At 12 o'clock Washington time, it was lunch time at the Pentagon, and the restaurants on each floor were bustling with people.

The Pentagon's buffet-style lunch format is not new, but it has caused constant criticism and dissatisfaction among the American public. The news media have also made many disclosures about this matter, especially the fierce criticism of as many as 100 styles of expensive dishes that suit the tastes of various ethnic groups, accusing the Ministry of Defense of wasting taxpayers' hard-earned money.

But the Pentagon has never given a positive response, and it is still unmoved, and even the variety is still increasing. The people of the United States can only stare and scold, but there is nothing they can do about the Pentagon.

The Pentagon is no more than the government represented by the elected president of the United States, nor is it better than the elected House of Representatives and Senate. They relied on their own real efforts to gain honor and status, and this kind of thing of adding a few more dishes could not shake their position in the army.

In a small dining room on the third floor, several major generals and lieutenant generals were randomly choosing their favorite food, chatting with each other and making small jokes with each other from time to time.

A colonel pushed open the door of the dining room and entered, looked around, walked quickly to a lieutenant general with a tray in his hand, and whispered a few words to him.

After listening to his brief explanation, the lieutenant general's hands trembled, and the steel tray in his hand fell to the ground, making a "clanging" sound, and several generals in the dining room looked at Lieutenant General Nikolai, chief of staff of the Air Force, with a gaffe expression.

The colonel, who was standing next to Nikolai, bent down to pick up the tray on the ground, handed it to the waiter who came by trotting, and waved her away.

"Gentlemen, lunch is now over, and I invite you to the meeting in Room K1, now. Please, gentlemen. ”

After speaking, Lieutenant General Nikolai walked towards the door of the dining room, communicating with the colonel who was with him as he went.

Several generals sitting at the table put down their knives and forks and put the cloth on their chairs. Leaving the table in an orderly manner and walking towards the door of the dining room. They clearly saw Lieutenant General Nikolai's gaffe just now, and knew that it was an accident that had happened in the Air Force, and it was still an important event.

Conference Room K No. 1 was not far from the restaurant, and in less than five minutes, the generals were already seated in their places.

The staff officers sent a piece of information to the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Nikolai. He looked down for two minutes before he said to the generals who were sitting on either side of the conference table: "Gentlemen, just half an hour ago, in the sky over the South China Sea, two F22s of the Air Force stationed at the Yokosuka Sea and Air Base were shot down by missiles, and it was neither China nor other hostile shili that shot them down. Rather, it is a missile launched by themselves.

I am as surprised as the generals that such an oolong thing happened to our United States Air Force, and it happened to two epoch-making fighters. I wonder if God happened to be dozing off and depriving our two good drivers of his protection. Let Colonel Beale give a detailed account of this tragic event to the gentlemen.

Colonel Bill, who was sitting behind the conference table, walked up to the small podium and began to tell the story of the fall of the two F22s. While explaining, he drew a schematic diagram on the electronic board behind him, so that the generals below could understand his introduction more intuitively. He explained for nearly ten minutes before he gave a military salute and walked off the podium.

After Lieutenant General Nikolai finished his explanation, Colonel Bill said with a heavy heart: "We should first pay a silent tribute to Major Johnson and Captain Williams, who gave their lives for Millican. ”

Lieutenant General Nikolai was the first to stand up, as did several generals and the staff and secretaries of the Air Force Secrecy Bureau in the conference room, who were responsible for recording and archiving. He took off his military hat and held it flat in his hand, bowed his head in silence to the two warriors who sacrificed their lives for Millican. Thirty seconds later, Nikolai raised his head and pressed his hands down.

"Gentlemen, please be seated. ”

When the generals sat down, Lieutenant General Nikolai did not sit down. Instead, he pressed his hands on the conference table as if he had started 100 meters, bent over and looked at all the participants who were staring at him.

