The official residence of the first auxiliary of the imperial capital.

"What do you think about this?"

While saying this, Zhou Yongtao put a pack of unopened cigarettes in front of Lin Shiping, and then went to open the window facing the garden.

This is obviously an excuse to block Lin Shiping's use of cigarettes.

The war has begun, and time is incomparably precious.

Even if Zhou Yongtao hates other people's smoking, he can only settle now.

Besides, Lin Shiping encountered a big traffic jam on the way over and was delayed for some time.

In Lin Shiping's words, when this war is over, we should really think about moving the capital, at least the administrative agency needs to be moved.

The population of the imperial capital has exceeded 20 million!

In this crowded city, more than 4 hours of time are wasted on the commute every day, and when it comes to major events, the whole city will be paralyzed.

The population density is too high, and there are so many places of interest that need to be protected, even with the world's most complex and largest urban rail network, it won't help.

A few days ago, Lin Shiping joked with Zhou Yongtao, saying that in order to improve the work efficiency of various departments, martial law must be imposed on the whole city.

In fact, Zhou Yongtao had already considered the matter of moving the capital, and he had also won the support of the two houses, but it was definitely not possible to implement it at this time.

As for martial law, it is even more unnecessary.

If anything, if it weren't for a major emergency, the traffic problem wouldn't be big.

Don't forget, the imperial capital time is 5 hours behind the battlefield time, so when Shi Zhiliang sent a message back, it happened to be the evening rush hour of the imperial capital.

If it's a little later, you'll miss the evening rush hour.

It's just that this matter can't be delayed at all.

After receiving Shi Zhiliang's battle report, Qin Fenglie immediately called Zhou Yongtao, and in addition to reporting the good news, he proposed to deploy the latest air defense system to Saudi Arabia.

That's right, it's the "DK-10A" long-range air defense system nicknamed "Archer".

This was jointly invested and developed by the Imperial Air Force and the Army, and several of the world's firsts and most cutting-edge long-range air defense missile systems were created.

First of all, for the first time, the system uses a phased array radar system.

Thanks to phased array technology, especially miniaturization and high integration, the search and irradiation functions are integrated for the first time, greatly simplifying the fire control system.

In addition, reliability has been greatly improved.

In addition, there is another first, which has not been verified in actual combat for the time being, but its significance and value are extraordinary, and it has the ability to intercept tactical ballistic missiles.

Actually, it was an unexpected discovery.

At the time of design, the Imperial Air Force and Army did not require the "Sharpshooter" to be able to intercept ballistic missiles, after all, the technology required was too advanced, and if it could not make a breakthrough within the specified development cycle, it would definitely drag down the entire project, or at least delay the service time of the "Sharpshooter".

Where did you think that when the military conducted acceptance tests, it was found that the system has a certain anti-missile capability.

Not very strong, but better than nothing.

According to the tests conducted by the military, the probability of a single shot killing of a ballistic missile with a range of less than 1,000 kilometers is about 60 percent, so theoretically using two "Archer" to intercept an incoming missile can increase the probability of shooting down to 84 percent.

For missile defense, this probability of shooting down is quite enough.

It is for this reason that, after completing the acceptance, the Army preemptively ordered a batch and equipped the main force to deal with the growing threat of ballistic missiles.

Interestingly, the Imperial Army has never paid much attention to ballistic missiles.

In the final analysis, it is nothing more than that the Imperial Army has never lacked fire support. In addition to a large number of artillery and rocket launchers, more than 1,000 helicopter gunships, and ready to receive air and naval support, there is no need for ballistic missiles for fire support.

As for the campaign-level fire assault, it is even less the turn of ballistic missiles.

The Air Force has so many bombers, as well as thousands of attack aircraft and multi-role fighters, all of which are used in traditional tactics for campaign-level assault missions.

According to the division of functions, the tactical aviation of the Air Force itself exists for the army!

In the establishment system of the Imperial Air Force, there was no place for ballistic missiles at all.

The lack of attention also has a lot to do with the combat efficiency of ballistic missiles.

Although in the later stages of the Polish-Iranian War, the Imperial Army completed the test of a medium-range ballistic missile with terminal self-guidance capability, and all the performance met and exceeded the design indicators, such as the hit accuracy was as high as 50 meters, and the combat reaction time could be controlled within 5 minutes, but in the end, the Army still did not procure, but after paying the relevant development costs, it was used as a technical reserve.

The point is, the cost-effectiveness ratio is too low.

This kind of medium-range ballistic missile, nicknamed "mountain fire" and with a maximum range of 1,400 kilometers, even has a unit price of 3.5 million gold yuan for bulk purchases, and it is the currency system of the 130th year of the new calendar, which is equivalent to the current 16 million, which is almost 20 times that of cruise missiles of the same range.

