Chimera

And once that happened, it was only a matter of time before the PLA forces on the ground began to feel the real heat of the reverses in the skies above them.

Such an outcome was unacceptable.

“What are our options, Feng?” Chen asked.

They heard the radio communication between their AWACS controllers and the two J-11B pilots as the latter successfully disengaged from combat after entering the S-300 defensive belt in northern Aksai-Chin. Feng pressed his fingers on his lips as he thought about that.

“Not many, sir. It’s only a matter of time now. We don’t have nearly the kind of airbase infrastructure needed to base the numbers that would be needed here. This was exactly why I had proposed the S-300 defensive belt to begin with. One S-300 battery supported by carefully placed Su-27s and J-11s on patrol could hold off fleets of Indian fighters. But once we lost the initiative after Zhigao’s disastrous operation two days ago, we lost a crucial piece of our structure,” Feng said, and then reflected on that with brutal honesty.

So is it all Zhigao’s fault now?

You are not to blame for anything at all?

“Indeed,” Chen added. “That fool cost us this sector! Had it not been for him, we would still be maintaining control of the skies in this sector!”

So there it is. All of this has been pinned on Zhigao now.

Feel better?

Feng shook off his inner voice and told himself quietly that Zhigao had indeed been to blame for some of this, if not all of it. And that he was not to blame for the wall that Zhigao would soon find himself in front of.

“We need to spread the Indian fighters out. They cannot be everywhere at the same time!” Feng said.

Chen caught the cue on that one and nodded agreement:

“Yes! It’s time the skies over the Indian northeast really caught fire from the dragon’s breath!”

BANGALORE

INDIA

DAY 3 + 0930 HRS

The drizzle and the gray, low-hanging clouds over the city were not helping matters along. Pools of water on the tarmac were reflecting the moody skies above. Ground crewmen were pushing the first Light-Combat-Helicopter or LCH as it was universally known, into the cavernous interiors of the parked Il-76.

Wing-Commander Dutt was standing by the ramp of the parked Il-76 along with two of his former test-pilots in their flight-suits while the chief warrant officer was supervising operations. As Dutt watched, another spout of rain began to fall from the sky following a rumbling thunder. The weather was bad, at least for flying, and he wondered whether nature would force its way into the combat debut of his newborn helicopter unit. But the captain of the Il-76 had assured him that the flight to Leh would take place regardless of the weather. They were not going to let weather get in the way of destiny…

The No. 44 Squadron Il-76 had arrived on schedule at Bangalore to pick up and transport the 199HU to Leh. Most of the Il-76 force and the newly inducted C-17s under Nos. 44 and 25 Squadrons were already fully committed to the war, flying every hour of the day ferrying supplies, equipment and evacuating wounded soldiers to safety. Now the Il-76s would help mark another debutant to the war…

The induction of 119HU into Ladakh was currently underway. Six helicopters had been literally pulled off the production and testing lines for this job because the LCH was not yet fully deployed with frontline squadrons. Each of these six helicopters was either a production, testing or technology demonstrator vehicle. Therefore in many ways each helicopter was unique to the rest.

Weapons would be the key in their upcoming deployment.

The squadron, ground-crewmen were still taking delivery of the ready-to-fire rounds of the HELINA anti-tank missile that had gone into production just a year prior, being yet another piece of new technology being thrust into battle. Dutt had asked for volunteers from the HAL engineering staff to come with the squadron on the deployment and help maintain the helicopters since very few ground-crews had been trained on this new helicopter. He had found many willing employees in the staff. These HAL employees had already been working night and day to get the system up and running ever since the war started.

Desperate times for desperate measures…

“So how are we doing?”

Air-Marshal Subramanian asked as he walked over to Dutt. The latter pointed towards the first LCH being strapped to the floor of the cargo cabin of the Il-76 while another was being pushed into position behind it. Both helicopters had been stripped down and their main-rotors dismantled to allow them to be loaded into the transport.