(There is another chapter)

And at this time, inside the command room.

Carl Thomas looked at the latest aerial image, and the expression on his face could be described as mourning.

Just now, the entire aircraft carrier formation can be said to have experienced the darkest 20 minutes in decades, everyone was ready for the possible onslaught, the speed at which the carrier-based aircraft were released reached the limit, the catapult device was put into use again before it had time to cool down, the shield ships were in full array, and even the nuclear submarines that were submersible in the distance were also in a state of combat readiness.

For the so-called sea trials of the other side, Thomas had been prepared for a long time, and he also expected that the other side would demonstrate like this.

Even further, he expected that the opponent's attack would "deviate" and fall on the periphery of his own exercise area, or directly near the island nation's fleet.

This is also the basis for his order to "not fight back".

Because he knows that the other side will not start fighting, and once his side takes the initiative to attack, at least in international public opinion, the justice of the entire action will be lost.

He just wanted to watch the other party get angry, and after seeing that the other party was trying all means but still couldn't provoke him, he was forced to choose the last way.

But it is clear that his calculation has failed.

The reason is simple.

The power of the other party's actions far exceeded his imagination.

Especially the scene on Chiwei Island can be regarded as an earth-shattering shock.

You know, it is a "giant" reef with a length of 500 meters and a width of 160 meters, even if the main body of this island is only a rocky mountain and the base is not very solid, but in Thomas's understanding, there is still no conventional weapon that can completely destroy it in a single attack.

——

But that's exactly what happened.

During the first batch of fighter reconnaissance, the FA-18 was unable to even find any traces of the island on the surface of the sea, and they reported in the encrypted channel in great horror that the island had completely disappeared.

The news almost scared Thomas out of his chair-—— what weapon could achieve such an effect?

Is there anything else that can be considered besides nuclear warheads?

For a moment, Thomas even wanted to report back to the Corner Tower immediately, informing them of a national emergency, sounding the alarm, and letting everyone on the surface take refuge in an underground shelter.

But in the end, he still did not give such an order.

There are three points he considers.

First, China's nuclear early warning system did not detect any signs of an ICBM launch, and the other side apparently was only acting according to a predetermined test plan.

Second, he never believed that his opponent really dared to provoke a war in this way.

In his view, even if the two sides want to make a move, it should start with a skirmish and gradually expand the conflict.

These skirmishes must have erupted because of the issue of civilian shipping routes, because this is the correct direction of development.

How can anyone come up and drop a nuclear bomb?

Even if it is your own side, even if you receive an active attack, you will not throw the last hole card out of your hand.

The exchanges between the two countries, whether they are peaceful coexistence or-for-tat, are a business.

Thomas believed that his opponent was a smart man and could not do business.

Third, the entire fleet, including the AWACS aircraft and fighters that were close to the waters off Chiwei Island at the time of the explosion, did not encounter the effects of EMP other than normal electronic interference, which is not in line with the characteristics of a nuclear bomb explosion.

——

And it turns out that his prudence and acumen have given himself and his country a chance.

After those two explosions, there was no other movement on the other side, and they even took the initiative to remove the electronic interference on the periphery and restore the direct communication channel between the two sides.

This undoubtedly shows that the other side has no intention of declaring war.

But how did that island not exist?

Thomas couldn't figure it out.

Judging from the latest photographs taken by the reconnaissance plane, the island did not disappear completely, and the attack should have hit the main mountain from the side, and then blew up the entire mountain, leaving a deep crater in the sea with a diameter of at least 15 meters and a depth of 3 meters.

According to the calculation of the power of the explosion at sea, the power of such an explosion reached at least 15 tons of TNT, which is close to the explosive power of a small nuclear warhead.

All-nitrogen anion salt bomb?

A thought flashed through Thomas's head.

He remembers that he had mentioned the concept not long ago during a technical training he attended.

According to information with very limited memory, the power of this explosive is indeed several times that of TNT.

That's right, that's the only explanation

Thinking of this, a fine bead of sweat suddenly appeared on Thomas's forehead.

He suddenly realized that if Huaxia really came up with a new type of explosive that was only slightly weaker than a nuclear weapon, the situation facing his side would probably be even more complicated.

Yes, this new weapon can completely bypass the nuclear binding of various countries and achieve the purpose of mass destruction.

In fact, the so-called nuclear bundling is not simply based on the characteristics of "nuclear" as the object of binding, but its essence is to restrict the use of certain weapons that are common to many parties and are sufficient to achieve mutual destruction.

But what if there is a weapon that is both powerful enough and unique?

At such times, it becomes extremely difficult to counter them.

You can't simply use the principle of nuclear bundling to limit this weapon, for the simple reason that it is impossible for many countries in the chain of nuclear bundling to reach a consensus in a short period of time.

It is impossible to make judgments and decisions in a timely manner, because there is a "total equivalent" issue involved.

The nuclear weapons retained by the world's nuclear-armed countries are based on the major cities and major functional areas capable of destroying all other nuclear-armed countries in the world.

