Chapter 12: Lethal Friction (Part One)

  One

  This is the 9th day that Captain Clément-Bonhoure and his Rubis-class nuclear attack submarine "Perle" have been in the South Atlantic. Although the British government has taken a hard line on the Falklands crisis, other European Community nations still hope to force Argentina back to the negotiating table through a naval blockade.

  Especially the governments of France and Germany have always hoped to force Argentina to abandon its expansion and return to the negotiating table under the pressure of strong military power. After all, South America is too far from the European continent. It seems that it is not worth letting soldiers go thousands of miles away to shed blood just to fulfill the commitment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

  "The stupid Argentines should know that they are facing the entire mighty North Atlantic Treaty Organization alone." Although the submarine had approached the "death cross" of 45°S, 55°W set by the Argentine government, the Argentines announced that any ship entering this area without permission from the Argentine government would be sunk.

  But the proud French sailors still kept the submarine in a surface cruising attitude, not entering a state of combat at all. Looking at his subordinates enjoying the warm sunshine of the South Atlantic on the submarine, Captain Clément confidently said: "It's just a long-distance cruise. There is no need to make the soldiers too nervous, dive in 5 minutes."

  Although it has the world's sixth-largest naval power, France is not a maritime power. The "Rubis"-class nuclear-powered attack submarine, which was designed and manufactured in the 1970s, has a surface displacement of 2,385 tons and an underwater displacement of 2,670 tons, making it one of the smallest nuclear submarines currently in service worldwide, almost equivalent to France's ocean-going Agosta-class conventional power submarine.

  But if Clément knew that there was a formidable enemy vessel staring at him 50 miles away from his submarine, he might not have given the order that would send him and his submarine to hell so hastily.

  On the other side of the icy ocean floor, 20 soldiers from two teams of the British SBS Special Boat Service were transported by US Navy ASDV underwater transport boats and detached from the hulls of the two "Astute"-class nuclear-powered attack submarines "Ambush" and "Audacious" of the Royal Navy, which had carried them nearly 7,000 kilometers.

  After floating up about 150 meters in the water, the two sides opened their retractable thrusters and slowly headed towards their destination - South Georgia Island. South Georgia Island is approximately 1,280 kilometers away from the Malvinas Islands, which were occupied by Argentine troops, and its strategic location is very important. It was once occupied by British special forces during the first Falklands War in 1982 and became a springboard for the British expeditionary force to retake the Falkland Islands. In the face of this Falklands crisis, the British government repeated its old trick. They decided to take the initiative and again dispatched special forces to attack South Georgia Island.

  The ASDV is an improved version of the SDV "Seal" delivery vehicle, which was developed by the US Special Operations Command in 1994 at a cost of $70 million. It is a fully enclosed submersible that can keep its crew warm and dry throughout the journey while maintaining a pressure equivalent to one standard atmosphere.

  As the distance to the target sea area gets closer and closer, the British soldiers of SBS still make a final check on the weapons and equipment they carry. The transport boat will float in the sea 5 kilometers away from South Georgia Island, and then all special forces soldiers will change to rubber assault boats for secret landing.

  The first to appear on the dark surface of the sea were the ASDV's periscope and communication mast, and there was a silence on the island. According to intelligence, the Argentines had only symbolically garrisoned 50 soldiers on the island, and their camp was a day's journey from here.

  "Go in." The British Colonel David Clark, who was in charge of the operation, ordered his men to quickly board the assault boats and head towards the snow-covered island. Four assault boats slowly made their way through the choppy waters into a predetermined landing site - an unnamed natural bay.

  "Prepare to land." Colonel Clark's voice was low as he gave the order to his men. The British SBS special forces soldiers, armed with MP-5SD6 silenced submachine guns, crouched and boarded the ice shelf of South Georgia Island.

  "Uhh... Ah~!" A dense barrage of automatic rifle fire came from the left wing's mountain slope, hitting the British soldier at the head of the formation. "It's the Argentines! We're ambushed!" Before the British could react, countless Argentine soldiers wearing snow camouflage uniforms and holding Chinese-made 95-style automatic rifles appeared on the surrounding ring-shaped hills around their landing point.

  The British special forces, caught off guard, still tried to resist, but all that awaited them was death. A burst of gunfire shattered Colonel Clark's left shoulder, but the honor of the British special forces drove him to shake off his MP-5SD6 silenced submachine gun and pull out a 9mm pistol in an attempt to make a final stand. But a hail of bullets came down, and there were no more British Royal Special Forces at the landing point, for the dead have no identity.

