Chapter 1096
The Fleet That Lost Contact
The war launched by the Eastern Wilderness Tribes was swift, but it also ended just as quickly.
The Eastern Wilderness Fleet, which was heading to Fish Island, was also completely paralyzed by the electromagnetic pulse, turning into a pile of scrap metal floating on the sea, and was surrounded by the Dragon Summer Fleet.
In fact, the war was already over when Su Dingping took out the core launch unit of the electromagnetic railgun, because it was a technological crushing victory, at least ten years ahead in technology!
While the military industrial blueprint forging space certainly played a role, the Dragon Xia tribe's unconditional trust in Su Dingping also contributed to this success.
Even if Su Dingping possessed extraordinary talent, another tribe might not be willing to dedicate the entire nation's resources to supporting him. Therefore, his relationship with the Longxia tribe was a two-way street.
"Young Su, you've done a great job this time!"
Xue Shuai shouted excitedly on the phone. Even he couldn't stay calm, because Su Dingping's latest invention might even change the future of warfare!
In the future, wars will no longer be filled with bullets flying everywhere, but rather a single electromagnetic pulse will paralyze all of the enemy's facilities!
"Commander Xue, this isn't over yet."
Su Dingping was equally pleased, but he didn't lose his head; his plan was only half complete.
"Haha, I knew you had ideas. Why don't you come to the army as a staff officer? I can make the decisions. You can choose any of the three branches of the armed forces: army, navy, and air force!"
Xue Shuai now admires Su Dingping even more. He originally thought he was just a talented kid, but Su Dingping's talent in scientific research is unparalleled.
I thought he was a scientist, but he's also a master of intrigue and backstabbing; he's practically an all-rounder!
But Su Dingping just smiled and said, "Commander Xue, if possible, I still want to stay in the laboratory. I know it's what I love most."
Xue Shuai sighed: "I knew you would make this choice, but my promise will always stand. As long as you want to come, the army's doors are open for you!"
"Thank you, Commander Xue."
"By the way, what are you planning to do next? Are you just going to keep following them around?" Xue Shuai asked.
Su Dingping did not answer, but instead asked another question: "Commander Xue, how many days can their supplies last?"
"About a month."
"Then surround them for a month, and refuse anyone who wants to negotiate!" Su Dingping said firmly.
Xue Shuai knew that the reason they were able to win so easily this time was because of Su Dingping, so he readily agreed to the request.
"Okay, no problem. I'm getting more and more excited to see what kind of big gift you've prepared for the Eastern Wilderness Tribe!"
After hanging up the phone, Su Dingping continued the experiment as if nothing had happened. Now they were going to conduct the third phase of the dragon scale material experiment.
This means raising the material sample to the decimeter level.
However, the Eastern Wilderness tribes were in chaos at this time.
"What do you mean by suddenly losing contact? Can they fly away?"
Noda Taro roared in the conference room, his eyes bloodshot, his face looking quite terrifying.
He thought the attack on the Longxia tribe was a piece of cake, but when both fleets lost contact and he couldn't get in touch with them, he realized that something was really wrong.
“Even if the Longxia tribe launched a counterattack, there should have been some news sent back!” Noda Taro coldly stared at the cabinet officials below.
A military officer stood up and said, "Your Excellency, it is indeed possible. If the enemy were to destroy all of our warships in an instant, it would have such an effect."
As soon as he finished speaking, the conference room fell silent.
A moment later, Noda Taro burst out laughing in exasperation: "Are you telling me a science fiction story? Destroy the entire fleet in an instant? Unless they use nuclear weapons!"
"But did you see the mushroom cloud rising?"
Their Eastern Wilderness tribe had experienced two mushroom clouds, and no one knew more about atomic bombs than them, so they were certain that the Dragon Summer tribe had not used nuclear weapons.
But the current situation is inexplicable!
Suddenly, Hiroshi Ishihara, the cabinet minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology, stood up and gently pushed up his glasses: "Your Excellency, there is actually another possibility."
"Oh?" Noda Taro adopted a listening posture. "I'd like to know what could possibly cause a fleet to lose contact instantly."
Hiroshi Ishihara softly uttered two words: "Electromagnetism!"
