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Chapter 2466 SEA Has No Ambitions (First Update, Please Subscribe)
Worldwide air freight!

Nine years ago, during the “Kingdom of Libya crisis,” the SEA first demonstrated its “global airlift” capabilities to the world, transporting more than 10 troops and a large amount of weaponry to Libya by air in just a few days.

The strategic transportation capabilities demonstrated by SEA have even shocked the world.

However, the SEA, as the party involved, discovered some weaknesses in the process. For example, most of the equipment transported to Libya by transport plane was light equipment, with only a limited number of heavy equipment. What seemed like a grand "global airlift" was actually just bullying small countries.

"We must further enhance our strategic transportation capabilities."

Therefore, after the end of the "Libyan crisis", the military, which had achieved a brilliant victory, began to study a new generation of military logistics system in order to meet the needs of large-scale global mobile deployment.

To address this, the Navy and Marine Corps jointly proposed a new concept: a new strategic mobility approach—airlift + sea transport + pre-positioning—to shorten the time required to deliver urgently needed equipment and supplies to the theater of operations. After all, based on the deployment experience of the Libyan military operation, most of the heavy equipment of the Army and Marine Corps ultimately responsible for the occupation required up to six months of preparation and assembly due to excessively long transportation times, which undoubtedly delayed numerous operational opportunities.

Subsequently, the military officially launched the "Prepositioned Ships at Sea" program and established a rapid deployment force, putting the construction of the prepositioned fleet at sea on the fast track.

To this end, the military collaborated with shipbuilders to design a batch of specially designed large, medium-speed roll-on/roll-off ships and cargo ships to form the MPSRON Maritime Prepositioning Squadron. These squadrons are constantly loaded with the complete equipment of two Marine brigades and 30 days' worth of combat supplies, and are stationed in hotspot sea areas to ensure they can reach the landing point within 10 days if needed.

To this end, Nanyang Shipbuilding Industry Company specially designed a new type of roll-on/roll-off ship. It was designed from the outset as a dual-use military and civilian vessel. Normally it is used as a transport ship, and in wartime it can be used for military purposes. It can transport heavy equipment and can also be converted into a helicopter carrier. As a result, the ship can reach a speed of 26.7 knots, which far exceeds that of conventional transport ships.

The ship is 263.34 meters long, uses a combined diesel and gas turbine propulsion system, has a displacement of 50570 tons, and has a strong carrying capacity, with a loading area of ​​18580 square meters and a loading capacity of over 2 tons.

In the following years, in addition to civilian shipping companies purchasing sixteen roll-on/roll-off ships with military funding to transport automobiles and construction machinery, the military also purchased four ships of its own, which, together with cargo ships, formed a maritime prepositioning squadron, fully loaded with heavy equipment such as tanks and deployed to places like Paradise Island.

These floating transport ships are like "floating arsenals".

After the military formulated its plan, the 1st Maritime Prepositioning Squadron, deployed to Paradise Island, was the first to be mobilized. They began their voyage towards the Red Sea, heading towards the Suez Canal.

The movement of this special fleet almost immediately attracted the attention of the Soviet Navy stationed in the Red Sea. They immediately dispatched several warships to track it along the way, since these prepositioned ships are usually deployed in ports.

In the Red Sea, aboard a Kara-class destroyer, Lieutenant Commander Sumyanov took photos of the convoy, explaining to the captain beside him:

“这样的预置船队通常包括6艘船：3艘5万吨级滚装船和2艘4万吨级滚装船以及1艘4万吨级弹药干货船。那么问题来了，舰长同志，你知道如此庞大的一支海上运输舰队能够储藏多少装备吗？”

In response to his question, Lieutenant Colonel Zirikovich shook his head and said:
"I don't know much about this. How much?"

He wasn't an intelligence officer, so he naturally didn't know much about such details.

“包括58辆VT-2型主战坦克、136辆轮式两栖装甲车、4辆履带式工程坦克，7辆履带式坦克救援车，14辆履带式推土机、30门155毫米卡车炮，394台中型卡车，109台重型卡车、勇士等轻型车辆600台，2470个标准集装箱，还有1500万升燃料，还有150万升饮用水以及50万升饮用水日制备能力……”

Hearing these figures from Sumyanov, even though he was a naval officer, Tirykovich was still stunned.

"This, this... these pieces of equipment, are they just being deployed at sea like this?"

"That's right!"

Sumyanov nodded, and then said:

"These supplies can power a 15000-strong force to reach any location within a 2000-kilometer radius of the prepositioned squadron within 10 days at a speed of 24 knots, and sustain combat operations for up to a month!"

