200: Chapter 200 The Steel Torrent in Five Minutes

"That... that is..." The binoculars in his hands nearly slipped, his voice sounding dry and unlike his own. "M1A2... Abrams?! How is that possible?!"

"Major! We are being locked on! Laser warning!" The gunner's scream came from inside the vehicle.

Major Rajesh Singh abruptly pulled back into the vehicle and looked through the periscope. He saw that the four M1A2s had already fanned out, parked steadily on the slope, their gun barrels slightly adjusted, each pointing at one of his four T-90S tanks.

Their calm, precise, and oppressive posture stood in stark contrast to the slightly chaotic formation of his own T-90S tanks, which had turned in a hurry.

"Steady! Do not fire first!" Cold sweat beaded on Major Rajesh Singh's forehead. He knew what firing first meant politically, but he knew even better what being attacked first by M1A2s at such close range meant—certain death!

However, one of his young tank commanders, perhaps terrified by those cold gun barrels and the name "M1A2," or perhaps eager to earn merit, squeezed the trigger of the coaxial machine gun in extreme tension!

"Da-da-da-da—!"

A burst of 7.62mm machine gun bullets hit the wedge-shaped frontal armor of the lead M1A2, sparking a trail of fire, and then... there was no then.

The bullets didn't even trigger the outermost reactive armor.

But this burst of gunfire was like a starting pistol!

"Fire!" Almost at the same time the gunfire rang out, Zhao Yuxun's cold voice came through the internal communication channel.

The four M1A2 main guns spat out scorching tongues of fire simultaneously!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Four M829A4 depleted uranium fin-stabilized discarding sabot rounds, tearing through the air at an initial velocity of over 1700 meters per second, arrived in an instant before Major Rajesh Singh's despairing eyes!

"Bang—Crash!"

The frontal turret armor of Major Rajesh Singh's vehicle was easily pierced as if it were made of paper!

The massive kinetic energy and metal jet raged wildly within the sealed space, and the alarm for ammunition cook-off blared shrilly!

"Bail out!" Major Rajesh Singh only had time to shout this last command before being swallowed by the explosion's fire and shockwave.

The fates of the other three targeted T-90S tanks were the same.

One had its turret side hit, and the turret was blown off entirely; one was hit on the upper front hull, detonating the ammunition inside; the last one was relatively "lucky," only having its tracks and artillery gun destroyed, but the crew inside had been shaken so badly they lost combat effectiveness.

The remaining three BMP-2s and infantry were completely stunned.

It wasn't until the M1A2's coaxial machine gun bullets whipped the ground around them, kicking up strings of soil columns, that they raised their hands high and jumped off their vehicles to surrender.

The battle, from the first gunshot to the India patrol completely losing combat effectiveness, took exactly five minutes.

Zhao Yuxun's vehicle slowly drove to the top of the slope.

He opened the hatch, looked at the burning T-90S wrecks and the surrendering India soldiers before him, picked up the external broadcast microphone of the vehicle radio, and said in English with a slight Yunnan accent:

"Brothers from India, thank you for your hard work. Please go back and tell your officers that next time you come to 'show off your strength,' remember to bring some decent toys. Also, if you cross the line, you have to take a beating. That's the rule."

Soon, a high-definition video of the "five-minute battle," filmed from multiple angles by drones—especially the slow-motion close-up of the M1A2 piercing the T-90S with a single shot—was uploaded to major global video and social platforms by a "mysterious netizen" once again.

The caption was concise and powerful: "Greetings from the Titan Division of the Federation of Myanmar Defense Forces: Are your tanks made of paper? @India Army @Ministry of Defense"

In India, the internet exploded again, but this time, the previous fanatical clamor was much quieter, replaced by suspicion, anger, and disbelieving silence.

In New Delhi, Lieutenant General Rajesh Singh looked at the incredibly clear M1A2 tank footage and the battle damage report on the screen, his hands shaking so much he couldn't even hold his coffee cup steady.

"Really... it actually is a real M1A2... Where did they get... The Dragon Country... No, even the Dragon Country doesn't have this many in active service..."

He slumped in his chair, muttering to himself, feeling doubt and fear for the first time regarding the order to "invade Northern Myanmar within a week."

Meanwhile in Naypyidaw, Zhang Cheng looked at the battle reports and online feedback, and simply said calmly to Old K: "Tell Zhao Yuxun and BigDecimal own that they fought well, but they must be vigilant against the India people jumping over the wall in desperation and conducting large-scale retaliatory shelling or airstrikes. As for the Rocket Force, they can start selecting high-value targets. Since they like to play big, we will accompany them to the end."

The decision-making circle in New Delhi had its illusions of a quick victory completely extinguished by the video of the "Bison Slope" five-minute rout, but it ignited another, more dangerous flame—the madness of trying to save face.

Repeated setbacks in ground conflicts and online public opinion caused the military hawks represented by Rajesh Singh and some politicians hijacked by nationalist sentiment to be ashamed and angry.

They could not accept the fact that the "world's fifth" was being rubbed into the dirt by a "former fraudster warlord," especially since the opponent used "suspected top-tier US-made equipment," a method they could not understand and were even less willing to admit.

A high-level secret military meeting was held in the underground war room of the Prime Minister's residence.

The atmosphere was so thick it could be wrung out like water.

"Gentlemen, we must face reality."

Rajesh Singh's voice lost its usual resonance, sounding a bit hoarse, but the paranoia in his eyes was even more intense.

"The Myanmar Army, under the full armament and potential personnel support of the Dragon Country, has front-line equipment levels, especially in armor and air defense, that exceed our previous estimates."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over all the high-ranking generals and cabinet ministers present: "However, this does not mean that our powerful India military will be afraid! This precisely proves that the Dragon Country and its proxy, the Zhang Cheng regime, pose a serious threat to our territorial integrity and regional security! If we retreat at this moment, then not only the Southern Tibet (Sam Region), but the entire Northeast, and even our prestige as a great power, will be gone!"

"General Singh, what do you mean?" The Minister of Foreign Affairs asked cautiously.

"We need a clean and decisive victory! A victory that can instantly reverse public opinion, demonstrate the absolute superiority of our air force, and deal a heavy blow to the Myanmar Army's command system!"

Rajesh Singh's finger tapped heavily on the approximate location of the Myanmar Army's frontline command post in the Menggong River Valley on the map.

"Intelligence shows that the command post of Zhao Yuxun's 'Titan Division' is located there. Destroying it will not only severely damage their armored unit's command hub, but more importantly, it will announce to Zhang Cheng and the whole world that air superiority is in our hands!"

The Chief of Air Staff, a veteran with graying hair but sharp eyes, mused: "Target selection is critical. But the opponent may have strong field air defense capabilities. Judging from the 'Bison Slope' battle, they have at least advanced man-portable air-defense missiles and possibly medium-range air defense systems. The previous reconnaissance by the Su-30MKI was also interfered with by unidentified stealth aircraft..."

"That is why we must use the best!" Rajesh Singh interrupted him, a flash of ruthlessness in his eyes.

"Deploy the 'rafale'! Our newly purchased, most expensive 'rafale' fighter jets! Flown by our top ace pilots! Conduct a precision 'surgical strike'! Use the French people's best aircraft to tell the Dragon Country people and the Myanmar people what true modern air power is!"

The "rafale" fighter jet was the latest pride of the India Air Force, and its expensive unit price and powerful multi-role capabilities were pinned with high hopes.

Using it to carry out this mission had equal political and military significance.