No matter how advanced the performance of the "Mountain Fire" is, its combat efficiency will certainly not be 20 times that of a cruise missile.

In the words of an army general, only in the absence of effective means of firepower will ballistic missiles be used as killer weapons, which have frighteningly low cost-effectiveness ratios.

Of course, this is also true.

Today, the most powerful Liang Xia army and the Nuland army in the world are not equipped with ballistic missiles on a large scale.

The Western Continent Group, led by the Empire, did have a large number of ballistic missiles, and the key was that the Western Army Corps really lacked effective means of attack.

This is especially true for many second- and third-rate countries.

In the Iran-Iraq war, the military value of ballistic missiles was proven.

However, strictly speaking, it can only be regarded as counter-evidence.

After entering the stage of strategic stalemate, because the two sides lacked the offensive means to break through the opponent's defense line and were unwilling to accept the fait accompli that they could not win, they could only shift their attention to the rear of the battle line in a vain attempt to bring the other side to its knees by striking at the opponent's non-military targets.

Initially, both sides also relied mainly on the Air Force.

It is a pity that in the face of the gradual improvement of the air defense system, the traditional penetration tactics are simply to send to death, and the battle loss rate is so high that both sides cannot bear it.

Against this background, both sides turned their attention to ballistic missiles.

Although the cost-effectiveness ratio is very low, there is no problem of being shot down, and there is no need to worry about pilot casualties or capture by the enemy.

In just a few short years, each of the warring sides procured and consumed thousands of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles.

Limited by accuracy, both sides use ballistic missiles to attack each other's cities!

By the end of the Iran-Iraq war, the Iraqi army still retained more than 1,000 "Scuds" imported from the Western Continent Group, as well as "Hussein" missiles that imitated the "Scuds."

If anything, these missiles are the trump card weapons of the Iraqi army.

Last month, when discussing military action against Iraq, the Army repeatedly emphasized the thousands of ballistic missiles that threatened no small amount.

In Qin Fenglie's words, even if those missiles could not change the outcome of the war, they could make the imperial army pay an even more painful price.

If you're lucky, a ballistic missile loaded with half a ton of explosives can kill hundreds of Imperial soldiers!

It is on this basis that Shi Zhiliang proposed to deploy "sharpshooters" to Saudi Arabia when necessary to obtain the ability to intercept ballistic missiles.

Even if it's just comfort, it's much better than nothing.

Of course, for ballistic missiles, it is certainly not enough to just deploy "sharpshooters", and according to the routine of the empire, it is definitely necessary to consider the offensive first.

When drawing up the plan, the Air Force proposed that the "Zhan-16A," which had already been put into service, participate in the war and specifically carry out the task of searching for and destroying ballistic missile launchers.

The reason is also very simple, only the "Zhan-16A" has enough range and bomb load to perform this kind of mission.

The Air Force launched the "Advanced Multirole Fighter" project in order to obtain a tactical platform that can be used to perform battlefield breaking missions and can restrain the enemy's long-range projection weapons. In order to meet the design indicators proposed by the Air Force, the "Zhan-16A" received a bomb load of up to 13 tons while almost abandoning air combat capabilities, and after a single refueling in the air, the combat radius exceeded 2,000 kilometers.

All in all, Iraq's ballistic missiles must be treated as a threat and must not be ignored.

It is precisely for this reason that Qin Fenglie proposed that in addition to deploying the "Sharpshooter" system to provide air defense and anti-missile cover to important cities and military bases in Saudi Arabia, mainly in Riyadh and King Khalid Military City, it is also necessary to consider arranging for the "Zhan-16A" to carry out hunting missions.

In addition, a decision must be made as soon as possible.

In Qin Fenglie's words, after Zhou Yongtao's approval, it will definitely take some time to deploy, so there must be no delay in the decision-making process.

For this reason, Zhou Yongtao called Lin Shiping as soon as possible.

Looking for Lin Shiping, in fact, we want to find out how much of a threat Iraq's ballistic missiles really are, and whether there is no need to make a big move.

It's not that Zhou Yongtao doesn't trust Qin Fenglie, but he feels that the threat from Iraq is not so serious.

After all, Zhou Yongtao is a veteran soldier and a former marshal of the navy, and his self-confidence is not ordinarily strong.

At this time, what he needed was the professional advice given by Lin Shiping.

That's right, accurate intelligence.

