Novakovic only became nervous after NATO really showed a strong stance on using force to solve the Kosovo issue. In fact, it was not that he didn't feel NATO's ill intentions towards Yugoslavia at the beginning, but there was always a sense of luck that dominated him, thinking that NATO would not easily use force against a country with a weak military like Yugoslavia.
Although Yugoslavia has a population of only over 23 million, due to historical reasons, it operates a professional army with a strength of 180,000, including 155,000 soldiers. Through military cooperation with China, it has established a very modern and powerful army. Mechanized troops. Yugoslavia also has strong independent production capabilities for national defense equipment. In addition to being able to authorize the production of China's VT-1a/a2 tanks, it has also developed a lot of domestic equipment through imported technology, copycat Soviet-made equipment, and self-research. Including the BMP-2, which is a copycat of the Soviet Union, the "Iron Knight" infantry fighting vehicle developed based on the performance of the Chinese Type 04 tracked infantry fighting vehicle, and the truck's self-propelled 52-fold heavy-duty artillery "Mountain Fire", which are all weapons with good performance. .
Previously, China judged that if NATO wanted to intervene in the situation in Kosovo, it would most likely conduct non-contact operations without sending ground troops, that is, using missiles and fighter planes to conduct air strikes. Yugoslavia is not weak in this regard. Yugoslavia has many modified YUG-5 Jayhawk fighter jets, which are not inferior to Western fighters such as F-16 and Tornado fighter jets. Yugoslavia also has its own air defense force and equipment. There are a considerable number of former Soviet air defense missiles, as well as newer air defense missiles such as the Kaishan-1a imported from China. If NATO wants to launch an air attack on Yugoslavia, it must be prepared to suffer a large number of fighter aircraft losses.
But it is obvious that NATO has a lot of determination. Even if they know that they may face a conflict with China and Yugoslavia's own defense capabilities are not bad, they must carry out the operation to the end. Novakovic saw that NATO troops were frequently mobilized and had already made a gesture of sending troops to Yugoslavia at any time, and he couldn't help but panic. Only then did Novakovic remember that the only people who could help Yugoslavia at this moment were the Chinese.
When Qi Yiming learned that Yugoslav Prime Minister Novakovic finally came to the door of the Chinese Ambassador, he couldn't help but chuckle and said: "I don't usually burn incense and cram for things. I was discussing the mutual defense agreement signed in a good manner before. Now I am sure You can¡¯t sign like that. Explain what price you can raise, such as wartime command rights. The Yugoslav side must be in a subordinate position and obey the orders of our joint former enemy headquarters.¡±
Mo Xiantong was quite pessimistic and said: "Even if Yugoslavia is now willing to sign this alliance with us, they will not completely give up something. I am afraid it is necessary to spend a period of time deliberating and negotiating. And NATO is left to Yugoslavia. The ultimatum time is only five days, and it will be difficult for us to negotiate this covenant within five days. "
Qi Yiming didn't care, he said: "Anyway, NATO is willing to come and fight, and we will accompany you. Yugoslavia and our troops stationed in the south are not so easy to be flattened and rounded by NATO. We cannot defeat them through ground offensives." Yugoslavia, the possibility is very low. Our troops stationed in the south can also participate in the battle in the name of protecting the base. Anyone who is close enough to our military base and may cause harm to our base will be decisively expelled or even shot down. Theirs, we can fight ours, it may seem irrelevant, but it can actually be looked at in a framework.¡±
Mo Xian Channel: "Then we will officially go to war with NATO?"
Qi Yiming shook his head and said: "No, I think that even if NATO is brave, they would not dare to provoke our forces easily. We can suggest that the troops stationed in the south set up a warning zone within a certain range around the base. Any incoming aircraft flying into this area will be protected." All aircraft will conduct tracking and reconnaissance. If they attack us, we will fight back without mercy."
Mo Xiantong praised: "This is an excellent method. Although our bases in Split and Sarajevo are still some distance away from Kosovo, if a circular warning area is set up, then if NATO wants to avoid conflicts, It is necessary to go around our warning zone, which will inevitably shorten the action route of NATO air power, and also provide convenience and reduce the difficulty for the Yugoslav Defense Air Force¡¯s defense.¡±
"We can't rule out that NATO is really determined to pass over our heads, so let's have a good fight." Qi Yiming said calmly, without any nervousness or worry.
Mo Xiantong said worriedly: "But the air power of our troops stationed in the south is probably less than one-tenth of the air power dispatched by NATO. As you said, if NATO really passes through us, the number we can contain will definitely be limited. And if we set up a warning area and are arbitrarily penetrated by NATO, it will be a big blow to the prestige and morale of our army. "
"Well, your concerns are also a problem. Let's say hello to Yugoslavia immediately and say that our air force will be stationed in Sarajevo Air Force Base on a large scale.Let them know in advance. Well, in addition, take out an emergency exercise plan, pick one from the reserve database, and ask the Yugoslav People's Army to send a few units to conduct joint exercises with us. It must be a little deterrent to NATO. The main training subjects are air defense operations, including fighter aircraft expulsion and combat training, land-based air defense missile force operations, sea-based Aegis ship air defense drills, and the search for downed enemy pilots. Be more targeted and see if NATO is afraid. "
Mo Xiantong smiled and said: "If we carry out the exercise and NATO breaks its promise, I am afraid that we will not be able to survive in the world in the future. I guess it is more likely that they will bite the bullet and continue."
