Rasputin of the East

＜ Episode 297 >

United States of America, Pentagon, Air Force Staff.

The nuclear jurisdiction of the United States is divided into two departments.

The Air Force, which oversees land-launched nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons launched from ground-launched aircraft, and the Navy, which has all of the nuclear warheads used in the water, on surface ships, and on aircraft aircraft.

Excluding tactical nuclear warheads among the nuclear weapons operated by the U.S. Air Force, only supersonic cruise missiles and free-fall bombs remain. The Navy also uses free-fall bombs and subsonic cruise missiles, but they also operate carrier-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles that have been modified from space launch vehicles, which was clearly America’s trump card.

However, the problem is that the gap with Russia’s nuclear power was too obvious.

Air Force Chief of Staff Curtis LeMay, who was holding a report on the engine test schedule for a nuclear-powered ramjet hypersonic cruise missile under development, crumpled up his expression.

“It’s frustrating.”

“Shall I open the window?”

“no.”

It wasn’t like it was boring.

Parliamentary restrictions that imprison the military, desperate disarmament.

It didn’t help that Marshall was president.

Currently, Congressional pressure for disarmament is unprecedented, and Marshall has produced nuclear warheads to minimize the decline in defense capabilities.

He understands that it is best for him.

‘If there is a future war, it will be through nuclear war. Therefore, the US military must specialize in nuclear warfare.’

Unlike the U.S. Army, which was reduced to less than 200,000, and the Navy and Air Force, which were maintained at least in shape, the Army did not have enough corpse fragments left.

‘The future war will be waged with missiles and nuclear weapons!’

Only two fighters sank a cruiser. In addition, the Russian Navy is equipped with anti-ship missiles on its ships.

Now, the time has come when a single high-speed boat can sink tens of thousands of ton-class battleships, and disarmamentists are eager to talk about it.

“What do you keep your battleships for? Even if you build a battleship weighing tens of thousands of tons, a single missile from a very long range that the battleship’s guns cannot reach would turn into a pile of corpses and scrap metal? With that cost and time…”

Battleship, death penalty.

“The cruiser must be maintained. To maintain U.S. foreign territories…”

“I agree that we need ships with long-range navigation capabilities, but I wonder if we need more heavy cruiser armor and large-caliber guns.”

Cruiser, death penalty.

“Why don’t we unify our destroyers and light cruisers into one class, and get rid of all the lower classes of frigates? After all, we don’t need a small ship for the coast, do we? Let’s increase the size of destroyers and maintain their anti-submarine capabilities, but replace all guns with missiles, just like the Russian Navy did for the long-distance navigation capabilities of light cruisers.”

“The key to future air and naval power will be how quickly and how many missiles can be launched at the right time.”

The concept of a missile carrier, the first to shoot both aircraft and ships wins.

“In the long run, there will be no need for bombers. The bomber’s mission is currently limited to nuclear delivery, but can the bomber that ran with nuclear weapons against Russia come back to life? Let’s say you miraculously came back to life. But can those bombers afford to rearm? What’s the difference strategically from being wasted if you can’t put it back on the front line?”

“The role of attack aircraft can be better served by missiles.”

“It is clear that air launches using bombers can significantly increase the range of intercontinental cruise missiles. But that will become meaningless if the nuclear-powered supersonic intercontinental cruise missile that is now under development is deployed or if enough ICBMs are mass-produced.”

“If we don’t launch bombers, fighters will only protect our airspace. Couldn’t this be covered by nuclear anti-aircraft missiles? Do I really need to launch a fighter jet?”

“If reconnaissance satellites develop, there will be no need for reconnaissance aircraft. Above all, who can claim that with current technology, reconnaissance aircraft will be able to break through Russian air defenses in the near future?”

“If you don’t need fighters or bombers, why do you need an aircraft carrier? Anti-submarine patrol aircraft carrier? Ballistic missile launchers?”

“A transport? Shouldn’t it be entrusted to the increasing number of private airlines these days?”

It was actually the voice he had heard from Congress.

Replace fighters with long-range anti-aircraft missiles, bombers and attackers with missiles, and reconnaissance aircraft are better with reconnaissance satellites. Let’s take a commercial aircraft and use it as a transport plane.

It was a miracle that there was no sound of simply integrating the air force into the road army.

The same is true of the navy, as the battleships, cruisers, and lower-class ships are blown away and only the submarines remain, the aircraft carrier is no longer useful except as an anti-submarine patrol hub and a missile carrier mission, so it has a lot of anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles, cruise missiles, ICBMs, etc. Replace it with the missile cruiser you carry. If the anti-submarine patrol mission is transferred to a recently developed helicopter, there is no need for a flight deck.

There was a military servant who could not contain his sympathy even from the position of the Navy and Air Force, who had to listen to the parliament holding the money chain, so it was called the Army.

“If the tank is a nuclear weapon, isn’t it the end?”

“If not nuclear, we’ve all seen tanks end up with one shot of anti-tank guns carried by Russian infantry on their shoulders.”

“Give the infantry a good weapon and they can block a tank. We dismantle the tank corps and put the budget on the infantry.”

“Anyway, if you get hit by an anti-tank missile, it’s the same thing, but isn’t half-track enough?”

If Congress had done what it was supposed to, the US Army would lose all its tanks and armored vehicles, and would have to fight back with infantry, half-tracks, tow guns and horses.

As a result, the wave of disarmament, no matter who or what, swept through the 3rd Army.

And all that reduced budget was sucked into nuclear and missile technology.

“They told me to change the name of the Air Force to the Missile Force.”

In fact, it was not wrong to say that the Air Force has all control over ICBMs, nuclear weapons, cruise missiles, and other ballistic missiles.

