256: Chapter 256 Turbulent Times: The Alliance Breaks Down

9:20 PM, Tokyo, Ministry of Defense.

Minister of Defense Itsunori Onodera called an emergency meeting overnight.

The conference room was filled with heads of defense companies like Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Fujitsu, and Japan Steel Works. In front of each person were screenshots from the news broadcast and translations of weapon parameters.

The large screen was paused on the image of the Sabertooth's main gun firing.

"Gentlemen," Onodera's voice was as heavy as iron, "How many millimeters of homogeneous steel armor can the 120mm 44-caliber main gun of the Type 10 tank penetrate at a distance of 2,000 meters?"

The representative from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' Defense Division lowered his head: "According to the latest tests, about 650 millimeters."

"Their data is..." Onodera pulled up a comparison chart, "Penetrating a 1.5-meter-thick reinforced concrete fortification, plus an M1A2 target vehicle with 800 millimeters of equivalent armor behind it. The estimated comprehensive penetration... is over 1100 millimeters."

He closed his eyes: "This means that if a Type 10 tank encounters a Sabertooth, its survival time will be less than 10 seconds. If the other side fires first, we won't even have a chance to fight back."

"We are currently developing a 130mm main gun..." the Kawasaki representative tried to explain.

"It's too late." Onodera interrupted, "Development takes five years, testing takes two years, and mass production and deployment take another three years. In ten years, China might already be equipped with sixth-generation tanks."

He pulled up the emergency budget just approved by the Ministry of Finance:

Additional purchase of F-35A fighter jets from the US: 80 units, total price about 12 billion USD

Upgrade "Patriot" PAC-3 missile defense system: 40 sets, about 6 billion USD

Procurement of "Global Hawk" drones: 6 units, about 1.2 billion USD

"But these are all aerial and air defense equipment," the Fujitsu representative pointed out, "In terms of ground combat vehicles..."

"That is why your efforts are needed," Onodera stood up, "The Ministry of Defense has decided to launch the 'Thor Project': join forces with Germany's Rheinmetall to develop a Japanese version of the next-generation main battle tank. Preliminary budget application: 20 billion USD."

"Will the Germans cooperate?" someone asked.

"They have to," Onodera sneered, "Germany's Leopard 2A7 can still rule the roost in Europe, but it's an obsolete product in front of the Sabertooth. If Europe doesn't want to be completely left behind, they have no choice but to join hands with us."

He pulled up Rheinmetall's preliminary response: "The Germans have agreed in principle, but with two conditions: First, Japan must open up some electronic warfare technology; Second, the jointly developed tank must be able to be sold in the European market."

"This is technology extortion!" the Mitsubishi representative said angrily.

"Do you have a better choice?" Onodera retorted, "Develop it yourself? Ten years, 20 billion USD might not be enough, and it might be obsolete by the time it's developed. Cooperative development at least ensures we won't be left too far behind."

The conference room fell silent.

Everyone knew that the golden age of Japan's military industry was over. For the past few decades, Japan had relied on US technology transfers and its own precision manufacturing capabilities to reach world-class status in some fields. But now, China was defining a new standard of "first-class" with completely independent technology.

This was a standard that Japan could not catch up with in the short term.

"Also," Onodera said finally, "Secretly contact Xingchen Defense. Under the guise of 'civilian heavy machinery cooperation,' see if we can buy some... non-core components. For example, composite armor materials, or sensors for the active protection system."

"Will the Ministry of Defense approve it?"

"It won't be approved," Onodera said meaningfully, "So it's an action by 'private enterprises.' The government doesn't know and won't interfere."

This was the gray area.

When regular channels couldn't keep up, one had to go through irregular channels.

9:50 PM, Berlin, Chancellery.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was on a video call with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Both had just finished watching the news broadcast segment—the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) had a dedicated team to translate important news from Chinese official media in real-time.

"Europe must have its own 'Sabertooth'," Macron said bluntly, "We cannot rely on the US, and we certainly cannot watch the East set new rules for land warfare."

Merkel smiled bitterly: "Rheinmetall has made a preliminary assessment. To develop a tank with equivalent performance, it will take at least 8 years, and the budget may exceed 30 billion euros. And... in terms of key materials, we cannot bypass Spark Group."

She pulled up a report: "The Sabertooth's ceramic matrix composite armor is centered on the CMC technology of Spark Materials. The AI algorithms for the active protection system require massive data training; China has real combat data, we don't. Even the electrothermal chemical technology for the main gun is still in the laboratory stage for us."

"Then let's cooperate," Macron said, "Trade market for technology. We will open part of the military market to Spark and exchange it for joint development qualifications."

"The Americans will be furious," Merkel warned.

