Chapter 1051: Dealing with aircraft carriers, mere discovery is not enough
As a technician in the aerospace field, Li Lianheng did not have a deep understanding of the navy.
At best, I have heard some general information.
For example, the U.S. Navy has a total of 12 aircraft carriers.
Many.
In terms of quantity, it occupies more than half of the world.
Not to mention the tonnage.
But to be honest, just a number does not bring a strong intuitive feeling.
But now.
Seven of them appeared in two sea areas.
Especially the three ships in the Eastern Mediterranean were photographed simultaneously by Ocean One during the formation.
As for the surrounding "small boats" such as cruisers and destroyers, although they cannot be seen clearly due to the resolution, the wakes left after sailing are still vaguely discernible.
He simply counted.
All together, there are at least 20 ships.
Even looking at it from a satellite perspective made Li Lianheng feel a little numb.
After calming down a little, the first thought that popped out of his mind was -
"Are the Americans trying to cause trouble in the Balkans again?"
Li Lianheng subconsciously exclaimed.
This judgment is logical for non-professionals.
After all, it was only three years ago that the US military suffered its first major loss in the post-Cold War era in the Balkans.
Not only did the Allied operations fail to achieve their goals, the stealth aircraft they relied on for deterrence were also defeated twice in a row.
The second time, even the pilot was arrested.
Black Hawk Down in Mogadishu was nothing in comparison.
Now, it seems to be a very reasonable speculation that the US military, which has regained its confidence through the Aiwuhan War, wants to regain its position.
However, He Mingkun obviously does not agree with this judgment:
"But there are four more ships in the Indian Ocean?"
Li Lianheng hesitated:
"The positions of the four ships are actually very far apart...one is in the north, two are in the east, and There is a ship that has just entered the Indian Ocean from the Atlantic Ocean..."
Although the explanation was given, it was obvious that the tone was not as firm as before.
But He Mingkun felt a little persuaded...
In short, the two of them remained speechless, each lost in thought.
Fortunately, within a few minutes, an officer in a navy uniform strode in.
I even forgot to knock on the door.
"Mr. Li, Director He."
He took off his military cap and tucked it under his arm, and said hello to the two of them:
"I just received a report that Haiyang 1 captured multiple targets that were suspected of being aircraft carriers at the same time?"
The person who came was named Meng Dongchao, a liaison representative stationed at the National Remote Sensing Center of the Naval Staff.
Ocean One still has a civilian guise, and the focus is still on data accumulation and technical testing. Therefore, the Navy finally decided not to be responsible for the operation itself, and only sent a liaison office to be stationed here to take charge of the operation. Summarize and report remote sensing situations regularly.
"Yes, this is a satellite picture. Take a look at it, Staff Officer Meng."
Li Lianheng raised his head and handed several reports to the other party:
"After excluding duplicate signals, based on different positions and headings, we should be able to identify 7 ships, 3 in the Mediterranean and 4 in the Indian Ocean."
"As for the rest... I'll leave it to you. Let the professionals judge!”
Originally, Li Lianheng felt that today’s matter should be over here.
According to the usual practice, the report is submitted to the Naval Staff, analyzed, and finally fed back. This process takes about a day -
After all, it is mainly about research, and it is also There is little need to pursue timeliness.
And in fact, most of the photos in the current report were taken 18-24 hours ago.
In this case, whether the reaction speed on the ground is faster or slower, it will not have much impact.
No way, just a single satellite.
There is no way to ask for more.
As a result, as soon as Li Lianheng finished speaking, Meng Dongchao's eyes suddenly flashed with light.
"7 ships?"
The latter quickly took the report and read through it one by one quickly.
Then, he seemed to become even more excited...
"Seven ships...we were really able to find them!"
He said and raised his hand. The report bounced once and made a crisp sound of "pop--".
The other party's reaction surprised Li Lianheng and Meng Dongchao.
Compared with shock, it is more like...
The speculation that I had before has finally been verified. "Commander Meng, did you... already know that the Americans had dispatched these aircraft carriers?"
Li Lianheng asked in a somewhat uncertain tone.
Meng Dongchao put down the materials in his hands, but he could not suppress the raised corners of his mouth:
“It’s not very early.”