"At the last weapons exhibition of the Longxia tribe, they showcased an electromagnetic pulse weapon. Although it was only a single-soldier weapon, it shows that they have conducted research in this area."
"So if they didn't use nuclear weapons this time, then they used electromagnetic pulse weapons, instantly paralyzing our fleet!"
Noda Taro's face was extremely ugly. Hearing that the Longxia tribe had new black technology was more painful than being killed.
Is this really possible?
He had a brief understanding of the electromagnetic weapons that the Longxia tribe had sold last time. They had many drawbacks, such as unstable power and short firing range. Their only advantage was that using electricity was more economical than using bullets.
Therefore, he did not believe that the Longxia tribe could make a breakthrough in this area in a short period of time.
Hiroshi Ishihara sighed and shook his head: "With the technology of our tribe, it is impossible. I can't even imagine what an electromagnetic pulse weapon that can destroy a fleet in an instant would look like!"
"This kind of technology is at least ten years ahead of ours!"
Ten years may not sound like a long time, but tribes develop rapidly. They spent ten years developing an electromagnetic pulse weapon, while Longxia might have already upgraded to a newer version.
Upon hearing that there was a ten-year gap, Noda Taro's face instantly drained of color, and his heart was filled with despair.
But he quickly rallied his spirits: "We still can't be sure what the situation is. We need to send ships to investigate the waters around Diaoyu Island. We must find out the truth!"
"Perhaps it was just an accident with our fleet, or some other situation. In any case, it definitely couldn't be that the Dragon Summer Tribe has made a technological breakthrough!"
The military minister immediately stood up and shouted, "Yes, sir! Mission accomplished!"
The remaining ministers, though silent, were all secretly thinking that their current cabinet leader was truly deceiving himself!
Will they also commit seppuku like the previous cabinet members?
Unexpectedly, being a cabinet minister in the Eastern Wilderness tribe is a high-risk profession!
In the Donghuang Tribe Self-Defense Force, a patrol ship received orders and immediately set sail from the dock, heading straight for the waters around Kanyu Island.
After crossing the sea boundary, all the officers and men on the patrol ship became more vigilant, wary of the Longxia tribe's fleet while also gathering information about their own. Suddenly, a group of bright spots appeared on the radar. The officers in the control room counted the larger spots and found a total of sixteen, representing sixteen ships.
"Could this be our fleet? Why aren't they moving?" the officer wondered.
A soldier reported, "Sir, we are now 100 kilometers away from the target. Should we continue to approach?"
"continue!"
The officer gritted his teeth and said fiercely, eager to know why their fleet was stuck in place.
"Fifty kilometers!"
Thirty kilometers!
"Ten kilometers!"
"Sir, I see it!"
"No! That's a warship from the Dragon Summer Tribe!"
Exclamations erupted on the ship. The officer wanted to immediately order a change of course and report back that their fleet was surrounded by the Longxia tribe's fleet.
Before the order could be given, a powerful electromagnetic pulse struck!
The people were unharmed, but the ship was instantly paralyzed. Sparks were flying from the circuits and control panels, which looked quite terrifying.
The officers in control were stunned, staring blankly at the scene, not knowing what to do.
They finally understood why their Eastern Wilderness tribe's fleet had been motionless at sea—it had been attacked by an electromagnetic pulse, rendering it completely paralyzed!
On the deck of the Type 055 destroyer opposite, Cao Youren calmly ordered, "Go, drag that lump of scrap metal over here and throw it with the rest of the scrap metal."
"The higher-ups said we should surround these bastards for at least a month. If you ask me, we should just let them starve to death. And no matter which tribe they are, if they dare to come, we have to keep them here!"
"Alas, what a pity, the electromagnetic railgun is too fragile. It's already almost broken after only a few uses." He sighed and shook his head.
The officer standing nearby chuckled and said, "Sir, don't worry. I heard that the military factory is researching integrated electromagnetic railguns. By then, our electromagnetic railguns will be obsolete."
"I really hope that day comes soon." Cao Youren gazed in the direction of the Eastern Wilderness Tribe. "When that day comes, I'll run to the Eastern Wilderness Tribe and let them taste what it's like to be paralyzed!"
