Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1289 Training Exercise? Drill? Operation? (5k)

We mean this sincerely. In fact, to some extent, alerting the enemy is secondary. What is of greater significance is the regular release of weather forecasts for the southern waters of my country.

We're definitely going to release this weather forecast!

"According to satellite and radar data, a typhoon is expected to form southwest of the Nanjiao Islands in the South China Sea within the next two days. The typhoon's center winds will be no less than level 14, and it will move northeast after formation. Ships traveling in and out of the area should take precautions to avoid the typhoon or prepare for its onset..."

The announcer's slightly magnetic voice remained clear over the airwaves, spreading far and wide.

Since it's an international broadcast, it means that at least half the globe can hear it, especially since the southern sea area is within China's borders.

On an island in the Southern Reef Islands, a soldier from Dangui Province is listening to our radio station. This is a basic tactic in a standoff and not surprising.

Moreover, this listening job is a cushy one, because our radio station has some entertainment programs. Regardless of whether they are model programs or not, they are a rare form of entertainment for these people from Dangui Province who guard the island.

As for why they don't open it up to everyone to enjoy this entertainment, is that even a question? They wouldn't dare. Who knows what else is involved besides entertainment? If the soldiers started revolting while listening, that would be a real mess.

"Sir, they've started playing our weather forecast over there. They said they'll be broadcasting it regularly from now on." The soldier's first reaction upon hearing our weather forecast was excitement.

After all, they don't actually have this thing here, and it's extremely important for people at sea.

"Weather forecast? What's going on over there? What does the weather here have to do with them? They don't even have many deep-sea fishing boats, so they wouldn't come all the way here," his boss replied with amusement.

"They said it's because the satellite went into space, and they also did the forecast here. Sir, I must say, their technology is really good. Satellite, at least in this area, our satellite is the first, right?" For this soldier, who cares about being face to face? He only knows that in this area, this family is the most awesome, and that's enough.

His superior covered his mouth: "Be careful! Are you crazy? The Secret Service might be lurking somewhere." It was clear that the colleagues on these isolated islands overseas had a good relationship.

"Hey, I'm just saying this to you. By the way, sir, this is a weather forecast I copied down. See if it's useful?" He handed the weather forecast to his superior.

The boss was initially somewhat skeptical, but when he saw the weather forecast, he immediately became furious. He preferred to believe the forecast was accurate and make the necessary arrangements, since he didn't want to gamble with his life.

Moreover, it has been proven that information proactively disclosed by the other side rarely fails to deliver.

Sure enough, having a weather forecast is great; at this moment, he was already mentally praising the actions of the person opposite him.

"You stay at your post, I'll go send a telegram!" He took the weather forecast and walked towards the telegraph room.

The Peace Island Telecommunications Room was unusually bustling, with inquiries from various islands and reefs pouring in like snowflakes, many of them asking more than once.

"This is all because of that weather forecast they gave us! They're so cunning! With just such a simple message, they've thrown us into chaos." On Peace Island, the garrison commander of the South Reef area was a bit overwhelmed and couldn't help but complain about how unfair the other side was.

“But sir, I think we should trust their information. It’s an internationally published weather forecast; they can’t possibly tamper with it. Besides, their satellites and aircraft can indeed monitor this area. They have far more intelligence sources than we do, and their predictions are much more accurate. Judging from the current weather conditions, we can’t rule out the possibility that a storm is indeed forming in the southwest,” a staff officer advised from the side.

"I know that although it hurts a lot when the other side hits you, they wouldn't resort to underhanded tactics in this kind of situation, especially since this was publicly announced and addressed to all ships, countries, and sailors passing through the southern waters. Their bottom line is very high," the garrison commander analyzed.

"Sir, it's a category 14 typhoon. Should we have them withdraw as usual?" the staff officer suggested, following past practice.

The garrison commander thought for a moment and said, "That works too. At level 14, it is indeed time to withdraw. Besides, the route passes through these islands and reefs. Notify them to withdraw to Heping Island according to usual practice and past regulations and procedures, and return after the typhoon has passed."

