Reborn in 2010, the AI ​​in my mind is too powerful.

In late August 2013, the Syrian civil war reached a major turning point. On the 21st, in an attempt to break the deadlock in the eastern suburb of Ghouta, government forces secretly used chemical weapons, which directly caused a large number of civilian casualties. The opposition said at least 1,500 people were killed.

Although the government forces do not admit it, Doctors Without Borders issued a statement on the 24th, stating that they estimated approximately 3600 people had symptoms of nerve poisoning, which was most likely caused by surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin gas.

This escalated the war to a higher level. On August 27, US President Lucien (you know who he is) and the British Prime Minister spoke by phone, initially deciding to launch missile strikes against targets in Syria within days. The aircraft carrier was moved to the eastern Mediterranean; regardless of the final outcome, it was at least a gesture of preparing for direct involvement.

Russia is also in an awkward position, knowing that the Syrian civil war has reached a stalemate, with neither the opposition nor the government forces capable of defeating the other, and that the US intervention could disrupt this balance.

They decided to remain inactive and observe how strong the US's willingness to intervene was. If it was just a matter of firing a few missiles and then letting things settle down, they could push the Syrian government to completely abandon its chemical weapons, giving the US a way out and bringing the war back to the diplomatic track.

In fact, the US and Russia have a certain tacit understanding on many issues, even if they have differences. The US is also thinking this way. The script has been written, and normally, it's just a matter of preparing to launch a few missiles.

But the script was changed at the last minute, and it wasn't Lucian or the Secretary of State who changed it, but the Secretary of Defense.

The CIA's Operation Sycamore was no secret to the top brass of the U.S. military; they also knew that a batch of agricultural drones had been converted into weapons and sent there.

Many people believe that this kind of gardening equipment can't really change anything. However, some consultants believe that drones are easy to operate and inexpensive, and might have some surprising effects in a stalemate like a meat grinder.

In that case, the Ministry of Defense needs to see the actual performance of these drones, and Syria is the perfect testing ground. They can see whether the drones are as good as Kratos claims.

After all, the US military ultimately spent $500 million, so they had to see the results. Nothing is more direct than a real-world test. Thus, the missiles that were supposed to fall were replaced by a swarm of buzzing small planes.

At a secluded camp near the border in northern Jordan, members of Operation Wutongmu were conducting a training session. Although the instructions were simple, it still took them considerable effort to teach the Syrians how to operate the equipment.

Several CIA agents sat down against the wall, looking utterly exhausted.

"They're human too, it's so intuitive, how can they not operate it? My goodness, if my five-year-old son came over, he could probably operate it by just randomly pressing buttons."

"That's unlikely. What if you randomly press buttons and the plane takes off, only to drop a bomb and blow yourself up?"

An officer from the Free Syrian Army, who had become acquainted with several Americans, no longer held any prejudice against these American agents. He bluntly stated, "Not bad. We are already the most disciplined and best-trained army in Syria. Don't underestimate us just because we're afraid of death and have weak fighting capabilities. At least we can all read."

"Karim, have some shame! You're so weak in combat, why don't you try to find a solution?"

Karim didn't care and leaned closer to whisper, "I only have about a hundred men. My biggest achievement before was taking a few pickup trucks from the government forces. You shouldn't have such high expectations."

"Let's talk about something else. If the battle really turns against us, according to what we said before, you're supposed to take me with you."

The CIA agent gave a simple, honest smile: "Don't worry, I've taken all your money, and I won't leave you behind. As soon as I receive the evacuation orders, I'll arrange for you to go to America with me."

Karim felt a little more at ease and went down to supervise his men as they carried the drone to the roof: "Be careful, all of us are worth less than a fraction of this thing."

Thirty kilometers north of the camp was the place they were going to fight.

That was a neighborhood on the outskirts of Aleppo that had been ravaged by artillery fire several times. The two sides had been locked in a stalemate for months, with neither side truly gaining the upper hand.

Government troops occupied a few buildings that hadn't collapsed yet at the east end, while the opposition hid in the ruins at the west end. The street in the middle was a sniper's hunting ground during the day and a corridor for artillery bombardment at night.

The levels on both sides reflect the excellent matching mechanism of the Middle East region. The government forces have very few elite troops, which are concentrated in the core area of ​​Damascus, Homs and other strategic locations.

The troops now marching south to counterattack Aleppo are said to be elite forces drawn from Aleppo International Airport, but in reality, most of them are civilians temporarily conscripted and trained for no more than two weeks.

The opposition is even more disorganized, with at least 10 armed opposition groups of varying sizes in the Aleppo region alone. Even within a single group, there are often numerous petty leaders like Karim.

