Back in 1978, I was admitted to Northwestern Polytechnical University.

Chapter 201 Digging a Big Trap for the Americans
Chang'an, Northwestern Polytechnical University.

"Damn it, where did Qin Liang go? None of you can make decisions. Are we still going to proceed with this cooperation?" Dick Taylor said angrily.

Qin Liang left behind the cooperation arrangements and then disappeared. The others couldn't make the decision and all wanted to talk to Qin Liang, which led to this awkward situation!
“Mr. Taylor, please don’t worry. As soon as Comrade Qin Liang returns, we will have him come over immediately.”

"Hmph, he abandoned his work and went on his honeymoon. Am I supposed to wait here for a month? Professor Yang, shouldn't you give your son-in-law a call?"

Yang Tian felt a little embarrassed. His son-in-law wasn't on a honeymoon; he had important work to do, but that was obviously confidential and inconvenient to talk about.

Bang! Just then, the door opened.

“Miss Yang, you’re back? That’s wonderful! Where’s Mr. Qin? Mr. Qin must have come back with you, right?” Taylor’s expression instantly brightened.

"No. Dad, come out here, I have something to say."

Yang Tian looked at his daughter's pale face. What happened? Had the newlyweds had a fight?

“No, say it here! Miss Yang, if Qin Liang doesn’t come back, I absolutely cannot accept it…” Before Dick Taylor could finish speaking, he saw Yang Duo’er’s face turn even more unpleasant.

"Dad, Mom has been taken hostage by a group of thugs."

Yang Tian suddenly felt his vision go black and almost fainted, while Dick Taylor was also stunned. What happened?

"Sigh, look at this. We originally wanted to keep it from Professor Yang and Miss Yang, but..." Director Luo sighed and put the newspaper on the table.

Yang Tian took it with trembling hands, and after reading it, he took a deep breath: "It seems we need to go back to the United States. This is not just a matter for our family, but for the entire United States."

Yang Tian and Yang Duo'er walked out, with Director Luo following closely behind them. Seeing that no one was following them, he said, "You two, don't worry. Comrade Qin Liang has already sent back a message that he has a way to resolve this matter. Within a week, the women who have been detained as hostages will be released."

Yang Tian stopped in his tracks: "Qin Liang has already gone over there?"

"Yes, and some of our comrades are also cooperating with the work. Please rest assured, Ms. Annie is Comrade Qin Liang's mother-in-law, and we certainly will not sit idly by."

"Brother Liangzi, is there really a way?" Yang Duo'er forced herself to remain calm, holding back her tears. She was strong; she had always been strong!
After receiving Qin Liang's call, Yang Duo'er immediately bought a plane ticket and flew back to the Eastern capital. Then she went to apply for a visa to Langtuo. She didn't want to be a deserter and wanted to stand with Brother Liang. Unexpectedly, the customs wouldn't let her go, so she couldn't leave. She then rushed back to Chang'an to discuss a solution with her father.

Here, we received news from Qin Liang that he had already resolved the issue!

"Yes, Miss Yang, don't worry. Qin Liang is an exceptionally capable young man; none of us can compare to him."

"Okay, then I'll wait for him to come back here!"

Langtuo, Isfahan base.

"Regardless of the purpose, the detention of the elderly, women, and children is unacceptable on the international stage. Therefore, by releasing these people first, we will gain the sympathy of the world. Believe me, this is very important!"

Minuseper nodded: "That's right, I think it's okay. Anyway, it's just a symbol. It doesn't matter how many people we have. Besides, we only need to release eight people."

Finally, the bearded leader nodded: "Alright, then release these eight people. Continue."

"The return of these eight people to the United States will be a catalyst. The West is a democratic country, so why are the women back but the men still detained? Their relatives who are still being held will put pressure on the government. At the same time, these eight people will explain the situation here, making them think they can control the whole situation." Qin Liang continued to deceive them: "In this way, they will take risks and use special forces."

Qin Liang looked at everyone: "Gentlemen, attacking civilians will make the whole world despise us. Those hostages will eventually have to be released. However, those special forces that come in must not come back. This way, we can also slap the Americans in the face!"

The bearded leader spoke up: "We don't have many informants in the West, let alone access to their decision-making level. So, even if they want to use force, we don't know when they will come or their route. We might not be able to ambush them and instead let them successfully rescue the hostages."

"How could that be? Once the first batch of hostages is released, the rest will have to be moved! We'll move them secretly, and even if they come, they'll find nothing. As for how they'll move... we can deduce it based on their current equipment and our terrain!"

Minuseper continued nodding: "Excellent!"

“Our capital is far from the coastline. To the west, Iran is a traditional ally of the Soviet Union, which the Americans cannot utilize. To the east, the Graveyard of Empires is also an ally of the Soviet Union. As for the north, it is directly under the Soviet Union. Therefore, if they want to come here, they can only do so by walking along the coastline. Our capital is more than 1,200 kilometers away from the Persian Gulf!”

