Published at 4th of July 2021 7:15 am

Chapter 1479: Torrent of Steel

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

In late February.

A week had passed since those twelve Trident missiles lifted off.

The term Sugar Cube Diplomacy seemed to become a very distant vocabulary. The twelve Trident missiles that people often discussed had become unerasable stains associated with President Mike Pence.

Although he served as the commander of the armed forces, the President himself did not have the right to declare war. The power belonged to Congress, granted to Congress by Article 1, Section 8, Item 11 of the Constitution, even though it was never abided by.

From the Korean War in the 1950s to the intervention in Lebanon in 1958, to the two presidents in the 1960s that sent troops to Vietnam, armed intervention in Dominica in 1965, and the bombing of Cambodia in 1970… After World War II, except for the Iran-Iraq War and the Gulf War, which were immediately approved by Congress, almost all of the wars were carried out without the prior approval of Congress, and Congress was forced to accept it and provide accommodating facts afterward.

These wars were won and lost, but it was the first time a war was pushed back onto UA soil.

If someone had to take responsibility for this disaster, then it would no doubt be on the person hiding inside the Cheyenne Mountain Complex and issuing orders.

Even if they defended the motherland with complex emotions, even the citizens of the UA had to admit, they were the aggressors in the war, and Celestial Trade was on the defending side.

Although the defending party obviously pushed the boundary too far.

Let the story return back to the warzone.

The line of defense at P City had been breached by Celestial Trade’s Second Armored Brigade, and there was a fierce exchange of fire in the wilderness with the reinforcing UA First Armored Division. A tank battle was instantly unleashed.

Just as it was during the Iraq War, but this time it was the UA who was at the disadvantage in this asymmetric war.

The pride of M1A2 was torn to pieces by the shells of Tiger II. Whether it was a depleted uranium armor-piercing bullet or a depleted uranium armor, in front of the weapon that was more technologically advanced, it was as fragile as a stick in front of a sword.

The battle exchange ratio of more than twenty to one made the UA Army fear whenever Celestial Trade’s tank was mentioned.

Tiger II was not the tank that caused the most issues. Despite the thick armor, the maneuverability was poor. With the support of ground firepower, the UA Army certainly had a fighting chance.

However, in front of the Wanderer, any attempt was powerless.

From infantry anti-tank weapons to long-range support artilleries, they had used all the methods they could think of. The soldiers on the frontline witnessed with their own eyes that the tank was hit directly by a Javelin missile, and the Wanderer in the center of the explosion was unmoved. It rolled out from the smoke and continued to fire its particle cannon and coaxial electromagnetic rapid-fire cannon. It continued to harvest the tanks on their side, as well as the soldiers that crawled near the tanks…

Even if it was a dark technology, it was unnecessary to make the top cover as thick as the front armor, right?

Even Tiger II could not use its forehead to defend against the Javelin missile…

The armor of the Wanderer tank, which utilized the Meissner effect for defense, had surpassed the understanding of the UA Army. The M1A2s forced to retreat in front of the particle cannons were like the Sherman M4s that were chased around by the Tiger Kings on the European battlefield. The only difference was that they could rely on the air force and their numbers to regain their advantage, but this time, they did not even have the chance to fight back.

Under the alternate airstrikes of the Aurora-20s and Wings of Freedoms, the ground support firepower of the UA military was weakened to the extreme. On the contrary, on Celestial Trade’s side, with the support of the Fireball-1 Artillery Battalion, with a strategic depth of more than 50 kilometers, the armored force pushed the UA First Armored Division from the suburbs of P City to O State.

It was worth mentioning that during the Battle of P City, the “Sea Beast” power armor developed by the Advanced Projects Agency of the Department of Defense was finally equipped to the first brigade in the UA Army. A brand-new power armor brigade was deployed to the very front of P City…

Although this “novice” brigade was mercilessly beaten by Celestial Trade’s T-3s and T-4s, compared to the disastrous defeat in front of the Lincoln Memorial, this battle caused at least limited casualties to Celestial Trade.

