138: Shock to all countries

"Oh, shit! I'm fucking locked on by a missile! Evade! Evade!"

When the radar warning receiver sounded, the faces of several Israel fighter pilots, who had been laughing and joking just a moment ago, turned pale instantly. They cursed incessantly over the communication channel while frantically pulling their flight sticks in a vain attempt to evade the missile attack.

Unfortunately, as a top-tier hypersonic medium-range missile provided by the Weapons Factory, the Night Demon's greatest advantage was its speed. Its top speed could reach Mach 10, and after terminal acceleration, it could even reach Mach 12. In contrast, the top speed of Israel's F-15I fighters was only Mach 2.5. The difference in speed was worlds apart. Combined with the precise positioning assistance of the Man Tian Xing Radar, the outcome was predictable.

The first to be unlucky were Israel's two aerial refueling tankers. Because Israel believed Xinan Country had no effective air defenses, they had arrogantly allowed the two tankers to fly along for this airstrike mission. Refueling tankers were not meant for combat; they were slower than fighter jets, let alone hypersonic missiles that far exceeded fighter speeds.

After being locked on, several F-15Is quickly engaged acceleration mode and performed evasive maneuvers in all directions to save themselves, completely ignoring the tankers. The tankers could only watch as several missiles accurately struck them, unable to take any countermeasures.

Immediately, two bursts of explosive fireworks ignited, and the two aerial refueling tankers exploded and disintegrated directly in mid-air.

On the other side, several F-15Is were still making their final struggle. The pilots pushed their lifelong training to the limit, performing a constant stream of high-difficulty evasive maneuvers while continuously releasing flares to lure the missiles. But it was all in vain. As top-tier hypersonic medium-range missiles from the Intelligent Army Weapons Factory, they were equipped with intelligent clones of the AI white emperor. In terms of precision, they stood head and shoulders above any other missiles in the same category.

A few seconds later, several more bursts of fireworks exploded in the sky. Simultaneously, the small black dots representing the invading enemy aircraft on the Man Tian Xing Radar disappeared from the screen.

After dealing with the enemy, the Death Warrior commander at the missile base quickly reported to Fernando.

Fernando issued orders for the Army Aviation units to deploy helicopters to quickly locate the wreckage of the invading aircraft and confirm the intruders' identities. Although he knew it was Israel's doing, having evidence would be more convincing. Fernando didn't want to be like Asan Country—clearly losing the battle but insisting they won, only to become a global laughingstock after the USA revealed the truth... When people woke up the next morning and checked their phones, they discovered that Xinan Country and Israel had actually clashed!

In the past two days, Xinan Country's declaration of war against Israel had caused a stir on the internet in every nation. As it turned out, enjoying the drama wasn't just a pastime for the people of the Great Eastern Country; foreigners loved it too.

However, like the strategic analysts of various countries, the public was equally pessimistic about Xinan Country. The reasons were the same: in terms of economy, technology, and industry, Xinan Country lagged far behind Israel. People assumed Xinan Country was just talking big to vent its anger and couldn't actually do anything to Israel.

But when the overwhelming news broke this morning, the entire world was stunned.

"Breaking news today: Last night, a spokesperson for Xinan Country claimed that Xinan Country sent special forces into Israel to carry out strikes on multiple key facilities. According to reliable sources, this has been confirmed. Last night, continuous massive explosions occurred in Tela City, the capital of Israel, with the resulting fires lighting up half the city. Currently, official casualty information has not been released by Israel... Following Xinan Country's strike, Israel quickly retaliated by sending fighter jets for an airstrike. However, shortly after entering Xinan Country, the jets were shot down by an unknown anti-aircraft missile. Xinan Country has now located three sites of wreckage, which markings confirm to be F-15I fighters, the mainstay of the Israel Air Force. This is also the first instance of F-15 models being shot down..."

When all the above news was confirmed, not only was Israel dumbfounded, but even other nations were stunned.

