NCCnovel Chapter 103 One-Hour War
Chapter 103 One-Hour War
The one-hour countdown reached zero at 11:00 AM Beijing time.
In the press conference hall of Country M, the spokesperson stood under the spotlight, his smugness almost undisguised: "The one-hour deadline has passed, and China has still not made any positive response. Therefore, on behalf of the governments of Country M, Country R, Country J, and Country X, I hereby announce—"
He paused deliberately to make sure all the cameras were pointed at him.
"—Effective immediately, the four-nation joint force will take necessary military action against China to uphold international law and regional stability. We urge China to exercise restraint and immediately cease all illegal actions, or face the consequences."
The words had barely left his mouth when headlines across the globe were instantly updated:
Four-nation alliance announces military action against China!
The largest military conflict of the new century is about to erupt!
Is the Dragon Kingdom besieged on all sides?
At the press conference, reporters frantically snapped photos. The spokesperson smiled and posed for pictures, as if victory was already in sight.
However, the smile lasted for less than thirty seconds.
At the same time, the Dragon Kingdom's national television station started broadcasting live again.
In the studio, Lin Zhe appeared. Unlike his brief one-hour response, this time a huge world map was displayed on the large screen behind him, with dozens of red dots flashing on it.
"Dear viewers across the country, I am Lin Zhe." His voice was steady and powerful. "As you can see, some countries have ignored our repeated warnings and insisted on taking military threats against our country."
The camera zooms in, and Lin Zhe's eyes are sharp as knives:
"On behalf of the Military Commission of the Dragon Kingdom, I hereby declare: The Battle to Defend the Dragon Kingdom now begins."
The moment he finished speaking, the map on the large screen behind him suddenly changed—dozens of red dots turned green at the same time, and then quickly went out.
Space, near-Earth orbit.
Thirty-six "Dragon-3" attack satellites simultaneously adjusted their attitudes, revealing menacing cannon muzzles on their surface laser emitters.
"Target locked: US 'Keyhole-12' reconnaissance satellite, orbital altitude 35786 kilometers."
"Target locked: Country R's 'Chrysanthemum-8' communications satellite, orbital altitude 42164 kilometers."
"Target locked: Japan's 'Sakura-3' navigation satellite, orbital altitude 20200 kilometers."
"emission!"
There was no sound, no light, only high-energy laser beams invisible to the naked eye traveling through the vacuum.
0.3 seconds later, the top-of-the-line reconnaissance satellite of Country M, worth two billion dollars, instantly overloaded its internal precision instruments and turned into a cloud of space debris.
0.5 seconds later, the communication satellite signal of country R was interrupted.
0.7 seconds later, J country's navigation satellites lost contact.
Within twenty seconds, all eighty-seven military satellites belonging to the four countries were destroyed.
Country M, command center.
"Report! All satellite signals are down!"
"What?!"
"Not only military satellites, but civilian communication satellites have also lost contact!"
"Try switching to an alternative channel!"
"The backup channel is down too! All external communications are paralyzed!"
Chaos reigned in the command center. Generals shouted frantically into their walkie-talkies, but only the grating crackling of static filled the air. On the large screen, the once densely packed global surveillance footage had turned into static.
"We...we've become blind..." Defense Secretary James said, his face pale.
In the ocean, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of Country M is speeding towards the East China Sea. Captain Jensen stands on the bridge, looking at the nautical chart, full of pride.
"How much longer until we reach the designated sea area?"
"Captain, there's more..."
The navigator abruptly stopped speaking. The electronic chart screen in front of him went black instantly.
"What happened?"
"I don't know! All navigation systems are malfunctioning! GPS signal lost!"
"Switch to inertial navigation!"
"The inertial navigation is also malfunctioning! We now...don't know where we are!"
On the bridge, all electronic devices simultaneously went black or displayed garbled text. This 100,000-ton steel behemoth, adrift on the vast ocean, instantly became a headless fly.
Even more frightening is-
"Sonar has detected unidentified underwater targets! Number... at least six!"
"distance?"
"Too close! Less than five nautical miles! When did they get so close?!"
Beneath the surface, six Chinese "Longyuan-class" attack nuclear submarines had already completed their encirclement. They lurked in the deep sea like ghosts, their stealth capabilities so excellent that even the most advanced sonar from the United States failed to detect them in advance.
Inside the submarine's command center, the captain stared at the massive target on the sonar screen and coldly ordered, "Prepare torpedoes, lock onto the enemy carrier's propellers and rudder. Don't sink it, capture it."
"yes!"
East China Sea.
The provocative warships from Country R are now facing even greater panic.
"All radars have malfunctioned!"
"Communications down! Unable to contact headquarters!"
"Navigation system crashed! We're lost!"
The captain rushed onto the deck and looked into the distance through his binoculars—and then he saw a sight he would never forget.
On the horizon, three massive carrier battle groups approached in a surrounding formation. The central carrier, the "Longxing," had dozens of "Mighty Dragon-20" stealth fighters neatly arranged on its deck. Further away, more than a dozen of the latest Type 055 destroyers were ready for missile launch.
"When...when did they...?"
Before the words were even finished, dozens of bright spots with trailing flames appeared in the sky—those were anti-ship missiles launched by the Dragon Kingdom.
"Intercept! Intercept it now!" the captain roared.
Without satellite guidance and radar direction, their air defense system was practically useless. Missiles accurately hit every non-lethal part of the warship—the engine room, weapon systems, and communication antennas.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Explosions rang out in succession. A frigate had a large hole blown in its bow and began to list, taking on water. The missile launchers of another destroyer were destroyed and burst into flames.
"Abandon ship! Everyone abandon ship!"
The surviving sailors scrambled into the sea, clinging to life rings and floating on the surface. They watched in horror as a helicopter from the Dragon Kingdom approached, lowering ropes—not for rescue, but to take them prisoner.
