What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 632 A Frenzied Ride

Darwin International Airport

"GoGoGo, moving! moving!"

Under the blazing sun, the turboprop engines of the two C130H transport planes were already running, creating a strong wind at the airport.

Behind the open rear hatch, rows of paratroopers jumped into the cabin under the urging of officers, interspersed with several airdroppable infantry fighting vehicles.

To save time, not only did the transport planes start their engines early to begin loading, but even the refueling tankers were working at the same time.

The runway has been cleared in advance, and everything is ready.

Amidst this bustling scene, a jeep pulled up beside the helicopter, and General Vincent jumped out aggressively. Lieutenant Colonel Bernard of the airborne battalion, who was directing the soldiers to board, immediately came over and saluted.
"Report: The 3rd Airborne Battalion of 134 men is ready. We also have 4 LAV25 assault vehicles and 105mm howitzer prepared!"

Vincent: "Lieutenant Colonel, when can we take off?"

"We can take off in 40 minutes, that is, at 12:20, and are expected to arrive in Wan Ya before 15:50!"

"Very good, you are the vanguard. The two Anzac-class frigates and the Brisbane destroyer have also rushed over. As long as you hold out for half a day, the follow-up support will definitely arrive!"

"Yes!"

Seeing Bernard's resolute agreement, Vincent glanced at him and the soldiers, took out a white paintbrush from his pocket, tore off Bernard's shoulder insignia, and forcefully painted a large "UN" logo on his chest.

"Lieutenant Colonel, take some men and paint the planes with it now, make them conspicuous."

Bernard immediately accepted the order and left.

Now, the 3rd Airborne Battalion is a peacekeeping force.

Of course, the General Assembly has not yet recognized it.

However, this is not a major problem. The most crucial issue is that the General Assembly must recognize that a humanitarian crisis is occurring in Pawa before it can approve the intervention of the joint force with a legitimate reason and pretext.

Vincent already knew that the Sky Troops on the island had organized the Marines to board the plane two hours earlier than them. Everything was ready, but they didn't move, mainly because they were waiting for UN approval before they could take action.

As for the secondary reason... waiting for escort fighters, the idea of ​​simply sending transport planes to airdrop supplies is too terrifying, so this is a precaution.

But Vincent was different; he decided to send the C130H out first and wait for approval instructions while it was in flight.

In the original timeline, due to the lack of information flow, the General Assembly only recognized the humanitarian crisis after the fact through the disclosure of various tragic events, but it was too late and could only impose sanctions and conduct post-hoc trials.

Now, however, things are different. Geigin has provided irrefutable and sufficient evidence, and people all over the world are constantly supporting him, so the determination should pass easily. Vincent bets that the General Assembly will pass the determination before the C130H arrives.

As for air escort... the Empire's plan is still to deploy aircraft from Guandao and coordinate fighter jets from Xinjiabei, but because the distance is too long, there are not enough refueling aircraft and they have to find a place to transfer. Not to mention the internal situation in Nawa, Luzon... is not much better, it's just less conspicuous in comparison, and the transfer is also very troublesome.

The Kangaroo's mainstays, the F-18 or F-16, don't have enough range, but Vincent has already made a decision:

Requesting air support from the maritime joint defense team!
They have an aircraft carrier, and judging from their current performance, they can definitely suppress the Wawa Air Force.

Whether this goes against the empire's original intention of seizing the initiative is not the point!
The kangaroo isn't interested in the far-off Sulawesi; all they want is to send people there to stir up trouble. What they really crave is Dongdivon!
……

Jakarta

“We cannot agree to such conditions. $1000 million is a reasonable figure. If you are not satisfied, we can continue to negotiate on this basis, but we do not accept blackmail.”

Sergio and Bert sat facing each other across the table, with a hands-free phone in between them.

Tang Wen's terms shocked the entire authorities. The huge compensation of $22.9 billion was simply outrageous; even $2.29 million would be an astronomical figure!

Moreover, they want to lease Natuna. Let alone whether the government agrees or not, even Prism Building would not agree!

The authorities' final solution was to compensate each of the deceased employees with $5.8 in accordance with international practice and their calculation standards, and to implement the Mionas oil exploration agreement as originally planned, reaching a total settlement of $1000 million.

Such a stark difference was something even Sergio, the communicator, wouldn't dare to utter aloud, but Bert gave him advice:

The maritime joint defense team is unlikely to take action. Since they've already lost face, they might as well go all the way and ultimately suffer no damage.

The first detachment is far away in Sulawesi, while the second detachment, with its slower speed, has only just crossed the South China Sea and will need at least 50 hours to get close to Jataka. During this time, the Empire will have plenty of time to send sufficient support.

This ultimately gave Sergio confidence, which led him to refuse Tang Wen's request.

The latter was not angry upon hearing this, but simply replied calmly:
“Mr. Saijin, Gaijin only speaks from the perspective of facts. I know that Zawa has no information verification channels. Why not ask someone else to help verify the situation carefully?”

"If you're willing to accept my offer, call me again within an hour." The call ended, and Bert, sitting opposite, was unsettled. It felt like something unexpected had happened.
But the first squad's every move was under the surveillance of the USS Benfold, and the Arleigh Burke's four phased array radars would definitely not miss anything. So, does Tang Wen mean the second squad?