"Gentlemen, the Investigation Bureau of the Causes of this tragedy will concentrate on Liliang to investigate. We do not comment on the causes of this tragedy, and we need to come up with a plan now. Make a decision about the fate of the F22 stealth fighter. ”

Major General Albert, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Air Force, stood up and said with an excited expression:

"Lieutenant General Nikolai, gentlemen, I am inconceivable at the tragedy that happened to the F22 fighter today. That seems like a bit of a coincidence. If one F22 encounters such a situation, we can also explain it with the possibility of probability, but at the same time, in the same event, two F22s encounter the same thing, which cannot but make people think deeply. Is this man-made, or is it the result of a flaw in the F22 itself? Any decision we make is likely to be wrong if we don't figure it out. ”

Major General Albert paused to see that Nikolai, who was watching his speech intently, and several generals did not interrupt his intentions, and continued on his own train of thought.

"In recent years, there have been many serious jishu accidents in F22, but we can all analyze in the first place where the problem may have occurred or what could have caused such an accident. But in this case, if those of us who have dealt with airplanes all our lives, as Colonel Bill described, who can say where the problem might have been?"

There was silence in the room, and no one tried to answer his question.

Major General Albert is the deputy chief of staff for aerospace and information operations, jihua, and demand, so what he said carries a lot of weight and has something to say.

"Whatever the cause of this accident, the F22 stealth fighters in the South China Sea region are no longer suitable to stay there, so I propose to immediately redeploy the F22 fighter squadron deployed in Yokosuka and temporarily suspend their flights and training. Waiting for the cause of the accident to be found out before resuming flight is responsible for our excellent pilots, and I don't want the tragedy of Major Johnson to happen again. ”

Major General David, deputy chief of staff in charge of strategic jihua and projects, took Albert's words and said: "But there is a real problem now, the situation in the South China Sea is becoming more and more tense, and the F22 is a strategic liliang to deter the Chinese army, and now the transfer of F22 fighters deployed in Yokosuka will have a significant impact on the situation in the South China Sea, and it will also have the greatest impact on our interests in Asia." Do the Ministry of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff agree to do this? I suggest that after the situation in the South China Sea is basically stabilized and the accident verification has reached a general conclusion or direction, we should consider grounding the F22 for maintenance. ”

Major General Ben Jason, Chief of Transport, said:

"There are a lot of weird things about this incident. For example, Johnson Weishenme was going to launch a missile, and he was not given that authorization when he received the mission. And Williams also fired the missile at the same time as Johnson, is it just a coincidence? I think there must be some kind of liliang here that we don't know about it, and even the direction of the missile. ”

Ben Jason's words detonated the conference room, and there was a "buzz".

"The Chinese military uses a new type of impulse weapon?"

"Computer virus attack?"

…

Lieutenant General Nikolai walked to the small podium and propped his hands on the podium in his trademark starting stance.

"Gentlemen, the Joint Chiefs of Staff will begin at 1 o'clock, and we will present our proposals to Admiral Gary Roheid, Chief of Naval Operations. So time is running out and we're not going to talk about why this happened.

Gentlemen. Let's vote now, and please stand up if you agree to immediately transfer the F22 out of the Yokosuka sea and air base and suspend the flight and training of the F22. ”

With the exception of Major General David, the remaining six generals present at the meeting stood up.

"Major General David, I will also reflect your opinion to Admiral Gary. We will leave the decision of Zuihou to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. xiexie generals. ”

After Nikolai finished speaking, he stepped down from the small podium and walked out of the conference room first.

At the same time that the United States Navy General Staff was holding an extraordinary meeting, the conference room of the Military Commission of the National People's Congress of China, which was thousands of miles away, was also brightly lit, and people came and went, and it was impossible to see that it was already more than 1 o'clock in the morning.

There are still less than nine hours left before the Chinese government's Zuihou ultimatum to South Philippine Bin Kingdom. The marines of the South China Sea Fleet have already entered the departure position and are on standby. The officers and men of the South China Sea Exercise General Headquarters were also sleepless all night, anxiously waiting for the decision of the Central Military Commission of the Central Committee of the People's Republic of China (CMC) at any time.