He explained:
“ At the end of the month, superior units reported here that US military combat ships were gathering in the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean areas. Let us pay attention to the recent remote sensing results of Haiyang-1... But I am worried about the consequences for the comrades at the space port. It brought unnecessary pressure, so I never said anything.”
“Unexpectedly, less than a week later, the results have already come out...”
"..."
At this time, Li Lianheng's curiosity was also aroused.
He thought for a while and felt that the matter had nothing to do with our army anyway, so it was probably not particularly sensitive:
So, he expressed his speculation just now:
"The Americans won't want to cause trouble in the Balkans again, right?"
Unexpectedly, Meng Dongchao was stunned:
"Balkans?"
Then he suddenly understood and replied with a smile:
"Although the Eastern Mediterranean is indeed very lively, but with The Balkans have nothing to do with it.”
“The Americans’ goal this time is still the Middle East...”
As he spoke, he looked around, then stood up and strode to the map hanging on the wall:
"Look, attack from the sea in two directions: west and south, and attack from the northeast. Although it is inland, the US military has two air force bases in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. This means it will be attacked from three sides. Add in the ground troops on standby, and the situation is even clearer than before Desert Storm..."
When When Meng Dongchao mentioned "Desert Storm", even those who were slow to react should know what he meant.
“But... wasn’t it already fought again in 1991?”
Li Lianheng’s tone was full of confusion:
"Why do we have to fight again?"
He just thought about the Balkans, and he really had a fixed mindset:
"Besides, the United Nations has not approved..."
< br>At this point, Li Lianheng's voice stopped abruptly.
The lack of approval by the United Nations does not seem to be a big deal to Americans.
Or rather, there are very few cases where approval is obtained like Aiwuhan's...
"This...don't talk about me, even the superiors haven't figured it out."
>Meng Dongchao shook his head helplessly:
"Even several NATO countries, including France, clearly expressed their opposition last month, but the Americans still have not slowed down their preparations for war."
“In the images taken by Ocean 1, the three ships in the Mediterranean are the Roosevelt, Washington and Truman, the three ships in the North Indian Ocean are the Kitty Hawk, the Constellation and the Lincoln, and the last one The one that just entered the Indian Ocean should be the Nimitz..."
With such a familiar look, Li Lianheng suddenly felt a little frustrated:
"So... even if there was no Ocean One, you would have known the movements of these seven aircraft carriers?"
And Meng Dongchao quickly heard the disappointment in his tone.
“As a conspicuous thing as an aircraft carrier, even if the mission itself can be kept secret, there are often thousands of people on board, and they always gather around the port before going to sea, so the general movements cannot be hidden from anyone.”
"But once they leave the port, if there is no timely information provided by satellites, we may have to wait for another half a month...or even longer to know exactly where they have arrived and in which sea area they are operating. ”
"Imagine, if their target this time is not the northern Indian Ocean, but the western Pacific, then the time bought for us will be very precious..."
After some consolation, I was excited. Meng Dongchao, who had not yet passed, looked over the satellite images in his hand twice more, then stood up and prepared to leave——
As a liaison representative, of course he did not just hand these things over to his superiors as they were.
Also form a complete report containing situation analysis and predictions.
As a result, he was stopped by Li Lianheng
"Wait a minute... there are some more here."
The latter gestured to the information box on the table:
"Although these are judged to be duplicates, we may be able to analyze some Come and bring something useful with you..."
"..."
Li Lianheng stared at Meng Dongchao's hurriedly leaving figure, and fell into deep thought for a long time.
Until he was awakened by He Mingkun's voice.
"Mr. Li, do you think...there are still problems with the satellite remote sensing report just now?"
"Oh, that's not the case."
Li Lianheng waved his hand:
“I was just thinking about the last words that Staff Officer Meng just said.”
"If the target of these seven aircraft carriers is us, then even if we discover the other party's intentions in advance, what kind of response can we make..."
He Mingkun obviously did not expect the answer to be like this, but I had to deal with the topic that I had caused, so I had no choice but to guess at random:
"This... I'm afraid we can only deploy defenses in key directions in advance, just like in previous years?"
"That is still too passive after all..."
Li Lianheng had some vague thoughts in his mind, but he was an amateur after all, and in the end he failed to grasp the key point, so he sighed, Decided not to continue to struggle:
"Forget it... let the people who specialize in weapons deal with the headache..."
(End of this chapter)