January 2nd, 2024, 00:40 (Russia time: 00:40)

  Over the northwest end of Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia

  An hour after entering the large-scale aerial war, the New China’s various types of fighters were sortieing in the air above the northwestern tip of Hulunbuir as they joined the battle.

  When the New China Air Force reached the northwest end of Hulunbuir half an hour earlier, the Korean Air Force launched the 17th Fighter Wing from West Manchuria Anshan Air Base, the 8th Fighter Wing from Northern Zhou Sunan Air Base, the First Fighter Wing from Gwangju Air Base, and the 23rd Fighter Wing from Gimhae Air Base to greet the New China fighters.

  It is possible to say that the Republic of Korea’s air forces mobilized approximately 7.5 percent of the total Korean Air Force’s air power.

  The Korean Air Force fighters, which were dealing with nearly four times as many fighters from both countries, were busy handling various surface-to-air missiles soaring from the ground. It was a struggle because the stealth function was disabled as well.

  As a result, over 50 Korean fighters were shot down. Although the majority of the pilots were able to escape and avoid death, there were 13 confirmed deaths.

  In response, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Air Force Operations Command issued a strict order for pilots to unconditionally escape in the event of an emergency.

  Meanwhile, Russia’s and New China’s fighters suffered significant damage. Until now, the number of Russian fighters that have been grounded has topped 300 with the remaining power of the Air Force as follows: 28 Su-50 Pak-Fa fighters, 55 Mig-31BM Foxhound fighters, 42 Su-30MK Planker fighters, 18 Mig-37 MFI Siberian fighters, and 32 Su-25 Frogfoot fighters.

  Moreover, New China’s fighters, who only joined the battle 20 minutes ago, have already had over 250 fighter jets grounded.

  Even though they participated later, they suffered significant damage from the start because, unlike Russian fighters, they did not receive detection information from the Atlas reconnaissance satellites. Although they tried to detect using their radar by mobilizing all early aerial alarms, it was a one-sided massacre, similar to what happened during the first Northeast Asian War. Their latest stealth fighters, the J-20 and J-30, suffered the most, as the Republic of Korea Air Force prioritized them.

  Therefore, only 33 J-30 fighters survived out of 100, while all J-20 fighters were intercepted. Furthermore, only 123 J-8 fighter jets from the previous generation, 102 of the fourth generation J-10 fighter jets, and 54 J-11 fighter jets survived.

  When all fighters from Russia and New China, as well as the South Korean Air Force, ran out of mid- and long-range missiles, they engaged in full-fledged dogfights.

  More than 600 fighters from the three countries jumped into the fist of death, relying only on their armed guns and short-range missiles.

  It was just like during World War II when fighters attacked each other with their armed guns in a dogfight. Now, even though they were in the twenty-first century with different cutting-edge fighters involved in the battle, they had once again ended up in such a fight.

  The only difference was that they were struggling to hit each other due to the differences in speeds and unexpected high-level maneuvers resulting from the jets’ engine.

  Even though Korean fighters successfully shot down over 400 Russian and New China fighters, they were still outnumbered. As a result, they engaged in unfavorable battles, with at least three enemy fighters attempting to catch each Korean fighter.

  “Black Moon, East Point at distance 20. Ten enemies were confirmed! Check! Dogfight ready.”


  The Black Moon squadron also joined the dogfight, and the voice of the squadron leader Major Oh Gil-sung was heard in the squadron’s control room.

  They were up against ten Russian Mig-31BM Foxhound fighters, dubbed Mikoyan in Russian. Although they had no air-to-ground bombing capability, they had excellent aerial warfare performance, such as a high-performance interceptor with a maximum speed of Mach 2.83 and detection capability at a distance of 400 kilometers. It was also recently rumored that they now had air-to-ground bombing capability.

  As such, with their high performance in such a dogfight, they fiercely approached the Black Moon Squadron as soon as they detected them on their radars.

  Four of the ten Mig-31BM Foxhound fighters that arrived in less than a minute split up and flew to the Black Moon squadron’s left and right sides and attempted to catch their rear, while the remaining six advanced to the front of the squadron.

  The Black Moon squadron had exhausted all of its short-range missiles, including the S-AAM-50 Magpie Viperine, a short-range missile with a range of 50 kilometers, and they were left with only their 12-millimeter laser Vulcan beam. As a result, and under these circumstances, they were forced to make an emergency return to rearm, but unfortunately, they were caught in such a difficult situation.

  They were outnumbered and their stealth performance was disabled, causing them more damage than expected. Furthermore, because there were tactical bombers and strategic fighter-bombers deployed on the battlefield, they did not have time to leave and rearm.

  In such a situation, the Black Moon squadron could only ignore the four enemy fighters following them from behind and engage in a direct fight with the six fighters advancing toward them.

  The sudden alarm from a Vympel R-73 (AA-11 Archer) short-range missile sounded throughout the Black Moon squadron. It was the latest infrared-guided short-range air-to-air missile developed by Russia.

  “This is Black Moon One! Black Moon Squadron Music On! After the evasive maneuver, start firing.”


  “Black Moon Two! Copy.”


  “Black Moon Three! Copy.”


  “Black Moon Four! Copy.”


  The Black Moon squadron increased the output power of the SECM (radio disturbance system) to its maximum and began preparing for a high-speed evasive maneuver.

  Twelve Vympel R-73 (AA-11 Archer) missiles flew in a straight line, leaving a white smoke trail in the dark sky behind them. Accordingly, the squadron’s four fighters began the evasive maneuver and sprayed chaff and flares. The Vympel R-73 (AA-11 Archer) missiles then collided with the flares and exploded.

