A few weeks later, the ship port.
The Reagan aircraft carrier fleet officially arrived at its destination, but unlike everyone's speculation, the aircraft carrier did not dock with great fanfare, but quietly anchored in the waters outside the port.
All supplies were transported offshore by Vietnamese ships, and the "personnel exchange" that had almost become a consensus was not implemented.
Vaguely, everyone seemed to smell a different smell.
The United States is not as firm as they showed at the beginning, and they are even deliberately keeping a distance.
This puzzled Ruan Yongliang, who was in charge of the reception, but he did not have much say and could only humbly follow Thomas's wishes.
In the bridge control room of the Reagan, Gilday looked at the fleet parked not far away with emotion, and asked with some confusion:
"Actually, I still don't understand. Since we have already achieved this step, why not just go one step further?"
"After all, we are already within their territorial waters. For most third parties, this is a complete endorsement."
"In this case, what difference does it make whether it docks or not?"
Thomas smiled and replied:
"That's the arrangement from the corner tower - actually, it has nothing to do with political signaling as you might think, it's purely for confidentiality reasons."
"The management of the Vietnamese is really chaotic. It's not like you didn't know what happened at the shipyard two days ago."
"Their military's control power has declined to an extremely terrifying and dangerous level, and it has even lost its most basic mission as the most powerful violent institution."
"In this case, how can we dare to get close?"
"Maybe there are some rats from China hidden in their ranks. Once they get on our deck, the problem will be serious."
"All right."
Gildi sighed helplessly, and after a moment of silence, he continued:
"So, our mission has officially begun? What are you going to do next?"
"The Vietnamese side hopes that we can put pressure on them to take back their detained crew members. It seems that we can't refuse such a request."
"It still needs to be observed for a while."
Thomas answered without thinking.
"Want to observe again? Do we still have time?"
"The current situation is very unfavorable to Vietnam. According to the latest intelligence, the first operating surface on Treasure Island has been cleared, and their operating machinery has also switched from the sea to the land."
"Their efficiency will be greatly improved in the coming period."
"If we don't step in as soon as possible, by the time they turn their 'expectations' into reality, we will never get another chance."
Thomas hummed and didn't answer.
In fact, he completely understood Gilday's concerns.
The so-called "island building" is, to put it bluntly, just a way to confirm sovereignty.
On this sea, there are countless islands and reefs, large and small, some of which are only a few centimeters above the water.
For such a reef, no matter how fiercely a country calls it, its sovereignty is actually vague.
To put it simply, whoever actually controls it can take advantage of it.
However, once such a reef is turned into an "island", especially as a result of active reclamation efforts, the situation is completely different.
The party that builds the island can not only take the initiative militarily, but also gain a greater say in legal matters.
After all, you can use force to fight for a rock, and it will only be defined as a "dispute" or "conflict."
But what if you use force to fight for an island?
That's "invasion" and "war."
This is why Annan will interfere with the island-building process at any cost, even risking his life.
They just want to delay the speed of "reefs turning into islands" until someone intervenes...
But
Do we really want to do this?
Thomas shook his head and replied:
“An opportunity is only an opportunity if it can bring benefits.”
“Are we really here to be the world’s policemen?”
"To put it bluntly, it's for our own benefit."
"As for why we have to stand still, don't you understand?"
"No agreement?"
Gilday asked with a frown.
"It was agreed, but circumstances changed and we wanted more."
"Why? I don't feel that the situation has changed. Isn't the situation on the sea always within our expectations?"
"No, the change is not at sea."
Thomas sighed and explained:
"We have received news that China is developing a weapon, perhaps some kind of medium-range ballistic missile, which can pose a major threat to our aircraft carrier."
"How can it be?!"
Gildy was shocked and almost subconsciously wanted to deny it.
"In their family of medium-range ballistic missiles, the only one that can pose a certain threat is the DF-15, but this thing has a limited range. According to our intelligence, its accuracy and penetration capabilities are also insufficient."
