Migug
The Republic of Singabolah Air Force struck at approximately 0745
hours on the 11th of July. The plan called for a simultaneous
attack on 10 Reichen airfields, in accordance with the concept of
breaking the enemy's air strength first and then turning to ground
support. The time was carefully chosen as being the moment when the
Reichens would least expected to be blitzed. Dawn, yes. Later in
the morning, possibly. But 0745 (MHZen time) was neither one thing
nor another, and, as a result, the majority of the Reichen pilots
and ground crew were either breakfasting or running odd jobs around
their base.
The attack was carried out by virtually every strike aircraft that
the RSAF could muster, supported by ample fighter protection. The
ground attack relied on F-16s, F-15Es and F-35s, with Eurofighter
Typhoons flying top cover. The attacking flights flew low and fast
to avoid detection by Reichen radar, but, as they approached their
targets, they climbed so as to become visible on the radar screens.
This was a deliberate maneuver, timed so as to give the Reichen
aircrews just enough time to run and board their machines but not
enough for them to take off. Thus the pilots would be trapped and
wounded or killed in their machines when the attacks took
place.
The first waves of Singabolean fighters met virtually no
opposition; many anti-aircraft batteries had already been taken out
by the Xing Shianan Airspike bombardment, and the only Reichen
aircraft to be encountered were four F-22s on CAP. These were
promptly shot down. Nine of the target airfields were struck within
15 minutes of the scheduled time, each being subjected to three or
four passes in which cannon fire and rockets destroyed virtually
every aircraft on the ground. This accounted for most of the
aircraft, which, since they were parked wing to wing on their
airstrips with no attempt at concealment or dispersal, were an
ideal target. The tenth field, Tamago, was shrouded in mist and the
Singabolean pilots had trouble finding it. Finally running out of
fuel, the aircraft gave up and returned to Singabolah.
One of the surprises also unfolded by the Singaboleans was the
employment of concrete dibber bombs to disrupt airfield runways.
This was a special bomb with a heavy pointed nose, fitted with
parachute brakes and rocket motors. Once released, it fell through
the air for a predetermined distance, after which a parachute
deployed to slow its flight, allowing it to turn in the air until
it pointed downwards. At this point, the rocket motors ignited and
the parachute was released, which resulted that the bomb was now
propelled straight into and through the concrete apron of the
runway. It passed into the ground underneath and detonated,
producing an earthquake effect which ripped out enormous slabs of
concrete and left massive craters in the runways. Some of the bombs
were fitted with delay fuses so that they came to rest in the
ground but did not detonate for three or four hours afterwards.
This normally coincided with the arrival of repair crews, who were
vainly trying to fill in the craters. The effect of the explosion
of the delayed action bombs was enough to send the maintenance men
running for their lives. Naturally, they were then reluctant to
approach the runways until they could be sure that they were clear
of bombs, which meant that the Reichens could undertake very little
effective repair work for the next several days.
As the first wave turned and made for home, so the second wave was
coming in, with some 10 minutes separating the two attacks. The
perfection of the organization was such that, as the second wave
struck, the third was well on its way, with the fourth taking off
and the ground crews awaiting the return of the first. This, on
arrival, was refueled, rearmed, and turned round to become the
fifth wave, striking some 50 minutes after the first attack. This
pattern was kept up for four hours, by which time almost every
plane in the Royal Reichen air force in 440 MHz was damaged or
destroyed. The RSAF had lost a bare 7 aircraft, with ground fire
accounting for 4 kills.