bookrandom Chapter 468: Aviation Fuel Explodes Japanese Air Base
Chapter 468: Aviation Fuel Explodes Japanese Air Base
When the altimeter showed only 30 meters remaining, he decisively pressed the fuel release button. 3.6 tons of aviation kerosene, stored in the 600-gallon drop tanks on either side, poured out like a silver waterfall, instantly forming a curtain of atomized oil a hundred meters in diameter over the tarmac. Immediately afterwards, the F-35B's vector nozzles deflected violently in an X-shape, and the fuselage rolled rapidly in a textbook Herbst maneuver, carving a spiral path across the oil curtain and further expanding the fuel's spread. This combined stall reversal and barrel roll completely threw the pursuing Zero fighter off its intended trajectory.
"Baga! What's that guy doing?" Japanese wingman pilot Aoki's voice exploded over the radio, his pupils shrinking at the wildly fluctuating signal curves on the instrument panel. The Zero fighter's wings traced a distorted path through the oil mist, and the engine emitted an ominous throbbing sound.
Sato, the lead pilot, gritted his teeth and unconsciously rubbed the trigger on the joystick with his thumb: "Don't be fooled by the sleight of hand! Maintain formation! He can't possibly..." Before he finished speaking, the F-35B suddenly hovered vertically in an anti-gravity posture, and the vector nozzle on the belly spewed out a blazing tail flame.
"Impossible!" Aoki's exclamation, mixed with a sharp whistle, pierced the communication channel. The Zero's instrument panel began to flash wildly. Sato's knuckles turned white from excessive force as he watched the sci-fi fighter perform a Frolov Roulette stunt in the air, its gun pointed at them in an inverted position.
"Hurry up! He's going to..." Sato's warning was drowned out by the violent explosion. Amid the shrieking screams of armor-piercing incendiary rounds tearing through the air, the last thing he saw was the fireball exploding from his wingman's fuel tank—and below, the entire fuel mist was brewing a sea of fire powerful enough to engulf the sky.
The burning wreckage of the Zero fighter fell with a trail of smoke. Sato pulled the joystick with all his might, trying to avoid the fuel mist below. But at this moment, the F-35B once again demonstrated its amazing maneuverability. Lei Tao, maneuvering the fighter, appeared behind him like a ghost.
"Asshole! Don't think this is the end!" Sato's eyes were red as he frantically made evasive maneuvers. However, the Zero fighter was like a clumsy bird in front of the F-35B. Aoki's desperate screams came over the radio, and the sound was abruptly cut off by the explosion. Sato's heart suddenly shrank, and an unprecedented fear surged in his heart.
Suddenly, the fuselage shuddered violently, and all the warning lights on the instrument panel illuminated. Sato was horrified to see a second wave of armor-piercing incendiary rounds from the F-35B tearing through the air. He frantically tried to dive to avoid them, but the rounds traced a strange arc through the air, catching the Zero's right wing with pinpoint accuracy. With a violent explosion, the wing detached from the fuselage like a broken butterfly, and Sato's seat belt nearly cut into his flesh.
The out-of-control fighter plane spiraled downward, and Sato's vision spun. He reached for the ejection lever with a trembling hand, but the oncoming blast nearly knocked him unconscious. The sea of fire below gaped with its greedy maw, devouring his last breath. Before his consciousness faded, Sato vaguely saw the silver-gray fighter plane soaring towards the clouds, like a judge from the future, crushing him and his era to pieces.
On the ground, the ignited fuel mist transformed into a massive wave of flame, spreading wildly in all directions. The wooden hangar on the tarmac collapsed with a bang, twisting over thirty fighter planes into scrap metal in the flames. The scorching air blast overturned entire rows of fuel tanks. Japanese ground crew members screamed as they rushed from the burning control tower, their fireproof suits instantly carbonized by the scorching napalm. Ammunition carriers stumbled away, clutching bombs they hadn't managed to move, only to be torn to pieces by the blast from the secondary explosion.
Outside the barbed wire, soldiers from the security force frantically maneuvered their rifles amidst the thick smoke. Under the scorching sun, their gas masks barely concealed their terror. Someone tried to start the fire truck, but the metal, scorched by the intense heat, twisted and buckled like melted wax, sending scalding molten iron oozing down the ground. More soldiers, crushed by the heat, fell to the ground, their skin clinging to the asphalt as they struggled in agony, large swathes of charred flesh ripped off.
Interference ripples flickered on the F-35B's radar screen due to the intense heat. Through his infrared imager, Lei Tao watched as the entire airport was reduced to a seething sea of fire. Distorted figures twitched and writhed in agony within the blaze, ultimately being devoured by the merciless flames.
Above the airfield, blazing sunlight intertwined with the blazing flames of fire. Lei Tao's tactical goggles automatically adjusted their parameters. The remaining five Zero fighters, in a diamond formation, were closing in from three directions. Tracer bullets from their machine guns darted like red snakes in the sunlight. A shrill Japanese roar came over the radio: "Enemy aircraft detected on the right wing! Maintain formation!" A sneer curled Lei Tao's lips. He gripped the joystick tightly, maneuvering the F-35B with a textbook barrel roll, swiftly cutting into the enemy's blind spot. The Zero fighter's crude circular rear sight and cylindrical front sight were unable to capture the silver-gray phantom.