"Then let the Americans come up with equivalent technology," Macron sneered, "Their M1A2 SEPv3 is essentially a 40-year-old design with patches. The latest model is just an upgrade to the electronic systems and armor, and the gun is still 120mm. We can't afford to wait."

He paused: "Angela, think about it. If Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt are all equipped with Sabertooth tanks, while Europe's Leopard 2 is still the mainstream... how much influence will we have left in the Middle East? If Russia also buys Sabertooth tanks, what will those countries in Eastern Europe think? Will they still trust NATO's promises?"

This hit the nail on the head.

Europe's security architecture was built on two pillars: US military protection and Europe's own industrial capacity. If the US's technological advantage was surpassed by China, and Europe's industrial capacity couldn't keep up, the entire architecture would be shaken.

"We need to convene an emergency EU summit," Merkel finally said, "To discuss the acceleration plan for European autonomous defense. But before that..."

She looked at her assistant: "Secretly contact Xingchen Defense. Under the guise of 'civilian heavy machinery cooperation,' invite them to participate in the development of Europe's next-generation railway locomotives—this is a smokescreen, the real purpose is to establish a connection."

After the video call ended, Merkel said to her assistant: "Call the CEO of Rheinmetall. Tell him the government supports the 'Thor Project' with Japan, but we must ensure that core technologies remain in Europe."

"What if Japan demands technology sharing?"

"Then share it," Merkel said decisively, "In the face of survival, technology protection is secondary. Survive first, then talk about competition."

10:30 PM, Shenzhen, Xingchen Headquarters Conference Center.

Su Chen sat in front of the large screen, having just flown back from Beijing on a private jet.

The screen was divided into three parts:

Left: Global media headlines scrolling in real-time.

Middle: Summary of procurement intentions from various countries.

Right: Production capacity and supply chain data.

Lin Wan stood by and reported: "As of now, eight countries have formally submitted procurement intentions through diplomatic channels: Egypt, Syria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Serbia. The total estimated demand is about 20 billion USD."

Gu Xinghe added: "There are also twelve countries inquiring through commercial channels, including Algeria, Myanmar, Venezuela... but these countries are either under sanctions or their ability to pay is questionable."

Su Chen looked at the world map, his finger tracing over those countries: "Of these eight countries, five are in the traditional sphere of influence of the US. Egypt, Thailand, Indonesia, Nigeria, Serbia... The US will not sit idly by."

"So there will be a fierce backlash," Lin Wan pulled up intelligence, "The Pentagon has upgraded the 'Crucible Project', and the CIA may take more aggressive actions. Our monitoring in Southeast Asia has discovered at least three spy teams active, likely targeting our supply chain."

"Is Golden Shield ready?" Su Chen asked.

"It is ready," Lin Wan pulled up the surveillance footage, "We have set up bait in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, deliberately leaking some 'technical data'. As soon as they make a move, we can catch them in the act and then expose them to the public."

"Be careful with the scale," Su Chen warned, "We need to deter them, but we cannot escalate the conflict. We still need time."

He turned to the production capacity data: "Domestic orders are the most important. 420 billion rmb over three years means we need to deliver annually:

Sabertooth tanks: 300-350 units

Lynx combat vehicles: 1600-1700 units

Peregrine Falcon systems: 130 sets

Comet missiles: 3000 units

qimingxing missiles: 30-40 units"

He looked at Gu Xinghe: "Can the production capacity keep up?"

Gu Xinghe pulled up the production capacity plan: "The four major production bases are already expanding production: Shenyang focuses on tanks, Chengdu focuses on combat vehicles, Wuhan focuses on missiles, and Xian focuses on electronic systems. After adopting fully automated production lines, the production cycle of the Sabertooth can be compressed from 12 months to 6 months, and the Lynx can be compressed to 4 months."

"But the key bottleneck..." he paused, "is the chip. The electrothermal chemical ignition system of the 140mm gun requires dedicated control chips, the phased array radar of the Peregrine Falcon system requires gallium arsenide chips, and the seeker of the Comet missile requires high-performance processing chips... The capacity for these chips is under great pressure at Spark Semiconductor."

Su Chen immediately connected to the CEO of Spark Semiconductor.

"President Wang, military chip production lines must be prioritized," he ordered directly, "Divert 30% of the capacity from consumer chip production lines to fully guarantee military needs. If that's not enough, expand new lines; budget is not an issue."

The response came from the other side of the phone: "President Su, expansion takes time, at least half a year. And our latest 16nm and 14nm production lines are still in the installation stage, current capacity can only support small-batch production."

"Then accelerate it," Su Chen said decisively, "Use three shifts, keep the machines running without stopping. Our 16nm process is already mature, and 14nm will be mass-produced by the end of the year, which is enough for military needs."