Most of them were former professional soldiers, but they have gradually developed into military thugs. They are excellent at self-preservation, but their true combat strength is a mystery. In a real fight, they might not even be able to defeat the new recruits who have only been trained for two weeks.

On the battlefield, all sorts of chaotic situations arose. A government army T-72 was pushed to a street corner to be used as a fixed gun emplacement. The gun barrel swayed for a long time, and the shells it fired flew off to who knows where. One shell even shredded half of an empty civilian house.

The officer yelled into the walkie-talkie, but the soldiers below didn't care. They didn't know how to do it, so there was no point in yelling anymore. They went about their business, smoking and resting as usual, and the fortifications they dug were like children playing in the sand.

The opposition isn't doing much better. In the past, they would always engage in a war of attrition, fighting briefly to make up for the subsidies from the United States before coming back to drag things out.

But this time, they didn't have to actually go to the front lines and risk their lives; the opposition was very cooperative.

Karim's hundred or so people were assigned ten drones, which were operated by nine of the most highly educated individuals.

The first drone took off at 10 a.m. Karim himself operated it. He tapped on the tablet for a long time, and the waypoint markers were off. Fortunately, the chip was good enough and the flight system was powerful enough, so the drone still managed to fly silently over the government forces on the other side.

At 1000 meters, the distance was close to the limit of naked-eye resolution, and the noise was drowned out by the chaotic battlefield. The government troops did not notice that death had arrived.

Due to time constraints, Kratos did not develop a very good recognition system, which was actually a waste of the potential of the Latte chip.

Following the approximate location shown by the camera, Karim threw out a hybrid warhead containing shaped charge and fragmentation, and as expected, he missed.

His original intention was to blow up that T72. If it hit the top armor, it should be able to penetrate directly and severely damage the crew.

However, the warhead was thrown about five or six meters away from the vehicle, but fortunately it wasn't wasted. Several soldiers were sleeping in a house on the street nearby, and the soldiers within a 10-meter radius immediately restarted the warhead.

The other drones also achieved considerable success. To extend their flight time, these drones did not carry many warheads, and they had to slowly return to resupply after each deployment.

However, a height of just over a thousand meters is really insidious. Ordinary rifles simply cannot reach it. A 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun could theoretically reach it, but the hit rate would be extremely low. New recruits who are already lacking in training and are frightened are even less able to complete such an operation.

Some of the bolder ones fired machine guns randomly into the sky, but after firing for a long time, they achieved nothing and instead attracted several drones to come and drop bombs.

Throughout the day, government forces suffered heavy losses, with all the snipers who had previously been wreaking havoc from the rooftops being eliminated. The outskirts of Aleppo consist mostly of a mix of brick and early concrete structures, and the drones carried targeted warheads.

Some bombs blew through weak exterior walls and collapsed floorboards, causing a massive collapse.

Some of the bombs' shaped-charge jets pierced through the stone-domed market, and fragments killed people inside.

Some bombs specifically target people who use the toilet near walls, inflicting both psychological and physical damage when they are most vulnerable.

To be honest, in terms of lethality, drones are not as exaggerated as real missiles or bombs, nor can they be described as surgically precise.

But it couldn't withstand its continued occurrence.

One after another, they dropped bombs, went back to recharge, and flew again until all the previously prepared power was used up, at which point they stopped the operation.

That night, government troops fled in a frenzy under cover of darkness, withdrawing directly from Aleppo.

As evening fell, Karim crouched on the rooftop, watching the last drone sway back to its nest, and said to the agent beside him, "You never left. Looks like we've won?"

The agent sighed. "That seems to be the case. Today's results were excellent, and more drones will likely be delivered later. I must apologize to you, Karim; I actually didn't have the authority to take you away. Fortunately, it looks like you won't be leaving."

Karim nodded. "I know. I'm already grateful that you sent my son to England. Why would I even think about leaving? Besides, if I didn't have some ambition, I would have left in the first place."

The Department of Defense, located far away in the United States, has been monitoring the operation closely today, and various videos from drone perspectives have been transmitted to them.

The Secretary of Defense immediately contacted Kratos Corporation to prepare a one-time purchase of 10,000 drones of various types.

On the battlefield that is under global scrutiny, the situation with drones cannot be kept secret, and several major powers have begun to launch drone projects.

Other countries in the Middle East reacted even more strongly, with several major princely states directly seeking to purchase drones from the United States.

At this time, Bahrain began to contact several big brothers in the vicinity. They did not have any armed drones, but they had plenty of agricultural machines from the Aurora Group, as many as they wanted.