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After Gates took the blame for his resignation, it was Archibald who took over the Pentagon. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Although Archibald served in the military at a young age, fought in the Vietnam War, and received the Purple Heart, unlike Gates, he was a typical civilian official with little to do with the military. In terms of personal ability, Archibald is more similar to Rumsfeld, Gates's predecessor, who promoted the new military revolution in the United States, and is better at theoretical research on management and military construction.

What Archibald took over was an absolute mess.

When he took office, he first had to deal with the events that led to Gates' resignation.

Although Gates made up a very good excuse before leaving the Pentagon, as the investigation deepened, some news outlets have discovered the problem. For example, at the time of the incident, there were no large areas of thunderstorm clouds over the eastern Pacific Ocean. For another example, the fighter group is supported by a variety of support aircraft, such as early warning aircraft and tanker aircraft, and can bypass even thunderstorm clouds. For example, the F-22J is one of the most advanced fighter jets in the world, and it should not be so vulnerable even in the event of a thunderstorm, and the probability of twelve fighters being struck by lightning at the same time is almost zero.

Gates walked in time and with ease, leaving all the trouble to Archibald.

Wave after wave, wave after wave, Archibald has not yet sat on the hot ass, and new trouble has come. After Kojiro Ikawa's speech in New Delhi, everyone questioned the US authorities' arms sales to China, and even some members of the Myoke Party held that the sale of weapons and equipment should be restricted.

In his first month in office, Archibald barely left the Pentagon, not even a chance to return home for dinner.

Although he was defense minister, Archibald did not know the building, which was equivalent to five Capitols, let alone the inner workings of the building.

It's no surprise that few defense secretaries in history really know about the Pentagon.

In general, the Minister of Defense is in his office, and if necessary, other officials come and report to him. In addition to the office, the Minister of Defense most often visits conference rooms, restaurants and cafes. Because Archibald doesn't smoke, he rarely goes to the commissary.

Archibald didn't need to know much about the building, it was a matter for secretaries and bodyguards.

That morning, Archibald attended a special meeting to consider arms sales, including F-22J fighter jets and electromagnetic catapults.

The problem of the former is not very big, mainly because it restricts the improvement and upgrading of the F-22J and does not provide the three points and two batches of combat surname upgrade packages, such as the F-119-300 engine with greater thrust, fire control software for ground attack, tactical communication data system, and so on.

Mainly the latter, whether to sell electromagnetic catapults or not became a topic of controversy.

Although before Ikawa Kojiro came to power, the United States and the United States had reached an agreement to purchase three electromagnetic catapults from the United States with $1.8 billion, and they also signed an agreement of intent to purchase another six aircraft carriers to equip the six medium-sized aircraft carriers that the Navy planned to build.

Because at that time, the aircraft carrier construction plan had not yet taken shape, and there were no design drawings, so no one knew how big the aircraft carrier would be built and how many catapults would be loaded on the aircraft carrier. If similar to the French "Charles de Gaulle" class, only two catapults were armed.

It is a pity that instead of learning from France, he decided to imitate the "Queen Elizabeth"-class aircraft carrier.

According to the Thales Group's design scheme, if a catapult takeoff/interception landing is chosen, the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier will be equipped with three catapults.

It can be seen from this that from the very beginning, it was planned to build a medium-sized aircraft carrier with a displacement of about 60,000 tons.

Selling the catapult to Yuben is tantamount to helping Yuben build an aircraft carrier. You know, in the world today, only the United States has the ability to create catapults. Whether it is a steam catapult or an electromagnetic catapult, if it is to be developed by itself, the investment is huge, and it will take at least ten years or more.

The question is, should the United States help build the aircraft carrier?

Rationally speaking, it is impossible for the United States to stop the construction of aircraft carriers, especially when the mainland already has one aircraft carrier and will build two aircraft carriers. In Archibald's view, the sale of catapults only accelerated the pace of building aircraft carriers and did not change the results. Objectively speaking, the sale of catapults can prevent the number of aircraft carriers to be developed on its own, so as to control the number of aircraft carriers by selling the number of catapults.

Unfortunately, the American people, and those members of Congress who are driven by public opinion, do not think so.

A completely readable country, not controlled by the United States, and with aircraft carriers, threatens not only the mainland, South Korea, Russia, and other neighboring countries, but also the United States.

Thankfully, it's not Archibald's problem, it's Norris's problem.

All the Pentagon has to do is submit an assessment report on the sale of electromagnetic catapults to the White House, and the final decision is in the hands of the president.

By the time we finished discussing this issue, it was already afternoon.

Archibald missed lunchtime, but the Pentagon's restaurant serves meals 24 hours a day, and it tastes good.