In a small lounge of the Central Military Commission, the head of Huaguo No. 1, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, Xi Diao Heping, and Chief of the General Staff General Liang Jianguo sat around a round coffee table. While drinking Yunnan Puer tea, he chatted about several interesting things that have happened in China recently.

"Old Liang, how long will it take for the battle to seize the island to be completed?" Vice Chairman Diao said to Admiral Liang, who was spitting clouds and fog while holding a cigarette.

"The War Department and the General Staff Department are rushing for time, and this revision is only a few minor changes to the original Jihua, and the issue of operational principles has already been determined at the meeting of the Central Military Commission just now. So it's still relatively simple to modify. It should be delivered soon. ”

Yesterday he received information from Minister Geng Mingri of the Ministry of State Security that Chen Yuxing had gone to the South China Sea in person. And personally gave an answer to the outcome of the South China Sea war.

General Liang is very concerned about the assassination incident in South Philippine Province, and the killed and injured Filipinos are all militants who are actively participating in anti-China activities, which has been confirmed by the personnel stationed in the Philippine side. He suspected that this shocking case might also be done by Chen Yuxing. Otherwise, no organization or even a state would be able to do this.

Therefore, Minister Liang did not pay full attention to whether the combat jihua was perfect, not that he did not attach importance to the formulation of the combat jihua, but that the formulation of the jihua was already very comprehensive.

Because some members of the Central Military Commission did not understand the real cards of the Chinese military, they put forward some opinions at the meeting of the Central Military Commission just now, but because they could not tell the truth, General Director Liang had no choice but to order the General Staff Department to make revisions in accordance with the requirements of the Central Military Commission meeting, but he himself did not take part in the revision work, but came to this small lounge with the leaders of No. 1 and No. 2 to chat leisurely, waiting for the completion of the revisions and issuing orders to the various units to carry out the work.

"Lao Liang, can you not smoke here, the two of us are not much younger than you, can you take care of our health. ”

Chief No. 1 stretched out his hand and fanned in front of him, indicating that he had been infested by secondhand smoke.

The top of Liang Jianguo's head is an exhaust outlet with strong suction, because Chief Liang is sitting here smoking, the secretary deliberately turned the exhaust to the maximum, and the smoke is floating away, and it is impossible to spread to the side of Chief No. 1, who is more than four or five meters away from General Liang.

"My chief, Lao Liang relied on this to refresh himself, I was already deflated enough at the meeting of the Military Commission just now. The two are magnanimous. Let me wake up, and you will suffer a little grievance. ”

Seeing this old man, who was almost seventy years old, he begged them pitifully, and the two chiefs both "haha" daxiao.

"Lao Liang, you are really disrespectful to the old, no wonder the regulations about quitting smoking are difficult to enforce, you people are resisting, it is strange that you can continue to enforce them. ”

"Chief, you are guilty of sin. ”

The three of them daxiao at the same time.

The two leaders also wanted to tease Chief Liang, and Li Zhuo, the secretary of the No. 1 chief, pushed the door and walked in.

"Three chiefs. The emergency military intelligence report in the South China Sea sent by the General Staff Department is requested to be signed by General Liang. ”

The two leaders looked at Chief Liang, and Liang Jianguo nodded to Li Zhuo.

In a moment, a colonel officer was led into the lounge by Li Zhuo.

The colonel officer saluted the three chiefs present.

"Hello chiefs. ”

Then he walked up to Chief Liang and handed Liang Jianguo a tightly sealed document bag.

"Please sign for it. ”

Liang Jianguo signed his name on the receipt and handed it to the colonel. The colonel saluted the three chiefs and turned to leave the lounge.

Liang Jianguo opened the file bag and took out the information, and looked at it first. It's not that he doesn't respect the first and second chiefs, because this is the procedure of the military intelligence system. It would be a dereliction of duty for him to let the two military commissions chiefs get the information first.

