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.