"Admiral Shi Zhiliang's worries are indeed justified, and it cannot be said to be cautious." Lin Shiping took a long breath before he continued: "It's not 10,000 that I'm afraid of, it's just in case." ”

Zhou Yongtao didn't answer, and when Lin Shiping lit a cigarette, he got up and walked to the window.

If it weren't for the special situation, no one would dare to smoke in front of Zhou Yongtao.

In Zhou's words, no Navy soldier likes the taste of tobacco.

"According to the information we have, during the Iran-Iraq war, the 'Scuds' fired by the Iraqi army did not even hit tactical targets with a 1 percent hit rate, so they were not used to strike cities until the later stage. The problem is that our main military base, the King Khalid Military City, is more like a city, and it covers an area about the size of a medium-sized city. ”

"You're saying that Hussein will attack King Khalid military city with missiles?"

"If other countermeasures are not used, or are unreliable, this is his only option."

Zhou Yongtao let out a sigh, of course he knew why Lin Shiping said that.

In fact, after losing today's air battle, unless Hussein is willing to risk launching a ground offensive, or if the ground operation has achieved an unexpected gain, the only reliable counterattack weapon that can be relied upon in the absence of any hope of regaining air supremacy is ballistic missiles.

Even if it's just symbolic, it can boost morale.

At that time, the military city of King Khalid will definitely bear the brunt of the blow.

If anything, as long as the intensity of the missile attack on the city in the Iran-Iraq war is enough, it will be enough to give the imperial army deployed in the military city of King Khalid a pot.

So, what is there to hesitate about?

Sighing secretly, Zhou Yongtao turned to Lin Shiping, who was still swallowing clouds and spitting fog, and said, "First deploy 3 'sharpshooter' battalions, it should be enough, right?" ”

"It's not about 'sharpshooters.'"

"If we want to replace offense and defense, deploy the 'Zhan-16A' fleet in advance, and only use it to carry out the task of searching for and destroying ballistic missile launchers, it will definitely have an impact on other troops. Besides, it is planned to launch an air strike only after the 'iron wall'. ”

"Then shorten the combat time of the first phase."

"This ......"

"Seven days is indeed too much, if it can be done in three days, you can enter the second stage in advance, and first deploy the 'Zhan-16A' dedicated to carrying out strike missions."

"3 days is enough?"

"If that's enough, it's certainly not enough, but in the first few days, we can increase the number of bomber sorties and reduce the burden on the front-line combat troops."

Zhou Yongtao frowned.

"This also means that the war is definitely spending more than expected."

This Lin Shiping is also a sincere person, and directly said Zhou Yongtao's thoughts.

The purpose of the Advanced's seven-day "Impregnable" operation, that is, to stabilize the war situation through defense, is not to prevent the Iraqi army from moving south to attack the Saudis, but to buy time to complete the deployment, that is, the imperial army needs to spend seven days to deliver equipment and supplies to the Saudis.

This is mainly the logistics support equipment of the Air Force.

The transportation of all the support equipment of a tactical aviation wing with 60 combat aircraft from the Reich mainland to King Khalid Military City required 32 sorties by strategic transport aircraft of the Y-10 class, and four sorties per week thereafter to transport consumables.

As for why it is 7 days, it is the result of repeated deduction and calculation.

Compressing to 3 days will definitely have an impact, such as the fact that tactical aviation cannot be deployed in place, and it will not be able to reach a full combat state after it is deployed.

It is precisely for this reason that Lin Shiping proposed to increase the power of strategic bombers

This means that more cruise missiles need to be consumed!

The unit purchase price of an air-launched cruise missile is about 1 million gold yuan, while a 500-kilogram bomb of the same yield is 5,000 gold yuan at most, and even if it is a laser-guided bomb, the purchase price will not exceed 50,000 gold yuan, which is several orders of magnitude cheaper than a cruise missile.

With the massive use of cruise missiles, anyone will have a pain in the flesh.

But is there an alternative?

After pondering for a while, Zhou Yongtao made up his mind.

Of course, there is no need to give orders to Lin Shiping, and it is not Lin Shiping's turn to transfer troops.

After calling Qin Fenglie and asking Qin Fenglie to discuss with several chiefs of staff of the General Staff to deploy the "Sharpshooter" and "Zhan-16A" aircraft groups in advance by adjusting the battle plan, Zhou Yongtao also arranged a task for Lin Shiping to take the time to go to a few hardcore allies for a run.

There is only one task, so that those allies who are unwilling to send troops, unable to send troops, or do not send enough troops will bear more war expenses.

Of course, the opposite can also be said.

As long as you are willing to bear more war expenses and contribute more money, you can send fewer troops, or even no troops.

In modern warfare, it's all about money.