"Falcon 2, cover! I'll lead the dive!" the Japanese commander's roar cut through the static. "That monster is above the clouds!" Lei Tao sneered, yanked the joystick, and the fighter plane soared vertically to 3000 meters, carving a silver-gray trail through the clouds. When the enemy planes approached below the clouds, he suddenly shut down the engines and used his stealth coating to blend in with the clouds.
"Altitude 800 meters! Ready—" The Japanese pilot's shouting stopped abruptly. The moment the three Zero fighters passed by the bottom of the clouds, the F-35B activated its vector propulsion system and dived down in a nearly vertical attitude. The GAU-12 cannons under the wings roared, and dense armor-piercing incendiary bombs tore through the air with orange trails, instantly penetrating the right wing fuel tank of a Zero. "My wing! It's on fire!" The dying scream exploded over the radio, and the incendiary agent ignited the aviation fuel. The fireball wrapped in metal fragments fell to the ground, and at the same time crashed into the friendly aircraft on the right.
"Baga! Maintain crossfire!" The two remaining Zeros, along with the supporting fighters, formed a firefight. The pilots' rapid breathing mingled with the clatter of machinery. "Bearing 12 o'clock! Distance 500 meters!" Lei Tao, however, had already completed a Cobra maneuver, his nose raised 90 degrees and hovering. In the Zero's open cockpit, the pilots watched in amazement at this physics-defying maneuver, frantically turning the mechanical compass. "The target has disappeared! It's overhead!" Amidst a desperate cry, Lei Tao seized the moment the enemy plane stalled and unleashed a missile from under his wing, accurately striking a Zero's engine.
At the same moment, the searchlights of the ground anti-aircraft artillery positions suddenly illuminated, and four Type 96 anti-aircraft guns erupted in flames. A Japanese gunner screamed into his walkie-talkie, "Enemy aircraft spotted! Altitude 2000 meters! Bearing southwest!" But the electromagnetic interference released by the F-35B completely disabled their optical rangefinders, leaving only the crackling of electricity on the walkie-talkie. Lei Tao quickly switched to ground attack mode, and the AGM-154A unpowered Joint Standoff Weapon detached from the fighter's pylons. With its aerodynamic shape and initial speed, it glided towards its target like an arrow. It silently passed through the clouds and, at an altitude of approximately 500 meters, the missile body deployed according to the preset program.
Hundreds of bomblets fell like scattered flowers, their small stabilizers adjusting their stance as they dived precisely toward the anti-aircraft artillery positions below. As they fell, the bomblets accelerated, using inertia and gravity to accelerate them ever faster.
With a dense whistling sound, the bomblets instantly blanketed the anti-aircraft gun positions. Violent explosions echoed one after another, and flames shot up into the sky. The anti-aircraft gun barrels were twisted into various shapes by the impact of the explosions, and some were even blown off. The ground around the positions was also pitted and shattered, and soon turned into a sea of fire.
The last Zero fighter made a desperate attempt, the pilot's voice tinged with tears: "Long live the Empire of Japan!" He dived down at a near-vertical angle, attempting a suicidal attack to end both sides. Lei Tao's pupils constricted, and his fingers slashed across the multi-function control panel with lightning speed. The F-35B's vector nozzles instantly flipped 180 degrees, the thrust reversers let out a piercing scream, and the fuselage traced a right-angled line in the air that defied the laws of physics. The scorching wake swirled into a vortex, causing the diving Zero fighter to vibrate violently. Noda was horrified to discover that the attack route had completely deviated. As he frantically tried to adjust his posture, the hydraulic system was torn apart by the high-speed airflow.
"It's over." Lei Tao's voice was as cold as ice. With superb maneuverability, the fighter swerved sideways into the Zero's six-o'clock blind spot, its cannon barrels whirring with a beastly roar. Armor-piercing incendiary rounds ripped through the air, striking the Zero's wing root precisely—where the fuel lines met the hydraulic system. The instant the rounds penetrated the skin, the incendiary agent instantly ignited the leaking kerosene, sending orange-red flames cascading down the fuel lines into the cockpit.
The Zero fighter plummeted, trailing a twisting plume of black smoke, accompanied by the Japanese pilot's shrill screams. Its wings spun with dazzling sparks. The moment the fuselage impacted the mountain, it felt as if a searing chasm had been ripped open in the sky—a deafening roar ripped through the air, followed by a ball of orange-red fire soaring into the sky. The detonation of fuel and ammunition ripped the fighter into countless flaming fragments. Pine trees within a twenty-meter radius seemed to be snapped in half by a giant hand. Trunks half a meter in diameter toppled to the ground in the shockwave, their crowns tumbling down the mountainside amidst a cascade of debris. Wherever the blast passed, the dry grass on the ground was instantly reduced to charred ash. Even the oil drums on the tarmac a hundred meters away were overturned, their sharp crashing sounds echoing amidst the violent tremors.
Lei Tao pulled the joystick, and the F-35B nimbly avoided the flying debris. Its wings drew silver light in the setting sun and disappeared into the depths of the clouds.