"Even if we modify it based on the DF-15, it is impossible to achieve a breakthrough in the short term. Are we too sensitive?"
Thomas fell silent at his words.
After a long time, he spoke:
"I also think it's too sensitive."
"But, think back carefully on what happened in the past two years."
"From the J-22 to the J-20B, when did we not feel that we were too sensitive, but what was the final result?"
"They even came up with drone swarm tactics two days ago. You know, this kind of tactic has always been in the corner report. We only imagined it, but it has never been applied in practice."
"And they are at least five, even ten years ahead of us."
"I don't think it's too much, no matter how sensitive, in this case."
"So, at least in the short term, let's follow the instructions from our superiors."
Gildy nodded heavily, and he suddenly felt that the pressure on him had inexplicably increased.
Even so big that it would crush him.
"Then we do nothing?"
"of course not."
Thomas looked at the sea in trance, as if trying to find the shadow of the small island in the empty sea.
"We can't be too radical, but when it comes to training, we still have to do it."
"Inform your carrier-based air wing to conduct flight and security training starting today."
"As for the training subjects, it is tentatively scheduled for low-altitude penetration."
"Target airspace. Treasure Island!"
Soon after, Treasure Island.
Feng Ping was doing the work in his hands with a leisurely expression. Compared to a few days ago, he was in a much happier mood now.
Not only did he teach those monkeys a lesson, he even captured all their people and turned them into our own laborers!
To be honest, at first he was quite worried that these monkeys would not obey the discipline, but after a few days, with the "combination of kindness and power", these monkeys were quickly controlled and became docile.
You don't work? Yes, I can't hit you, that's against international law.
But if I don’t give you food, you’ll have nothing to say, right?
It is a matter of course that labor is rewarded, and no one can say anything wrong about it.
Of course, if you don’t want to eat our food, that’s fine. You can just go fish it out of the sea yourself.
How do you say you fish it with bare hands?
What does that have to do with me?
You said I abused you? How did I abuse you?
I even provide a safe land so that you can avoid the threat of wind and waves on the sea.
If you are not satisfied with your stay here, go home.
Who stopped you?
Boat? What ship?
If you hit a car in a traffic accident on the highway, you have to impound the accident vehicle. You caused such a big loss, is there nothing wrong with me impounding your boat?
After such a combination of punches, dozens of monkeys will become honest in an instant.
Immediately afterwards, the project team showed another wave of humanitarian care.
As long as they work actively, they will receive preferential food and even be paid strictly according to working hours.
Although you cannot pay cash directly, you can use the note we issued and go to the embassy to collect the money after you land.
Working here for a day is much better than being a sailor for a day.
At least, every meal of the project team has meat, not the pig feed that is like water in your already rotten army.
Ever since, even within the captives, a wavering emotion was constantly growing.
One day, Feng Ping even heard that a prisoner was carefully learning Chinese there.
They may not be able to "obey God's power" so quickly, but at least some seeds have begun to sprout in their hearts.
After winding up the last bundle of cables, Feng Ping let out a sigh of relief, put down his work and walked to the side of the boat, planning to invite Feng Ru to have dinner together.
Feng Ru, on the other hand, was tinkering with the drone assigned to him with great interest. He followed the staff next to him to tighten the screws and adjust the remote control. It can be said that he couldn't put it down.
"Hey, boy, don't let others mess with you!"
Feng Ping said pretending to be serious.
Feng Ru turned around, smiled, and replied:
"Don't worry, Dad, I'm being careful."
"This was given to me by Liu Gong. He said it doesn't matter if it's broken. It's all disposable anyway."
"The first batch has played its role, and there will be more ones with better performance in the future."
"I heard that there will be non-lethal weapons pods in the next batch, so you don't have to crash into them one by one to lose your life."
Listening to the professional vocabulary in his son's mouth, Feng Ping felt happy and wanted to laugh.
"Do you know what a weapons pod is? You look like this. You've been tinkering all day long these past few days and you've just ignored everything on the ship?"
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. How can you ignore it? I'm just having fun. You're tired and tired. Please help me."