The second squadron, mainly composed of the Great White Fleet and a bunch of Dongjiang-type fishing boats, poses little threat. Unlike the first squadron, the second squadron's threat level is really low.

The 14 Dongjiang-class vessels were all registered fishing boats, so they couldn't get too close to catch them. The three battleships were too slow, and the four destroyers weren't very deterrent. Both Malaysia and Xinjiabei reported that there wasn't much of a problem...

Bert suddenly felt uneasy and quickly sent Prism Tower to personally confirm the location of the second squad.

Fortunately, Prism has many satellites deployed in the Western Pacific. It only took half an hour to locate the target via satellite and confirm that the second team was still far away from Wawa, at least 1100 kilometers away, and did not pose a threat.

However, when the staff on the mainland counted the numbers in the satellite photos, they found something was wrong—there were only two battleships, and the rest were small ships.

Even the number of small boats is incorrect; there are two missing.

Expanding the photo area still yielded no results.

At this point, the home support team realized it might be the Fusang, a battlecruiser with a top speed of 24.5 knots. They expanded the search area again... but found nothing.

what happened?

Could it be that the Fusang ship was not even dispatched?

The Prism Building was actually identified as the second detachment based on the full deployment of ships in the Spratly Islands and the exclusion of the first detachment from the list. At this point, it was suspected that there might have been an error in the intelligence.

But Bert didn't think Tang Wen was being deliberately mysterious. Just as he was racking his brains trying to figure it out, Sergio suddenly received a message and rushed to him in a panic, delivering absolutely terrible news:
Patrol boats near the Strait of Karimata spotted a battleship passing by at high speed, exceeding 35 knots, accompanied by two escorting fast destroyers with speeds exceeding 40 knots.

There are no photos yet, but Gaijin's G-sign snail flag can be seen on the masts of all three warships.

Bert quickly found a map, marked the location, and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets:

The Karimata Strait is the gateway to Jataka, less than 300 kilometers away. This means that the three warships crossed at least 1400 kilometers in 21 hours, with an average speed of over 34 knots!
Destroyers might be able to achieve that, but battleships are out of the question!

That battleship is very likely the Fusang, but the Fusang's top speed is only 24.5 knots.
Just as the two were racking their brains trying to figure it out, Smith, who was wandering around because he wasn't thinking straight, walked in. After hearing their questions, he scratched his head:

"Tang Wen doesn't necessarily have to be a one-to-one replica of history. Even if the outer shell is replicated, the internal parts may have been greatly modified. There's no need to replicate the power system one-to-one, is there?"

A word to wake up the dreamer!

However, this also means that the Fusang is very close and can reach Jakarta in as little as four or five hours!
What was thought to be a threat far away has suddenly appeared right in front of us.

What will the Jataka authorities do if 12 356mm naval guns are pointed at Jataka?
Since there are no potential enemies along the mainland coastline, the authorities have not purchased any shore-based anti-ship missiles at all, and even if they have, they are mostly in poor condition and the quantity is pitifully small.

Even if they can put on a show, the two sides are at best evenly matched.

Is Jakarta willing to take the gamble?

Bert dared, but when he saw Sergio across from him, whose body was trembling like a leaf, he immediately had a bad feeling.

……

After hanging up the phone, Tang Wen was actually somewhat relieved, thankfully he had a backup plan and managed to slip the Fusang ship inside.

The distance from Nansha to Yadaga is over 1600 kilometers. By the time the second detachment's "Iron Turtle" arrived, it was too late.

His current tactic is to learn from Miguel's maximum pressure strategy, playing all his cards in the shortest amount of time, showing an absolutely uncompromising and resolute attitude, and not giving his opponent time to react or compromise.

The two Iron Turtle ships in the second squadron were only providing cover, while the Fusang, although ostensibly a low-speed warship, was designed from the outset with the requirement of cruising and rapid deployment, just like the Kongo. The original speed of the Fusang was naturally insufficient to meet the requirements.

The original engines of the Fusang only had 4.7 horsepower, which was even less than those of a destroyer. Tang Wen directly replaced them with two sets of boilers from the Fantasy-class destroyers, which boosted the horsepower to 14 horsepower. Furthermore, it possessed the unique long-term high-pressure ventilation capability of the French series, which could forcibly increase the horsepower to over 16 horsepower.

Although the underwater hull design of the Fusang does not support high speeds, and the load on the keel under such high horsepower is far beyond the limit, with at least 80% risk of breakage, these problems do not exist as long as it is under the control of the system captain.

As for other problems such as instability at high speeds and excessive swaying, they are naturally insignificant and need not be worried about.

这样一来扶槡号的基础航速从24.5节提升到30.5节，引擎过载后航速+15%提升到35节，加上旗帜加成极速达到了36.8节！
Moreover, Yamamoto Takano was transferred to the Fusang as captain after the first squadron arrived, and with the legendary captain's 10% speed bonus, the top speed reached 40.5 knots.

The Fusang, along with two Civilization-class destroyers, broke away from the second squadron under cover of night and hurried on its way, all to give Yadaga a big surprise.

These guys are just too useless; I have to point them out to them. If it were the Imperial Navy or the European Navy, they would have known their every move long ago.

The Nanyang Grand Stage is truly... spectacular!

(End of this chapter)