After lunch, Archibald returned to the office.

Over afternoon tea, he flipped through the search report for the last F-22J. This is a weekly report that is submitted every Friday morning. The content has not changed, and the search is still unprogressing and continuing. The Pentagon officials in charge of the search did not forget to mention in the weekly report that the hope of finding the F-22J was very slim, and that it was a complete waste of federal resources to put dozens of ships and dozens of planes into the eastern Pacific.

Either way, the search will have to continue until all the areas where the F-22J can reach are searched.

It was at this time that the alarm went off.

Archibald was startled, immediately closed the papers, and looked out the window.

Although more than 10 years have passed since the 911 incident, and the small plane did not cause much damage to the Pentagon, as one of the witnesses of the incident, Archibald witnessed the whole process of the collapse of the World Trade Center in New York, and he still cannot forget that scene.

Before he could turn around, the bodyguards rushed in.

"What's going on?"

"Biochemical Attack Alert, we need to get out of here."

One bodyguard walked over and walked out by Archibald's arm, another bodyguard stood guard at the door, and there were four bodyguards in the hallway.

"Where are you taking me?" Archibald didn't panic, after all, he was a big shot.

"Get out of here and take you to a safe place."

As soon as they reached the end of the hallway, the walkie-talkie on the bodyguard rang.

"Understood...... Okay, understood...... Send the Minister of Defense over immediately. The bodyguard put away the walkie-talkie and led Archibald to the elevator.

"Where are you taking me now?" Archibald was a little annoyed.

"Just received information that both the Capitol and the White House have been attacked, suspected to be a large-scale terrorist attack, and we will now send you to an underground bunker."

"What do you mean?" Archibald had not worked in the Ministry of Defense before and was not very clear about the situation here.

"The underground bunker is very secure, with a completely isolated room, and we have to send you there for your personal safety. We'll send you back when the alarm is lifted. ”

Walking to the elevator, a bodyguard chased after him.

"What's going on?" The captain of the bodyguard who led the team asked.

"It has been determined that it is anthrax and the whole building is locked down."

Hearing this, one of the bodyguards immediately took out a gas mask from the suitcase with him and put it on the Minister of Defense first.

"A few of you stay here and help the rest of the people evacuate, and I'll send the Minister of Defense down." The captain of the bodyguard also put on a gas mask immediately after speaking.

The four bodyguards who had been guarding the corridor immediately went to look for the others.

Only four people entered the elevator, Archibald and three bodyguards.

"Minister, key!"

Archibald was stunned for a moment, and quickly took out the key he had placed. He had never used the key before, but knew it was used to start the elevator.

As soon as the elevator starts, it descends at a breakneck speed.

In less than a minute, the elevator was about one hundred and fifty meters above the ground. This is the Pentagon's underground command center and one of the safest places in the United States.

Outside the elevator were two soldiers of the National Guard, and when they saw the Minister of Defense, they immediately stood up and saluted.

Archibald waved his hand and followed the bodyguard into the underground bunker.

Archibald didn't notice that he was wearing a gas mask, and as he entered the hallway, the two bodyguards holding him glanced at the evacuation map on the wall.

Archibald had never been here, so he followed the bodyguards along the way.

After a few detours and two encounters with the officers and men of the National Guard rushing to the ground, the bodyguard stopped in front of a door and opened the door with the secretary of defense's key card.

"Minister, this is it."

Once inside, Archibald noticed that it was a very special room, two-thirds of which was occupied by a quarantine room.

The cell is completely airtight, even the steel doors are pressurized, and there is only a one-way transparent window.

"Minister, let's go inside."

"Need to go in?" Archibald feels very safe here.

"According to the rules, you have to enter this room in case of emergency."

"Why?"

"If the President and other federal officials, as well as members of Congress, are killed in an enemy attack, you are the Supreme Commander of the United States, and you must command the army here."

"But ......"

"Minister, it's the rule."

Archibald gritted his teeth, there are rules everywhere, and even the Minister of Defense has to follow them.

He had no choice but to enter the code on the control panel of the pressurized steel door. As Minister of Defense, the secretary asked him to set up passwords for these critical facilities.

After the door opened, Archibald entered the isolation cell.

When he came to his senses, he realized that the bodyguards had not come in.

Archibald pressed the switch on the intercom and said to the bodyguards outside, "Why don't you come in?" ”

The bodyguard didn't answer him, and there was a faint sound of electricity coming from the intercom.

"Hey...... You ......"

As soon as he spoke, Archibald saw that the bodyguards had destroyed the communication lines in the isolation room, and another had smashed the control panel of the gate with a fire extinguishing bucket.

At this point, the isolation room is completely isolated from the outside world.

(To be continued)