Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 2597 All Turned into Scraps of Metal (Second Update, Please Subscribe)
Meanwhile, at Udon Thani Air Base in northeastern Siam, the strange and austere fuselage of the Night Shadow stealth fighter jets stood out on the tarmac under the bright sunshine.

The reporters continued filming with high-powered cameras, and these photos and videos will be transmitted to every corner of the world.

Of course, those who are truly paying attention to it are intelligence personnel from various countries.

Especially on the other side of the Iron Curtain, its impact is comparable to that of an atomic bomb.

In April, Moscow has lost the biting chill of winter and is now experiencing its best season – spring. Summer will soon follow.

However, inside the Ministry of Defense, a gray building not far from the Kremlin, the atmosphere was colder than the winter chill.

This is the conference room of the Soviet military's highest command center. Around the conference table are the top Soviet military officials—the Minister of Defense, deputy ministers, chief of the general staff, commanders of various services, and heads of core research departments.

The marshals' faces had lost their usual composure; they all wore the same expression—frowning brows and their eyes fixed on the photographs spread out before them, as if they were not mere prints but a sharp blade about to pierce the Soviet defense system.

No, it's not a sharp blade!

It was a weapon of mass destruction capable of destroying the entire Soviet Union!
The photos were just urgently transmitted back through intelligence channels via fax. They weren't very clear, but they were enough to make out the extremely bizarre outline of the fighter jet—it lacked smooth aerodynamic lines, and the fuselage was covered with sharp, polygonal facets, like a piece of blue-black metal that had been cut arbitrarily. In some ways, it even violated the principles of aerodynamics.

The projector on the table magnified the photo and projected it onto the wall, casting interlacing shadows in the dimly lit conference room, adding to the oppressive atmosphere.

The marshals just sat there silently smoking, their brows furrowed.

"This is the new fighter jet that SEA has deployed to the battlefield this time, codenamed Night Shadow. Intelligence has confirmed that it has full radar stealth capabilities."

The Director of the General Staff's Intelligence Bureau continued his introduction. His voice was not loud, but every word he spoke struck the hearts of everyone like a heavy hammer, making their faces even more grim.

"This is the 'sky ghost' we've been wanting to know about, the one that destroyed India's reactor and Syria's air defense command center."

He paused and added:

"According to the battle reports from the front, during its first deep bombing of Shoryu's air defense system, it was not detected by the air defense radar at all. It simply penetrated the layers of air defense network without any hindrance, completed the attack, and withdrew unscathed. The SEA reported zero casualties, while Shoryu's air defense positions suffered heavy damage, and its air defense command center was also destroyed."

The words had barely left his lips when a suppressed commotion arose in the conference room. Marshal Ustinov, the Minister of Defense, slammed his hands on the table, his breathing becoming rapid.

He stared intently at the projection on the wall, his eyes filled with disbelief and shock, which was then replaced by deep solemnity.

As a key architect of the Soviet defense system, he understood better than anyone what this stealth fighter meant.

"Radar stealth..."

He repeated those four words in a low voice, a barely perceptible hint of fear in his tone, and asked:
"Can our S-300 air defense system detect it?"

This question was like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing the last glimmer of hope in everyone's hearts. The head of the military-industrial complex responsible for radar development turned pale and slowly shook his head:
"Comrade Marshal, according to our preliminary technical analysis, the shape of this fighter jet is specifically designed to scatter radar waves. Its radar cross-section is probably only the size of a bird. With the detection accuracy and range of our current radar, we simply cannot detect it within the effective interception range, let alone lock onto and engage it."

It's no longer the time to speak first and please the marshals.

"But our latest radar can indeed detect their drones, it's just that it's still not enough at that range..."

"Drones aren't important; what's important is stealth fighters—they can threaten Moscow! And they're uninterceptable?"

Marshal Kordunov, commander of the Air Defense Forces, couldn't help but raise his voice, his tone clearly showing his agitation:
"Wouldn't our air defense system become useless then?"
"From the Baltic Sea to the Far East, our air defense network, built over decades with countless resources, is so utterly vulnerable to this type of fighter jet?"

As the commander of the air defense forces, his core task is to unify the command of the country's vast national air defense system, including air defense interceptor units, a large number of air defense missile sites, and a nationwide radar early warning network, to defend against potential strategic air attacks from NATO.

