Chapter 853: Total War 7

From the moment the first batch of dispatched combat squadrons was discovered, the U. S. military commanders in the rear realized they would likely suffer heavy casualties.

However, once the battle actually broke out, the fighter jets continuously losing contact on the command center's control screens still poured a bucket of ice water over the group of fanatical hawkish soldiers who had originally been clamoring for revenge.

"... Report... the number of lost fighter jets has increased to 22..."

"... Report... data updated, another 4 fighter jets lost contact..."

"... The last F-15... is gone..."

The real-time combat reports continuously transmitted from the front lines threw the command center located at Warren Air Force Base into chaos.

Whether they were officers wearing general or field-grade uniforms, or civilian staff and technical sergeants, they were either wide-eyed or wearing expressions of terror and collapse.

No one could accept everything they were seeing with their own eyes; through the surveillance equipment equipped on the frontline fighter jets, they could see fragments of the battle even from the rear, thousands of kilometers away.

A U. S. F-22 style fighter jet was rampaging through the U. S. fighter formation at a supersonic speed that exceeded the speed of sound.

Not a single missile fired by their own side could hit the target.

Even worse, for almost every missile the opponent fired, they took away one of their own fighter jets.

Although the enemy only had one fighter jet suspected to be an F-22 model, the data fed back from the front was a very terrible, one-sided affair.

There were even screams and crying sounds of mental collapse from ace pilots in the communication channels.

Before preparing to counterattack, although the U. S. military believed they had made sufficient preparations, it was clear they were not as strong as they had thought.

"Is this alien the Decepticon—Starscream—from the data left behind by the Autobots?"

An Air Force general with the rank of Major General asked with a livid face.

No one could answer him, because they did not know either.

Ever since they had a complete falling out with the Autobots, all the information the U. S. currently knew about the Decepticons remained at the Nest unit era.

After the Tombstone unit was established, although they organized several encirclement and suppression campaigns against the Decepticons and indeed paid a heavy price to annihilate a few Decepticons,

there would no longer be any Autobots to kindly introduce and analyze the types, identities, and strengths of the Decepticons for them.

Blitzwing, one of the strongest Triple Changers, displayed great power, and soon after Dirge and several other Decepticons who also came from the flight squad and possessed flight forms joined the battlefield, the already one-sided situation had no more suspense.

Ten-plus minutes later, when the last fighter jet was shot down, everyone in Warren Air Force Base fell silent.

"The 46th Wing has been completely wiped out!"

The losses were so heavy that no one had the mood to speak anymore.

Fortunately, the transport fleet carrying the Tombstone unit was cautious enough; after receiving the unfavorable combat reports from the front, they first circled in place for a period of time, then decisively chose to return.

After all, this was a country that had been exporting war externally almost every year since the end of World War II.

Although the 46th Air Wing, the first to be dispatched by the U. S. military, suffered heavy losses, for the true decision-makers at the Pentagon, this result was not unacceptable.

At least they had obtained an important piece of intelligence at a price that was barely acceptable.

"The opposing side possesses Decepticons that can transform into fighter jets; the number of confirmed aerial combat units is currently five. It is difficult for our fighter jets to gain air superiority when facing them..."

"According to satellite surveys, the number of Decepticons invading Earth this time is at least over one hundred. To prevent the opponent from having more hidden aerial combat units, I suggest using Tomahawk Cruise Missiles first to conduct saturation strikes on designated areas!"

The Tomahawk Cruise Missile is a general-purpose subsonic cruise missile with the largest quantity equipped by the U. S. military. Although the primary user is the United States Navy, both the Army and Air Force have procured this cruise missile, and its maximum range can reach 2,500 kilometers.

In a situation where air superiority cannot be maintained, using Tomahawk Cruise Missiles first to conduct saturation strikes on the Decepticons' landing zones can eliminate a portion of the Decepticons as much as possible, and at the very least, it can figure out the opponent's bottom line.

Moreover, compared to a fighter jet with a total cost of over 100 million U. S. dollars, a cruise missile with a cost in the million-dollar range is clearly more cost-effective to use.

New orders were quickly issued, and immediately following were the Tomahawk Cruise Missiles equipped by the U. S. Army and Air Force.

Leaving aside the U. S. military's renewed counterattack, the news that the Decepticons had appeared on Earth in large numbers again and had engaged in battle with the U. S. was quickly known by many forces on Earth, and the Autobots located within Africa were among them!

East African Rift, New Iacon.

Optimus Prime looked at the intelligence just delivered by the Cassette Troops, his brow already furrowed.

"Soundwave, has this intelligence been confirmed?"

"Yes, Leader. The first to discover that Decepticons had invaded Earth was Rewind. He was surfing the human internet at the time and accidentally discovered the meteor shower filmed by humans over in Canada! Then he had our satellites conduct reconnaissance, only then did we discover these Decepticons!"

With the awakening of Sentinel Prime, the news that two Autobot leaders were gathered on Earth had already reached the Autobots on the satellites of the distant planet Cybertron over the past few months.

Consequently, more and more Autobots began to follow the two leaders, crossing vast star regions to rush to Earth.

Over the past few months, the total number of Autobots in New Iacon had already exceeded one thousand.

Although most of the arriving Autobots were normal civilians.

However, because of the special racial nature of the Autobots, the vast majority of them were very excellent workers and technical personnel.

Under their efforts, New Iacon was expanding at an incredible speed.

Buildings and research institutions unique to the former Autobot capital were being built one after another, and at the same time, a large amount of mechanical equipment was being put into use one by one.

Among these, it notably included several satellites belonging to the Autobots that Wheeljack had manufactured by imitating human artificial satellites.

Their primary job in normal times was to monitor and scout for any traces of Decepticon activity on Earth.

Now that it was confirmed that a large number of Decepticons had appeared again, and had even attacked the U. S., which had previously cooperated with the Autobots.

For a time, Optimus Prime also had a bit of a headache.

Thinking from the perspective of an Autobot leader, he knew very well that letting the strongest human nation with considerable strength consume the Decepticons was undoubtedly the choice that best served the interests of the Autobots.

The U. S. possessed the strongest military power on Earth; they did not trust the Autobots, and could even be said to treat them the same as the Decepticons—as enemies.

Therefore, letting them suffer some losses and, in the process, consume as many Decepticons as possible, had only benefits and no harm for the Autobots.

However, was this really appropriate?

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