Then, a knock was heard.

“General.”

“Something?”

“The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has arrived.”

“What?”

Just then, the door opened and a man entered.

“Excuse me for a moment, General LeMay.”

As JCS Chairman Eisenhower entered, Curtis LeMay stood up.

“For some reason…”

“I stopped by on the way.”

Eisenhower, who had his men serve coffee, sighed.

“The whole army is going crazy over this disarmament, and the Navy has already resigned and started researching to unify all surface ships into one type. The hull is semi-submersible, with most of the hull below the surface, and only the radar, helicopter flight deck, and various missile launchers are brought out of the water.

“That didn’t mean that the infantry budget would be huge, though, a nuclear warhead-launched recoilless rifle that left an impression on me.”

“You mean this, damn it. Marshall, he wasn’t a politician, but he’s been dragged into politics, and he sees a lot of things he doesn’t see.”

“I don’t know how many times I cursed the yangban.”

“You know, disarmament wasn’t his intention, the isolationists, the man was too politically savvy to stop it.”

A person who was not a politician, a bureaucrat and a soldier, put such a human being in a position of supremacy, so being swayed by the will of the party was unavoidable.

“When they asked to replace the M14 with an AKM, they also said they don’t have a budget. They said they would spend about 10 years on the budget and change the paratroopers first, but I’m glad I can grant one of your requests with certainty.”

“The Russians didn’t even say crazy about replacing fighter jets with anti-aircraft missiles. If the bombers are still in operation, and even the attack planes are retired, what will be the close air support?”

“I mean don’t do it.”

“……”

“The fighter plane is strong because it can seize air supremacy at sea and in enemy territory, but that’s not to be done, not to invade other countries, not to create a job for close air support, and not to go out of our territory in the new continent. If you don’t have the ability to do that, you won’t be the first to attack, so the same logic applies to decommissioning tanks.”

The operation of the tank is to hit the enemy defense line with the same impact force as the old heavy cavalry, and there is no way that the superiors are unaware of it.

So, not operating a tank means not to invade other countries.

As for self-propelled guns, the only thing that is more useful than towed guns militarily in this era is that they dissipate heat quickly.

However, in a defensive battle, you can unilaterally kill an enemy from a well-established fortification, so why spend a lot of money on a self-propelled artillery?

“The only thing the lawmakers are interested in is whether or not mutually assured destruction is possible. If anything happens, it will be after they all die, so it’s not worth investing in conventional electricity even more.”

“Is it after all?”

“It is, after all.”

Bradley smiled bitterly.

***

Balcony of a suite in a luxury hotel in St. Petersburg.

Even VIPs can’t easily get into a seat, but their status as a member of the Imperial Family of the Russian Empire gave them the key to the suite quite easily.

– Damn it!

For a moment, the back of the head tingled.

“Why are you trembling like that? Are you enjoying the last pleasures of being single?”

“Ahhh…”

Nikita grabbed the back of the head and realized that it was a familiar voice.

“Anna? When did you come?”

“today?”

“How did you get here?”

“Vent.”

“….. What?”

“It came in through the vent.”

Seeing her half-sister pointing proudly at the ceiling, Nikita felt dizzy.

“It’s so… I don’t think you, who broke through the Kremlin security at least once, can’t do it, tug, but I wonder why you did it.”

“I want to slash the back of the head. Okay, why didn’t you call me?”

“I’m upset.”

“The prospective wife is still young, and they aren’t getting married right away, they’re just discussing their engagement.

“What?”

Anna wiggled her pinky finger playfully.

“this.”

“ha. Where did you learn that?”

“Do you know?”

“If your father finds out, you will be turned over.”

“You already told Lev when we got married, didn’t we? If you don’t have a specific partner you want to marry, you will follow the person that your father has set for you, but if you don’t like it, what will your father say to you that if you tell him he will respect his will as much as possible?”

“A horse is a clear water.”

“Anyway, tell this sister, what’s up?”

“…just, a little…”

“Is that what you talked about in front of your father last time? My father said that I don’t have to say anything more if I’m in trouble, and because it was sorted out later, my father pushed for it too.”

“… Huh, it’s the other way around with your boyfriend.”

“Who is your boyfriend!”

“It’s just, we met often, and they said a few days ago that they liked me.”

“……”

“After the news of my engagement was published in the newspaper, I thought it would be okay, so I talked to him… I just thought it was because he thought it wasn’t even a relationship…”

“I know that you have the worst feeling of a boyfriend, but you’re smart.”

“Actually, I couldn’t find it because I was busy, so should I have asked that outright? ‘Hey, I thought you liked me, but these days, I just thought I’d just folded my mind. I’m asking because I don’t know, do you like me?’ like this?”

“Jeongjeong, the worst of the worst. As a message to a woman. so? Did you even get hit by a pillow?”

“I just… just cried, baby.”

“baby?”

“No, they’re all big virgins, so.”

Seeing her sister’s eyes narrow, Nikita made an excuse in a hurry, but Anna fiddled with my chin.

“Should I report this to my father?”

“No, no… I never thought of him that way. It’s just pitiful…”

“poor?”

“So… that… was born to be used… that…”

“You know who it is, Code Morian, right?”

“……”

it’s a ghost

Anna’s eyes lit up, finding information in a word she had accidentally uttered.

“Is this fun?”

“No, please.”

Things that would have worked well if Anna intervened turn into a mess, and if you get caught in her mischief, you’re literally ‘f*cked’. He is a master at twisting everything around his own interests.

There were only one or two brothers who got f*cked by her mischievous pranks, which would not be lacking even if she became the next head of Ohrana.

However, her eyes had already changed to that of a cat in search of a good toy.