And now… someone is telling him that the air defense system they spent decades building to protect the Soviet Union from aerial attacks is useless, it has become a waste, how could he not be anxious?

It wasn't just anxiety anymore; it had turned into despair.

His words expressed everyone's feelings, and the atmosphere in the meeting room became even more oppressive; one could even hear heavy breathing from some people.

At that moment, they had only one thought in their minds—it's over. In this instant, they've been completely exposed in front of NATO.

Although the SEA is not a NATO member, it is well known to be a member of the Western world. Now that it has displayed this weapon, it is only a matter of time before the United States acquires it.

Marshal Ustinov closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and when he opened them again, the shock in his eyes had been replaced by a strong sense of threat and a hint of barely concealed fear. He stood up, walked to the wall, and stretched out his finger to gently touch the outline of the night shadow in the projection.

"Comrades, this is not just a simple new type of fighter jet, it is a military revolution."

His voice was deep, yet extremely powerful. He looked at the crowd and said:

"SEA has mastered the core power to change the nature of warfare, while we have been left far behind."

He turned around, his gaze sweeping over everyone present:

"Imagine if a major war breaks out in the future, these SEA stealth fighters could penetrate our territory without any hindrance and strike our command centers, nuclear facilities, military industrial bases... while our radar cannot see them, our missiles cannot stop them, and our air force fighters cannot lock onto the targets."

This is not a threat, this is annihilation. Before we even see it, our cities—Moscow, Minsk, Kyiv… all our cities—will be razed to the ground by nuclear bombs, and we will be completely unaware of it.

We won't know all this until the bombs fall.

As he finished speaking, all the marshals fell silent. They had all participated in the Great Patriotic War, they were all survivors of that brutal war, and they had witnessed firsthand the destruction that the war brought to the Soviet Union.

Even now, the Soviet Union has not recovered from the trauma of war—almost an entire generation, even two generations, of men were killed on the battlefield.

The Great Patriotic War claimed the lives of more than 20 million Soviet citizens!
Who would be willing to face such a heavy price and such a brutal war?
The reason they prepared for war was not to conquer the Western world, but to protect themselves, because... they were really scared!

But now an even harsher reality is facing them.

It's not that the situation is more severe, but rather that it's a more brutal reality.

The reality is that NATO, now possessing stealth aircraft, will raze all their cities to the ground with nuclear bombs. At that point, it won't just be tens of millions who die, but the entire Soviet Union will be razed to the ground.

Faced with such a cruel reality, how could they not be nervous?
How could one not be afraid?

The vice minister in charge of military production slammed his fist on the table and said in a deep voice:

"We must immediately launch an emergency research and development program to develop technology that can counter stealth fighters as soon as possible!"
Whether it's a new type of radar or targeted air defense missiles, every second counts!

His tone was full of urgency, but his eyes held a hint of despair.

"This is no longer a matter of weapons and equipment, but a matter of the survival of the entire country! Therefore, we must achieve this goal immediately and as quickly as possible."

Everyone knows that catching up in military technology is never something that can be achieved overnight. The SEA is already ahead, and to catch up or even surpass it would require an unimaginable price to pay, and even more so, time—which is probably what they lack most.

After all, no one can predict whether NATO, having gained an absolute advantage, will give them time to prepare, or rather, time to catch up.

In the event that, during this process, they launch an attack on the Soviet Union for some reason.

What should I do?

As darkness fell outside the window, the lights in the conference room appeared particularly dim.

The image of the Night Shadow fighter jet was projected onto the screen.

Despite its futuristic appearance, it resembled a menacing symbol, piercing the eyes of every high-ranking Soviet military official.

After the initial shock came a deep-seated sense of threat, a fear of being confronted with an unstoppable air force, and a profound concern for security.

For these marshals who had experienced major wars, they were very clear about what changes this weapon would bring to the war, and they were also very clear about what kind of destruction it would bring to them!
The meeting did not produce a clear solution because all solutions require time.

Whether it's developing radar or developing new missiles.

All of this takes time. An unimaginable pressure and an urgent sense of crisis hung like a dark cloud over Moscow, and over the hearts of every high-ranking Soviet military official.

The pressure was suffocating them; at that moment, they seemed to understand the pressure that steel endured when facing the American atomic bomb…

(End of this chapter)