With that said, Feng Ru picked up the assembled drone, walked to the launch rail aside, locked the launch hook, and said:
"In the past two days, we have studied a method to make this thing land. We will test it soon. Would you like to follow it and take a look?"
"How to land? Don't mess up!"
Feng Ping was a little nervous for a moment.
He knows the value of a drone, and he also knows that in the current situation, the so-called "value" is far from being measurable by money.
Therefore, he was really afraid that his son would destroy this hard-won equipment and cause trouble to everyone.
"Don't worry, I won't do anything wrong--I'm not joking, I'm following everyone to help."
"Although these aircraft do not have landing gear, the overall structure is still very strong. We can just let them rush into the water, fish them out and dry them quickly."
"Don't worry, my skills are very good."
While speaking, Feng Ru had already pressed the launch button. After the fire flashed, the launcher was quickly pushed forward, and the drone was ignited and took off.
Other engineers also launched their flights one after another. In just a few seconds, more than a dozen turbojet-powered drones had flown up to an altitude of 100 meters, and the one-meter-long body had turned into a small black dot. .
The drones were flying up and down, and Feng Ping could hardly see their flying movements clearly, but his son could still operate them with ease.
He couldn't help but feel a little proud.
Who said that he, the son of a rough and tumble captain, could only continue to be a rough and tumble?
Now, he can also play with high technology, okay?
A smile appeared on his face, and he was about to step forward to compliment him, but at this moment, he suddenly heard an unusual roar coming from the sky not far away.
The roar was exactly the same as the drone just now.
But the volume is definitely much louder!
He looked in the direction of the sound, and his pupils narrowed instantly.
A plane is coming!
At the same time, he belatedly discovered that the surrounding warships had entered a state of emergency.
The muzzle of the gun was turned, the cover of the anti-aircraft missile was lifted, and the radar was constantly rotating, aiming in the direction of the aircraft.
He suddenly realized that something big had happened.
Those Americans are really here!
"Quick, take it back!"
He shouted anxiously, and Feng Ru also realized that something was wrong. He hurriedly manipulated the remote control panel, trying to lower the height of the drone, but just as he stared closely at the drone he controlled, What he didn't notice was that the three real planes were right on the descent route of the drone swarm.
The first lead aircraft passed by, and under the strong airflow, the drone instantly lost control and began to disintegrate.
Immediately afterwards, the two wingmen passed by one after another, and even made a provocative rolling movement.
In their eyes, these small and pitiful drones are like children's toys.
They don't even need to take action to play with it.
Feng Ru looked gloomy, he had lost control of the drone.
This drone was considered destroyed.
Sure enough, in the face of real strength, such small tricks are really not enough.
It's barely enough to bully monkeys, but it can't be used against Americans.
Feng Ru sighed and watched the drone fall into the sea.
But the next second, his eyes suddenly opened wide.
Because he saw billowing black smoke suddenly rising from one of the three planes.
"FUCK!!"
Gildy slapped the table hard, he couldn't believe what just happened.
Of the three planes sent out, one of them almost didn't come back without receiving any attacks! ?
And the reason is actually a bird collision! ?
How can this be? !
Not to mention whether there are birds on such a sea surface, even if there are, how could you happen to bump into them? !
You might as well go buy lottery tickets!
He looked at the three pilots who came to report with gloomy eyes. For a moment, he almost didn't know what to say.
He noticed the guilty look in the pilot's eyes, but at the same time he also knew that it was impossible to ask anything from their mouths for the time being.
The flight records showed no abnormalities and the cause of the accident was indeed the ingestion of foreign matter into the engine.
But is that really a bird?
Gildy took a deep breath and suppressed the turbulent emotions in his heart.
He had a vague feeling that this operation would not go smoothly.
We have just begun, and we have encountered such a small probability event. What happens next?
Or, in other words, is the low-probability event that I now think is really a "low probability"?
Perhaps, in a sense, this is actually a kind of...
inevitable?
(End of chapter)
