Chapter 788 - 746 Thunderstorm, Thunder

Although it was already past 10 PM Capital time, the entire Eastern Hemisphere had been enveloped in darkness, the sudden crisis that erupted and was forcibly subdued still generated fluctuations.

Especially in cities with nearby military airfields, the sound of a large number of planes urgently taking off was incessant, with some pilots even activating their afterburners, so that the roaring of the jet engines could be heard across half the city.

Many people who were awakened only had to lean against the window to see advanced fighter jets lifting off into the night like fireflies, then heading straight for the coastline without looking back.

Thirty-four minutes had passed from the first alarm to the joint announcement by both space agencies and officials, but its impact was clearly not going to end so hastily.

Peace, established under the balance of nuclear deterrence, is very fragile; once set in motion, it becomes a chain reaction that is difficult to stop, not entirely at the discretion of the controllers.

As more and more jets and warships assembled at the border, no one dared to recklessly retreat; instead, they became even more vigilant in anticipation of a sudden strike, and the scope of mobilization continued to expand.

It started with the Air Force and Navy, and now even the Army had started to mobilize. On Lin Ju’s way to the airport, he caught sight of a flatbed trailer whizzing by, towing a main battle tank.

The C810 registered at the base took off quickly, and after accelerating to supersonic speeds, it suddenly slowed down again. The assistant hurriedly asked the pilot and received a surprising answer.

"Mr. Lin, there are more than forty planes transferring in front of us; we have to decelerate and descend to give way."

Lin Ju and Shen Zuozhou were both startled, since this could only be military aircraft, but hadn’t the misunderstanding already been cleared up?

Shen Zuozhou, "Do you know what kind of planes they are?"

The assistant hesitated for a moment before responding:

"Radar characteristics are similar to large aircraft, but they’re not transport planes, they’re jet-powered, feels like H6."

For New Yuan’s assistant to analyze this was not surprising to Shen Zuozhou; he was also a military enthusiast and knew exactly what the transfer of more than forty H6s meant.

Two full bomber regiments, it was unclear where they were coming from, but such a large scale...

Fighter jets could be used for air-defense interception missions, but bombers were different; they were offensive weapons, and such a scale of mobilization definitely wasn’t just for show.

If each H6 carried 4 to 6 cruise missiles, that would be almost 200 missiles. What are they planning to do?

From this course, it’s definitely towards the coast... hiss.

Lin Ju was no fool, both men simultaneously gasped.

To show that it was harmless, the pilot of the C810 reduced speed to subsonic in one go, allowing its passengers to see the real view outside.

There was no city below them, so the flickering lights in the night sky were particularly eye-catching.

The navigation lights of the forty or so H6s were on to maintain formation, their incessant blinking like a constellation traveling across the night sky.

Over eighty jet engines thrusting at full capacity in the sky, even Lin Ju could feel a slight vibration in the cabin of the C810. If this had been on the ground, it would have probably sounded like a fearsomely scaled thunderstorm.

He turned on his smartphone browser and easily found the expected headline at the top of the trending search:

"Capital, Washington issue an emergency joint statement: will jointly maintain world peace."

The following items were:

"Continuous roaring heard in Qiantang, netizen: hundreds of fighter jets have taken off in succession."

"Russia declares a state of emergency: resolutely defends its own security."

"NACA’s artificial sun suspected to have gone out of control, causing domestic TV broadcasts to temporarily paralyze."

"Space Force launches two S2100 solid rockets consecutively into space with unmanned spacecraft, claims it’s part of a normal drill plan."

"Air-raid alarms heard in multiple locations, is your city included?"

"..."

Because it could not initially be determined if it was an extraterrestrial crisis, the domestic reaction was somewhat overly sensitive, with very large movements, already causing no small waves.

However, domestic netizens seemed to have misunderstood somewhat...

Lin Ju clicked on the military forum; the homepage featured a new sticky post from 20 minutes ago with over 5000 replies already—the title comprised just a few words:

"Is a big one coming?"

...

"It’s here too?"

After giving way to the flock of H6s, the C810 quickly landed at the base, but as soon as Lin Ju and Shen Zuozhou stepped down the gangway, they were once again hit by a deafening roar.

Having lived in Rong City for many years, Lin Ju immediately recognized the source of the noise; it wasn’t only J20s but also the B-type interceptor equipped with the New Yuan XW-9.

Equally newly formed squadrons, judging by the navigation lights, there should be eight, two squadrons in total.

But the roar could still be faintly heard in the distance, suggesting there were far more than these.

It was understandable for the high readiness of the coastal defense to have a quick response, but now they were still taking off incessantly?

Ye Changsi, who rushed over in a hurry and slightly out of breath, came up and said:

"Pant... The military just requested to temporarily lease our two An-1250s, I agreed, and even provided the crew, they were very urgent and they’ve been given away.

Also, I just checked the backend, and the one we sold to Shunfeng also changed course; it must have been leased too. Now all six planes are in their hands."

The production of the An-1250 can actually be described as "plentiful". As an unprecedented super transport plane, six were produced, of which the air force retained half.

Despite countless experts deeming such a colossal transport plane as having limited use, when it comes to real transport needs, it’s unmatched by a fleet of regular transport planes. The air force knows the truth well and keeps urging the progress on the Y35.