Chimera

Feng walked over to the geographical-overlay display of the Tibet autonomous region. All airbases and ground-based air-defense units were highlighted on the map. Next to each airbase marker the list of deployed units at the base were listed in smaller fonts. Feng waved over his adjutant, PLAAF Major Kwan Li.

“Do you have the latest SOFOR?” Feng asked Li without looking away from the display board. Li handed him a set of papers and Feng walked over to the table to pick up his spectacles. Putting them on, he glanced at the papers and frowned a few seconds later. The latest Status-of-Forces report, or SOFOR, was not good. Feng found it interesting and somewhat amusing that the prepared document did not show losses of aircraft and crews, but the availability of units and readiness levels.

Somebody’s idea of putting a positive spin on things!

Feng knew the pre-war availability and readiness levels of these units at the back of his mind. So he merely subtracted the current availability from the pre-war status and got an idea of what their losses were. The positive presentation approach of the report was obviously not meant for him and Chen. It was meant to be fed to the higher ups in Beijing. He exhaled after going over the numbers and walked back to the board where Chen was standing, his arms crossed.

“Not good,” Feng said finally. “Our pre-war Lanzhou J-11 force is pretty much decimated. 6TH Fighter Division only has enough left for defensive patrols protecting tankers and bombers from the 36TH Bomber Division and the special mission aircraft from the 26TH Air Division.”

Chen mumbled: “And they weren’t even able to do that last part effectively. We lost that Tu-154 on electronic-suppression duties in the east to Indian Migs few days ago. Remember?” Feng nodded.

“Indeed.”

“Continue,” Chen ordered and Feng rustled through the pages.

“Right. So the 6TH Fighter Division J-7 units are active but don’t have the range or the performance to matter from Tibetan airbases. But operating from here might prove useful. I suggest we move the 17TH Air Regiment with their J-7 force to Kashgar immediately!”

“And exactly what good are J-7s against enemy Mirages and Su-30s? Chen asked after turning away from the board.

Feng removed his glasses: “Sir, even if we cannot strike out at the enemy on their side of the border, having that many J-7s here will force them to reconsider sending Jaguars on deep strike missions into our territory. We keep the J-7s flying large defensive patrols around the last remaining S-300 battery at Qara-Tagh-La to prevent what happened at Hotien, Shigatse and Lhasa!”

Chen was not convinced by the argument. He felt Feng was proving only too willing to throw pilots and aircraft at the enemy in return for dealing destruction against specific targets. But he ceded the point about maintaining a defensive posture around Kashgar…

“Very well,” Chen sighed. “Get them over here. What about the 18TH Air Regiment and their J-7s?”

“Not many left from the last two days of operations,” Feng said after moving between the pages of the report. “I am going to recommend merging their surviving force within the 17TH Air Regiment. The 18TH Regiment is combat depleted at this point. The 17TH however, is yet to face serious combat. And I think it’s about time that changed!”

“Agreed. Moving on to the east then,” Chen ordered.

“Okay,” Feng said more to himself than to Chen. “The 33RD Fighter Division is in a similar state. Its J-11 armed 98TH Air Regiment is now on defensive duties north of Lhasa protecting our tankers and AWACS aircraft. The J-7s of the Division’s 97TH Regiment were decimated while fighting the Indians over the eastern border regions two days ago. They did well in combat, however. The Indians had to withdraw an entire Bison force from the east because of the heavy losses they took. 44TH Fighter Division is still active with its J-10s this morning and they are engaged in combat and suffering losses over the Chumbi valley. At their current loss rate we will be forced to withdraw that unit from combat this evening…”

Chen gave a sharp look to Feng. It caused Feng to stop mid-sentence.

“No! We are not withdrawing any units from combat at this point! No unit committed to battle from this point on is to be withdrawn until the end of the war! Any commander who refuses to launch missions citing aircraft availability will be shot for cowardice!”

Feng caught the insinuated threat against him in that tirade. He was both shocked and surprised. Chen had never taken that tone of voice with him before. He wondered about the kind of pressures Chen was under…