His words left Jirikovic in a state of utter shock.

What is perversion? This is perversion!
Then he heard Sumyanov say:

"The aforementioned members are only a small part of this unparalleled transport force. In order to ensure the global reach and global operations of the SEA forces, the maritime prepositioning fleet also has many types of specialized ships to ensure that they can complete the operational objectives assigned by the military command along the operational chain of 'receiving orders - departure preparation - en route resupply - arrival in the theater of operations - completion of operations - smooth withdrawal'."

He pursed his lips, his brows furrowing, and said:

"Now the Americans are also studying this kind of deployment, or rather, researching its effectiveness. If the Americans also implement such a deployment, it will pose an extremely serious threat to our strategic deployment in Europe, and now..."

Pointing to the fleet of ships passing in front of them, Sumyanov said:
"Now, for the first time, it is demonstrating its strategic mobility to the world, and at the same time, its soldiers can simply travel by transport plane to the front lines and receive their equipment directly at the port, by the way..."

As if he had just thought of something, he added:

"They're currently developing some kind of floating platform, using a semi-submersible navigation method. In wartime, it can be used as a floating platform to transport and repair large warships, greatly reducing the need for support from shore-based positions. Anyway, do you believe it?" Looking at the convoy, Sumyanov said in a doubtful tone:
"They have no ambition for the world..."

"How is this possible?"

Jirikovic countered:

"If they didn't have ambition, how could they possibly conduct such strategic planning research?"

"Americans believe..."

Sumyanov said with some helplessness:

"Because they only deploy in the Indian Ocean, and the Americans understand their emphasis on the Indian Ocean. In fact, they proactively released this data and invited the Pentagon in Washington to work with them on this project to improve the strategic deployment capabilities of Western countries..."

Then, he said:
"Although the SEA appears to be a regional force, it is in fact a globally existing technological force, and the construction and coordination of its front, middle and back offices are a model of contemporary military development. Their prepositioned fleet model has further connected its home bases, overseas bases and front-line troops, breaking down the service-specific barriers to logistics support and making it possible for its military forces to operate seamlessly around the world."

This is something Washington is interested in, and something we should learn from…

As he spoke, he glanced at the fleet, his expression revealing a complex mix of emotions.

As they were talking, at Chang'an International Airport, buses pulled up, and then groups of soldiers in uniform, carrying backpacks, walked into the airport.

As soon as these fully armed soldiers entered the airport, they attracted people's attention. Passengers stopped and applauded them, knowing where these soldiers were going—they were heading to the battlefield.

The wave of applause also reached the service counter of China Eastern Airlines. Wang Weihong and her colleagues, who were standing at the service counter, also walked out of the service desk out of curiosity. When they saw the soldiers, they all showed surprised expressions.

They saw a group of SEA soldiers.

"My God, why are they carrying so much stuff?"

The soldiers not only carried backpacks, but also had a small green bag tied to the top of the backpacks, which was not much smaller than the backpacks that were half a person tall, and another small bag tied to the bottom of the backpacks.

"This is treating people like donkeys!"
"Let alone a person, even if you put all these big bags on a donkey, the donkey breeder might not be willing to do it!"

They have to wait in line with so much stuff on their backs, and they'll definitely have to carry it for a while longer after they get off the plane.

"This, this is what people call a 'young master soldier'..."

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Wang Weihong's mind.

Young master soldiers, young master soldiers, is this what they look like?
Although this was only a temporary relocation and they were only carrying so many supplies, the fact that people were being treated like livestock still surprised them. Amidst their surprise, she heard her colleague say:
“Look at them…”

She pointed to the passengers cheering and applauding for the soldiers and said:
"They were actually cheering them on."

Zhang Xiulan said in an indignant tone:

"Don't they know that these people are going to invade other countries? They're going to invade Lebanon! Invade the Middle East, they're all a bunch of invaders..."

Hearing her colleague's indignant words, Wang Weihong quickly and cautiously said:

"Xiulan, keep your voice down. It wouldn't be good if they heard you saying that."

"What's there to be afraid of? This is SEA, they can't do anything to us..."

Zhang Xiulan seemed fearless, but Wang Weihong's reminder made her quickly shut up.

"Don't forget, the boss said we have to abide by the laws here and provide good service to the passengers. If we receive any complaints, they might just take us back to China..."

Upon hearing that they were going back to China, Zhang Xiulan's expression changed, and she immediately stopped talking, even glancing around as if afraid of being discovered...

(End of this chapter)