"Okay, then we need to hurry. In the past, we used to rely on the weather information from the US and our own observations, but now we're using the weather forecast from the other side. There's really no way to argue with this."

"Who told them to be so fast? I think the Citibank's weather forecast is just a gamble. They've been announcing it for so long, and the Citibank still hasn't made a move."

When he said this, there was a strange sense of joy in his tone.

Surrender is out of the question, and so is rebellion; the only thing we can do is maintain a bit of national pride so that we can remember where we come from.

“I’ll go then. The typhoon is at its forefront according to the forecast, and there are less than two days left. I need to notify them quickly.” The staff officer stood up, took the signed documents from the garrison commander, and walked towards the communications room.

"Go ahead, go ahead, don't rush. They've evacuated many times before, they're very experienced, they should be quick." The garrison commander wasn't in a hurry at all.

"Should we notify the Citibank?"

The garrison commander thought for a moment and said, "Let's notify them as usual. Didn't they say they would help us? I want to see how they will help us."

As soon as they took action, we, who were already prepared, naturally saw it coming.

In Cape City, at the South Ship's forward command post, an operations staff officer rushed into the command room with a freshly produced intelligence report, his voice brimming with excitement: "The people in the South Reef Islands have moved! Photos from the Be-6 seaplane patrol aircraft show that almost every inhabited island and reef we have information on has ships heading towards Heping Island. Based on the ship types and other aspects of the photos, the lower limit of the loading capacity of these departing ships is consistent with the size of the personnel stationed on the island."

This intelligence was so fresh that it had already been sent back here after several transfers before the Be-6 even returned.

The forward command commander stood up, took the intelligence report, read it carefully, and slammed his hand on the table: "Good! We've finally managed to mobilize them."

The operations staff officer was also pleased: "Sir, now we'll see what kind of tricks they'll pull."

The commander raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "Why wait for them to make any moves? We're conducting normal long-range training; nobody can interfere! Notify the naval and air forces at Cape City and Jiuxing Island to execute the following orders!"

"Cape City B-6 patrol squadron, patrol 100 kilometers east and west along the route from Jiuxing Island to the southwestern area of ​​the South Reef Islands, and try to ensure that there are no enemy aircraft or ships within 100 kilometers east and west along the route!" Although the chances of being discovered on this route are high, the forward command still wants to postpone the time of discovery as much as possible.

"The fighter jet unit on Jiuxing Island is on standby at all times and will ensure that fighter jets on air duty are ready to respond to the call of Be-6 patrol aircraft at any time and try to drive away enemy aircraft."

"The naval forces stationed on Jiuxing Island, as originally planned, consisting of two destroyers and two frigates, along with their assigned missile patrol boats, island-and-reef landing craft, personnel, and supplies, are advancing southward from Jiuxing Island toward the southwestern region of the Nanjiao Islands!"

This typhoon was formed by warm, moist air currents from the Sindhu Ocean. Therefore, it first passed southwest of the Southern Reef Islands before gradually moving northeast across the entire area. Consequently, the forward command post's plan was to start from the southwest, move towards the typhoon as soon as it passed, and then follow it throughout its course.

The operations staff officer replied excitedly, "Yes, sir!"

On Jiuxing Island, the harbor was already overflowing with ships, and some of the more sea-resistant vessels were placed outside the harbor, including two destroyers and two frigates. Upon receiving orders, the fleet sounded their horns and weighed anchor. Guided missile boats and landing craft filed out of Jiuxing Island, joining the two destroyers and two frigates waiting outside the island to form a "massive" fleet of two destroyers, two frigates, eight guided missile boats, and twenty landing craft. Encouraged by the radio calls from their comrades on Jiuxing Island, they headed south at an economical speed of 14 knots.

