93: The Armored Independent Regiment, making a name for itself in the desert!

Qin Feng's face was as cold as iron at this moment.

Although there were always accidents and losses in combat, losing a helicopter and its pilot still made him unwilling to accept it. He decisively ordered: "The self-propelled artillery of the First Battalion on the front left of our headquarters, calibrate your firing parameters, and conduct a saturation bombardment on the American military's missile launch point and nearby areas!"

"At the same time, send a team of mechanized infantry to the site to clear the danger."

As soon as Qin Feng's order was given, a battalion of artillery fire opened fire collectively.

Immediately, a large number of shells poured out and quickly reached the bombing area, blasting it into a dust cloud, making it impossible to see.

Meanwhile, a mobile unit consisting of several military Hummers, roughly a platoon, rapidly approached the area, crossing the desert and Gobi under the cover of artillery fire.

Soon after, the platoon leader reported on the channel: "We found two hidden American military anti-aircraft fire points and have cleared them."

The troops continued to advance, occasionally clashing with small American military units deployed in the field.

This continued until the ground forces had advanced two to three hundred kilometers in total, when, according to vanguard intelligence, a large-scale American military ground force was discovered.

Moreover, the American military was moving from north to south, while our side was moving from south to north.

They happened to meet halfway.

Qin Feng breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally, they could fight a proper battle.

Luo Hui, the frontline commander-in-chief of the Anti-War Army and commander of the First Combined Division, thought the same. Luo Hui issued an order: "All Anti-War Army combat units, prepare for battle."

"The combat objective is the American military's main ground force two hundred kilometers away—"

Soon after, both sides encountered each other on the unobstructed desert, set up their formations, and began to fight collectively.

As soon as the battle began, both sides started long-range artillery bombardment from a great distance.

Originally, this was on the United States' territory, so the United States should have had a better long-range artillery advantage.

But in the exchange of fire, the Anti-War Army side surprisingly gained the upper hand.

It was likely that the intelligence support on this side was more effective than the opponent's.

Afterward, the main forces of both sides approached to a distance suitable for "close combat," and entered a mode of fierce fighting.

Tank against tank, artillery against artillery, infantry against infantry.

For a time, the entire desert area was filled with artillery fire and smoke.

The battle was inextricably linked.

This battle lasted less than half an hour.

It wasn't that either side had completely determined the victor.

Instead, the unique desert climate caused a sandstorm in that area.

The sandstorm obscured vision, making it impossible to see more than a few meters away.

The battle between the two sides had to be temporarily halted.

And when the sandstorm stopped, the American military had already withdrawn.

Leaving behind many corpses, equipment, and damaged vehicles.

Qin Feng had his subordinates tally the losses and was moderately satisfied.

The losses suffered by their side were clearly smaller than those of the American military.

It seemed the American military had decided to retreat early on, but it was not suitable to retreat during intense combat; once they retreated, morale would plummet, and their formation would be in disarray, leading to a situation where they would be hunted down.

The sandstorm gave the American military an opportunity to escape.

Afterward, after roughly clearing the battlefield, the main force continued to advance north.

However, during the advance, Qin Feng occasionally looked up.

Because he knew that no matter how intense the ground combat was, or how brilliant the results, it was secondary.

In the sky, whether the Anti-War Army leader's fleet's visit was successful or not was the key.

And for that, his ground forces were beyond their reach.

—

Hundreds of kilometers north of central Australia, an aerial fleet was flying in an orderly manner at high altitude.

This fleet consisted of more than twenty dark gray bombers and more than twenty F-series fighters.

The bomber crews were in the middle, while other types of fighters were on the periphery, staggered at different altitudes.

Suddenly, an early warning aircraft at high altitude issued an alarm:

"Enemy aircraft signal detected 350 kilometers ahead."

"Preliminary assessment indicates an air force formation, with a detectable fighter count of 20, no, 30... 40, no, a confirmed formation of approximately 80 fighters!!!"

"The U.S. Military has dispatched an entire air force wing!"

Everyone in the fleet was shocked.

80 fighters, nearly twice the number of their own fighters!

Moreover, half of their fighters were bombers!

And the American military had clearly already detected their fleet.

After all, both sides used the same model of early warning aircraft; if you could detect me, I could detect you.

The lead aircraft of this fleet ordered: "All personnel, prepare for battle. Outer fighters advance to engage, other fighters prepare for combat!"

All fighter pilots responded on the channel: "Yes!"

They had only one thought in their minds: they must protect the leader to successfully complete this visit and exchange!

Soon, both sides entered each other's combat radius, and air-to-air missiles were launched toward the opposing formation.

In the high altitude, both sides' missiles and chaff blossomed.

Fighters were constantly hit and forced to withdraw from the battlefield.

Air Force Captain Yu Xu focused intently on the instrument panel and control console in front of her, gathering all situational information from the battlefield, and skillfully manipulating the fighter's stick. At the same time, she had to maintain a visual scan of the air outside the cockpit canopy.

Under her highly concentrated combat, the red dots representing the American military on the radar signal disappeared one by one.

One, two, three…

Although Yu Xu's combat skills were already top-notch, her luck was also exceptionally good today.

Many American military fighters were successfully shot down by her.

She even once weaved through the center of the American military formation, creating a great deal of chaos for the American military, and used aerial dogfighting to destroy American military aircraft at close range.

And due to her extraordinary performance and her penetration into the American military's formation, the American military's formation strength was not utilized most effectively.

In addition, the American military's command and combat fluency seemed to have some flaws, possibly due to communication issues. Despite having multiple times the number of aircraft, they became the passively attacked side.

Ultimately, the American military retreated across the board, fleeing in disarray after deploying many decoy flares.

According to their estimation, more than thirty American military aircraft were shot down, which was an incredibly miraculous combat result!

The most miraculous was Yu Xu, who shot down ten American military aircraft, earning her the top credit.

Of course, their side also suffered damage; a total of 5 fighters had to withdraw from the battlefield.

Including one bomber.

That bomber crashed to the ground; hopefully, the ground forces can recover the wreckage.

After repelling the American military's ambush, Fang Le's side had not been at ease due to their exposed position.

The American military, from a great distance, was sporadically launching air-to-air missiles and even land-based missiles.

Consuming their ammunition and fuel reserves.

It was clear that after the recent air combat setback, the American military was no longer willing to send out wing-sized forces for air combat, as the losses were too great, and the Anti-War Army's fighters seemed to be on a cheat code.

So far, the fleet has only flown just over 600 kilometers, and there's still a distance to go before reaching Australia's northernmost border.

Only by traversing the remaining leg of the journey and flying out of Australia's airspace will this visit be considered the first step towards success!