110: Twenty years of forging swords for the country, one day the sword soars into the sky!

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, the night was as dark as ink.

Peng Lin stood under the launch tower of the Dongfeng-6 intercontinental ballistic missile. The biting night wind stirred up the Gobi sand and grit, hitting his thick cold-weather suit.

He gazed at the colossal 35-meter-long object before him, his heart unable to settle for a long time.

The Dragon Kingdom's military had suffered a simulated tactical nuclear strike from the Bear Empire during the "Red-Blue Confrontation Exercise" a few days prior, and this incident had been bothering Peng Lin ever since!

Perhaps in the eyes of the Bear Empire and the Beautiful Nation, these two superpowers had never treated the Dragon Kingdom as an equal sovereign state!

It was the era of the Iron Curtain of the Cold War, and all global discourse had to be backed by force!

Even if the Dragon Kingdom's army was powerful, in the eyes of the Bear Empire, it was just a matter that could be resolved with a few nuclear bombs!

Therefore, if the Dragon Kingdom wanted to gain respect, it had to become an equivalent strategic nuclear power!

"Notify the South Pacific impact zone meteorological team to prepare for impact zone weather detection and reporting, and be ready for the test launch at any time!"

"Additionally, the Yuanwang fleet of reconnaissance ships must report immediately upon reaching the target area!"

Peng Lin tightened his cold-weather suit and said to his assistant.

The Dongfeng-6 intercontinental ballistic missile project began in the 1960s, and it had been twenty years in the making!

The entire project consumed the efforts and youth of an entire generation of aerospace and missile researchers in the Dragon Kingdom!

Therefore, the test launch must be perfectly executed through the entire process!

Especially given the urgency of the current international situation, the Dongfeng-6 intercontinental ballistic missile project was absolutely required to succeed!

Besides possessing nuclear weapons, the most important thing for a country was to have the ability to deliver those nuclear weapons!

The development of the Dragon Kingdom's army, as well as its extensive military trade in the global international arena, had already become a thorn in the side of the Bear Empire and the Beautiful Nation!

If the Dongfeng-6 test launch failed, the consequences would be a hundred times more severe than not conducting the launch at all!

Because if the Dongfeng-6 intercontinental ballistic missile test launch was not conducted, it would be difficult for any country to know the extent of the Dragon Kingdom's intercontinental missile research!

But once a test launch was conducted, if it failed...

Then the whole world would know that the Dragon Kingdom simply did not possess the capability to deliver tactical nuclear weapons over long distances!

At that time, the Beautiful Nation and the Bear Empire could easily manipulate the Dragon Kingdom with just one nuclear deterrent!

Even if the Dragon Kingdom's heavy combined arms brigades were powerful, their effectiveness against nuclear weapons would be very limited!

"The Dongfeng-6 test launch must succeed, not fail!"

Peng Lin looked up at the stars, silently encouraging himself.

The design and technical specifications of the Dongfeng-6 intercontinental ballistic missile were even higher than the Beautiful Nation's Minuteman III missile and the Bear Empire's Satan intercontinental missile.

The technical difficulty was extremely high!

Due to the severity of the current international situation, there had even been calls from the military and high-ranking officials to postpone the Dongfeng-6 intercontinental ballistic missile test launch.

They believed that as long as the Dongfeng-6 was not tested, its shortcomings in nuclear deterrence would not be fully exposed.

However, Peng Lin, with the support of Marshal Xu Yong'an, who overruled all dissenting opinions, firmly insisted on proceeding with the Dongfeng-6 intercontinental ballistic missile test launch as scheduled!

After all, wasn't the Dongfeng-6 developed as the "backbone of the nation" from its inception?

Now, the Dragon Kingdom's rapid development had attracted numerous foreign enemies' encirclement and suppression!

Didn't it need the Dongfeng-6 to prove its strength and break the oppression of all nations?

How could they back down at this time?

No matter how great the pressure, Peng Lin would not take a single step back!

The tens of thousands of R&D personnel and technical workers of the Dongfeng-6 project team, who had fought alongside him, would also not take a single step back!

They had forged a sword for the nation for twenty years, just waiting for the day when the heavenly sword would soar into the sky!

...At the same time.

The Kremlin.

After the "Vostok - Dark Operation" military exercise concluded, the Kremlin authorities and the military high command held a three-day closed-door meeting!

The Kremlin had very high expectations for this military exercise, which mobilized a million armored steel torrents and was the largest of its kind globally!

They hoped that through this exercise, the Bear military would not only be able to sweep away the failures of the Afghan War but also deter the Dragon Kingdom, thereby pressuring the world and expanding its military influence!

Originally, everything went very smoothly.

The first phase of the "Vostok - Dark Operation" military exercise indeed achieved the goal of deterring global nations and NATO, even causing military anxiety in the Beautiful Nation's White House!

The Kremlin also highly praised this!

But who knew that in the subsequent "Red-Blue Confrontation Actual Combat Exercise" phase with the Dragon Kingdom, the Bear Army suffered a major setback!

Even with the use of simulated tactical nuclear strikes, they still had a casualty ratio of 15:1 against the Dragon Kingdom's mechanized units!

In this battle, the Bear Army truly lost face completely!

The core purpose of the Kremlin's closed-door meeting with the military was to order the Bear Army to quickly find a way to announce the "Red-Blue Confrontation Exercise" as a Bear victory!

At the same time, they aimed to eliminate the impact of this incident as much as possible!

"The army is fully responsible for the failure of this confrontation exercise!"

