428: Chapter 428 Interception Probability Zero

The third warhead struck the Bukit Timah Air Defense Command Center.

The bunker was built in the 1980s and was designed to withstand a direct hit from a 500-pound bomb, but the DF-17's glide warhead carried a specialized earth-penetrating warhead. The warhead plunged vertically into the rock at Mach 8, and the tungsten alloy penetrator triggered a delayed fuse at a depth of ten meters—the air inside the bunker was instantly compressed to four hundred times normal atmospheric pressure, and the temperature exceeded three thousand degrees. All electronic equipment was incinerated by thermal radiation before the shockwave arrived, and none of the forty-two officers inside the bunker survived.

The fourth warhead struck the Woodlands military camp.

When it fell, the Army's 3rd Division Armored Battalion in Woodlands had just received Colonel Lin's surrender order. The tank crews were climbing out of the turrets of four Leopard 2SG main battle tanks—the warhead detonated eight hundred meters above them, not as a lethal warhead, but as an electromagnetic pulse warhead. It was a non-nuclear EMP—the high-power microwave pulse generated by the explosive flux compression generator covered an eight-kilometer radius across the Woodlands, Sembawang, and Tuas camps. All electronic equipment without electromagnetic shielding—vehicle radios, fire control computers, satellite communication terminals, and even mobile phones and digital watches—was completely fried. The fire control systems in the tank turrets went black, with the final afterimages of blue electric arcs dancing on the screen glass. But these tanks would not fire again—their crews were already standing outside with their hands raised, watching the white smoke cloud dissipating overhead.

Four missiles, four targets, a total time of seventeen minutes and twenty-two seconds.

On the bridge of the USS Reagan, the Aegis system's interception recorder printed out the final result—

Interception probability: zero.

Rear Admiral Carter put down his binoculars. The fire in the direction of Changi had already turned the low clouds on the eastern edge of the Strait of Malacca red, like a layer of cotton soaked in blood. His operations officer was still waiting for his command—whether to continue north or turn. No one in the bridge spoke.

The communications officer finally connected the encrypted call from Pacific Command. Admiral Davidson's voice came through the receiver, torn and intermittent with static: "Carter—situation—"

"Sir." Carter interrupted the Pacific Command commander, "We just visually observed four DF-17 glide warheads strike four independent targets on Singapore island simultaneously. The Aegis computer gave an interception probability of zero. I repeat—zero." He paused, keeping his voice from shaking. "If I order fire, my fleet will be covered by the same warheads before entering the carrier-based aircraft combat radius. When they perform their terminal 25G maneuvers, the only thing our SM-6 can do—is provide them with additional target designation."

There was a long silence on the other end of the receiver. When Davidson's voice came through again, it sounded like it was separated by a layer of water: "Latest deployment adjustment order for the Seventh Fleet—the USS Reagan battle group will immediately turn, heading 90 degrees south by east, and withdraw from the Strait of Malacca. Do not enter the DF-17 range coverage area. The order is effective immediately."

Carter did not answer. He put down the receiver and looked up at the tactical screen, where the blue icon representing Singapore had already been covered by four red crater markers. He ordered: "Full fleet turn. Course—away."

The USS Reagan turned forty nautical miles from Singapore.

Not a single one of its carrier-based aircraft took off.

At the same time, three hundred and seventy kilometers from Earth.

An American KH-12 "Keyhole" reconnaissance satellite was skimming over the seas of the Southern Dragon Kingdom at a speed of 7.8 kilometers per second. Its high-resolution optical Lens was aimed at the Andaman Sea—the target was the exact location of three Myanmar nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

It didn't capture it.

0.3 seconds before its shutter opened, a laser beam shot vertically into space from the "Sky Dome" anti-satellite platform in the hinterland of Myanmar. It wasn't destruction-level energy—it was dazzle-level. The laser beam precisely illuminated the KH-12's CCD photosensitive element for 0.7 seconds, enough to saturate all its pixels simultaneously. When the satellite's data link transmitted the image back to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, there was only a patch of white on the analyst's screen—not noise, but pure overexposed white.

At the same moment, two other American reconnaissance satellites skimming over Southeast Asia—a "Lacrosse" radar imaging satellite and an "Intruder" electronic reconnaissance satellite—went blind simultaneously while passing over Myanmar. The "Sky Dome" platform didn't launch lasers; it launched directional interference waves targeting synthetic aperture radar frequency bands, as well as adaptive frequency hijacking targeting the electronic reconnaissance satellites' downlink. The hijacked signal wasn't noise—it was the same 4K video footage that Chen Lan had used to demonstrate the Pangu large model at the Shuguang Technology press conference last month, featuring a transition from a sunrise at Angkor Wat to a galaxy. The satellite operators could only watch as a landscape video began to play on their screens—and then the signal cut off.

White House Situation Room. 4:40 AM (4:40 PM Washington time).

CIA Director William Burns pushed open the door to the Situation Room. The President sat at the end of the long table, flanked by the Minister of Defense, the National Security Advisor, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Spread out on the table was the last situation report sent back from the USS Reagan half an hour ago—the paper was dog-eared from being flipped through, and every page was stamped with the conclusion "Interception Probability: Zero."

"What about our satellites?" the President asked.

Burns walked to the table and placed a newly printed briefing in front of the President. The optical tracking photo of the "Sky Dome" anti-satellite platform—it wasn't taken by a satellite, but captured by a three-meter aperture telescope at a ground observatory under emergency dispatch. In the photo, a hair-thin laser beam shot out from central Myanmar, its angle of incidence precisely locking onto the KH-12 in orbit.

"Three reconnaissance satellites went blind simultaneously," Burns said, "The KH-12 was dazzled by a laser, the Lacrosse was blocked by radar interference, and the Intruder's downlink was hijacked—playing content from a Shuguang Technology promotional video." He took off his reading glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "Until space-based situational awareness is restored, we don't know the exact location of those three aircraft carriers, we don't know if the DF-17 launchers are still on standby, and we don't know how many Myanmar troops are currently on Singapore island. The only thing we can confirm is—Singapore President Lawrence Wong has been captured alive in the Presidential Palace underground bunker. His arrest warrant was issued by the Yangon International Court on charges of endangering regional peace."

The conference room fell into a twelve-second silence.

The President looked down at the last page of the briefing—it was the assessment conclusion just received from the National Reconnaissance Office: "The irradiation precision of the 'Sky Dome' anti-satellite platform has reached sub-second angular resolution. Combined with the 'Vega' electronic warfare system, the U.S. military's space reconnaissance capability in Southeast Asia has been effectively zeroed out within sixty minutes of the conflict's outbreak. It is recommended to re-evaluate all military intervention plans that rely on space-based situational awareness."