Chapter 198 Is it really a bird that I hit?

Author: September Sauce

Chapter 198 Is it really a bird that I hit?

A few weeks later, the ship port.

The Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier fleet officially arrived at its destination, but unlike everyone's speculation, the aircraft carrier did not dock with great fanfare, but quietly anchored in the waters outside the port.

All supplies were transported offshore by Vietnamese ships, and the "personnel exchange" that had almost become a consensus was not implemented.

Vaguely, everyone seemed to smell something different.

The United States is not as firm as they showed at the beginning, and they are even deliberately keeping a distance.

This puzzled Ruan Yongliang, who was in charge of the reception, but he did not have much say and could only humbly follow Thomas's wishes.

In the bridge control room of the Reagan, Gilday looked at the fleet parked not far away with emotion, and asked with some confusion:

"Actually, I still don't understand. Since we have already achieved this step, why not just go one step further?"

"After all, we are already within their territorial waters. For most third parties, this is a complete endorsement."

"In this case, what difference does it make whether it calls port or not?"

Thomas smiled and replied:

"That's the arrangement from the corner tower - actually, it has nothing to do with political signaling as you might think, it's purely for confidentiality reasons."

"The management of the Vietnamese is really chaotic. It's not like you didn't know what happened at the shipyard two days ago."

"Their military's control power has dropped to an extremely terrifying and dangerous level, and it has even lost its most basic mission as the most powerful violent institution."

"In this case, how can we dare to get close?"

"Maybe there are some rats from China hidden in their ranks. Once they get on our deck, the problem will be serious."

"All right."

Gildi sighed helplessly, and after a moment of silence, he continued:

"So, our mission has officially begun? What are you going to do next?"

"The Vietnamese side wants us to put pressure on them to take back their detained crew members. It seems that we can't refuse such a request."

"It still needs to be observed for a while."

Thomas answered without thinking.

"Want to observe again? Do we still have time?"

"The current situation is very unfavorable to Vietnam. According to the latest intelligence, the first operating surface on Treasure Island has been cleared, and their operating machinery has also switched from the sea to the land."

"In the coming period, their efficiency will be greatly improved."

"If we don't intervene as soon as possible, by the time they turn their 'expectations' into reality, we will never find another chance."

Thomas hummed and didn't answer.

In fact, he could completely understand Gilday's concerns.

The so-called "building an island" is, to put it bluntly, just a way to confirm sovereignty.

On this sea, there are countless islands and reefs, large and small, some of which are only a few centimeters above the water.

For such a reef, no matter how fiercely a country calls it, its sovereignty is actually vague.

To put it simply, whoever actually controls it can take advantage of it.

However, once such a reef becomes an "island", especially if it becomes an island through active reclamation work, the situation is completely different.

The party that builds the island can not only take the initiative militarily, but also gain greater legal say.

After all, you can use force to fight for a rock, and it will only be defined as a "dispute" or "conflict."

But what if you use force to fight for an island?

That is "invasion" and "war".

This is why Annan will interfere with the island building process at any cost, even risking his life.

They just want to delay the speed of "reefs turning into islands" until someone intervenes...

But

Do we really want to do this?

Thomas shook his head and replied:

"An opportunity is only an opportunity if it can bring benefits."

"Are we really here to be the police of the world?"

"To put it bluntly, it is for our own benefit."

"As for why we have to stand still, don't you understand?"

"No agreement?"

Gildy asked with a frown.

"It was agreed, but circumstances changed and we wanted more."

"Why? I don't feel that the situation has changed. Isn't the situation on the sea always within our expectations?"

"No, the change is not at sea."

Thomas sighed and explained:

"We have received news that China is developing a weapon, perhaps some kind of medium-range ballistic missile, which can pose a major threat to our aircraft carrier."

"How is that possible?!"

Gildy was shocked and almost subconsciously wanted to deny it.

"In their family of medium-range ballistic missiles, the only one that can pose a certain threat is the DF-15, but this thing has a limited range. According to our intelligence, its accuracy and penetration capabilities are also insufficient."

"Even if we modify it based on the DF-15, it is impossible to achieve a breakthrough in the short term. Are we too sensitive?"

After hearing his words, Thomas fell silent.

After a long time, he spoke:

"I also think it's too sensitive."

"But, think carefully about what happened in the past two years."

"From the J-22 to the J-20B, when did we not feel that we were too sensitive, but what was the final result?"

"Even two days ago, they actually came up with the drone swarm tactic. You know, this tactic has always been in the corner report. We only imagined it, but it has never been applied in practice."

"And they are at least five, even ten years ahead of us."

"In this case, no matter how sensitive it is, I don't think it's too much."

"So, at least in the short term, we should follow the instructions of our superiors."

Gildy nodded heavily, and he suddenly felt that the pressure on him had inexplicably increased.

It was even so big that it would crush him.

"Then we do nothing?"

"Of course not."

Thomas looked at the sea in trance, as if trying to find the shadow of the small island in the empty sea.

"We can't be too radical, but when it comes to training, we still have to do it."

"Inform your carrier-based air wing to conduct flight and security training starting today."

"As for the training subjects, we will tentatively decide on low-altitude penetration."

"Target airspace. Treasure Island!"

Soon after, Treasure Island.

Feng Ping was doing the work he was doing with a leisurely expression. Compared to a few days ago, he was in a much happier mood now.

Not only did he give those monkeys a severe lesson, he even captured all their people and turned them into our own laborers!

To be honest, at first he was quite worried that these monkeys would not obey the discipline, but after a few days, with the "combination of kindness and power", these monkeys were quickly controlled and became docile.

You don't work? Yes, I can't beat you, that's against international law.

But if I don’t give you anything to eat, you’ll have nothing to say, right?

It is a matter of course that labor is rewarded, and no one can say anything wrong about it.

Of course, if you don’t want to eat our food, that’s fine. You can go fish it out of the sea yourself.

How do you say you fish it with bare hands?

What does that have to do with me?
To be continued...