329: Chapter 329 Persian Revenge

Washington, White House Situation Room.

The President, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Commerce, and Hawk gathered together.

The Secretary of the Treasury spoke first: "Mr. President, Morgan and Goldman Sachs have both called me. They are demanding the lifting of sanctions on Starry Sky."

The Secretary of Commerce added: "The Intel CEO is in China right now. After he returns, he will certainly make the same request."

Hawk's face turned livid, and he stood up abruptly: "Do you want to surrender to Su Chen?"

The Secretary of the Treasury shook his head, his voice calm: "It's not surrender. It's reality. We cannot do without Starry Sky's technology. Their lithography machines are better and cheaper than ASML's, their chips account for sixty percent of the global market, and their settlement system is replacing SWIFT. Sanctions? We are only sanctioning ourselves."

The President was silent for a long time.

He looked at the reports on the table—those numbers, those charts, that data about Starry Sky, all of it pointed to the same fact: the sanctions had failed.

Finally, he spoke: "Have the Department of Justice assess the feasibility of lifting some of the sanctions."

Hawk looked at him sharply: "Mr. President!"

The President raised his hand to interrupt: "Hawk, we are doing business, not fighting a war."

2:00 AM, July 28th, a missile base in Iran.

The night was as dark as ink, with no stars or moon.

Deep in the desert, in a massive underground base, Hajizadeh, commander of the Revolutionary Guard Aerospace Force, stood in the command center. The sixty-year-old Hajizadeh was in military uniform, his face expressionless.

On the screen, ten qimingxing missiles were ready for launch.

Target list:

Israeli Air Force Headquarters (Tel Aviv)

Palmachim Airbase—the main base for the F-16I

Israeli Intelligence Headquarters (Herzliya)

Iron Dome air defense missile position (North)

Iron Dome air defense missile position (South)

Jafari's voice came through the headset:

"Hajizadeh, Starry Sky's remote surveillance has confirmed it. These targets are all military facilities, in compliance with the agreement."

Hajizadeh nodded, picked up the microphone, and gave the order:

"Launch."

2:30 AM, over Iran.

Ten qimingxing missiles lifted off simultaneously from different launch positions.

They did not fly along a parabolic trajectory like ordinary missiles; instead, they glided along the edge of the atmosphere, reaching a speed of Mach 16. That was twenty times the speed of a bullet and sixteen times the speed of sound.

The trajectory was completely unpredictable.

Israel's early warning satellites detected them, but the fire control computers could not calculate the intercept—the targets were too fast, and their maneuvers too erratic.

On the radar screens of the Iron Dome system, the light spots were moving rapidly, but behind every light spot was a string of question marks.

2:45 AM, Palmachim Airbase.

The first missile hit the tarmac.

Amidst a massive explosion, six F-16Is were completely destroyed, and twelve were severely damaged. The flames lit up half the base, with debris flying hundreds of meters away.

The pilot dormitory area was hit by the second missile.

The sleeping pilots had no time to react. The entire building collapsed in the explosion; concrete debris rained down, and those buried under the ruins didn't even have time to scream.

2:48 AM, Israeli Air Force Headquarters.

A missile struck the command center building directly.

The three-story building collapsed instantly, as if crushed by a giant hand.

Air Force Major General Amit was on the night shift and was buried under the ruins. By the time rescue personnel arrived, he had stopped breathing.

He was the highest-ranking general Israel had lost since the war began.

2:52 AM, Israeli Intelligence Headquarters.

The missile struck the side of the building.

The entire intelligence analysis center was destroyed, the server room was blown to pieces, and the data on the hard drives turned to ashes. Intelligence accumulated over twenty years, secrets bought with the lives of countless spies, vanished in an instant.

2:55 AM, two Iron Dome positions.

Two missiles hit them separately.

The launch vehicles were blown into scrap metal, the radar systems were destroyed, and the operators suffered heavy casualties. Israel's pride and joy, the "Golden Bell Shield," was torn to pieces.

3:30 AM, Tel Aviv, Israel Defense Forces Headquarters.

In the underground command center, the atmosphere was so heavy it felt like it could drip water.

Secretary of Defense Benny Gantz stood before the big screen, looking at the battle report. His hands were trembling, a tremor he had never experienced in his thirty-year military career.

Loss statistics:

Air Force Major General killed in action: 1

Pilots killed in action: 12

F-16I destroyed: 6, severely damaged: 12

Intelligence Headquarters: Completely paralyzed

Iron Dome positions: 2 destroyed

Air Force Headquarters: Destroyed

Gantz muttered: "Iron Dome... completely failed?"

The Chief of Staff stood nearby, his voice low:

"Mach 16, impossible to intercept."

8:00 AM, Tehran, Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran.

Ali Khamenei sat on the sofa with the battle report in front of him.

The eighty-year-old man's gaze was still sharp. He finished the last page and nodded.

"Ten missiles in exchange for these results. Starry Sky's weapons are worth the price."

Jafari stood nearby, a smile on his face:

"Leader, the global arms market has gone crazy. Pakistan, Russia, Egypt, and Syria are all lining up to buy Venus."

Khamenei smiled.

"Let them line up. We still have 20 qimingxing missiles; prepare the second batch of targets."

In Gu Xinghe's office, the phones were screaming.

Three landlines rang simultaneously, and the paper spewed out by the fax machine piled up on the floor. Assistants were running back and forth, each holding newly printed orders.

An assistant pushed the door open, holding a summary sheet.

"CEO Gu, the order summary is ready."

Gu Xinghe took it and scanned it quickly.

qimingxing medium-range missile orders:

Pakistan: 50, urgent delivery—$1 billion

Russia: 100, requesting priority—$2 billion

Egypt: 30—$600 million

Syria: 20—$400 million

Algeria: 20—$400 million

Saudi Arabia: 50 (additional purchase)—$1 billion

Peregrine S-15 air defense system orders

Pakistan: 30 sets—$1.5 billion

Russia: 50 sets—$2.5 billion

Egypt: 20 sets—$1 billion

Indonesia: 20 sets—$1 billion

Brazil: 15 sets—$750 million

South Africa: 10 sets—$500 million

Gu Xinghe did a quick mental calculation.

qimingxing total: $5.4 billion

Peregrine Falcon total: $7.25 billion

Grand total: $12.65 billion

He took a deep breath.

"And this is just one day."

2:00 PM, Su Chen's office.

Su Chen looked at the order summary and was silent for a moment.

"Tell Pakistan and Russia that their orders will be prioritized."

Gu Xinghe asked: "What about the other countries?"

"Schedule them in chronological order. If production capacity isn't enough, build second and third production lines in Xian and Changchun."

He paused.

"Also, notify all customers: the export version of the qimingxing missile must have a location-tracking chip installed. This isn't targeting anyone; it's Starry Sky's uniform requirement for all customers."

Gu Xinghe nodded and turned to leave.

"Wait," Su Chen called out to him.

Gu Xinghe turned back.

Su Chen looked out the window.

"Tell Khatami: well done."

Gu Xinghe smiled.

"I will."