Wait, brother, how did a backward country in old Africa suddenly become so fierce? Setting aside the special forces strike on the capital—which analysis suggested was technically possible—what the hell was with an unknown anti-aircraft missile shooting down F-15I fighters? Since when did Africa have such high-end air defense weapons? Those were F-15Is, the mainstay not just for a military power like Israel, but for many countries worldwide. And they were just shot down like that? And four of them, no less!!

With confusion and shock, various countries quickly convened meetings to discuss what attitude they should adopt toward Xinan Country from now on.

The reason these countries were taking it so seriously was due to the issue of interests in Africa. The African continent had long been synonymous with ignorance and backwardness in the eyes of the great powers; they didn't even consider it a civilization. Since its discovery, it had been colonized, and it was only in the new century that decolonization gradually took place. However, the cultural and ideological influences spread by various countries during the colonial period were not so easily erased. Consequently, some powers that had colonized Africa still held strong influence there today.

This influence represented interests. For instance, Gaolu Country had colonized parts of Africa for a long time, and the local indigenous people had adapted to colonial life. Even though they were no longer colonized, a fear of Gaolu Country was etched into their bones. This situation allowed Gaolu Country to still influence the decision-making of its former colonies to this day.

But the emergence of Xinan Country was likely to break this status quo. Did Xinan Country not know who Israel's backer was? It was common knowledge that Israel's 'big daddy' was the world's number one superpower, USA. Yet Xinan Country dared to move against Israel, showing they didn't care about USA at all. Since they weren't afraid of the top superpower, why would they fear any other?

Furthermore, Xinan Country actually possessed hypersonic missiles! They were identified as such because the F-15I's full flight speed reached Mach 2.5; anything other than a hypersonic missile would be unable to shoot it down.

There are over fifty countries in Africa in total, but only a handful—seven—possess missiles. Most of those are man-portable systems that can only intercept low-altitude, outdated aircraft or drones. It could be said that not a single country possessed hypersonic missiles!

The reason nations were so nervous was precisely because Xinan Country had revealed hypersonic missiles. One must not underestimate them; currently, the number of countries capable of developing and combat-deploying hypersonic missiles can be counted on ten fingers. Yet there are 195 countries on Planet Blue. That number alone shows the prestige of hypersonic missiles!

The emergence of Xinan Country, armed with such high-tech weaponry, naturally caused panic. In their eyes, the African continent was their private reserve to take from as they pleased. But if a powerful nation rose there, the future would be full of uncertainty. What if this Xinan Country had a massive appetite? If it used its powerful military to continuously annex other African nations, the countries with significant interests in Africa would be the ones to suffer.

While some were studying Xinan Country, smart people were already proactively extending an olive branch—for example, the Great Eastern Country!

The Great Eastern Country rose in the new century. For various reasons, it hadn't shared in the massive cake of African interests. Of course, after its rise, it began to layout its strategy in Africa, using gentle methods to harvest many types of resources, which accelerated its own development.

In terms of strategic vision, the Great Eastern Country, with its five thousand years of civilization, was the ancestor of all nations. If the think tanks of other countries could analyze Xinan Country's future status in Africa, the Great Eastern Country certainly could too. But there is a saying about 'sending charcoal in the snow.' It was precisely because they saw the risks generated by Xinan Country exposing its hypersonic missiles that the Great Eastern Country extended an olive branch immediately. As another famous saying goes, 'The bigger the wind and waves, the more expensive the fish!' (Just kidding). In reality, it was venture capital.

If this wave of investment succeeded, the resulting returns would be incomparable to the small-scale dealings of previous years.

Xinan Country National Administration Building, top-floor Presidential Office.

Here, Fernando received the diplomat from the Great Eastern Country's new consulate in Xinan Country.

Ever since the Great Eastern Country was invited to attend Xinan Country's founding ceremony, they had reopened their consulate and stationed diplomatic personnel there. Fernando, naturally, expressed a warm welcome.

