October 27, 1927. Ruthenian Empire, Heilongjiang Province of Manchuria.
It was twelve midnight in the evening and the staff of the Passive Electronically Scanned Array Radar Station scurried about as usual to get ready for their shifts starting soon. The men and women working on their computer stations got up and made way for the radar operators coming from the direction of the hallway who would replace them at their stations.
One of them is a man named Bruno, who was holding a hot coffee mug with its sweet fragrance perfuming the air.
"Something interesting happened?" Bruno asked the man by the name of Boris who simply stretched his arms and yawned.
"Same old, same old. An eight-hour boring shift with no news of any unusual phenomena," Boris said with an exasperated expression while rubbing his eyes. "I should've enlisted for the army instead. There, nothing is boring and you get to fight on the frontlines..." He trailed off and sighed again, shaking his head as if he were trying to wake himself up.
Bruno peeked at the monitor screen and saw a constant array of radar waves flickering through. No foreign objects were detected. He understands the situation of his colleague, their job is to look only at the monitor and watch for something that will threaten the national security of the Ruthenia Empire.
Though it was a noble job, protecting a country by watching out for unknown flying objects, if your job description is to stare at the monitor eight hours a day, then you will be tired of living.
However, no matter how mundane the job is, they knew both themselves that they are one of the crucial parts of national defense. Especially in the middle of the war when the Yamato could send planes over the Ruthenian territories and drop a bomb on them.
"I understand your struggle but you have to get up, my shift just started and I haven't logged onto the system yet," Bruno said.
"Oh yeah, sorry about that," Boris picked up his things as he stood up from the chair. "Good luck men, I guess I'll see you again tomorrow at midnight?"
Both of them chuckled lightly and moments after, Boris left to get home to his family.
"How envious," Bruno muttered under his breath as he sat down.
He put his coffee cup down and typed in the username and password of his account.
[Login successful] a message flashed across the screen, effectively starting his eight-hour shift that will last until eight o'clock in the morning.
"Okay, let the staring contest begin," Bruno murmured and stared at the monitor screen with his chin propped up on his palm.
***
Meanwhile, sixty Type 97 Heavy Bombers of the Imperial Yamato Army loaded with their 2,200 pounds of incendiary bombs and one hundred Mitsubishi A5M were flying fifteen thousand feet above sea level. Their mission was to bomb the Ruthenian City of Vladivostok and regions of Manchuria under the guise of the night.
On this day, there was no moon to illuminate the night sky as the clouds covered it. Making it very impossible for the Ruthenians to see their planes approaching their cities where the people sleep in their houses peacefully unaware of the dangers of their lives.
Though one must be wondering, why is the Yamato Empire targeting Ruthenian cities instead of giving air support to their troops on the ground facing the juggernaut machines of the Ruthenian Empire?
Well, the reason is quite frankly simple, they wanted to send a message to the Ruthenian Empire that their cities are not invincible and that they are within reach of their planes and blow them away whenever they like. Having innocent Ruthenian civilians killed in the bombing campaign like a huge blow to the face, especially when it is the people the Ruthenian emperor swore to protect.
Just like the Ruthenians did to the Port of Busan, the city of Vladivostok is a legitimate target as it houses naval facilities for the Imperial Ruthenian Navy as well as the Imperial Ruthenian Air Force. With this operation, they hope that the Ruthenian Empire will shift their attention to their real territories instead of an uncivilized peninsula which they are currently contesting with.
Once they completed the bombing campaign, the bombers will then head to the Choson peninsula to provide assistance to the troops on the frontlines to reduce the numbers of the Ruthenians who have been pushing the Yamato away from Sinuiju, thereby alleviating the Yamato soldiers' burden.
In their minds, the Yamato Empire think that this will be a perfect, flawless, and easy bombing campaign they are going to conduct. After all, it was dark at night, where even spotlights would have trouble searching for them.
Unfortunately, unbeknownst to the young men flying the Type 98 heavy bomber, their element of surprise has been long gone in the face of the X-band radar facility in Heilongjiang.
***
Back at the radar facility in Heilongjiang. Bruno was tapping his finger rhythmically against the surface of the desk before him as he tried to keep his mind occupied with the work.
At some point, it had become quiet enough that the noises from outside were drowned out by Bruno's own thoughts. It was only until the computer started beeping, indicating that the radar had detected an unknown flying object, snapping him out of his stupor.
He quickly rubbed his eye and pushed a few buttons on the keyboard to take control of the terminal he is operating.
Bruno felt his blood run cold.
A single dot was seen on the radar screen and in the blink of an eye, the dot now expanding rapidly, showing more and more dots joining one another.
One hundred forty dots or blips were shown on the radar. It was an aircraft not operated by Ruthenian Air Forces. He knew because the radar system is integrated with an identification friend or foe, which tells who is a friend and who is the enemy.
"I have to report this to my boss, quick," he muttered with a tone of urgency.
He immediately pushed the button that has the function of hailing his supervisor from his office. And just as intended, his supervisor got up from his seat and exited his office, and stridden across the hallways toward Bruno's station, ignoring the confused and bewildered looks of the staff around him.
The moment he arrived at Bruno's terminal, he asked. "What is it?"
"Sir, I've detected one hundred forty bogies two hundred fifty kilometers from," Bruno paused momentarily to take a look at the screen again. "From Vladivostok with a speed of one hundred fifty knots."
"Did you just say Vladivostok?" The supervisor narrowed his eyes as he took a closer look at the monitor screen. Bruno's words were true. "Shit...this is really happening. I have to inform the Vladivostok Air Force Base immediately."
"Maria! Patch me through to Major General Nikolay Kovalyov immediately!" The supervisor's voice boomed loudly in the chamber.
***
Ruthenian Empire Far East. Vladivostok Air Force Base.
"Okay, thank you for the information," Major General Nikolay Kovalyov put the phone down and turned around his men with a grim expression. "Our X-band radar facility in Heilongjiang just called me to inform me that there are one hundred forty Imperial Yamato Army aircraft heading toward Vladivostok. Sound the alarm, I want all of our aircraft in the air to intercept them and get all our men to man the anti-aircraft batteries. The lives of the people living in the city depend on us."
"Yes sir!"