There were four guided-missile patrol boats, which were "borrowed" from Cape Town. Fortunately, they were all borrowed from brother units, which was better than the later John Bull aircraft carrier, whose planes were all borrowed from other countries and whose escort fleet was just a patchwork of existing ships.

At a speed of 14 knots, it would take about 40 hours to reach the designated area. The reason for using this speed is mainly to accommodate the guided patrol boats in the formation.

Although the island landing craft doesn't have a very long range, barely enough to make a round trip of 1000 kilometers one way, it can carry its own salt... no, fuel. The reason why there are as many as 20 of them is not only because of the large number of people and supplies, but also because fuel takes up a lot of space.

While guided missile patrol boats have a longer range than landing craft, they only have less than 400 kilometers of range left after a round trip. Transferring fuel from landing craft to guided missile patrol boats at sea is a seemingly feasible but actually very difficult task.

Considering the potential need for combat and patrol missions, it was necessary to further reduce the original cruising speed of 15 knots to increase the range.

Speaking of this, the naval comrades are reminded of the comprehensive supply ship that Comrade Gao Zhendong once proposed. If it had been developed earlier, this problem wouldn't be a concern.

It seems that the suggestion made by Comrade Gao Zhendong needs to be given even greater importance! We have already attached great importance to it, but the progress has been limited by conditions. Now it seems that we need to find ways to create conditions to speed up the process.

However, it seems that the soldiers on the landing craft are suffering the most. The accommodation conditions on the landing craft are limited, and some officers and soldiers have to rest in the open air in the cargo hold of the landing craft. But they have no complaints, holding steel guns and their eyes are full of desire for battle.

What they didn't know was that it was hard to say whether this battle would even break out.
-
The fleet was sailing the seas, and fighter jets were patrolling back and forth in the air. Meanwhile, in Beijing, Gao Zhendong was invited to a naval unit.

"Comrade Zhendong, the situation is like this. We are preparing to conduct a long-range exercise in the Nanjiao Islands in the South China Sea. Of course, we will not hide it from you. This exercise may turn into a live-fire exercise or even a further action at any time. We invited you here because you are the main researcher of our navy and air force's latest main combat equipment. You have a comprehensive understanding and mastery of our new combat capabilities. So we would like to ask you to take a look at our operation and training plan and, from the perspective of equipment, do you have any opinions or suggestions?"

The naval comrades really didn't hide anything from Gao Zhendong, and there was nothing to keep secret. This young man in front of them, who had risen through the ranks of the army, possessed the secrets of almost all the latest equipment of the navy and air force. What was the point of keeping it a secret from him?
Why bother with all that effort? If we're talking about a single person, it's really hard to find anyone who knows more secrets than him.

Moreover, as someone invited by the Navy to conduct a possible "gap-filling" task, it's impossible to keep this work secret.

Gao Zhendong was overjoyed upon hearing this. Damn it, they're finally going to make a move in the southern seas? Gao Zhendong believed that this time, if they didn't act, they wouldn't act at all, but if they did, it would be a massive undertaking.

"Great, great..." In his excitement, he showed no modesty and took the battle plan from the naval comrade and began to read it.

"Wow! Really wow!" Gao Zhendong exclaimed as he watched. This was quite a spectacle. If it were discovered halfway through, countless countries and people would be scared out of their wits.

While this number of ships might not seem like much in the S2 era, it was quite a significant move during the Cold War, a time when rhetoric was prevalent but actual action was restrained, especially in East Asia, which had not yet developed into a monster region.

Putting aside the technical sophistication of the equipment carried, two destroyers and two frigates are actually not too bad. There are a few other fleets in this area that can assemble this size fleet. After all, it has only been a little over ten years since S2, and there are still plenty of military supplies left. Moreover, everyone is afraid of S3 and is preparing for it.

It can be said that, apart from the South China Sea, where two destroyers were sunk last year, the other major powers in East Asia can all field fleets of similar size and scale.

However, the significance of the 20 landing craft is quite special, or rather, it reflects a rather serious situation.

