Chapter Three - part nine

   China tried to resist being pushed out. They wanted to remain firmly entrenched in South Korea, but the people and the government now wanted them out! As the people began to push, China pushed back, and soon American troops were involved. That wasn't too bad at first. The world might see China as the big dog now, but China had no desire to start anything major with the United States while Russia was virtually and literally sitting on top of them too. The situation was still growing worse each day. China finally tried to establish a force along the South Korean side of the DMZ in order to keep a foothold. The South Korean military tried to force them back and that suddenly turned into a battle. It wasn't a major battle, but they were shooting at each other. The Chinese called in air support which drew an immediate response from both the South Korean and United States Air Force. The problem was the U.S. responded with the F-35's that were based in South Korea. The Chinese weren't intimidated or even concerned with those, any more than they had been with South Korea's even older jets. China had their best jets in the air and pointedly warned the American jets to stay clear of the immediate area. Soon there was an air battle in progress too. Several American jets were hit as were several of the Chinese jets. South Korea's jets had simply left the area shortly after the shooting began.

   That was when James arrived on the scene. A pitched battle was now going on both on the ground and in the air. But neither of the sides involved was aware that F/A-48's had arrived on the scene. James had four jets on his wing and Sarah had four more on her wing. The Chinese had scrambled everything they had based in North Korea. Even with a few jets damaged and returning to base they had at least a three to one advantage. James had been listening and watching as he flew into the area. He had done something that nobody would have expected or approved of. He had come in low along the coast of China until he reached North Korea. Then he had taken his entire flight down across North Korea itself. James had been moving fast, so it would be hard to pick them up along the coast, but they had slowed once over North Korea and came in at a normal cruise speed for a J-33 fighter. If anyone had noticed them at all, it might appear to be more reinforcements coming in from China. James had hoped to arrive either completely undetected or disregarded because of his trick. He quickly took action once he was in place and hadn't been seen.

   James and his flight of jets immediately dropped into position behind a group of J-33's. He had left Sarah's flight sitting in a high cover position as an added surprise if they were needed. As he dropped into the madness James spoke for the first time over the radio. He spoke over an open broadcast, so that all involved could hear him. "This is Ironman. I am squadron leader of the 77th fighter squadron of the United States Air Force. You have engaged and fired upon other United States aircraft. You will disengage and leave this area or we will remove you, with force if required. I will not warn you again. Break off and vacate this area. We will do the same once all of your planes and those you have attacked are clear of the area. Until you are again north of the DMZ you will be considered hostile and treated as such." The response was immediate and expected. The Chinese jets tried to break off from James, but still remain in the area south of the DMZ. James heard the commander of the Chinese jets giving orders, in Chinese for them to remain in the area, all while he called for more backup and asked the ground commander to try to get missile locks on the F/A-48's. James smiled and spoke again; in Chinese this time. "I speak Chinese and if you try to engage, or lock missiles, I will shoot down every jet and destroy ever ground unit that does so, with NO exceptions! This battle is over for you! Break off before it becomes much worse for everyone than it already is. If they could get a missile lock, they would have done it. I had a lock available on you and your wingman when I first broke silence. I still do have, if I am forced into this a fight you won't survive. Now break off!"

   This time the Chinese commander spoke in plain English over an open channel. "I am 'The Dragon' and I can't do as you ask. Our troops have come under fire and we will defend them. I suggest that you break off before this gets out of hand. We are only defending our troops. Have your people withdrawn from the battle and this will be over. You may have done well against old and outdated planes, but we are flying planes that can easily beat yours. My pilots are more experienced and we far outnumber you. Stand down before we are forced to show you how overmatched you really are." James had suspected this might be who was in charge. 'The Dragon' was the call sign of the top Chinese fighter pilot. General Chin Lo Sang was an ace several times over. He had been fighting along the borders of China for years. He had no less that 16 confirmed kills and was said to be one of the best pilots in the world. James didn't want this to become a bigger mess than it was, but he had orders to deal with this and deal with it he would!

   James replied to the Dragon in a soft calm voice as he sent encrypted text messages to his own flight and Sarah's. "Dragon, I have heard a great deal about you, but let me be clear. I cannot and will not break off. You must leave the area willingly or we will make you leave with force." As he spoke those last words James and his flight demonstrated how forceful an F/A-48 could be in a fight. They fired a single modulated pulse with no bullet. It wasn't even a burst, just a single pulse. Each of his flight had been targeting a separate plane and now all five of those planes were hit. One of them belonged to General Sang.  After that James continued speaking over open air. "That was a gentle tap on the shoulder General Sang. We have made significant improvements to our weapons. That was just a tap. It should have reset or disrupted most of your systems and it might have knocked some completely out, but you should have sustained no major damage. The next time I will order a slap. That will result in slightly more damage. Though still not extreme... it will be major damage! If you still choose to remain engaged after that; I will order my flight to throw a few punches. Those will do extreme damage and will likely destroy planes. If you still chose to remain south of the DMZ after that, then I will order all planes to engage and destroy. General Sang, I assure you I have spoken the truth. That was just a tap and as you no doubt know by now I have been able to remain locked on your jet and could easily destroy you. This is your last warning. I can and will do what I have said I would do... now please. Break off!"

    There was a moment of silence and then a sharp order in Chinese was given for the jets to break off and return to the north side of the DMZ. James waited a moment and then spoke again in Chinese. "General Sang, you have my respect and my thanks. I didn't want to start a war. Now I ask that you try to get the ground commanders to show as much wisdom and withdraw from the south side of the DMZ.  As soon as you are clear we will be taking up positions on the southern side of the DMZ and I have been ordered to assist in removing any unauthorized forces from the DMZ area. Please pass that along. I can and will obey my orders regardless of the final cost, Ironman out." In a few minutes the last of the Chinese aircraft had reached the North Korean side of the DMZ. The ground forces had ceased fire too, but it was several hours before they actually began to leave. That hadn't been a pleasant few hours and the days after weren't too pleasant for James either!