  "Stubborn Brits." Said Argentine "Snow Wolves" Polar Warfare Battalion Commander, Major Granoh, who had received ice field combat training in China's Tibet and Kirgizstan regions, as he gazed out at the bay filled with corpses. If they expected a brand new war to still follow the same steps as 20 years ago, then it was already destined that the British SBS Special Boat Squadron would end up like this.

  "Master control panel, this is the control center."

  "I heard it."

  "Start receiving information in one minute."

  "Understood. What's the signal status?"

  "It's fine for now."

  The antenna buoy was towed tens of meters behind the submarine in the water, connected to the submarine by a sturdy electric cable. Everything was controlled by wireless dot communication from the main console on the "Pearl". At this time, the "Pearl" was in the information receiving period, and throughout the process, the submarine had to maintain synchronization with the satellite, adjusting its course and speed according to ocean currents. Although not complicated in terms of operating technology, such work did not allow for even a slight mistake.

  "Transmission complete. 12 messages in total, with one directly for the captain." At this time, wireless operator Palomba revealed a relaxed smile and said "Alright, resume speed." Clemenceau ordered to cut off the antenna buoy while walking into the wireless telegraph room on the boat to receive the latest instructions issued by the NATO joint fleet in Brussels, Europe.

  After entering the secure code that belongs only to him, the screen displays a single French word: "Baleine". From this giant war die, a rumble begins to roll across the vast Atlantic!

  News of the defeat of the SBS Special Boat Troop, one of Britain's elite special forces units, in the South Atlantic was quickly suppressed within the UK. The British government also falsely announced to the public that "the British Government has not yet decided whether to send any military force to the Falkland Islands."

  But the Argentines were not willing to miss this opportunity to wipe out old scores. Through the lens of a camera, Argentina showed the world the icy tundra of South Georgia Island littered with corpses and reiterated that any military action by the British government and its allies that was detrimental to Argentina would suffer the same heavy blow.

  The normally calm and collected Britain was enraged, the ancient Europe was enraged. Europeans who had been accustomed to being respected by the whole world since the Industrial Revolution suddenly realized that someone had spat on their proud face in one night.

  "We can no longer remain silent, we must tell the world that Europe is a strong entity." The Secretary General of the European Parliament, British Julian Priestley, called on all Europeans to mobilize in Strasbourg with an unwavering voice, declaring war on "evil authoritarian governments".

  The resolution, later known as the "Blood Sea Pact", was passed in the European Parliament with 520 votes in favour, 99 against and 7 abstentions. The parliament authorised the NATO Eurocorps to take any form of military action against Argentina.

  On that day, EU Defense Minister "French Iron Lady" Alio Mari announced that the European Legion would restore British Commonwealth sovereignty and national integrity at all costs. The ancient European war chariot began to rumble loudly. On the same day, the Command of the South American Expeditionary Force of the European Legion was formally established in Strasbourg, a city in eastern France. French Army General Marcel Pauli took office as the commander of the expeditionary force, and German Air Force Major General Butte took office as the chief of staff of the expeditionary force.

  The British, who have never been enthusiastic about European independent defense, cannot hold back this time and actively participate in the preparation of the expeditionary force. The first thing the European Expeditionary Force did after its establishment was to impose a comprehensive naval blockade on Argentina with nuclear-powered attack submarines that had already entered the South Atlantic, and it seemed that Europeans still held hopes that the war could end quickly in distant South America.

  "Beep, beep" Battle alarm on "Pearl No."

  The compartment of the nuclear-powered attack submarine reverberated. The attack order transmitted from the underground command center in metropolitan France thoroughly shattered the beautiful dream that French sailors could return home without fighting. In the corridor, lights flashed, and some tired French sailors were rushing to their respective battle stations at the fastest speed.

  "Entering periscope depth."

  "Very well! Let's get started and give those arrogant Argentinians a good shaking from the French long whales." reported the officer on duty at the control panel of "Pearl".

  At this time, the clock on the boat pointed to 2 o'clock in the morning. A roll-on/roll-off cargo ship from Argentina's Blanca Port was heading towards Uruguay at a distance of 15 nautical miles ahead of the "Pearl". The night sky was dark, and a French Navy SM39 Exocet anti-ship missile had entered combat status...