The military intelligence report only has two pages of A4 paper, and in order to take care of Elder Liang's dizziness, the document is still in No. 3 characters, and there are no more than 400 words on one page. Admiral Liang Jianguo watched it back twice, and the more he watched it, the more excited he became. The two eyes narrowed into a slit with a smile.

The two chiefs sat opposite General Liang, observing his emotional changes, although they saw Chief Liang's excited expression, they sat firmly on the Diaoyutai and remained silent. Show the style of a general. Admiral Liang Jianguo looked at it, closed the folder with a smile and handed it to Li Zhuo, who was standing not far from the three of them.

"Good news, two chiefs!haha, you better read the information first. ”

After speaking, he smiled and took out a cigarette from the cigarette case on the coffee table and lit it. Lean against the back of the couch. He seriously thought about the next course of action, and at the same time, he was also waiting for the two chiefs to read the information before discussing the follow-up military arrangements.

And the South China Sea Operation, which had not yet been revised, had to be revised again because of this information.

Li Zhuo came to the side of the No. 1 leader and handed the folder to the No. 1 leader.

The No. 1 leader opened the folder, read the two pages of information carefully, and casually handed it to Vice Chairman Diao, who was sitting not far from him. He is not as smiling as Chief Liang. Instead, he drank Puer tea with a solemn face.

Vice Chairman Diao read the document and looked at Chief Liang who was thinking with a puzzled face.

The different expressions of the three people only paused for a moment, and the number one leader spoke first.

"Xiao Diao, this intelligence involves a major confidential incident and person related to national security, because the General Staff and the national security department are still in the process of verification, and they are directly responsible for me. Therefore, he did not greet the relevant comrades of the Central Military Commission, and because this matter was particularly important, it was not appropriate to report it to all the committee members.

The more people who know about it, the higher the danger of leaks, and we have to guard against it. It is not a question of trust, but if this confidential incident is leaked, it may cause heavy losses to the state.

Xiao Diao, as a candidate for the next chairman of the Military Commission, it is time for you to learn about this confidential incident.

I now authorize General Minister Liang Jianguo to brief Vice Chairman Diao on the relevant situation. ”

The No. 1 leader said to Deputy Chairman Diao Heping very solemnly and solemnly.

Diao Heping, Vice Chairman Xi, straightened up and looked at Chief Liang Jianguo with inquiring eyes.

Liang Jianguo looked at Li Zhuo beside the No. 1 leader and the staff officers who were serving in the lounge, and motioned for them to go out.

"Xiao Li, stay outside the door and don't let anyone in. ”

Li Zhuo agreed, and exited the lounge with several staff officers of the major and lieutenant colonel in the lounge.

Liang Jianguo cleared his throat, took a sip of Pu'er, and said to Diao Heping's deputy chairman:

"Let's start with this information. Two of the United States' F22 stealth fighters were shot down by their own missiles in the South China Sea at the same time, and according to my analysis, this is not an accident. It's artificial. ”

Diao Heping's face was full of surprise, obviously stunned by Chief Liang's conclusion. He did not think that the chief of the General Staff, who was almost 70 years old, would blindly draw conclusions about a major incident. As for his daring to draw such a conclusion, it shows that he has sufficient grounds. Vice Chairman Diao Heping is looking forward to what gave General Director Liang the confidence to draw such a conclusion.

"Because he has the ability, and he can do it without anyone knowing. Vice Chairman Diao should still have an impression of Fengjing's 'Star Pharmaceutical'. ”

Lao Liang said with a smile, there is such an excellent enterprise in Huaguo, if I don't know, I shouldn't stay in this position. ”

"Vice President Diao Xi Yan is serious, the efficacy of the 'probiotics' manufactured by 'Star Pharmaceutical' can be described as remarkable. Will the current Earth Jishu be able to reach such heights?"

Diao Heping was shocked this time, and the face of the vice chairman of the state, who has always been known for his calmness, also changed drastically. He stood up from the couch.

"You mean alien jishu?" (to be continued......)