Chapter Twenty: The Decisive Moment

  When the photos taken by reconnaissance satellites appeared on the big screen, Pakistani soldiers in the command center couldn't help but get excited and cheered loudly. Several young and beautiful female soldiers even hugged Chinese soldiers who were coordinating the work and gave them sweet kisses. When several old men with big beards came up to hug them like bears, several test team officers immediately dodged out of the way.

  Xiang Xiu Hui was unaffected and continued to gaze calmly at the photo on the screen.

  Ten objectives, four were completely destroyed, three suffered heavy damage, one was moderately damaged and two lightly damaged. Such a record is neither poor nor outstanding.

  "Colonel, just received."

  Xiang Xiu took over the military handheld computer from the electronic officer and quickly browsed through the photos he had just received.

  "Let everyone return to their posts and continue fighting."

  After finishing speaking, Xiang Xiu hurriedly walked towards the commander's room.

  The battle is far from over, and the real test has just begun.

  After knocking on the door three times, Xiang Tongrui pushed the door open and entered.

  Inside the room, Sheriff was chatting with Mushaf Ali Mir, Chief of Air Staff of Pakistan Air Force, and they were both excited about their recent small victory.

  "Colonel, you've arrived just in time." As a politician, Sherry was well aware of Item's value. "I will represent the people of Pakistan, I will represent the Pakistani army, I will..."

  "Mr. President, let's talk about this later." Xiang Tonghui didn't like this set. He connected the computer he brought to the large screen display on the wall and called out the photos that had just been received. "Our reconnaissance satellite took the latest situation of the Indian missile base. The red circle is the position of the Indian missile troops who started launching a missile attack, and the yellow circle is the newly discovered position of the Indian missile troops."

  Sheriff's eyebrows jumped slightly and cast a pleading glance at Mushata.

  "India is preparing to launch a second wave of missile strikes?" Mushtaq walked over, the spring breeze-like smile on his face had already disappeared.

  "Right!" Xiang Lie's face was stern as he nodded. "India has already obtained the intelligence provided by the US, not only did they know that our frontline airbase wasn't destroyed, but also discovered our missile base. If I were the commander of the Indian Air Force, I would immediately launch a second wave of missile strikes."

  "Does India have so many missiles?" Mushtaq took out a cigarette and handed one to Xiang Xuehui first.

  "Sorry, I don't smoke." Item shook his hand and said: "India has at least 250 'Prithvi' missiles deployed in the northwest region with 150. India also has hundreds of 'Agni' ballistic missiles capable of launching a second missile strike."

  "The 'Blazing Fire' has a range of at least 7,000 kilometers, beyond the reach of our tactical ballistic missiles unless we mobilize..."

  "There is no need, there are no signs that India will use 'Agni'. Colonel Xiong picked up a laser pointer and pointed to several locations circled in yellow on the large screen. "From the position of the array, it is very likely that the 'Prithvi-3' type ballistic missile is deployed at these arrays. This missile, which uses a solid-fuel rocket engine, only requires 15 minutes of preparation time before launch. The emergency plan must be activated to suppressively strike these missile arrays."

  "Is intelligence enough to be accurate?"

  "We didn't have time to verify the accuracy of the intelligence."

  Musharraf knew the meaning of Item 9. Even without considering the time required for command and control, a missile takes at least fifteen minutes from launch to impact. India's missiles also take only fifteen minutes to get airborne, so they had to be launched before Indian missile carriers entered their positions.

  Mushata cast a questioning glance at Sheriff.

  "Colonel, are you sure?" Sheriff was also a bit hesitant.

  "Maybe yes, maybe no." After a slight hesitation, Xiang Tonghui continued, "Mr. President, what's going on outside is not a military exercise, but a war."

  Sheriff's eyes widened slightly and he immediately said: "Activate the emergency plan."

  Mushata nodded and said to Xiang Xiu: "I will issue the order immediately..."

  "General, I need top-level clearance."

  "What?" Mushtaq was shocked. If Item Riaz was given the highest authority, he would be commanding Pakistan's missile forces under a Chinese colonel.

  "After the reconnaissance satellite finds the missile launch vehicle, it will immediately send me a photo. My subordinates can complete the positioning work within two minutes. If we issue orders in the usual way, our missiles cannot arrive before India's missiles take off. Only by directly ordering the missile troops to shorten the reaction time can we ensure that we destroy India's missile sites before India's missiles take off."

  Mushata still hesitated a bit, he didn't want to give up command.

  Sheriff pulled down the sleeve of the Air Force general and walked to the front. "Colonel, can you guarantee the destruction of Indian missiles?"

  "You give me authorization, I'll give you guarantee."