The officers and soldiers on the small patrol boat stared blankly at the approaching ships, all of which still flew the flag of the Longxia tribe. They dared not resist in the slightest.
The Longxia tribe had no intention of capturing them; they simply dragged their patrol ships into the encirclement and made them join the fleet.
A day and a night passed in the inner cabinet of the Eastern Wilderness Tribe, and no news was received. The patrol ships they sent out also seemed to have mysteriously disappeared.
This made Noda Taro increasingly anxious, and he paced back and forth incessantly.
"No, send more ships this time, several more, and use submarines too. No matter what, we must get a message back!"
He gave the order again, which sounded like a desperate gamble, and immediately more than a dozen patrol ships and frigates were dispatched, while the destroyers didn't dare to move an inch.
If the destroyer disappears again, they will suffer a huge loss.
After the ships and submarines that were dispatched set sail, no further news came. The waters around Diaoyu Island seemed to have become a black hole, capable of sucking everything in.
Noda Taro slumped in his chair, his eyes vacant, looking like a walking corpse. This blow was too great for him!
Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Jiro Koizumi sighed, holding a tablet in his hand, and reported: "Your Excellency, your approval rating has dropped by another three points. Now, many people have staged demonstrations, demanding that the government withdraw the fleet."
"Most of the people marching were family members of fleet soldiers."
Noda Taro rubbed his temples in annoyance: "Don't bother me with these little things anymore. Send people to suppress the protests, and then apologize to them, saying that you will do your best to rescue them and negotiate with the Longxia tribe."
Koizumi Jiro nodded, but he felt very uncomfortable because he was the one who had to go out and apologize, meaning he was the one who had to take the blame.
Two days later, after the protest was resolved, Koizumi Jiro knelt down in front of the media and even knelt down to the protesters, promising to do everything he could to rescue them.
But when asked whether the soldiers on the fleet were alive or dead, Koizumi Jiro could only apologize repeatedly, because even he didn't know.
Noda Taro knew that if this matter wasn't resolved, not only would his time as Cabinet Chief be over, but he might even be forced to commit suicide to atone for his sins.
So he picked up the phone and called the Eagle Tribe, the biological father of the Eastern Wilderness Tribe.
When the chieftain of the Eagle Tribe learned that the entire fleet of the Eastern Wilderness Tribe had lost contact and that the Dragon Summer Tribe was suspected of using electromagnetic pulse weapons, he was furious.
"Damn it! Why didn't you tell me this sooner?!"
Like Noda Taro, the chieftain felt even worse than if he had been killed when he learned that the Longxia tribe's technology might surpass theirs!
Noda Taro, like a lackey, still humbly apologized even over the phone: "I'm sorry, we were careless, but we didn't expect the Dragon Summer Tribe to be so powerful!"
"We thought the Longxia tribe was completely out of supplies, but who knew they had such a wealth of resources!"
"Great Chief, you must help us, otherwise we're really doomed this time. If we're doomed, no one in Asia will be there to help you keep the Dragon Xia tribe in check!"
The chieftain was well aware of this, and coldly snorted, "If it weren't for the fact that you are still of use, I would absolutely not have helped you!"
"We have to deal with this matter, whether we like it or not. We can't let the Longxia tribe get too cocky! Could it be that they've really made a technological breakthrough? We haven't received a single word about it this time!"
"Damn Long Xia, he kept it a secret so well!"
Despite his anger, the chieftain knew that the priority now was to target the Dragonxia tribe, so after hanging up the phone, he immediately drafted a bill.
Not only did he want to issue the bill himself, but he also dragged in other tribal allies, coercing and enticing them to sign the bill together.
The new bill was announced in just one day.
Starting today, the Eagle Tribe and other major tribes will refuse to sell rare isotope raw materials, rare metals, rare earth materials, etc. All military-related products are not allowed to enter the Dragon Summer Tribe!
This is a tactic that the Eagle Tribe is good at using: resource control.
Under pressure from the Eagle Tribe's tyranny, many tribes that produce rare metals agreed to impose sanctions on the Dragon Summer Tribe.
Although the Great Chieftain didn't know the extent of Longxia's technological advancements, he knew he absolutely couldn't allow Longxia to continue developing; such an enemy was far too terrifying! (End of Chapter)