Chapter 722 - 697 Trial_2

The DF15B successfully completed its takeoff stage and, after leaving the atmosphere, cast off the depleted second stage and began entering its ascent trajectory.

It would continue to ascend until nearly 1000 kilometers in height before diving down. Before this point, its speed would become increasingly slower and less maneuverable, creating an extremely favorable window for attack.

Yet the Thousand-Jun Stick No. 1 remained unmoved, silently monitoring the warhead’s trajectory.

Passing the peak, it began to dive.

The Thousand-Jun Stick No. 1 still showed no sign of action, not until the warhead began to contact the atmosphere and friction with the thick air began. Then, the seven 140-kilowatt carbon dioxide lasers were triggered, converging into a straight beam which slightly shifted under the influence of the electronic gyroscope and electromagnetic adjusting system.

Meanwhile, the radar on the DDG-107 "Gravely," an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer below, also spotted the descending warhead and was basically able to calculate the impact area.

As they had anticipated, the warhead was continuously decelerated by the thick atmosphere. The bright spot in the sky persisted for several seconds, and what followed was it plunging swiftly...

The radar on the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer was incredibly sensitive, immediately detecting that the warhead’s trajectory abnormally veered sharply to one side, far beyond the normal range of maneuver.

The warhead, which was supposed to hit the designated area, exhibited an outrageous displacement after completely passing through the atmosphere, veering towards another direction and starting to fall. The radar also showed significant changes in its posture; it began tumbling and had completely lost control.

The operator intently watching the radar screen was at first astonished, then couldn’t help but let out a cheer.

From the looks of it, the impact point had deviated by at least 300 kilometers, a major blunder rarely seen in that country.

The captain joyfully confirmed the news and quickly sent it to the Pacific Command, which immediately forwarded it to the Pentagon, eager to share their joy.

However, once the message reached the Air Force Intelligence Analysis Division of the Pentagon, the experts there arrived at a completely different conclusion.

It was the still young Colonel Anthony who first sensed something was amiss. After successfully uncovering the secrets of NX17 in Office Thirteen, he was reassigned back to his original position in the intelligence room but still took orders from Office Thirteen.

The importance of the follow-up tracking work on NX17 had diminished by an order of magnitude. He just needed to endure another year or so, and with this experience, he could be promoted to brigadier general; as long as he didn’t make any mistakes, becoming a major general after turning 30 was a sure thing.

The Air Force was very attentive to the news released a few days ago about the impending sea trial of the DF15B and obtained the test results immediately.

As soon as Anthony saw the report of the failed test launch, he realized something was off and asked the technical experts to determine the cause.

According to the trajectory analysis, the warhead, which was coated with a thick layer of heat-resistant materials, had undergone severe aerodynamic shape destruction, resulting in a direct loss of control, tumbling, and crashing.

This conclusion was unbelievable, and Anthony, who never underestimated his adversaries, keenly sensed something else.

The technical experts temporarily saw nothing amiss, but someone from Office Thirteen suddenly arrived and gave him a piece of news:

The signal from NX17 had just appeared in low Earth orbit, dense and frequent, with almost no disguise.

It not only actively communicated with the ground and the surrounding satellites but also happened to pass over the DF15B test fire location.

It was clear: this was a real ballistic missile interception test, and it was a space-based laser satellite interception.

After realizing this, Anthony was gripped not only by shock but also by anger—because this was a terminal phase interception test!

Not in the most vulnerable ascent phase, nor the longest midcourse phase, but in the terminal phase, which had the shortest time, the highest speed, and the best maneuverability!

Furthermore, NX17’s ample signals, laid bare without any disguise and even seemingly in a rush to be discovered, all indicated that this test was a display of power: a blatant show of force that only a select few could understand.

That was a terminal stage with speeds exceeding Mach 10, a warhead roughly the size of a person, with a smooth conical shape, which was destroyed right at the moment it entered the atmosphere!

The technology required to precisely hit such a warhead from hundreds of kilometers away? At least Raytheon Company had been shaking their heads while developing a similar product.

What frightened him even more was the meaning behind this muscle flex, and considering the rumors of unsuccessful negotiations, had the Chinese People already prepared to use force to get what they wanted?

Once Anthony’s thoughts returned to his body, he realized his limbs had all gone numb. Ignoring the odd sensation, he rushed straight to his boss’s office.

...

In the President’s office, John’s smile had vanished. He asked McMaster with a serious expression once again.

"You’re saying that the Chinese conducted a successful end-stage missile interception test, aren’t you? Is there any evidence?"

"Exactly, the evidence is clear. They didn’t hide it at all. Our two destroyers, the Luzon Radar Observatory, they all saw the whole process. That’s a fact!"

John fell silent. Beyond the shock of the news itself, he was surprised by the Chinese people’s restraint.

Although the deployment had taken place over a year ago, they had dragged their feet until now to complete a full-scale realistic test, which easily led him to think it was in response to America’s movements last month.

John wasn’t too scared, frankly, because he had long known about the existence of NX17; he was just starting to worry about it being discovered by other countries.

The revelation of such a superweapon would cause a significant tilt in the balance of international relations, bringing trouble to the whole of America.

He would rather pay a higher price than face such an uncontrollable situation.

"When was the last time Xu contacted us?"

However, none of the three present could answer, as this matter was being personally handled by Jack Sullivan. He was not here.

Seeing no one answered, John interlaced his fingers and began seriously sifting through the contents of Sullivan’s previous negotiations with Xu Rang.

What Xu Rang wanted most was an intelligence concession and secondly, economic concessions to reduce tariffs and trade protection policies, but from a pragmatic standpoint, the latter was likely more significant.

Could it be that their export economy had been hit so hard that they had begun to replace plows with swords? John was already contemplating his maximum concessions.

Tariff barriers and various restrictive acts were in place to protect domestic manufacturing. If they were to allow more foreign goods to flow in while still maintaining their manufacturing sector, they would have to continue to increase subsidies. However, because of the three major bills and the massive space program, the Federation’s financial ’loosening’ was already running at the limit calculated by economists. Opening up the market would mean another heavy financial burden.

But not making concessions was out of the question. The other side’s fist was already up against the face, and a blunt approach would not benefit the current situation.

While he rapidly began analyzing the situation, Robert also came to his senses and hastened to summon the staff group, especially Sullivan himself.

Most of the other staff members arrived within an hour, but Sullivan, who was still in Manhattan, New York, had to travel over three hundred kilometers, which would take about an hour.

Yet it was nearly two hours after John had discussed with the other staff members and after canceling the events he was prepared to attend, that he finally saw Sullivan enter with a somber expression.

"Jack, you’re late!"

McMaster was somewhat dissatisfied; Sullivan was at least two hours behind the expected time.

However, Sullivan ignored him, walked in without a word, found a chair to sit down, clenched his fists together on his knees, swept a look around, and then turned to David Usno on the side, then Robert and Claire, and finally back to McMaster.

After successfully attracting everyone’s attention, he explained the reason for his tardiness:

"Xu suddenly invited me to meet personally. I waited for him for a while, and then he just said one sentence to me and left."

The rest looked at each other, puzzled by such an odd act.

Sullivan recalled the scene:

As soon as Xu Rang entered the room, he didn’t even sit down. He just glanced at Sullivan, who was somewhat impatient, and then casually dropped a sentence:

"Can’t escape the Solar System, either way, it’s death."