Qi Yiming said disdainfully: "I can't control what they do, but no matter what kind of enemy situation we face, we must take advantage of it and fight when it comes. If the enemy is weak, we will be strong. If the enemy is strong, we will be stronger. "
Under Qi Yiming's strong intervention, the Chinese PLA began to massively increase its troops to Yugoslavia. The Air Force dispatched two fighter aviation divisions and some other aircraft types to the Sarajevo Air Force Base, which was built by China and can accommodate nearly a thousand aircraft. The super-large air force base is also an important node for the Chinese Air Force in Europe. Usually, the troops stationed in the south station about two fighter aviation regiments and some transport aircraft, early warning aircraft, tanker aircraft and other types of aircraft here. There are more than 100 aircraft. This time they are facing In the event of a war that may break out at any time, the Air Force's large fleet of aircraft will take off from the mainland or nearby overseas bases. By then, more than 300 Chinese aircraft will be performing missions at the Sarajevo Air Base.
Not only that, among the fighters sent to Sarajevo, there are not only fourth-generation fighters commonly used by China in previous wars such as J-10 and J-9, but also the latest fifth-generation fighters. The J-11 Black Hawk, the fifth-generation heavy-duty air superiority fighter developed by China, was first revealed to have been officially put into service at the end of 1994. Of course, the Chinese Air Force has actually been playing with this fighter for a long time. The Air Force currently operates nearly 900 Black Hawk fighters, some of which It was originally supplied by Qi Yiming, and part of it was the local mass-produced model after the Black Hawk was officially finalized and mass-produced. There is no difference in performance.
In addition, the J-20, as a multi-purpose heavy fighter, has also been put into mass production and has entered service. The number of this fighter aircraft in service is less than that of the J-11. There are approximately more than 400 aircraft in service with the Air Force and more than 200 aircraft in service with Hainan Airlines. The other type, the J-31 Falcon fighter under the JAMTF program jointly developed by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, also completed various tests in mid-1998 and officially entered active service.
The large number of fifth-generation aircraft have matured, leaving China¡¯s large number of fourth-generation fighters in a rather embarrassing position. The Chinese Pla Air Force currently has more than 1,400 J-10 fighters, most of which are B-type fourth-generation and half-models, and a small number are A-models. The A-models are continuing to be retired. Even these J-10A aircraft are no more than 15 years old, and these The design life of the fighter aircraft is 30 years, and it is now less than half used.
There are 954 J-9 Shadow Leopards, the main heavy-duty fighter of the Air Force. Because China's fourth-generation fighters have strong multi-purpose performance, and the J-10's air superiority performance is also very good, the J-9 is responsible for ground attack missions in China. More than air superiority missions. The J-9 originally replaced the JH-7b in service. They are newer than the J-10a, basically less than 10 years old. They also have excellent performance and low deployment and maintenance costs. Although the Air Force has Production of this fighter aircraft has been discontinued, but there are always voices in the military demanding that these fighters be retained and try to retire them after they have served for more than 20 years. This means that most Shadow Leopards will be retired around 2010.
HNA is in a similar situation. As the main carrier-based aircraft of Hainan Airlines, the F-14 has not been discontinued due to the increasing number of aircraft carriers, and the fleet size has expanded to about 1,000 aircraft. Even though the next-generation aircraft carrier-based J-31 has entered service, and the Navy also has almost sixth-generation unmanned combat aircraft such as the Knight UAV, HNA still has no intention of retiring the Red Tomcat, which shows the Navy's love for it. .
HNA¡¯s old Flying Leopards have long been retired, some have been sold to allies, and most of them are staying in their country¡¯s aircraft graveyard and can be used at any time. HNA¡¯s main multi-purpose fighter is now the J-16 Super Flanker. Their main role is as a land-based multi-purpose fighter for anti-ship operations and base defense. There are 412 aircraft in total. In addition, the Navy also has about 100 carrier-based aircraft, the J-15 Flying Shark, which is paired with two ski-jump takeoff aircraft carriers. Counting this way, the number of fourth-generation aircraft in the Navy exceeds 1,500.
Calculated in this way, the number of fourth-generation fighters in the Chinese aviation force alone has reached 4,000. Coupled with the fifth-generation aircraft that have been equipped with more than 1,000, the number of Chinese aviation forces has surpassed that of the United States and has become the world's largest aviation power. This feat that China accomplished quietly has horrified the Americans. Therefore, in recent years, it has spared no effort in purchasing weapons and equipment, and its military expenditure has also increased rapidly.
The arms race between China and the United States is already well known.