I reckon the Americans are planning a hostage rescue operation right now. They must be drooling over the Caspian Sea. If the Caspian Sea were theirs, they could reach the capital of Langkawi just over 100 kilometers away, which would be very convenient.

And now, it's over 1,200 kilometers!

"They are unlikely to deploy strategic transport aircraft, as those large aircraft have too demanding takeoff and landing conditions. The most likely option is a C-130 transport aircraft, which has the range to meet the requirements. They may land in the desert and then transport the goods to the capital by truck, or they may land directly at the Amjadiya Stadium near the target."

The officers present smiled as Qin Liang pointed to a location on the map.

"How is that possible? That track is at most 200 meters long! A C-130 needs at least 500 meters of track for takeoff and landing!"

Before the change of regime, they were the West's best allies, possessing a full range of US military equipment, and naturally knew this type of aircraft very well.

Qin Liang smiled and said, "That's an ordinary airplane. If you attach a rocket engine to the fuselage of such an airplane, it can take off from a distance of about a hundred meters."

"What about landing?"

"The rocket engine is installed backwards."

Back then, there were various methods to get jet aircraft on ships, and booster rockets were one of them. Unfortunately, they were too dangerous and were consumables. Later, when steam catapults matured, this method became obsolete.

In response to this hostage situation, Lockheed was tasked with reinforcing the fuselage of its C-130 transport aircraft by installing the engines of eight ASROC anti-submarine missiles in the front fuselage, which would then propel the missiles forward to slow them down.

The lower part of the fuselage is equipped with the engines of eight AGM-45 Shrike air-to-ground missiles, which are also used for landing. After all, after deceleration, the lift of the wings is not enough, and these engines are used to lift the aircraft to prevent it from crashing down.

As for takeoff? The engine for eight RIM-66 Standard Missiles was installed at the tail, which was enough to allow the aircraft to take off in a short distance. It is clear that landing is far more difficult than takeoff.

To control the aircraft, they also installed two missile engines on each side of the wing and under the tail.

Coordinating so many pieces of equipment is extremely difficult, but Lockheed has managed to modify it perfectly, and it has been tested multiple times!

Unfortunately, during the final landing attempt, the pilot made a mistake and crashed directly into the ground, burning the plane. The pilot survived, but the plan was abandoned.

Now, the Americans have been provoked and might resort to this method.

Everyone stared wide-eyed as Qin Liang explained the plan.

The bearded leader nodded: "As expected of an expert from the East, he can even think of such a complicated operation. That's right, it's possible. We need to be on guard!"

This defense is actually quite simple. All you need to do is deploy forces near the playground, maybe just a few mortars, adjust the firing parameters, and wait for the planes to land. Boom! Boom! Boom! That's it.

"Besides these aircraft, there are helicopters. Their largest helicopter is the CH-53, which can take off and land vertically, thus avoiding the need to choose a take-off and landing site. It can even land directly over the target. However, the biggest drawback of this aircraft is its short range of only 1,000 kilometers, which is simply not enough. Not to mention, in order to avoid exposing their targets, their aircraft carriers cannot sail into the Persian Gulf."

Qin Liang looked at everyone and said, "In other words, if they use helicopters, they will inevitably look for a reliable foothold in the desert within our territory."

Why did the Americans continue to push the tiltrotor Osprey, which was considered so ineffective in later generations? It's because they were fooled before! Helicopters can take off and land vertically, but they are slow and have a short range, while fixed-wing aircraft cannot take off and land short distances. If the Osprey had been available for Operation Eagle Claw, it might have succeeded!
"The desert is still too big!"

Qin Liang nodded: "That's right, the desert is indeed very large. However, if we draw a straight line from the outer edge of Oman, about a thousand kilometers long, then we can land in this area about five hundred kilometers southeast of our capital."

"I remember now, there's a dried-up riverbed here!" an officer suddenly said. "There used to be a small river here, but it dried up and became a salt flat. This salt flat is very solid, and C-130s can land on it!"

Not bad!

Qin Liang gave the officer a satisfied look: "Then we can deduce the general military operation of the Americans. They will take off helicopters and C-130s and land here, which we'll call Desert One. Here, the fuel carried on the C-130s will be used to refuel the CH-53s. At the same time, the operatives will board the CH-53s and travel to a location near the capital, which we'll call Desert Two. Then, they will sneak in by car. This should be the safest plan."

Nine times out of ten, this will be the final solution, after all, this is the plan for the failed Operation Eagle Claw.

The Americans lost too many planes due to mechanical failures after landing at the first assembly point and had to return. They didn't even manage to salvage the abandoned planes or recover the bodies of the soldiers. The site was eventually turned into an anti-American memorial park.

Now that we've come this far, let's make the Americans suffer even greater losses and make Lang Tuo's bones even harder.

“Hmm, in that case, this plan might actually be feasible.” The bearded leader nodded. “We will make targeted arrangements, but… it’s still unknown when the Americans will actually arrive.”

You can steal for a thousand days, but you can't guard against thieves for a thousand days. You can't just wait for them to come every day, can you?

"That's easy too, we can stimulate them."

The Pentagon, America.

