Their bombers were each carrying two YJ-12 "Eagle Strike 12" anti-ship cruise missiles. The YJ-12 had a maximum range of 400 kilometers, and carried a 551 lbs. high-explosive semi-armor-piercing warhead. The missiles could also travel at speeds of Mach 3.2 if launched from high altitude, making them very hard to hit. The Chinese Air Force had learned from the Russians the swift effectiveness of a missile swarm, and they planned on hitting the Americans with them as often as possible.
Twenty-eight hours had passed since the Americans had destroyed the city of Shenyang, and they were still determining how many people had been killed when the city was destroyed. Initial estimates had placed the casualties somewhere between four and five million. The people of China were shocked and then terrified when news broke of the city being bombed by a nuclear weapon. Then, as the images of the devastation-the dead bodies littered everywhere, and others with horrific wounds-began to circulate on social media, anger began to boil over. People took to the streets, demanding the government retaliate.
As Major Chen’s bomber droned on, they moved ever closer to the American battlegroup, which was in the process of steaming away from the Yellow Sea back towards Japan. When they had moved to within 300 kilometers of them, they started to detect the powerful American search radars. Several of the advanced reconnaissance aircraft turned on their own potent search radars, and immediately began to feed the targeting data back to their squadron. Chen’s weapons officer immediately programed the missiles and let him know they were ready for launch.
A voice came over the radio to the squadron. “Everyone, prepare to fire your missiles.”
It was a very tense 60 seconds, until the voice from the radio commanded them, “Fire all missiles and return to base!”
Chen’s weapons officer followed the order, letting loose the cruise missiles on board. Seconds later, Chen felt the aircraft lift slightly as the weight of those missiles was suddenly released from his wings. He saw the flashes as the rocket motors started and the YJ-12s began to move towards their cruising speed.
He nodded in satisfaction; all his missiles had been successfully launched without incident or failure. Then Chen turned the aircraft and began to head back to their base, presumably to rearm for another mission.
Ambushed
Commander Paul Jensen was on his last deployment with the Navy before he planned on retiring. This was his third deployment as the Captain of the USS Howard, and while he loved the Navy (and would probably be selected for Captain O-6) his wife and family were done with the long deployments and moving every three or four years. His kids were going to start high school soon, and his wife had told him in no uncertain terms that it was important for them to be able to settle down and stay in one place for a while. He knew she was right, and it would be best for the kids if he retired, but he loved the Navy; to be in command of a warship on the high seas was the most rewarding professional experience of his life. Still, he loved his family, so Jensen had determined that when he returned from this deployment, he was going to see if he could perhaps find a desk job that would allow him to spend four or more years on shore duty, until his kids could finish high school.
When the war in Europe broke out, Commander Jensen had seen this as an opportunity to serve his country one more time before retirement. When the 6th Fleet had been sunk by the Russians during the opening hours of the war, he felt simultaneously glad that he had not been assigned to the Atlantic fleet, and also angry that so many of his colleagues had been killed and he would not get a chance to avenge their deaths. However, just as he thought his ship might end up sitting out the war, tensions escalated quickly on the Korean Peninsula. It looked like Jensen and his ship, the USS Howard, would get their chance to fight after all.
Just as Commander Jensen was gearing up for battle, orders came down from General Bennett and the 7th Fleet Commander to change course. He received a FLASH message, which read, “All ships withdraw from the Yellow Sea immediately, and proceed to the Sea of Japan. Abort amphibious assault missions and move forwards with alternate battle plan B-11. Possible retaliation by the Chinese forces for attack at Shenyang eminent. Move at the maximum speed that can be maintained while continuing to sail in formation.”
Jensen had felt a huge let down after receiving this message, but he had changed course as ordered. It was still early in the morning, and Commander Jensen poured himself another cup of coffee from the hotplate in the Combat Information Center. As Commander Jensen lifted the hot liquid to his lips, he thought privately, “God, I just hope we live through the next week.”
The USS Howard had continued to screen the right rear flank of the 7th Fleet as they moved out of the Yellow Sea; any action could not be ignored at this point. All of the radar operators were extremely tired after pulling extra shifts; Petty Officer Maria Ramirez rubbed her eyes briefly, and then looked back at the computer display she had been monitoring. Her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her-there was, in fact, contact. At first, her screen just showed one large Chinese aircraft. Her systems showed that it was an H-6, which meant it was a bomber, but it was alone, so that would mean that it was most likely a reconnaissance aircraft monitoring their fleet. Then, as the aircraft moved closer to them, a new group of contacts began to appear. Her eyes grew wide as saucers as she started to count them. She immediately raised her hand to get the attention of the watch officer.
“What have you got for us, Ramirez?” the watch officer asked as he approached her console.
“Sir, a mass of aircraft just came into our radar range,” she responded as she showed him her screen.
The watch officer’s eyes got a little wider and he became nervous at what this might be. He immediately told Ramirez, “Move your screen to the big board in the CIC, so everyone can see what we are seeing.”
As the display screen changed, Commander Jensen immediately put his coffee down and examined the big board. He counted more than 60 Xian H-6 bombers, along with several reconnaissance aircraft in the lead.
“This is not a drill,” he realized. “The Chinese are launching a raid against the battlegroup.”
He turned to his communications officer. “I’m sure the rest of the fleet is seeing this,” he said, “but send a FLASH message, alerting them of a possible raid.”
Commander Jensen got the attention of his XO. “Bring the ship to Condition One. Sound battle stations for probable air attack,” he ordered.
Nearly five minutes went by as the Chinese aircraft continued to move closer to the fleet. They were still outside of their engagement envelope, so they needed to wait for them to get a little nearer before they could attack them with their missiles. While the Chinese bombers continued to move closer to the fleet, the carriers’ combat air patrol was being vectored towards the bombers, and additional aircraft were being scrambled. It looked like Admiral Kinkaid was not waiting for the Chinese to fire a missile before he scrambled both carriers’ airwings.
Suddenly, the USS Howard detected that the lead reconnaissance aircraft had turned on their powerful search radars.