Bringing so many landing craft, all fully equipped with coastal defense soldiers and supplies, suggests that if someone is dishonest, there's a high probability that someone will be helped to maintain their dignity.

Gao Zhendong carefully reviewed the battle plan and found it to be basically flawless!
To be honest, even though he was the one who proposed, researched, or created these weapons and equipment, Gao Zhendong didn't necessarily know as much about their practical application as those comrades who worked with the equipment every day and integrated it into their work and lives.

Providing functionality and performance is one thing, but how to use it is another.

"Wow, this plan is much better than I could have come up with myself. After all, I was just a platoon leader back then, and I wasn't familiar with naval and air combat at all..."

Listening to Gao Zhendong's words, the naval comrades only believed half of it, which was the half that "he was just a platoon leader back then." He was indeed a platoon leader when he retired, and it was fortunate that he retired as a platoon leader. If he had continued to work, even if he had risen through the ranks to become a company commander or battalion commander, he would not have played such a significant and meaningful role after retiring.

As for other matters, the naval comrades were skeptical.

"but……"

Look, look, what did I say? Comrade Zhendong is just being modest. The naval comrades were very pleased: "But what?"

“I have a suggestion: if there are any electronic reconnaissance ships nearby, have the fleet take them along!” Gao Zhendong said.

The naval personnel were somewhat puzzled: "An electronic reconnaissance ship? There is indeed one, and even with all our might, it can still keep up with the formation. To accommodate the guided-missile escort vessels, the formation's movement speed is not fast. But wouldn't it be pointless for an electronic reconnaissance ship to go up? Both destroyers and frigates have radar, and in the air, there are Tu-4 Special and Tu-6 aircraft undertaking some early warning missions. We have a clear view of almost all enemies in the air and at sea. The reconnaissance role of the electronic reconnaissance ship is not very significant here."

Gao Zhendong shook his head: "The electronic reconnaissance boat isn't used for reconnaissance here. It also has a very good function—protecting other ships!"

"Protecting other ships? The armament of the electronic reconnaissance ship..."

"We don't need weapons. When we were developing the electronic reconnaissance ship, the comrades at the ship research institute also discussed electronic warfare technology with me. In addition to reconnaissance, this type of electronic reconnaissance ship has extremely strong electronic warfare capabilities at this stage. With it, any enemy that wants to use radar-guided precision-guided weapons to attack our ship will not have a good hit rate. As long as we disable precision-guided weapons and drop iron bombs, that formation plus the air force in the air will make any enemy that comes look foolish."

In reality, although the Americans are brimming with confidence in their naval power when facing us, precisely because of this, they are still throwing heavy bombs.

Even so, electronic jamming can even make them nearsighted when dropping iron bombs. Given the insufficient number of our medium-range air defense forces, this can still greatly improve our air defense efficiency.

After hearing his words, the naval comrades knew that Comrade Zhendong's "exchange" was probably a lie, and the real situation was probably "learning".

At that time, the comrades at the Institute of Communication Research were overjoyed to have obtained the idea of ​​electronic warfare. As time went by, they acquired electronic reconnaissance ships with technologies such as high-power traveling wave tubes, digital signal processors, and better radar. These ships were not only capable of reconnaissance, but also pushed the limits of current technology in electronic warfare.

It's important to know that technologies such as planar slotted antennas and digital signal processors are completely unavailable from other companies.

As a military vessel with full expertise in electronic warfare, the electronic reconnaissance ship is far superior to other warships in this respect.

"Ah, so the electronic reconnaissance ship has such a unique skill? That's great! Staff Officer Liu! Staff Officer Liu! Notify the South Ship Command Center in Cape City to have the nearby electronic reconnaissance ship follow the fleet!" The naval officer turned and gave the order.

After giving the order, he turned around and said, "Actually, the reason for inviting you here is not only from the perspective of military preparedness, but also for other reasons."

This time, Gao Zhendong was dumbfounded. "Well... I don't seem to be that great in other aspects either. What aspect is it?"

(End of this chapter)