It was indeed true that war is a catalyst for civilization. If the UA Army did not see the powerful combat power of the Celestial Trade Power Armor Brigade in urban warfare, the UA military that had been bullying enemies overseas would not have thought of equipping power armors to its force.

…

Celestial Trade’s armored units continued to spearhead northwest, deep into the heart of O State.

In order to protect the Great Lakes industrial area, the UA had pushed almost all its forces to O State and left only a small number of standing troops to defend C State, which was located deep in the hinterland.

As the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the President of the UA was the supreme commander of the armed forces. Except for the Marine Corps, the position of commander did not exist in Army, Navy, and Air Force. The military officers of the Army and Air Force were the Chief of Staff of the Army and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force. In addition, there were also positions such as the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Air Force, and the Secretary of the Navy.

And now these officers and officials were all in Cheyenne Mountain.

Southwest W State, UA Army Chief of Staff Raymond Odierno was heading to the Wright Patterson Air Force Base on the way from D City to the front command on a Hummer. When he passed by the base, he asked his guard to park the vehicle on the side of the damaged road because he felt sentimental.

This place used to be the Air Force Materiel Command, but now it had turned into ruins…

If it weren’t for the location marked on the map, he could hardly identify this place.

The originally flat plain became a basin, and cross-shaped cracks spread out for dozens of kilometers. The planes, tanks, and missile launch vehicles were all missing, and the soldiers stationed here were either burnt into coke by the heat of the tungsten rod that hit the ground, or torn to pieces by the shock wave, or buried directly… …

“I heard that it’s worse in W State.” After Deputy Chief of Staff Mark Millay got out of the vehicle, he walked to him and looked at the ruins emotionally.

“There are calibers to tungsten rods?” Odierno raised an eyebrow.

“More than 500 W87 nuclear warheads are buried here… This place is now a powder keg, and no one can be sure that those nuclear warheads will never explode.

Not only safe nuclear warheads but also unstable conventional explosives were buried together. Under normal circumstances, nuclear warheads were safe, but if the explosion of conventional weapons caused the combat components of nuclear weapons to reach the critical value of the chain reaction, the possibility of triggering a nuclear explosion could not be ruled out.

Even in the best scenario, even if this place did not explode, the slowly leaking nuclear radiation would cause permanent radiation damage to the soil. These nuclear weapons had to be properly handled immediately, but they did not have the effort to take care of this at all.

“Eberhardt is right. We should have developed space forces instead of wasting our budget on increasing nuclear weapon reserves.” Admiral Odierno sighed and thought of the old friend who had passed away.

As early as 2000, General Eberhardt proposed the tactical thinking of developing space forces, but the plan eventually became a scheme used by Pentagon officials to deceive Congress for funding, and it had not been taken seriously even till today.

“It’s useless to say that now,” Mark Millay comforted, “We have assembled 12 divisions here, and 20 divisions will be mobilized in one month. We just need to hold the Great Lakes Industrial Zone for one month, and we’ll have hope for victory. If we hold for two months, we can run them back to the Pacific Ocean.

“I’m afraid they won’t give us a month.” General Odierno frowned and looked at the ruins. “Celestial Trade won’t lose sight of this. I have a hunch that this war won’t last long.”

Mark Millay was silent; he did not know what to do.

Mark and General Odierno were both worried about the same thing.

The next month would be extremely bloody. Celestial Trade would definitely launch a frenzy of attacks on their defenses, and the UA Army with their back against the wall would not give an inch either. A monetary time of peace like this would not last long, perhaps till tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

Odierno shook his head, then turned around and walked back to the Hummer.

Just then, the satellite phone in his pocket rang.

“From whom?” Mark Millay who was next to him asked casually.

“Headquarters.”

“Our allies are finally willing to take action?”

“I hope so but I have no expectations anymore.” After Odierno pressed pickup, he put the phone closer to his ear.

He had no hope for good news. However, even though he had been mentally prepared, his expression froze after he heard the information hastily described.

The phone slipped out from his hand and fell to the ground.

Mark Millay’s expression also changed, and he hurriedly asked.

“What happened?”

After a long silence, General Odierno spoke in a heavy tone.

“Something happened at…”

“Cheyenne Mountain.”

At the most unlikely place.

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