(One more chapter)
At this time, in the command room.
Carl Thomas looked at the latest aerial images returned, and the expression on his face could be described as mourning for his concubine.
Just now, the entire aircraft carrier formation can be said to have experienced the darkest 20 minutes in decades. Everyone was prepared for the possible impact. The speed of carrier-based aircraft flying reached the limit, and the ejection device had not yet It was put into use again as soon as it had time to cool down. The shield ships were ready for battle, and even the nuclear submarines lurking in the distance were put into combat readiness.
Thomas had already prepared for the other party's so-called sea test and expected that the other party would demonstrate like this.
Even further, he also expected that the opponent's attack would "deviate" and land on the outside of his own exercise area, or directly near the fleet of the island nation.
This is also the basis for his order of "no counterattack".
Because he knows that the other side will not start a fight, and once his side takes the initiative to attack, at least in terms of international public opinion, the justice of the entire action will be lost.
He just wants to watch the other party become angry and frustrated, and watch the other party have no choice but to choose the last path after exhausting all means but still failing to irritate him.
But obviously, his plan failed.
the reason is simple.
The power of the opponent's actions far exceeded his imagination.
Especially the scene on Akao Island is simply groundbreaking.
You know, it is a "giant" island reef with a length of 500 meters and a width of 160 meters. Even though the main body of the island is just a rock mountain and the base is not solid, in Thomas' knowledge, there is still no such thing as Conventional weapons can completely destroy it in a single attack.
——
But this is indeed the case.
In the first batch of fighter reconnaissance, FA-18 could not even find any traces of the island on the sea. They reported with great horror on the encrypted channel that Akao Island had completely disappeared.
This news almost scared Thomas so much that he jumped out of his chair - what weapon could achieve such an effect?
Besides nuclear warheads, are there any other considerations?
For a moment, Thomas even wanted to report back to the Corner Tower immediately, inform them of a national emergency, sound the alarm, and have all people on the ground hide in underground shelters.
But in the end, he still did not issue such an order.
There were three points he considered.
First, our own nuclear early warning system did not detect any signs of intercontinental ballistic missile launch, and the other party was obviously just acting in accordance with the predetermined test plan.
Secondly, he never believed that his opponent would really dare to provoke a war in this way.
In his view, even if the two sides want to take action, they should start with small-scale conflicts and gradually expand the conflict.
These small-scale conflicts must have broken out because of the issue of civilian shipping routes, because this is the correct direction for the development of the situation.
How could anyone just drop a nuclear bomb right away?
Even if it is one's own side, even if it receives an active attack, it will not throw away the last trump card without hesitation.
The exchanges between the two countries, whether it is peaceful coexistence or tit-for-tat, are all business.
Thomas believed that his opponent was a smart man and would not be able to do business like this.
Third, the entire fleet, including the early warning aircraft and fighter jets approaching the waters of Chiwei Island when the explosion occurred, did not encounter EMP effects other than normal electronic interference, which is not in line with the characteristics of a nuclear bomb explosion.
——
Facts have also proved that his prudence and acumen gave him and his country a chance.
After those two explosions, there was no further movement from the other party. They even took the initiative to remove the peripheral electronic interference and restored the direct communication channel between the two parties.
This undoubtedly shows that the other party has no intention of declaring war.
But why did that island disappear?
Thomas couldn't understand.
Judging from the latest photos taken by reconnaissance planes, the island has not completely disappeared. The attack should have hit the main mountain from the side, then flattened the entire mountain and left a hole in the sea with a diameter of at least 15 meters. A deep pit of more than 3 meters and a depth of 3 meters.
According to the calculation of the explosion power at sea, the explosion power of this kind is at least more than 15 tons of TNT, which is close to the explosion power of a small nuclear warhead.
Total nitrogen anion salt bomb?
A thought suddenly flashed through Thomas's head.
He remembered that someone had mentioned this concept in a technical training he attended not long ago.
According to the information with extremely limited memory, this explosive is indeed several times more powerful than TNT.
Yes, that's the only explanation
Thinking of this, a small drop of sweat suddenly appeared on Thomas's forehead.
He suddenly realized that if China really developed a new type of explosive that was only slightly weaker than nuclear weapons, then the situation facing him would probably be more complicated.
Yes, this new weapon can completely bypass the nuclear constraints of various countries and achieve the purpose of mass destruction.
In fact, the so-called nuclear bundling does not simply use the characteristics of "nuclear" as the binding target. Its essence is to restrict the use of certain weapons that are shared by many parties and are sufficient to achieve mutual destruction.
But what if there is a weapon that is both powerful and unique?
At this time, it becomes extremely difficult to counterattack.
You cannot simply use the principle of nuclear bundling to achieve restrictions on such weapons. The reason is simple. Many countries in the nuclear bundling chain cannot reach a consensus in a short time.
It is even impossible for one's own side to make timely judgments and decisions, because this involves a "total equivalent" issue.
The nuclear weapons maintained by the nuclear-armed countries in the world are all based on the ability to destroy the major cities and major functional areas of all other nuclear-armed countries in the world.
In the logic of the balance of terror, once any country launches nuclear weapons, other nuclear-armed countries will launch nuclear bombs at all club members in a very short period of time, regardless of friend or foe.
The purpose of this is to ensure that no one can survive a nuclear war and that no one can gain the advantage of being "independent of the battlefield."
But when faced with new weapons of mass destruction, everything changed.