"Ambassador Tao, what brings you here so suddenly today?" Fernando asked knowingly after exchanging pleasantries and taking a seat.

"Haha, President Fernando, your Xinan Country is truly a case of 'not making a sound, then startling everyone with a single cry!' This morning's news gave the whole world a huge surprise!" Ambassador Tao, the diplomat from the Great Eastern Country, laughed.

"Oh, Ambassador Tao must be talking about the matter with Israel. Although Xinan Country was just established and our overall strength is much lower than Israel's, the fallacy that being weak means I should be bullied doesn't apply. As the president of a country, being assassinated in public is a matter of national dignity. If Ambassador Tao is here to mediate for peace, there's no need," Fernando replied.

"No, no, President Fernando, you misunderstand. While our side advocates for peaceful coexistence, we support counter-attacking in self-defense when pushed beyond endurance. Israel's assassination attempt on you was indeed excessive. Regarding your declaration of war against Israel, our side will not take a stance.

Today, I am here to discuss some business cooperation matters. The 'surprise' I mentioned was simply my amazement at your successful defense of your airspace," Ambassador Tao quickly explained.

However, Ambassador Tao didn't notice the smile in the depths of Fernando's eyes. As expected, retaliating against Israel was the right move. Only by demonstrating a certain level of strength could they attract the attention and interest of other nations. Look, a power had already come knocking to seek cooperation. Of course, Fernando understood that the Great Eastern Country seeking cooperation at this time was a form of venture capital, but he didn't care. After all, befriending the Great Eastern Country was something Qin Yang had requested, and cooperating with them would definitely bring more benefits than drawbacks. Even without Qin Yang's instructions, Fernando wouldn't have refused.

The two then discussed business cooperation, each with their own thoughts. Given Xinan Country's current economic situation, besides minerals and energy, there was really nothing of commercial value being produced.

Therefore, the two sides held a brief consultation regarding minerals and energy.

The focus was on oil. Xinan Country was the second-largest oil producer in Africa, but having just gone through a civil war, its oil exports had been completely halted for a long time. The Great Eastern Country's attitude toward importing oil was 'the more, the better.' The two sides hit it off immediately—Fernando needed money, and the Great Eastern Country needed oil. Since only the Great Eastern Country had come to seek cooperation, Fernando was naturally very willing to reach an agreement.

Thus, they reached a preliminary agreement: from this year until the end of next year, Xinan Country would sell one million barrels of oil per day to the Great Eastern Country at 530 RMB per barrel. Since Xinan Country's daily oil production was around 1.1 million barrels, this meant selling 90% of it to the Great Eastern Country. Ambassador Tao had expected the discussion to be successful, but he hadn't expected it to be this successful.

Next, they discussed mineral resources. Xinan Country had large reserves of iron and copper, as well as diamond mines. Fernando knew the truth about the diamonds, so he included some diamond mining rights in the sale, along with some small mines that wouldn't affect the Weapons Factory's production.

Overall, both sides were very satisfied with the discussion. However, for concrete cooperation, the Great Eastern Country would need to send a professional team to Xinan Country to consult with the Ministry of Commerce. The two had only reached a general intent for cooperation.

As he saw Ambassador Tao off, Fernando suddenly asked, "Ambassador Tao, I'm not one to beat around the bush, so I'll just ask my question directly."

"Please, go ahead," Ambassador Tao replied.

"I wonder if your country could sell a batch of J-10Cs to Xinan Country? Of course, we don't have enough cash to pay right now, but we can use the oil payments as collateral," Fernando asked directly.

Currently, Xinan Country's army was fine, but its air force and naval power were nearly non-existent. The exposure of the hypersonic missiles would inevitably alert some countries. In the worst-case scenario, the opposition might even try to overthrow Fernando's current regime by force. Therefore, strengthening the military was an urgent matter.

While the Weapons Factory was unable to produce them, purchasing was a good alternative. The Great Eastern Country's J-10C fighter, which had made a name for itself recently, was naturally the first choice.