missile had an effective range of about 4.8 kilometers, with a maximum altitude of about 3.8 kilometers, posing a high threat to low-flying targets.

If a MiG-23 were to perform low-altitude ground attack missions, especially during dive-bombing or close air support missions, its altitude might fall within the Stinger's lethal range.

While MiG-23s could reduce the risk of a Stinger attack by maintaining mid-to-high altitude flight, the Sena military pilots were only so competent, and their MiG-23s were old models throwing iron bombs without any precision-guided versions. Hence, not lowering their altitude would be akin to bombing empty fields.

So, the MiG-23s in the government forces' hands were practically nonexistent.

"Do the rebels have planes?"

Hunter expressed great surprise.

Song Heping shook his head, "No, those are American planes. They deployed a makeshift airfield in neighboring Usseda, with two F-15Es stationed there."

"F-15E?"

Hunter took a sharp breath.

"If this thing comes, our numbers won't even be enough for a single bombing run."

Song Heping casually grabbed a piece of intelligence and tossed it in front of him.

"That's right, it's intelligence from the British. Take a look. The most troubling thing now is these two fighter jets. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have been standing for an afternoon."

Hunter quickly picked up the intelligence and opened it.

Inside were maps, photographs, satellite images, and textual information and so forth.

From the images, one could see the aerial view of the makeshift airfield, with two hangars beside the runway, along with some buildings resembling fuel depots nearby.

Further into the pictures, there were images of F-15Es parked on the runway, as well as on the tarmac.

Song Heping said, "Fighting the ground troops doesn't worry me; tactics are easy to formulate. But once we ambush the Green Berets, they will call for air support in the shortest possible time. By then, if two F-15Es fly over, we'll be in big trouble."

The F-15E not only retained the full air combat capabilities of the F-15C, using a variety of combat weapons, but can also carry a large number of ground-attack weapons, with a maximum payload of 11 tons. It can use most of the US Air Force's ground-attack weapons, including guided bombs and air-to-ground missiles.

That's why it also has a nickname: "Bomb Truck."

No wonder Song Heping was troubled.

Anyone would be troubled at the thought of nearly ten tons of bombs dropping on their head.

"This indeed is a problem..."

Hunter also fell silent.

Currently, they only had the strength of a special forces platoon. Even if the Sena military provided ground forces under Song Heping's unified command, it would only be ground troops. Given the Sena military's equipment level, they could do nothing against advanced F-15Es. Previously, this aircraft didn't appear in the conflict because of the rebel alliance's continuous victories, so they didn't need to appear, avoiding accusations of interfering in other countries' affairs.

If based on Song Heping's plan to ambush the Green Berets, these two F-15Es would certainly take off immediately, fully loaded with bombs, entering the airspace of the Sena Republic to bombard their side fiercely.

No matter how good Song Heping or the special forces platoon were, it would be in vain.

In the face of absolute air superiority, ground troops were insignificant.

"If you were me, how would you command this battle?"

Song Heping, like a teacher giving a student a test, turned to look at Hunter.

Hunter furrowed his brow, scratching his head and thinking for a long while before shaking his head and saying, "Forget it. You ask me how to snipe a target, I can give an answer. Ask me to calculate wind speed drift, no problem, but to study tactics..."

He laughed awkwardly at himself.

"I'll just be a good sniper."

Song Heping sighed.

Besides Jiang Feng, everyone in the company lacked command capabilities.

Although Hunter was an excellent sniper, he definitely wasn't an outstanding commander. He could lead small teams in executing minor ambushes, but commanding large-scale operations, he was still a bit inadequate.

After finishing his meal, Song Heping put down the meal box, looking gravely at the map, "So, we must eliminate the Green Berets before they take off. This requires a meticulous plan — how to locate the Green Berets squad, how to neutralize them in the shortest time, and then withdraw before the F-15Es arrive, entering a safe zone."

He stared at the map, once again lost in thought.

The F-15E has a combat radius of over 1,200 kilometers. Once they take off from Usseda, they can reach the Western Nase battlefield in just 15 minutes.

And once the Green Berets squad is ambushed, given the nature of US soldiers, they will definitely call for air support immediately.

"I've calculated it; there are only 10 minutes."

Song Heping walked to the map, his finger pounding heavily on it.

"In 10 minutes, we must annihilate the Green Berets squad and immediately retreat from the battlefield, or else the F-15Es will bomb the entire ambush area to scorched earth."

Hunter frowned, "10 minutes? The Green Berets aren't ordinary armed forces. They've undergone rigorous training. Even if the ambush succeeds, they can hold us off long enough."

"So, we can't let them even have the chance to call for support."

A cold light flashed in Song Heping's eyes.

"We need at least two plans, otherwise, if there's any mistake, we'll be completely wiped out."