First, its production capacity is not enough to cover all nuclear-armed countries.
Secondly, it has the characteristics of cleanliness.
This also means that when a country that possesses such weapons declares that it will use such weapons against a certain country, it must only use it against that country.
This is an alternative "security statement" and an extremely bizarre "peaceful deterrent."
It is completely different from nuclear weapons. It gives other countries the opportunity to choose peace.
If the ultimate secret of nuclear weapons is "Everyone will be buried with me," then the secret of new weapons is "I only want you to be buried with me."
Yes, of course the United States can declare its determination to launch a nuclear counterattack - or in other words, this is almost an inevitable choice.
But the problem is that this is an open and unquestionable decision.
Then, the most terrifying point came.
When China's new weapons are aimed at the United States, all countries that have the opportunity to choose peace will become enemies of the United States.
Because they don't want to bury the United States with them.
At this moment, Thomas felt like he had fallen into an ice cave.
He desperately hoped that the deduction he made in a short period of time was wrong, but after thinking about it repeatedly, he found that this theory couldn't be more correct.
So, he immediately turned his head and said to Gildi, the commander of the carrier-based aircraft formation standing beside him:
"We must establish contact with China immediately. I suspect that they have mastered fourth-generation nuclear weapons technology."
"We need to confirm their intentions and figure out what they are going to do."
"This is by no means a trivial matter - immediately send people into the waters of Chiwei Island to inspect the explosion site and confirm the power of the explosion."
"In the meantime, report to the corner tower and request an emergency meeting."
"Tell them we are facing the most dangerous event in thirty years, even more dangerous than the Cuban Missile Crisis!"
Hearing his words, Gildy's eyes immediately widened subconsciously. He looked at Thomas in disbelief and asked in a doubtful tone:
"Thomas, do you know what you are talking about?"
"Tell me, what does 'more dangerous than the Cuban Missile Crisis' mean?"
"This is a serious judgment! Once confirmed by Guolou, the entire country and even the entire world may change because of it!"
"Thomas, you're scared but they were just a simple attempt."
"Even before this, we had anticipated their situation. They would definitely miss the target. Their purpose is to threaten the island countries and make them disengage with us, isn't it?"
Thomas shook his head slowly but firmly and replied:
"The core of this problem is not where the attack landed - if it was just a normal missile, even if it landed on my deck, I wouldn't be as nervous as I am now!"
"But it's not...its charge is not ordinary TNT, RDX, or PBX, but a total nitrogen anion salt, and it may even be metallic hydrogen!"
"You know what this means? This is the nuclear bomb of the new era!"
Gildy opened his mouth but said nothing.
Thomas was about to continue explaining to him, but at this moment, the correspondent who had been sitting aside and monitoring the information from all parties suddenly stood up and brought him unexpected news.
"Mr. Thomas, Corner Tower has just synchronized the latest intelligence with us."
"Fifteen minutes ago, the other party released the latest report about this test. In the report, they claimed that the sea test was a complete success."
"However, due to many factors such as weather and electromagnetic interference, one of them did not land in the scheduled test sea area."
"Jiaolou believes that this report is a statement of goodwill, asking us not to carry out hostile actions for the time being. At the same time, they have also begun to contact the Chinese side."
"Did they say, what kind of bomb was that?"
Thomas anxiously interrupted the correspondent's report and asked impatiently.
The correspondent on the opposite side was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said:
"No, they didn't mention this."
Hearing this, Thomas breathed a long sigh of relief.
His emotions, which had almost reached their limit, finally eased slightly at this moment.
The other party did not release information about the new weapons through public channels, and it was definitely not out of confidentiality.
On the contrary, to some extent, this is an opportunity for oneself.
An opportunity to reconnect.
Judging from the reaction of the corner tower, they had obviously guessed the changes in the situation from the latest intelligence just like themselves.
This is a good thing.
Thomas nodded slightly and said to the correspondent:
"Try to contact the Liaoning aircraft carrier formation. I want to communicate directly with them."
"Of course, we need to inform the corner tower first and get their approval."
"clear."
The correspondent turned and left, while Gildy beside him still looked confused.
He didn't understand the current situation at all, let alone Thomas's expression.
He just thought this public report was a bit funny.
"It's really ridiculous. The weather affects the landing point? Will anyone really believe this?"
"What's more, this report alone is already inconsistent - it says it's a great success, but it says it's off target."
"I even have a feeling now that maybe they really caused the yaw due to an accident. After all, with their technology, if they can do this and let it fly into the sky, it is already very good."
"enough."
Thomas frowned and interrupted Gildi's words, and then said:
"Gildy, you're not a fool."
"Before you laugh at your opponent, you should at least understand your situation!"
"Do you think they just did a sea trial?"
"Do you know that our plan, which lasted for dozens of months, is almost going to be shattered?!"
"We can only try to save the situation cautiously, and you, for the sake of God, don't be stupid again, okay?!"
Gildy stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to say for a moment.
Thomas turned around and left, starting to prepare for his important call.
Of course, this is by no means a greeting between friends, where you can dial directly by finding the number.
Before communication is truly reached, the two fleets will face several games.
But Thomas was ready.
——
And apparently, he wasn't the only one who was prepared.
At the same time that Thomas received the message from the turret, on the other side, the Liaoning formation had set sail again.
From Guolou's attitude, Luan Yijun knew that Plan 2 had been a complete success.
That being the case, then now, the time to reap the fruits has arrived.
(End of chapter)