  The Black Moon squadron, which had successfully avoided the first missile attack, increased their speed to the maximum to avoid any further missile attacks and reached the six enemy fighters in front of them. As soon as Major Oh Gil-sung issued the shooting order, laser beams were fired from the 12-millimeter laser Vulcan.

  The four red laser beams penetrated the canopy of the four Mig-31BM Foxhounds in front and reached the rear engine area, causing them to explode.

  In the blink of an eye, the four Mig-31BM Foxhound fighters fell to the ground as a huge fireball, while the two that survived passed by them.

  At the same time, the other four Mig-31BM Foxhound fighters, who were following from behind, caught the rear of the Black Moon squadron and fired using their 23-millimeter GSH-6-23 Autocannon.

  Tracer ammunition flew along the rear of the Back Moon squadron.

  In response, Major Oh Gil-sung issued an evasive maneuver order to the squadron crew, which on many occasions, had previously been issued by Lieutenant Colonel Choi Young-ho.

  “This is Black Moon One! Black Moon Two, Three, and Four! Immediately catch the rear of the enemy with a straight rule-down maneuver.”


  “Black Moon Two! Copy that.”


  “Black Moon Three! Copy that.”


  “Black Moon Four! Copy that.”


  The Black Moon squadron, which had been avoiding the tracer ammunitions that had been following them by shaking the aircraft from side to side, lowered their output, rotated, and plunged toward the ground at a terrifying speed. When they reached a certain altitude, they immediately increased to the maximum output to center the aircraft and raise their noses.

  While that was happening, the four Mig-31BM Foxhound fighters, who momentarily missed the rear of the Black Moon squadron, descended while turning at the narrowest possible angle. However, their tail was exposed to the Black Moon squadron.

  Then, the four Black Moon squadron fired their 12-millimeter laser Vulcan beam again, directly penetrating the tail of the Mig-31BM Foxhound fighter.

  The fighters split into two and exploded into flames, almost like fireworks, and slowly fell toward the ground while emitting black smoke.

  Soon after, the Black Moon squadron was able to shoot down eight of the ten Mig-31BM Foxhound fighters, and when it was about to turn toward the remaining two, a warning from the Vympel R-73 (AA-11 Archer) short-range missile rang again.

  The last two Mig-31BM Foxhound fighters fired their last two Vympel R-73 (AA-11 Archer) short-range missiles. Therefore, the only armament left was the 23-millimeter cannon.

  Despite this, they chose to fight until the end rather than retreat. They were ready to shoot depending on the outcome of the missile launch.

  Meanwhile, the Black Moon squadron, which had been targeted by the Vympel R-73 (AA-11 Archer) short-range missile, sprayed chap and flare once more and began the evasive maneuver. The Vympel R-73 (AA-11 Archer) short-range missiles, on the other hand, kept aiming for the Black Moon squadron.

  However, the Black Moon Squadron’s CF-21P fighters were outfitted with a cutting-edge ACS system (anti-gravity control system). As a result, they were able to successfully avoid the two missiles using extraordinary evasive maneuver techniques that ordinary fighters were unable to imitate.

  Black Moon One and Two, which had avoided the short-range missiles, spun around and fired a 12-millimeter laser Vulcan beam on the two remaining Mig-31BM Foxhound fighters, which were attempting to follow the tail of Black Moon Three and Four.

  The canopy of the first Mig-31BM foxhound was penetrated by Major Oh Gil-sung’s red laser. As a result, the canopy frayed and only the body of the pilot, whose head had vanished, was left in the cockpit chair, causing the fighter to lose balance, crash into the ground, and explode.

  The other one exploded as the side fuselage was hit by the laser beam fired by Captain Ha Young-ju, the deputy commander of Black Moon Two.

  The Black Moon squadron, which unilaterally won the four to ten dogfight battle, received an emergency communication from Lieutenant Colonel Lee Jin-kyun of the 111th Fighter Squadron.

  “This is Super Moon Zero! Contact Black Moon! Multiple enemies and military transport planes confirmed at 3-0-5 azimuth, distance 77! Check! Black Moon Squadron! Go Fight!”


  Because the air battle was fiercer than expected, the military transport plane flying secretly from the rear was discovered late.

  “This is Black Moon One! Copy that!”


  January 2nd, 2024, 01:00 (New China time: 00:00)

  Outside Area 15 of Beichen District Industrial Complex, Tianjin, New China

  Team leader Park Gi-oong, who had safely escaped to the safety zone, took his smartphone out and turned the power on. It was turned off to avoid any unfavorable situations that might arise as a result of any unexpected calls.

  As soon as the smartphone’s screen turned on, there were notifications of missed calls and text messages.

  He checked his text messages first, and as he did so, his face turned gray, urging him to tap the call button.

  “Hello, it’s me. Is this for real?”


  “Hey, you punk! Why did you turn your phone off? Where are you?” nagged Team Leader Youn Tae-jin over the phone.

  “Stop nagging and answer me!”


  “Would that be a lie?”


  “Okay. Ah! Right. You! The two managers are alive.”


  “Really? Really?”


  “Yes, you punk! I was able to confirm that and their exact location.”


  “That’s a relief. Then there’s a lot to discuss. Come in!”


  “Okay.”


  Team Leader Park Gi-oong waved his hands in delight after hanging up the phone. He felt like flying in the sky on his way back to the safe house after his worries about what would happen if he couldn’t save them had faded.

  <‘It is a VIP rescue, which means the mobilization of all country resources. This would be more than enough!’> Team leader Park Gi-oong, who recalled the text from Team Leader Youn Tae-jin, walked faster……