"If today I'm destined to perish in the diterranean, do you think a rabid 'lost one' who feels abandoned by his allies, just before sinking into the sea, wouldn't be quite pleased to send a 'farewell gift' to so people 'particularly interested' in you—for example, your arch-enemy, the 'Black Sea Shark' Nikola, or the Greek Anti-Money Laundering Investigation Bureau that's always wanted to uproot you—containing details of all your secret accounts, smuggling routes, and the addresses of your 'cozy little family' in Crete Island and Athens?"
Once again, a blatant, precise, frightening threat!
On the other end of the phone, Toby's rough beast-like panting and his suppressed, despair-laden curses ca through: "...Πουτάνα! (Greek: son of a bitch)...Σκατά! (shit)...Song Heping! You won't die a good death!..."
Seconds later, the cursing turned into a resigned, endlessly venomous roar: "...Thirty million! Cash! No fucking wire transfer! Not a cent can go through the bank! Prepay five million, before dawn tomorrow, it must be placed behind the third freezer in the basent of the 'Blue Marlin' bar at the old port of Limassol, Cyprus! The rest paid in full before loading the ship! All costs for bribes, you cover! Double! I'll send you the ship's na and estimated arrival ti via encrypted email later..."
"Damn it! You've really dragged into hell this ti! 48 hours... I'll fucking go all out! If it fails, or the plan leaks, we'll all die together!"
"No ifs, Toby."
Song Heping interrupted him, his tone resolute, "48 hours, the ship must be in place. The money and 'gift' will be delivered on ti. Keep the channel open, wait for my notification of the loading port and specific ti."
As he finished speaking, not waiting for Toby to roar again, he directly hung up the phone.
Ten minutes later.
In one of the eting rooms of the command center, there was complete silence.
Everyone was shocked by Song Heping's insanely extre plan and the blood-soaked, money-tainted conversation he had with the arms dealer.
Breaking down the Sam-6, smuggling it to Egypt, then loading it onto a ship and heading out to the depths of the diterranean to ambush the Daishe Bird Country's Air Force refueling tanker fleet?
This sounded like a fantasy!
Because no one had ever done it that way.
Transporting land-based air defense missile launch vehicles and systems onto a cargo ship, then launching from the vessel?!
This is madness!?
The Sam-6 is a typical land-based mobile air defense system, using a tracked chassis.
Its combat unit includes an independent radar vehicle (1S91 guidance radar) and launcher, requiring coordinated deploynt on ground positions.
There had been no prior reports of this type of system being launched from a ship.
And there was also the issue of weight and volu: a single launcher weighs approximately 19.5 tons, equipped with three ready-to-fire missiles, and additionally requires a radar vehicle.
This modular structure is difficult to integrate into the deck space of a vessel and lacks the base design necessary for stable sea launches.
Moreover, the Sam-6 uses semi-active radar guidance throughout, requiring the 1S91 radar to continuously illuminate the target.
Ship movent would cause the guidance radar to be unable to stably track targets, and the system lacks the ability to counter mariti clutter interference.
"Old Sergeant... this..."
Jiang Feng looked at Song Heping, his gaze was extrely complex, filled with shock and worry, but deep inside, it was also ignited by a hint of excitent at this all-or-nothing madness.
"Deploying the Sam-6 at sea... can this technically be done? The ship is swaying! How can the radar stabilize its scan? How do the missiles launch? How to ensure accuracy? This isn't hitting a stationary target like on land!"
"Man can make it happen! If there are no conditions, we create them!"
Song Heping's eyes burned with an almost obsessive fla.
"The ship is just a launch platform! We don't need it to be as stable as on land! And it's not far offshore, only forty nautical miles from Benghazi Port, where the sea is relatively calm, we just need to seize those few minutes when the tanker docks with the F-15!"
