The White House, USA.

Defense Minister Hagel looked at the thick "Somali Military Strength Report" document in his hand, and his brows tightened together.

Now, when the three fully formed armored brigades of Ethiopia and the Somaliland armored brigade broke out in the largest tank battle in the past 20 years with the Red Guard Corps under Li Lan, the combat strength of the armored units of the Red Guard Corps was further exposed, which shocked the entire US military leadership.

The entire battlefield has always been under the high attention of US drones and spy satellites, and after the armored forces of both sides rushed together, this half-day battle was all recorded in detail. Not only the United States, but also China and Russia, several major countries, are also focusing on the battle in Somalia.

When the Rhino tanks were rampage in the T-72 and T-80 in Ethiopia, no one could be calm. In the eyes of many countries, the T-72 can be regarded as the originator of the third generation of tanks. Although decades have passed, it has long been in the limelight after it was designed, and it has been reduced by many people to a second-and-a-half-generation tank or a quasi-third-generation tank, but no one doubts that it still exists in combat.

Especially in the land of Africa, the T-72 and T-80 are invincible, and only Egypt, which is equipped with US M1A1 tanks, can overwhelm them. However, the Rhino Tank, a mysterious tank that has only been in the field of vision for less than a year, has already proven its worth in real combat while various countries are still speculating about its origin and performance.

125 mm gun, you can see it at a glance. But how powerful it is has always been a mystery before. The tanks of the second generation that struck the government forces of Bossaso do not give the world a clear understanding at all. Right now. This weapon made a name for itself in a duel with the T-72 and T-80 main battle tanks of the Ethiopian Armored Brigade.

The defense capabilities of the T-72 and T-80 tanks are actually about the same, and the frontal armor protection is not much worse than the current Russian T-90S. Naturally, the weak points that exist in all tanks, the T-72 and T-80 are also more noticeable.

However, it was the frontal armor that these two tanks were so proud of was penetrated by another mysterious tank, the 125mm high-pressure smoothbore gun and the high-performance armor-piercing projectiles produced by the base, which were able to effortlessly penetrate the frontal armor of these two main battle tanks. Or with reactive armor. And the Rhino tank's own protection capability has also been focused on by various countries, because the main guns of the T-72 and T-80 cannot penetrate the frontal armor of the Rhino tank. The Rhino tanks lost by the Red Guard Corps were all shot through the top or rear, so they lost their combat effectiveness, and none of the hit tanks suffered secondary injuries such as explosions. The ability to protect itself does not seem to be weaker than its own attack ability at all.

Moreover, the mobility and starting hit rate exposed in this battle also surprised Shijie countries with their advanced combat auxiliary system equipment. Just half a day. The Shijie countries have improved the performance of this tank by an indicator, confirming that it is already comparable to the performance of Shijie's advanced main battle tank.

If such a tank appears in the Shijie mainstream country, perhaps no one will be surprised, because the Shijie mainstream country. There is this jishu and funds to develop an advanced third-generation main battle tank. However, such a tank appeared in the Shijie of Somalia, under such factors. No one was able to remain calm in the face of such news, including the top of the United States.

Russia is also facing an awkward situation. Because out of more than 20,000 tanks in the Russian Army, there will be more than 80% of them. Can't compete with this tank. Even those derivatives such as the T-72 and T-80, which have been modernized, are definitely enough to choke in the face of the main gun of the Rhino tank. The tank's main gun, capable of penetrating the frontal armor of the T-72 and T-80, already means that it can threaten the safety of all main battle tanks on the tank ranking.

However, to the surprise of Quan Shijie, it is not only this mysterious main battle tank, but also the multi-functional infantry fighting vehicle that has exerted great combat effectiveness on the battlefield. From the video taken by the drone, such a conclusion can be clearly drawn. This is a very mature advanced combat vehicle, with the same body, but a variety of weapon modules, such a military industrial system is by no means accessible to ordinary people. In particular, the anti-aircraft combat vehicle, so that the Ethiopian air force does not even dare to attack at low altitude, accurate and intensive anti-aircraft firepower, so that the Egyptian fighter can only be in a high-altitude state, and the vigilance ability and fire control radar, very advanced, such a level, has been in the shijie first-class, can be compared, and only the chariot that ranks among the forefront of shijie can do.

Moreover, the long-range artillery, which made Ethiopia suffer a lot in this battle, also made the position of Shijie countries look sideways. Although artillery has been gradually replaced by missiles in modern warfare, no one dares to deny the status of artillery in modern warfare.

