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Chapter 439 I thought it was a target ship! (First update!)

Due south of Stuttgart, Germany, America's Africa Command Headquarters.

The information from Naples, via a dedicated network, reached Commander-in-Chief Edwin in just over 10 minutes.

Looking at the descriptions, he raised his hand and, without any warning, slapped himself across the face.

With a loud slap, my cheek hurt, and my hand ached too.

This is real!

The Libyan navy launched an attack on Naples!
Having confirmed the news, Edwin didn't know how to comment on it.

I look down on them a little, but I also admire them a bit. I admire these people for daring to launch an attack when the odds are so far outnumbered!
He was not happy about being transferred from the Central Theater Command to the Africa Theater Command, because it sounded like a promotion, but it was actually a demotion in disguise.

Because there are no merits to be gained in the African theater.

It can be said that this operation against Libya is the only large-scale military operation that Edwin can participate in and achieve sufficient results in during his remaining term.

If we miss this opportunity, who knows when we'll encounter another operation like this.

Therefore, Edwin attached great importance to this military operation.

Therefore, after entering the Africa Theater Command, he had been collecting information about Libya, hoping to launch a swift and decisive victory.

Then they would acquire the Libyan goods in exchange for a perfect result.

It is precisely because of this that he kept other war zones in check and his subordinates in control, keeping them focused on Libya instead of taking action now.

At the same time, they are looking for a suitable opportunity to send CIA agents into the country, have them instigate internal strife, and then have the main force take the opportunity to enter the country and launch a full-scale attack on Libya.

Now, he no longer needs to wait for such a suitable opportunity!
Taking a deep breath, Edwin picked up the telephone on the table. "Connect me to the Naples base!"

"Tell them that the time we've been waiting for has come, attack!"

"All-out attack!"

The message was transmitted back to Naples in the blink of an eye via radio signals, and then from the Naples command headquarters to the HMS Donald Cook.

Upon receiving the order, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, which had been roaming the Tyrrhenian Sea, immediately changed course and, guided by both radar and reconnaissance aircraft, headed to intercept the Libyan ships.

Because it was a collective deployment and they needed to maintain formation, the Libyan navy did not sail fast. Based on the speed of the Naja-class minesweepers at 16 knots, they carried two minesweepers in front, two frigates, one light frigate, and one landing ship in the middle, with the remaining six missile boats at the rear, maintaining this formation as they headed towards Naples.

On the Soviet-built Koni-class corvette Dart Asavari, Captain Rabiwat, who was in charge of this mission, rested his hands on the control panel, his eyes fixed on the data shared by the Russian GLONASS satellite navigation system.

According to the data, they are about 300 kilometers away from Naples.

At the current speed, it would take about 10 hours to cover 300 kilometers.

Ten hours later, it was already dawn.

Once daylight breaks, they will be completely exposed to the sight of others.

By then, let alone a sneak attack, others might even look at them like monkeys.

The only way to get to Naples in a short time is to abandon the minesweeper and have the other ships travel at full speed.

Having reached this conclusion, Rabiwat raised his hand and slapped himself across the face.

If we had known it would be like this, we should have just abandoned the minesweepers and prevented them from participating in this operation.

He sighed, grabbed the walkie-talkie, and sent instructions to the surrounding ships:
"With the ships closing in, within 10 minutes, all the personnel on the minesweeper were transferred to other ships and the minesweeper was abandoned."

"Full speed ahead to Naples!"

At a command, all ships began to slow down and move closer to the minesweeper in the center to transfer personnel. Just as they were working feverishly, the radar operator of the Dart Asavari suddenly screamed:
"A ship without any identification markings is rapidly approaching us from the northwest; it's already more than 50 nautical miles away!"

"The other party made no attempt to conceal its movements; it appears to be a missile destroyer!"

At sea, fifty nautical miles!
It was practically in his face. Just as Rabiwat was about to order the ship to full speed again, he heard the radar operator's desperate scream:

"They've launched a missile!"

Hearing the scream, Rabiwat didn't hesitate. He waved his hand and yelled, "All ships, full speed ahead!"

