Combat

Boom!

Fire erupted along the hull of the 815A. After the flames subsided, several irregular holes, about 20 cm in size, appeared on the hull. The high-temperature combustion gases flooded into the 815A, causing a fire.

Thick smoke spread throughout the ship, and a shrill alarm sounded, indicating hull damage.

"Quick! Quick! Quick!"

Led by an officer, damage control teams, clad in heat-resistant suits and carrying portable fire extinguishers, rushed into the burning compartments without hesitation. They opened the extinguishers, spraying extinguishing liquid onto the burning equipment and dousing the flames. The thick smoke filled the cabin, quickly engulfing the figures of the few individuals.

"Report damage status!" the Captain shouted, listening to the blaring alarm.

"Fire on the port side, fire is currently under control! No water leakage detected!"

Hearing that the fire was under control, the Captain breathed a slight sigh of relief. Modern warships have many watertight compartments and excellent damage stability. The most feared thing is a ship fire. The 815A is equipped with numerous precision devices, and these delicate instruments cannot withstand the ravages of a major fire.

The damage was temporarily manageable. The Captain's gaze quickly shifted to the sky. He saw that the three unidentified aircraft that had just attacked them had pulled out of their dive. They executed an incredibly strange, small-radius turn in the air. The three aircraft separated, reoriented their noses towards the 815A, and prepared to attack from multiple angles.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The ship's onboard firepower continued to engage the aircraft, but not a single shell or bullet hit the unidentified aircraft. The barrels of the 12.7mm and 14.5mm heavy machine guns were glowing red. The soldiers had to adjust their firing rate to prevent the weapons from exploding.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

As the infrared seeker locked onto the target, a soldier, risking his life to set up a shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile on the flight deck, pulled the trigger. The missile shot out, chasing the tail of the unidentified aircraft. However, just as it was about to enter the proximity fuse range, short-range air-to-air missiles inexplicably exploded around these aircraft.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Consecutive explosions erupted on the deck of the 815A again. A 30mm single-barreled cannon was hit, creating a crater on its surface and damaging the transmission mechanism.

Several soldiers, ignoring the explosions around them, approached the damaged main gun under the guidance of a technical sergeant. The first thing they saw was a large hole blown into the base of the main gun, with some melted marks "welding" the base to the transmission mechanism. Fortunately, the ammunition drum was empty; otherwise, if the ammunition had detonated, the entire turret might have been blown into the sky.

"Gears deformed, transmission mechanism jammed!"

The technical sergeant, after a brief inspection of the gun mount's base, immediately concluded that this main gun could not resume firing in the short term. This further worsened the already insufficient defensive firepower of the 815A.

Whoosh! Amidst the whistling sound, roaring airflow struck the 815A. Several soldiers were knocked down by the wind and struggled to get up from the deck. They cursed as they watched the unidentified aircraft climb again.

"Damn it!"

So frustrating, so utterly frustrating! If they had the Type 1130 CIWS, they would have shot the enemy down long ago!

"What do we do?" a young soldier asked.

"Repair it!"

The technical sergeant shouted. In this situation, even if they knew it was impossible, they had to try!

"Captain! The port main gun is damaged and cannot be repaired!"

The Captain glanced at the soldiers who had been knocked down by the wind generated by the unidentified aircraft. They were struggling to get up and wiping the blood from their wounds. They had rushed back to the damaged main gun to attempt repairs!

"Where is our support?"

"Four Flying Sharks took off with ordnance 15 minutes ago."

The Captain looked at the damage on the deck. Similar to the damage on the hull, there were numerous 20 cm holes. This level of damage made it virtually impossible to sink the 815A, but the electronic equipment on board suffered greatly. Several of the four spherical radar radomes on top had holes, and the Gallium Nitride units were damaged, severely affecting radar performance.

This feeling of being slowly chipped away was unbearable – being attacked without being able to retaliate, only able to wait for the naval aviation's air superiority fighters to arrive.

"What about the Carl Vinson?"

Since the 815A could not be sunk in the short term, the Captain's tense heart relaxed a little. He then had the leisure to inquire about the Carl Vinson. Compared to the 815A, they were being besieged by these unidentified aircraft.

However, their anti-air firepower was very sufficient, and they also had carrier-based aircraft assisting in combat, so their situation should be better. Right? Looking at the towering black smoke plumes rising from the distant sea, such large black smoke could only be produced by a carrier catching fire.

Soon, satellite remote sensing images obtained through laser communication clearly showed that the flight deck of the Carl Vinson was ablaze, but there were no signs of capsizing. The specific extent of the damage was unclear.

"Severe electromagnetic jamming around the Carl Vinson, we cannot establish communication with it. The electro-optical system captured multiple targets being shot down in the air, all of them F/A-18s."

The attacks by these unidentified aircraft were bearable for warships, but they were fatal for fighter jets. As long as they were hit by a single shell, even if they didn't explode in mid-air, they would be unable to continue flying due to aerodynamic damage.

"Only F/A-18s?"

The Captain was somewhat surprised. The US carrier strike group was not just for show. The surrounding escort ships had been firing continuously; how could they not have shot down any enemies?

At this moment, above the Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, more than eighty elaborately designed unidentified aircraft were repeatedly diving and firing at the Nimitz-class carrier.

Explosions continuously erupted on its flight deck, hull, and island. However, like bee stings, the attacks were not fatal but caused severe damage to the flight deck, with thick decks being blown into holes about 15 cm in size.

The Hornets that had not yet taken off were shot down, igniting the entire deck. The flight deck turned into a sea of fire. Damage control personnel desperately sprayed water columns, attempting to extinguish the fire on the deck. The water washed fragments of Hornets into the ocean.

Boom!

Suddenly, a massive fireball erupted on the deck. It was unfortunate timing; the ammunition elevator was transporting missiles, which were piled on the deck and detonated when hit by an attack! All the soldiers within a hundred-meter radius were blown away by the shockwave, and some unlucky ones fell directly into the sea.

After the ammunition detonation, the previously somewhat controlled fire reignited, and a raging inferno burned on the deck again.

However, the battle was not over. ESSM short-range anti-aircraft missiles were launched one after another into the sky, and the Gatling cannons of the Phalanx close-in weapon system were desperately spitting out ammunition into the air.

The soldiers also grabbed their 12.7mm Lao Gan Ma and fired desperately at the sky.

Strangely, the projectiles fired by the Phalanx passed directly through the unidentified aircraft when they hit. Meanwhile, the previously fired Standard 2 missiles, in the complex electromagnetic environment, had their seekers interfered with and malfunctioned. Like drunken sailors, they either lost their targets and went into inertial navigation or plunged into the sea.