288: Bonus Chapter ● The US-Iran Conflict in the Persian Gulf (Part 4)

Tehran, headquarters of the Persian Lion State National Guard.

Commander-in-Chief Qasim sat in his office, holding the battle report from Bandar Abbas in his hand.

He read it slowly, a faint smile appearing on the corners of his lips, and looked up at the adjutant in front of him.

"Brigadier General Jafari has done well. One shot down, one damaged; the USA has lost face big time this time."

The adjutant asked cautiously, "Commander-in-Chief, will the USA let this go? Will they retaliate?"

Commander-in-Chief Qasim stood up, walked to the window, looked at Tehran in the morning light, and said calmly, "Retaliate? How can they retaliate? Send warships? Their warships have long been cruising in the Persian Gulf. Send fighter jets to bomb us? Do they dare?"

He turned around, his gaze sharp: "The USA only dares to bully the weak. We have 'Tianlei' series air defense missiles, 'Eagle' fighter jets, and hundreds of thousands of troops."

"Do they dare to land? They don't. They will only clamor in the international community, impose sanctions, and carry out blockades."

The adjutant breathed a sigh of relief: "Then what preparations do we need to make?"

Commander-in-Chief Qasim said in a deep voice, "Order all border troops to enter a Level 2 combat readiness state. The air defense missile units are to be on 24-hour duty; any enemy aircraft invading our airspace is to be shot down immediately without warning!"

"At the same time, send people to closely monitor the movements of all USA military bases in the Persian Gulf, especially Al Dhafra Air Base and the 'USS Harry' aircraft carrier."

"Yes!"

Commander-in-Chief Qasim walked to the map, stared at that narrow stretch of the Persian Gulf, and muttered, "USA, if you want to play, we will play with you to the end."

UAE, Al Dhafra Air Base.

The severely damaged Reaper Drone wobbled as it approached the runway, its landing gear unable to deploy, forcing it to make an emergency belly landing.

Ground personnel had long since prepared fire trucks and ambulances, watching the drone emitting black smoke nervously.

"Altitude too high! Speed too fast!" a controller shouted, "Pull up! Pull up!"

But the drone had lost control and was charging straight toward the runway.

With a shrill sound of metal grinding against metal, it slammed heavily onto the runway, its fuselage tearing apart, debris flying everywhere, and a raging fire igniting.

Fire trucks immediately rushed up to spray foam, and ambulances sped over, but the operators, sitting in a control room thousands of miles away, could only watch helplessly as their screens turned to static.

The base commander, Colonel James Brown, looked grim as he stared at the burning wreckage outside the window, gritting his teeth: "Iran... you will pay for this."

He turned and walked into the command room, dialing the number for the Central Theater Command.

"General, Reaper Two failed its emergency landing and is completely destroyed. Although the two operators are at the base, they are suffering from severe psychological trauma. We have lost two advanced drones, while the enemy only used two missiles."

There was a long silence on the other end of the line, followed by a deep voice: "I understand. Maintain vigilance and wait for orders."

Colonel Brown hung up the phone, looked at the officers around him, and said bitterly, "Wait for orders? Wait for what orders? Wait for them to shoot down a few more of our aircraft?"

A major asked cautiously, "Colonel, should we dispatch fighter jets to retaliate?"

Brown glared at him: "Do you want to start a war? Without authorization from the President and Congress, who would dare to act?"

The command room fell into a dead silence.

The next day, headlines in major media outlets around the world were all about the USA drone being shot down.

"USA Provokes Iran and Faces Counterattack, Drone Shot Down!"

"Iran Demonstrates New Air Defense Missile, USA Suffers Humiliating Defeat!"

"Persian Gulf Situation Tense, USA Aircraft Carrier Remains Stationary!"

At a White House press conference, reporters asked repeatedly: "Mr. President, did you authorize the drone to invade Iran's airspace?"

"Mr. President, will we take military action against Iran?"

"Mr. President, does this failure indicate that our military superiority is being lost?"

The President's face was livid, and he said coldly, "We are investigating the matter. Currently, there is no evidence to suggest that the drone invaded another country's airspace. We call on all parties to exercise restraint."

A reporter asked sharply, "But Iran has released radar data and missile launch videos proving that the drone did indeed enter its airspace!"

The President turned and left without answering.

Meanwhile, on the streets of Tehran, the public cheered and jumped for joy, holding up models of the 'Tianlei' series missiles and shouting anti-USA slogans.

Commander-in-Chief Qasim stood before the cameras of the national television station, his expression calm yet determined:

"The people of Iran are not cowards. Any act that violates our territory or airspace will be met with a resolute counterattack. Today, we used two missiles to tell the USA: This sky is guarded by us!"