In the logic of the balance of terror, once any country launches a nuclear weapon, the other nuclear-armed states will launch a nuclear bomb at all club members in a very short period of time, regardless of whether they are friends or enemies.

The purpose of this is to ensure that no one can survive a nuclear war and that no one can gain an advantage "independent of the battlefield".

But when it comes to new weapons of mass destruction, everything changes.

First, it does not have enough capacity to cover all nuclear-armed states.

Secondly, it has the characteristics of cleanliness.

This means that when a country that possesses such weapons declares that it wants to use such weapons against a certain country, then it must use them only against that country.

This is an alternative "security statement" and an extremely bizarre "peaceful deterrence".

It is completely different from nuclear weapons, and it gives other countries the opportunity to choose peace.

If the ultimate secret of nuclear weapons is "everyone will give me a burial", then the secret of the new weapon is "I just want you to give me a burial".

Yes, the US can certainly declare its insistence on a nuclear counterattack – or rather, it is almost a certainty.

But the problem is that this is an open and unquestionable decision.

So, 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 won't want to give the American side a funeral.

At this moment, Thomas fell into an ice cave.

He desperately hoped that the deduction he had made in a short period of time was wrong, but after thinking about it repeatedly, he found that this set of theories could not be more correct

So, he immediately turned his head and said to Gilday, the commander of the carrier-based aircraft formation standing on the side:

"We have to establish contact with the Chinese side immediately, and I suspect that they have mastered the fourth generation of nuclear weapons technology."

"We need to confirm their intentions and figure out what exactly they are going to do."

"This is by no means a trivial matter-—— immediately send someone into the waters of Akao Island to inspect the explosion site and confirm the power of the explosion."

"At the same time, report to the corner tower, ask for an emergency meeting."

"Tell them that 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 puzzled tone:

"Thomas, do you know what you're talking about?"

"Tell me, what do you mean by 'more dangerous than the Cuban Missile Crisis'?"

"This is a serious verdict! Once confirmed by the Corner Tower, the whole country and even the whole world may change because of it! ”

"Thomas, you're terrified, but they're just a simple attempt."

"Even before that, we had expected their situation, they would definitely go astray, their purpose was to threaten the island countries and make them disengage from us, didn't they?"

Shaking his head slowly but firmly, Thomas replied:

"The core of the issue is not where that 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, black gold, PBX, but an all-nitrogen anion salt, and possibly even metallic hydrogen! ”

"Do you know what that means? This is the nuclear bomb of the new era! ”

Gildy opened his mouth and didn't speak.

Thomas was about to continue explaining to him, but at this moment, the correspondent, who had been sitting on the sidelines and listening to the information of all parties, suddenly stood up and brought a message that he did not expect.

"Mr. Thomas, the Corner Tower has just synced the latest information with us."

"Fifteen minutes ago, the other side released an update on the test, in which 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 fall in the scheduled test area."

"The corner tower sees this report as a goodwill statement asking us not to engage in hostile actions for the time being, and at the same time, they have already begun to make contact with the Chinese side."

"Did they say, what the hell is that bomb?"

Thomas anxiously interrupted the correspondent's debriefing 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 it."

Hearing this, Thomas let out a long sigh of relief.

His emotions, which had almost collapsed to the limit, finally eased a little at this moment.

The fact that the other side did not publish information about the new weapon in open channels is definitely not motivated by the principle of secrecy.

On the contrary, in a way, it is a chance for yourself.

A chance to reconnect.

Judging by the Corner Tower's reaction, it was clear that they had already deduced the change in the situation from the latest intelligence, just like themselves.

And that's 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, notify the corner tower first and get their approval."

"Understood."

The correspondent turned to leave, and Gildy on the side was still confused.

He didn't understand the situation, let alone Thomas's expression.

He just thought the public report was a little funny.

"It's ridiculous, the weather affects the landing point? Will anyone really believe this kind of talk? ”

"What's more, this report alone is already inconsistent-—— saying that it was a great success, and at the same time saying that it was off target."

"I even have a feeling now that maybe they really caused a yaw due to an accident, after all, with their technology, it is already very good to be able to do this and let it fly into the sky."

"That's enough."

Thomas interrupted Gildy with a frown, and then spoke:

"Gildy, you're not an idiot."

"Before laughing at your opponent, you should at least figure out your situation!"

"Do you think they simply did a sea trial?"

"Do you know that our layout that lasted for dozens of months in the early stage was almost shattered?!"

"We can only try to salvage the defeat cautiously, and you, for God's sake, don't be stupid again, can you?!"

Gildy stood there with his mouth open, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Thomas, on the other hand, turned away and began to prepare for his pivotal call.

Of course, this is not the same as greeting between friends, just find the number and dial it.

There will be several more games between the two fleets before they can actually reach communication.

But Thomas was ready.

——

And apparently, he is not the only one who is ready.

At the same time that Thomas received the information from the corner tower, on the other side, the Liaoning formation had set sail again.

From the attitude of the corner tower, Luan Yijun knew that the No. 2 plan had achieved a complete success.

In that case, the time has come to reap the fruits.

(End of chapter)