"In relatively fixed airspace and altitude! Launch a barrage! If accuracy isn't enough, we'll make up for it with numbers! Two systems, fire all missiles we can in one go! Take out the tanker, and those F-15s will be like birds with clipped wings, either returning or crashing into the sea when they run out of fuel!"
He turned to the air defense unit commander and several core defense technical experts, known as "Musicians," and spoke rapidly: "Now you need to solve several deadly problems: First, how to quickly hoist, roughly secure, and power check the key components of the Sam-6 system on a bumpy cargo ship deck in a very short ti? Abandon complex horizontal calibration, just ensure it can roughly point to the refueling airspace direction! Second, how to ensure 'Cube' radar captures target signals during a brief startup in the absence of a stable platform?"
"Even if the scan range is narrow and the accuracy poor! Third, how to ensure the missile's initial attitude stability upon release? Use sandbags? Weld temporary steel base fras? Reinforce with steel cables? Even if it sacrifices range and accuracy, as long as the missiles can be launched, can fly towards that sky!"
The technical officers exchanged looks, their foreheads instantly covered in cold sweat.
This was nearly an impossible mission! But looking at the unquestionable determination in Song Heping's eyes and the only chance for survival laid out before them, the instinct to survive outweighed their fear.
"Boss..."
An elderly engineer with greying hair, who had once served in the air defense forces of the Soviet Union, licked his chapped lips and hesitated to speak.
"Perhaps... we could try... selecting the flattest, most solid area of the main deck of the cargo ship, ideally near midship. Use a large number of heavy-duty steel fras welded to the deck as the launch rack base, and stack hundreds of sandbags around the steel fra and under the missile tubes for weight balance, to maximize stability."
"The radar vehicle would be similarly handled. We won't aim to completely eliminate swaying, just suppress it to a level within which the missile gyroscope can barely correct during launch... As for the radar... it can only conduct a very rough, brief sector scan in the estimated target airspace, relying on operator experience and manual adjustnts to capture signals... this requires a great deal of luck..."
"Good! We'll go with this approach!"
Song Heping imdiately made the decision, without the slightest hesitation, "Vasily, you're responsible for drafting the detailed shipboard deploynt, securing, and launch procedures! Be quick! Collins! Klein!"
"Present!"
The two stepped forward imdiately, their expressions grave.
"You two, personally lead this 'sea transport' operation!"
Song Heping's eyes bore down on them heavily, as he walked over and patted each of their shoulders, then solemnly said:
"Select the most reliable, elite engineers, technicians, and guards! Imdiately begin the most extensive adaptive disassembly of the two Sam-6 systems! Missile launch tubes, radar antenna arrays, command cabins... all key components must receive extra shockproof, moisture-proof, and anti-corrosion packaging! Prepare heavy military trucks and perfect disguise plans! We're turning them into 'mining machinery'!"
"Yes! We guarantee completion of the task!"
Collins and Klein responded in unison, their voices carrying a do-or-die determination.
"Transport route..."
Song Heping's finger traced across the sand table, like a general deploying the final battle, "Depart from the base, traverse the most desolate, uninhabited Gobi and dry riverbeds of the northwest, completely avoiding all known roads and towns! Through the true wilderness! Cross into Egypt! I'll have Nura use the last and most secretive connections she has in the Bedouin Tribe of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula to open a life path for you!"
"Once in Egypt, proceed at full speed to Alexandria Port! Toby's ship will be waiting there for you! The loading must be as swift as lightning! Under the cover of the deepest night, use the port's heaviest, most reliable cranes! For every step, pave the way with money, but also prepare for the worst—a forceful conflict! If exposed, break out at any cost!"
"Understood!"
Collins' voice was resolute.
"With n and goods both! If goods are destroyed, we'll perish!"
"Rember!"
Song Heping's voice was as cold as ice, echoing in the command center, "This is the key to survival for our over five thousand people, and to kill our way back to Libya for revenge! Only success is allowed! Failure is not! Move out!"
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