[GZG] [Brushwars] First contact Pt.3 [sec=UNCLASSIFIED]

The pre-op briefing was grim.  Recon had the main Phalon forces
supplied with three heavy Zone Air Defence as well as their preponderance of
LAD systems. Even a combined salvo of every available missile was not
guaranteed to get through flak thick enough to walk on. "Our objective is to
destroy the ZAD to make followup missions easier. If we don't take them out
first try, continued air attacks will be expensive. As they can't keep them
active all the time, the plan calls for
Nap-of-the-Earth flying through the Alfalfa Hills and a combined
time-on-target salvo of anti-radar missiles followed up with an
immediate bombing run. Heavy tanks are a bonus, but kill those ZAD first! "Due
to the weight of fire needed, you will only be carrying two AA missiles, so if
you get jumped, cover your backs and disengage. Questions?" 'Hot Dog' raised
his hand, "What do we do when we run out of ammo?" "Come back for more, of
course. Any more *relevant* questions?"

The briefing continued for another 10 minutes of technical discussion about
the attack before pilots headed for their craft.

        As the last surviving fighter limped back to base, Lt-Col James
received Sqd Ldr Yaro's report.
        "...the NOE entry gave us just enough time to salvo anti-radar
missiles at the ZAD. We killed one and a second shut down or lost its search
radar; a single bomb as we overflew fixed that. The third one evaded somehow
and we started taking serious fire. We lost Ulaa and Irene at the end of the
pass. As we turned, a flight of three Phalon fighters were spotted, so I
detached Two Flight to keep them busy while One Flight made a bombing run.
That looks to have been a mistake as the APCs disgorged at least nine missile
teams; they're only small missiles, but enough to down a fighter if it hits a
bad spot. They hit lots of bad spots as we dropped the bombs. I lost all three
members of my own flight and both members of Three flight were badly damaged
and had to limp in. Good news, we took out the third ZAD and a few heavy
tanks. "Bad news; those Phalon fighters are better than we thought. Two flight
were only able to down one of them before breaking off and losing two of their
own to plasma hits. You can review the camera footage later. Anyway, they
broke off as soon as we cut through the valley over the little friendlies, so
we can probably do another sortie after some repairs. We're down to four
effectives and two downlined with major damage."
        Lt-Col James digested this for a moment, "Re-arm everyone for
CAP. We'll see how the ground forces do. A few prisoners would help us find
out whats going on."

After that SNAFU back on Kimpo it was good to have proper intel and flexible
engagement orders. Col Atkinson viewed the columns of smoke from destroyed
vehicles and ordered the Sabre scout platoon forward to find suitable ambush
terrain and estimate force strength. In a few hours, he'd know if it was
feasable to finish off this splinter force.

***

Next Issue: Phalon Mules rebel against their casualties.

Brendan 'Neath Southern Skies
http://home.pacific.net.au/~southernsk/

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