  Sheriff nodded and said: "You go ahead and do it, I support you."

  Xiang Xiu nodded and turned to leave the commander's office.

  The time left for him was indeed limited.

  Five minutes later, the reconnaissance satellite sent back the latest battlefield photos.

  Missile launchers have appeared at eight previously identified missile launch sites, and missile launchers have also appeared at five reserve missile launch sites.

  "Captain, targeting complete, it's a 'Privet-3' type missile."

  Identifying the type of missile is a technical task. All objects in digital satellite photos are composed of pixels, and different objects occupy different numbers of pixels and have different pixel distributions. For example, the T-90 tank occupies 3+5x2=13 pixels in a photo, while the BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle occupies 11 pixels. Distinguishing between missiles that have not been launched can only be done by identifying the type of launch vehicle. The "Privet-1" missile launcher occupies 8x3=24 pixels, while the "Privet-3" missile launcher occupies 9x3=27 pixels.

  Xiang Xiu nodded to the officer in charge of intelligence analysis. "Assign strike targets for each tactical unit."

  Information was transmitted through underground fiber optic cables to missile troops hundreds of kilometers away, and the commanders of each missile battalion immediately entered the received coordinates into the "Abdali-2" tactical ballistic missiles. Other officers and soldiers began checking the status of the missiles and launchers. In emergency combat mode, target data would be loaded onto the missiles before they left their shelters, completing pre-launch checks. Once in position, it took only five minutes to complete the erection and launch sequence - a saving of five minutes compared to normal tactical procedures. At this moment, five minutes was enough to decide life or death, victory or defeat.

  When the second deputy photo appears on the screen, some missiles on the missile launch vehicle have completed the erection work and are making final preparations. Within fifteen minutes, these missiles will take off. In order to increase the density of the missile strike, each missile unit's missiles will take off at the same time and will not be launched in batches.

  Hesitating for a moment, Lieutenant Colonel Xiang Tonghui nodded towards the Pakistan Air Force major who had come to assist him.

  At this time, Pakistan's missile troops participating in the combat operation have entered the position, fixed the missile launch vehicle, and are waiting for the firing command.

  Almost simultaneously, 132 missile launchers at 33 locations began erecting missiles.

  In less than five minutes, 132 "Abdali-2" missiles trailed long tails of smoke and shot into the sky like meteors.

  After completing the launch work, the missile launcher immediately transferred.

  Even without being threatened, according to combat regulations, after launching a missile, the launch vehicle must relocate as quickly as possible or return to cover and reload with another missile, preparing for the next launch. More importantly, this is the most effective way to avoid enemy counterattacks.

  Xiang Xiu Hui was still patiently waiting for every five minutes to send back a satellite reconnaissance photo.

  Fifteen minutes, just fifteen minutes.

  On the third photo, seven missile launchers on the missile site have completed the erection work, and more than half of the six missile launchers on other sites have also completed the erection work.

  The fourth photo shows three launchers on the missile base have changed position, indicating that missiles have been launched.

  When the fifth photo appeared on the big screen, Xiang Tongli let out a sigh of relief and wiped away the sweat from his forehead.

  The second wave of missile strikes was highly effective, with all 13 missile sites destroyed and at least seven launchers on the sites suffering catastrophic damage.

  Against missile launch sites, tactical ballistic missiles use submunitions.

  "Colonel, missile warning alert. Thirty-one 'Privyet-3' missiles launched, targets are..."

  "Sound the alarm, closely monitor all missiles."

  For the impending strike, Item Xuehui was also powerless. Pakistan's air defense system is not even perfect, let alone an advanced missile defense system. Now it can only rely on the "Privyet-3" type missile with a circular error of up to 150 meters and luck.

  If a missile's circular error probable exceeds one hundred meters when targeting tactical objectives, it completely loses its practical significance.

  Communications advisor Wan Fen was anxious about the retaliatory strike on the four front-line air bases when Xiang Tonghui stepped down from his command post.

  The result won't be too bad, at least it can be handed over to Sheriff.

  Thinking of Musata's unwilling appearance and Sheriff's politician's face, Xiang Tonghui felt that staying in the "Xiong Shi" brigade was more comfortable, at least he didn't have to worry about dealing with politicians.

  Fifteen minutes later, damage reports came in from air bases all over, and Xiang Tonghui finally let out a sigh of relief.

  The performance of Indian missiles is still not satisfactory, or rather, there are big problems with India's tactics in using tactical ballistic missiles. If they concentrated their forces to attack one or two air bases, the effect would definitely be much better.

  There is no medicine for regret in war.

  After the missile troops were crippled, unless India used the "Agni" missile as a strategic threat weapon, the Indian Air Force could only rely on air force.