They could only run. They could only hope that the enemy's anti-ship missiles were not fast or accurate enough, and that the high speed of their small boats could give them a glimmer of hope in the instant they were shot down.

As for the anti-aircraft missiles, they are all ancient relics from many years ago.

A group of people dared not entrust their lives to these few anti-aircraft missiles.

They were moving at high speed, but the anti-ship missiles in the sky were even faster. Before they had gone very far, the radar detected the missile signals, and even people standing on the deck could see the missiles' trails.

Their anti-aircraft missiles had not yet detected the enemy's signal, so the ship's operators had no choice but to fire the anti-aircraft missiles manually.

Take a chance.

The anti-aircraft missiles were fired, and the enemy's anti-ship missiles also came within the firing range of the close-in weapon system, where the gunners were already in position.

A group of people frantically pulled the triggers and loaded shells, trying to shoot down the anti-ship missile.

Unfortunately, the anti-ship missiles from America were too fast, bypassing their anti-aircraft missiles and close-in weapon systems to explode directly into the ship.

More than one anti-ship missile struck simultaneously, obliterating Libyan ships in sight.

The explosion of the anti-ship missile also detonated the ship's weapons, adding a touch of excitement to the tranquil Mediterranean in the darkness.

The flames from the burning ships illuminated the sea and the remaining Libyan navy.

Amidst the howling sea wind, unusual activity appeared in the sky: anti-submarine helicopters and attack helicopters carried by the missile destroyer.

These helicopters hovered over the fire, searching for any possible survivors, then pointed their guns and pulled the triggers without hesitation.

The gunshots, like popping beans, rang out in an instant and then died down just as quickly.

The gunner on the armed helicopter released the trigger, pulled down his night vision goggles, and scanned the sea surface with his eyes, but did not see any red light that resembled human presence.

He raised his night vision goggles, aimed his gun at the still-burning wreckage, pulled the trigger, and a hail of bullets tore through the burning debris, driving it completely into the water.

After running out of bullets, the machine gunner pulled down his night vision goggles again. This time, there was neither the glow of burning wreckage nor the red light that resembled human presence.

Perfect solution!

Click! The machine gun was locked. He turned around and extended his right hand to the ammunition handler beside him:
"It's all cleaned up, time to go back!"

Before the plane even returned to the guided-missile destroyer, the message was transmitted from the plane, directly to the Naples command, and then transferred through the Naples command to Stuttgart, Germany, where it ended up in Edwin's hands.

The news traveled back and forth so fast that Edwin could hardly believe it. He stared at the intelligence reports for a long time before finally confirming that the Libyan navy, which had been so aggressive in its attempt to launch a surprise attack on Naples, had been killed at sea in less than an hour after he gave the order.

To be more precise, it was less than 30 minutes, because the USS Donald Cook guided-missile destroyer was on its way for 30 minutes.

That's a bit too fast!

The report was difficult to write.

He handed the documents to the staff officer beside him and calmly gave the instructions:

"Spread this message, and then order the NATO joint forces' aircraft to take off and bomb Tripoli!"

The staff officer took the intelligence, received the instructions, and immediately went to make arrangements.

The news of the complete annihilation of the Libyan navy was quickly reported by the Africa Command to the American Ministry of Defense, and then disseminated by the official spokesperson of the American Ministry of Defense.

While this message was being relayed, Edwin's orders were also issued to Corsica, Greece, Italy, Malta, and the USS Eisenhower.

Fighter jets deployed at these bases and on aircraft carriers took off and headed ahead of the others to Libya. Behind these fighter jets were electronic warfare aircraft, and finally, bombers from various countries.

The planes from the NATO coalition did not conceal their movements, but instead brazenly crossed the Mediterranean Sea and headed towards the planned bombing targets.

Therefore, these aircraft were detected by Libyan air defense radar as soon as they crossed the Mediterranean median line, and at the same time, news of the complete annihilation of the Libyan navy reached Gaddafi through international news.

When he heard the news, he didn't want to believe it; after all, it was a navy with dozens of ships.