"Those damn bastards!" Brown gritted his teeth. "They actually did something so shameless!"

"Yes, thankfully, they promised to release the elderly, women, and children. However... once these people return, countless people in our country will be after the remaining people. They won't release them easily, so we must be prepared for an armed rescue!"

"Our Delta Force is best at this kind of urban warfare. We can send our Delta Force infiltrate and rescue the hostages!"

"It's not enough for just your Delta Force; our Ranger units must also participate!"

The defeat in the Vietnam War dealt a heavy blow to the U.S. military, and morale and credibility plummeted. Now, they need a glorious victory to prove their strength!
"How do you plan to get there? On foot or by car?" the Air Force officer asked. "You'll have to take one of our C-130 transport planes, right?"

"It's not just your helicopters; our navy's aircraft carriers can also launch Super Stallion helicopters!"

Not only the Army, but also the Air Force and Navy want to get involved!

The Marines also wanted to join, but... considering their status as fourth-class citizens, they decided against it; these people would definitely disagree.

"Without using naval helicopters, there is a dry riverbed 104 kilometers southeast of Tehran where we can land. We even have a plan to attach booster rockets to C-130s. If we have enough time, we can land at a stadium near the target!"

"An operation cannot proceed without the participation of our navy!"

Over the years, Langtuo and they have had a good relationship. They believe they know Langtuo inside and out. Now, they can easily go to Langtuo's capital to recruit a group of people. It's practically a free favor!

The Navy must participate!

Soon, the meeting room erupted into a commotion.

"Alright, stop arguing. This time, the army, navy, and air force all need to participate!" Brown said. "General James Vought will be the commander-in-chief of this operation!"

The major general from the army was immediately delighted: "Yes, sir! Mission accomplished!"

"Colonel Charlie Beckvis is in charge of ground operations!"

"Yes!"

Two army soldiers!

Meeting the expectant gaze of the Air Force general, Brown continued, "Colonel James Kyle is in charge of commanding the aircraft group."

"What about our navy?"

"The Navy will provide the Super Stallion helicopters! These helicopters will be drawn from the Marine Corps!"

The navy is very dissatisfied; all they're providing is an aircraft carrier?

The Marine Corps general was delighted that we could also participate in this operation!
"Alright, that's the mission arrangement. You need to come up with a detailed battle plan as soon as possible, as we may have to act at any time!"

"Yes!"

Brown stood up and left the meeting room, leaving the others arguing. When will the different branches of the military be able to cooperate with each other?
"Mr. Brown, the first batch of hostages has returned. Would you like to go and see them?"

"You're back? Forget it, if I went there, I'd only be seen as an example of incompetence."

This scene is sure to be quite lively. I wonder how many reporters will be there. When they ask the military why they haven't taken action, what will they say? "We're about to take action?" That would be telling Lang Tuo, wouldn't it? If they don't say anything, they'd be seen as incompetent.

That damned monkey war made the army infamous!
New York, airport.

Countless reporters and family members crowded the exit, anxiously waiting. The moment they saw the first person appear, a roar erupted…

The security guards fought desperately to stop them, and finally managed to build a human wall.

"Did you experience any mistreatment in Langtuo?"

"Excuse me, what's the situation on Langtuo's side?"

"What are your plans for the future?"

The reporter bombarded them with questions, but none of the women who had just returned were willing to answer. Under their protection, they walked straight outside and got into their car.

"He'll probably be questioned by the CIA. He'll be back after that." Yang Tian took a deep breath and looked at his wife.

Among the crowd, his and Yang Duo'er's figures were not noticeable at all.

Just then, as if sensing something, Annie turned her head to look in the direction where the two were, and then smiled.

It's okay! I'm fine!
Two hours later, at the entrance of the World Trade Center.

"Mommy!" Yang Duo'er threw herself into Annie's arms: "You mustn't travel to different countries anymore, Dan and I are so worried about you!"

Annie took a deep breath: "Yes, it feels like a dream, but... I wasn't abused inside, it was alright. Duoduo, I'm so sorry for delaying your wedding. Where's Qin Liang?"

"Brother Liangzi, he..."

"Come on, let's get in the car."

This is the CIA's branch office in New York, so it's best to keep quiet here.

"Ah."

In the car.

"Duoduo, Mom is sorry for not being able to attend your wedding."

"It's okay, Mom. As long as our family is safe and sound, that's more important than anything else."

"Where's Liangzi?"

"He must be in the East. He asked me to give you his regards."

"Sigh, your wedding, and this honeymoon..."

"Not in a hurry."

“From now on, I don’t want to travel around anymore,” Anne said. “I’ll be in charge of ETS in the East from now on! I’ve thought about it, and the East is still the safest place; there’s turmoil everywhere here…”

"Great, Mom, let's set up this test center at Northwestern Polytechnical University!"

After Yang Duo'er finished speaking, she glanced at Yang Tian and said, "If you're not going to the East, then you can stay in America and live alone from now on."

Yang Tian smiled but didn't say anything more.

　PS: Hercules on drugs and the map from that time.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)