Naval base in Country R.
The base commander was anxiously trying to restore communications when suddenly, a piercing air raid siren blared throughout the base.
"Missile attack! Missile attack!"
"How much? Where did they come from?"
"I don't know! All the radars are malfunctioning! The early warning system isn't responding!"
The commander rushed out the door, looked up at the sky—and then he saw Death.
Several "Dragon-41 Modified" missiles, trailing long plumes of flame, fell from the sky like a meteor shower. They were so fast that radar couldn't detect them in time.
The first missile accurately hit the command building.
"boom--!!"
The ten-story building collapsed in the explosion, turning into ruins.
The second, the third, the fourth... the missiles seemed to have eyes, precisely destroying every important facility in the base: hangars, fuel depots, ammunition depots, shipyards...
The explosion lit up half the sky, and thick smoke billowed upwards. Inside the base, the surviving Self-Defense Force members fled frantically, but there was nowhere to escape.
Half an hour later, the naval base—R country's largest naval base—was engulfed in flames.
Air force bases, naval bases, ... all of R country's important military bases were devastated at the same time.
Live broadcast from China's national television station.
The screen is playing a live recording:
On the deck of an aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean, sailors raised their hands in surrender, and the Chinese Marine Corps boarded the ship to receive them.
On the East China Sea, a R country warship, engulfed in flames, slowly sank, and the soldiers who fell into the water were pulled up by a Chinese rescue boat as prisoners of war.
On R country's mainland, flames shot into the sky from a military base explosion, and thick smoke obscured the heavens.
Even more shocking are the satellite images—from a space perspective, the satellites of the four countries went out one after another, like candles being blown out in the night sky.
In the studio, Lin Zhe's calm voice rang out:
"Dear viewers across the country, as you can see, the so-called four-nation alliance has completely collapsed after losing satellite support."
"The aircraft carrier battle group of Country M has surrendered to our army; the main force of Country R's navy has been destroyed and its military base has been paralyzed; Country J and Country X have requested ceasefire negotiations through special channels."
He paused, then continued:
"In this operation, we used some new equipment: space attack satellites, hypersonic missiles, and stealth submarines. The performance of these weapons is evident to all."
"What I want to tell the people of the whole country is this: from today onwards, no country will dare to bully the people of China. From today onwards, any act that infringes upon our sovereignty or harms our citizens will be met with a devastating blow."
"This is the Dragon Kingdom today. This is the Dragon Kingdom's soldier today."
"The battle to defend the city has ended in victory."
The entire country was deathly silent.
It wasn't silence, it was shock to the point of being speechless.
A few seconds later, a deafening roar of cheers erupted.
In the conference room of the internet company in Jinghua, people were laughing and crying, hugging each other.
"You won? You won just like that?"
"It was over in less than an hour? One hour...?"
"My God... those missiles... those satellites... it's terrifying..."
On the Bund in Shanghai, under a large outdoor screen, some people knelt on the ground and wept bitterly, while others looked up to the sky and roared.
An elderly man saluted the screen, tears streaming down his face: "Our forefathers, can you see this? Our country... has finally stood up..."
In a small town on the southwestern border, people sing and dance in the square.
"We won! We won!"
"No one will dare to bully us anymore!"
The middle-aged woman whose younger brother had his leg broken knelt on the ground, repeatedly kowtowing: "Thank you, country! Thank you, soldiers of the Dragon Kingdom!"
However, on the other side of the world, there is a hellish scene.
In Country R, chaos reigned at the Prime Minister's residence. The Prime Minister, staring at reports from across the country—all military bases destroyed, the navy wiped out, all communications cut off—slumped into his chair.
"Contact the US! Contact the US immediately!"
"Unable to contact...all satellite communications are down..."
"Then...then contact the Dragon Kingdom! Request a ceasefire! We surrender! Unconditionally surrender!"
"How can we contact them? We can't even make a phone call..."
The prime minister closed his eyes in despair. He knew that R country was finished.
Country J and Country X were even more straightforward—they didn't participate in the war at all. After seeing the tragic state of Country R, they immediately sent people across the border to the Dragon Kingdom's embassy with white flags.
"We surrender! We admit defeat! We demand compensation! We'll agree to any conditions!"
On the ocean, the aircraft carrier of Country M.
Captain Jason looked at the fully armed Chinese Marines on the deck and bitterly handed over his sidearm.
He recalled that just an hour earlier, he had been fantasizing about how to crush the Chinese navy.
Now, he is a prisoner.
A young Chinese officer approached and said in fluent English, "Captain, please come with us. We are now in charge of this aircraft carrier."
Jason asked, "What...what are those weapons of yours...?"
The officer smiled and said, "Sorry, it's a military secret."
An hour later, the headlines of major media outlets around the world—those that were still operational—were updated again:
One-Hour War! China Achieves a Complete Victory Over the Four-Nation Alliance!
First Real-World Space Warfare: China Shoots Down 87 Satellites!
"US Aircraft Carrier Captured, Naval Myth Shattered!"
R Country's military forces suffer a devastating blow!
The new century's landscape has been rewritten!
Meanwhile, within the Dragon Kingdom, the people finally recovered from their shock.
They realized that their country had become incredibly powerful.
So powerful that it could end a war that could potentially affect the entire world within an hour.
So powerful that it could make a former overlord kneel and beg for mercy.
That night, countless people were sleepless.
They celebrated their victory, they were filled with emotion, and they were proud to be Chinese.
At the Qianlong Base, Lin Zhe stood in the command center, looking at the two large characters "Victory" on the screen, and slowly exhaled.
That was a brilliantly fought battle.
Next, it's time to clean up those behind-the-scenes manipulators.