Even if there are dozens of pigs, it will take some time to catch them.

How could they have been completely wiped out in such a short time?
And it was destroyed by a single missile destroyer, just one!
How can this be?

Someone has definitely defected!

As this thought flashed through his mind, Gaddafi felt both hatred and fear. He wasn't afraid of the NATO coalition, but rather that his money wouldn't be able to be transferred out.

He took a deep breath, picked up the phone on the table, and dialed the Mitiga Air Base, the closest air base to Tripoli.

This airbase, located in the city of Tripoli, is mainly responsible for the air defense of Tripoli. More importantly, the aircraft at this airbase are basically controlled by Gaddafi's cronies.

At this time, trusted confidants are still the most reliable.

The call was made, and MiG-25s and MiG-23s from the former Soviet Union took off. The MiG-25s were responsible for intercepting the high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, while the MiG-23s were responsible for dealing with the F/A-18E fighters coming from the Eisenhower aircraft carrier.

Once the airbase reported that the fighter jets had taken off, Gaddafi impatiently issued new instructions to the Oqba Ben Nafi airbase in the west.

This base is the largest air force base in Syria. It was built by Italian colonists and was originally named Al-Watiya Air Force Base.

After Gaddafi seized power, he renamed this place.

There are Gaddafi's men here, but not many.

So after receiving the order, the ground crew at the air force base dawdled, the pilots dawdled, everyone was dawdling.

Not a single plane took off for half a day.

In the heart of the base, base commander Nethum gripped the phone, repeatedly assuring Gaddafi on the other end:
"Mr. President, please rest assured, I assure you, as long as we are here, the base will remain!"

"As long as there is one person and one plane, we will absolutely not allow any plane to overtake us and enter Libyan airspace."

"President, please rest assured!"

"I promise!"

After a series of reassurances, Nethurm hung up the phone, twisted his neck, and the cracking sound of his joints moving echoed in the quiet room.

Ignoring the stares of others, the commander calmly walked to the sand table, placed his hands on its surface, and asked:
How many planes do we have left that can take off?

After a few seconds of awkward silence, the logistics officer opened the documents in his hand and calmly began to speak:

“We have a total of 35 MiG-23s, but only 16 are operational. The remaining 19 have some parts removed and sent to Maimaitija Air Base to support the MiG-23s there.”

"There are a total of 20 Su-22 fighter jets, but only 10 are operational. The reason why the remaining 10 fighter jets are not operational is the same as that of the MiG-23."

"As for the remaining aircraft, they also have some problems, and at this critical juncture, they are of no use."

Nethurm was a little angry after hearing this, but there was nothing he could do.

Who can blame them when their president is Gaddafi?
This guy has offended every country he could on the international stage, and even the countries he shouldn't have offended.

After several rounds of back and forth, even countries like Russia were unwilling to sell them aircraft and spare parts.

Now every fight is one less to fight.

At this moment, Nethum wanted to capture Gaddafi and ask him if he had even the slightest regret.

Unfortunately, he still doesn't know where Gaddafi is, nor can he capture him.

After staring at the sand table for a long time, Nethurm calmly said:

"Let these 25 mobile fighter jets take off. No matter what, we are Libyans, and at least for this moment, we must show our resistance!"

"By the way, tell the pilots of these 25 fighter jets not to feel pressured. If they can run, they should run. If they can't run, they should find another opportunity to run!"

He gave the instructions, which were quickly sent by the staff to each flight squadron and to each pilot.

More than 20 minutes later, 26 combat-capable aircraft from the airbase took off and headed to Tripoli to intercept aircraft that might bomb Tripoli.

As the planes took off, Nicholas Humm naturally took over the command position and began to direct the planes and their combat operations.

But just as the commander was getting into a good mood, wireless communication was interrupted, fixed-line communication was interrupted, and satellite signals were interrupted.

As the communications officer prepared for the second confirmation, Nethum suddenly shouted at those present:

"Get to the air raid shelter immediately! There's an air raid!"

(End of this chapter)