"Now, the Ministry of Defense and the Army must find a way to eliminate the impact of this matter!"

"We must make all countries in the world firmly believe that our Bear Empire achieved victory in the confrontation exercise with the Dragon Kingdom!"

The Kremlin's helmsman looked at everyone and said.

If the Kremlin were to admit that they lost to their former junior, the Dragon Kingdom, in the confrontation exercise, they would lose too much face.

Moreover, the Kremlin helmsman's governing style had always been rather volatile; he had even led the Bear Empire delegation to openly bang his shoe on the table at the United Nations General Assembly!

Globally, this was a unique existence!

For the first three days of the closed-door meeting, the Kremlin's helmsman had been scolding the Ministry of Defense and the Army for their cowardice and incompetence!

Only now did his anger gradually subside, and he asked the Ministry of Defense and the Army to provide solutions!

"Your Army General Staff and General Staff Headquarters should quickly come up with a plan!"

General Ivanovych, the Minister of Defense, said in an annoyed tone.

Throughout the entire confrontation exercise, he had been in the general command center, accompanying military observers from various countries around the world watching the exercise.

At this moment, the anger in his heart was no less than that of the Kremlin, so he directly pushed all responsibility for the matter onto the Army.

"In my opinion, the conventional combat capability of the Dragon Kingdom's heavy combined arms brigades has already matched or even surpassed the configurations of our and the Beautiful Nation's armies. This is a fact we must admit after the confrontation exercise!"

"So, instead of concealing it, we should directly enhance the combat capabilities of the army units!"

"My plan remains the same as before: equip all army division-level units with 'Scud' and 'Tochka' tactical nuclear missiles. Against any armored units and fortifications, the first round will always use tactical nuclear missiles for assault!"

"Our Bear Empire possesses the world's largest nuclear arsenal. In terms of nuclear deterrence, no country other than the Beautiful Nation can threaten us!"

"The Beautiful Nation's individual soldiers can call for air support, while our army's battalion and regimental level units must have the ability to call for tactical nuclear weapon support!"

"In this way, which country's army can contend with us?"

"The Dragon Kingdom's heavy combined arms brigades are a joke!"

General Petrov, the Chief of the General Staff of the Bear Army, spoke and reported.

With all the senior generals of the army remaining silent, he put forward his opinion.

Now that the conservative faction's plan in the Bear Army had been severely beaten by the Dragon Kingdom, he felt it was his chance to realize his ambitions, seize the opportunity to gain favor with the Kremlin, and truly grasp the power of the army!

"General Petrov, are you sure your plan will not cause a world nuclear war and lead to the extinction of humanity?"

"After all, delegating the launch authority of tactical nuclear weapons to division-level units could very likely lead to the loss of control over nuclear weapons!"

General Ivanovych, the Minister of Defense, frowned tightly and questioned.

In his eyes, General Petrov, the Chief of the General Staff of the Army, had always been a nuclear war fanatic!

"This military reform can be implemented only in our army units stationed along the border with the Dragon Kingdom!"

"As for the troops confronting NATO in Eastern Europe, they will maintain the status quo!"

"After all, the Dragon Kingdom simply does not have the capability to deliver nuclear warheads to Moscow and major European cities!"

"Just like we conducted a nuclear strike against them in the confrontation exercise, they didn't even utter a sound!"

"Therefore, even if we go to war with the Dragon Kingdom at the border and our division-level units use tactical nuclear weapons against the Dragon Kingdom, they can only swallow their anger!"

General Petrov, the Chief of the General Staff of the Army, showed a slight smile on his face and explained.

His words made all the high-ranking military attendees fall into contemplation!

Because to a certain extent, they actually felt that Petrov seemed to be right!

After all, the Dragon Kingdom was just their former junior. Although it was now a nuclear-armed state, could its nuclear weapons reach beyond the Dragon Kingdom's borders?

The Bear Empire feared NATO and the Beautiful Nation's threat to the Kremlin with Minuteman III and Trident intercontinental ballistic missiles. Why should it fear a nuclear war with the Dragon Kingdom?

And General Petrov's unique insight immediately piqued the Kremlin's interest.

"Comrade Chief of the General Staff of the Army, if the Kremlin supports your reform plan, how do you think the Bear Empire's victory in this military exercise should be announced to convince all countries?"

The Kremlin's helmsman, unusually amiable, asked him.

"It's very simple. As long as we deploy tactical nuclear missiles to our division-level units in the Eastern Theater, the Dragon Kingdom will face immense strategic pressure!"

"Even their painstakingly formed heavy combined arms brigades will be meaningless!"

"At the same time, we need to test a Tsar Bomba to fully demonstrate our nuclear deterrence capability!"

"Then, we can summon the Dragon Kingdom's ambassador to the embassy and demand that the Dragon Kingdom's Ministry of Defense announce the results of the 'Red-Blue Confrontation Exercise' and proactively admit that the Dragon Kingdom lost the exercise!"

"Under the pressure of an armored steel torrent equipped with tactical nuclear missiles, the Dragon Kingdom, whether based on military strength or national power, will not be qualified to negotiate with us. They can only agree to our demands!"

"No, this is an order from the Kremlin to Yanjing!"

General Petrov, the Chief of the General Staff of the Army, said with immense forcefulness!

"Because the Dragon Kingdom cannot threaten the Kremlin, but the Kremlin can flatten Yanjing at any time?"

"So the Kremlin has the right to issue orders to Yanjing?"

"Good, then proceed according to your plan. The Kremlin will fully support your army reform plan!"

The helmsman of the Bear Empire showed delight and said.