Especially those digital artillery, the artillery strength shown by the Red Guard Corps this time, even if it is the US Army, is nothing more than that. The large-caliber rocket launcher with an extremely long range is enough to make the US military's M270 lose its color, the only thing that is not comparable is that in this war, this mysterious rocket launcher has not fired missiles. And in ordinary rocket artillery, as well as in range and hit, the diversity and variety of shells are not at all worse than those of the M270.

This battle also tested the actual combat situation of the Chinese foreign trade Type 97 assault rifle, especially the Red Alert soldiers whose combat quality was unbelievable to the world, so that this war was full of incredible shouts everywhere.

Even the United States is constantly improving the assessment of the combat effectiveness of the soldiers under Li Lan's command. At this moment, this assessment of military strength in Hagel's hand has recorded in detail the various situations exposed by this kind of battle. U.S. think tanks have begun to comprehensively analyze the specific combat effectiveness of this army, and they are using the U.S. Army as a reference.

The results of this assessment greatly surprised and angered the US Army, because with the same weapons and equipment as a single comparison, the US military would pay an extremely high price if it wanted to defeat such an army. However, if the navy, land, air force, and missiles are used, then this army will not have any threatening capabilities.

Because in this battle, a big shortcoming was exposed, that is, this seemingly powerful army that attracted worldwide attention did not have other arms that were completely matched with it. There was no air force, there were no missiles, and even the air defense relied on artillery at medium and low altitudes to force back the enemy's air force. Such an army, if you compare the overall combat effectiveness, is nothing.

However, knowing this, no one can feel at ease. To be able to build such an advanced ground force, will there be no strength to build a navy and air force? And who in the end provided jishu and who is helping to build such an advanced military-industrial system.

China, the identity of the person behind it can no longer run away. As for some people who say that it was created by the Somalis themselves, no fool will believe it. Shijie's center is in Africa, and this phrase remains an international joke of the 21st century.

When Hagel finished reading the report, he couldn't sit calmly in his office chair, picked up the papers and hurried to Obama's office.

"Mr. President, I think there is a need to change the policy towards Somalia. We have miscalculated, very badly. As soon as he came in, Hagel went straight to the point, "The three-year estimate is the biggest mistake, we missed a very good opportunity, and it is an extremely stupid decision to support Awei and Ethiopia." So, we have to adjust as soon as possible. ”

Obama didn't say anything right away, but took the document from Hagel's hand, read it briefly, and then said: "Directly use force against Somalia?" ”

Hagel has always advocated that he should try to avoid military means if he can achieve his goals by peaceful means, which is his philosophy of governance and diplomacy. In this respect, he is the exact opposite of previous defense ministers. And this governing philosophy is the same as that of the first black president of the United States, although he and Obama are not the same party, but the two are relatively consistent on this point.

Therefore, after hearing Obama's words, he shook his head very dryly and said: "It is not yet necessary to use force, but Li Lan's existence has seriously threatened our interests in Africa and its neighbors, especially the position of the Gulf of Aden, and such a situation must not get out of control again."

Now the Ethiopian army has shown defeat, and the Ethiopian top brass has decided to withdraw the ground troops as soon as possible. However, the Egyptian military also assured us that the Air Force will intensify its attack on Somalia and will spare no effort to save face.

Once we use military means, I am afraid that the Chinese side will try to rebound, which is not in line with our strategy against China, and there is also an ambitious rise around us that is about to return to the Soviet Union.

In order to prevent things from getting completely out of control, what we need to do now is to increase diplomatic pressure so that China and Russia will retreat in the face of difficulties, especially China, and China will absolutely not be able to get rid of the weapons and equipment in this report. ”

"The situation is out of our control right now." After weighing it in his heart, Obama said very dryly and continued: "The current situation in Egypt, the Iranian issue, and the upcoming Jihua of the Ukrainian side, that place in Somalia is affecting the overall situation. In terms of diplomacy, we will let go of our bottom line, especially in the area of weapons, and resolutely not continue to get out of control, and at the same time warn China that if Li Lan's shili is further expanded, we will directly intervene. ”

"I see, where is Congress?"

"Congress will go and make a point, and at the same time order the Fifth Fleet's carrier strike group to go to the vicinity of the Gulf of Aden, and order the Sixth Fleet to prepare to go to the Red Sea to deal with any unexpected situation." After Obama finished speaking, he added: "That's our attitude." (To be continued......)