The Almighty Ring

“Simple, I think… right now… Do you have about two or three nuclear power source in hand?” said Jiang Fei.

“Yeah, we do. But powering up three fighters is not something that simple!” said Han Tianyu.

“Stay with me. I’m not asking you to actually have enough power to engage in a real fight. I only wanted you to make a presentation, not a demonstration.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Han Tianyu frowned.

“Heh. Presentation, not actual fights. I want you to present the power that we currently have! Make it big! Make it bold!” said Jiang Fei with a smirk.

“I don’t get it…”

“Make a public statement to the Americans. Say that China has developed a new breed of Fighter Jets that are 100 times faster than those that the Americans have made. Tell them to step down the stage. If they don’t, propose a one-on-one fight!” said Jiang Fei.

“I get it! I understand!” cried Han Tianyu after he had given it some thought. Han Tianyu was not a stupid old man. He was a cunning businessman and he understood what Jiang Fei was planning to do.

The current main problem with China’s Military force was the lack of power source and the technology to develop a better power source. Even so, merely getting a few fighter jets to fly around was achievable.

Jiang Fei plan was to have a one-on-one fight with the Americans. Once they saw how powerful China had become in developing better jets than they could, the Americans would surely halt their attempt to attack and focus on gathering intel on the newly developed jets.

With careful bait placement, the Americans would obtain falsified information. They would know that China had very little fighters in hand as well as the problem of the power source. They would then be ready to strike China. By then, Jiang Fei might have already produced the weapons that China had requested of him to strike them back!

“It’s risky, but I like it!” said Han Tianyu as he gave Jiang Fei a thumb’s up.

“But of course!” said Jiang Fei as he snickered. Jiang Fei might not be good in planning a war but boasting and scaring others was his forte!

“It’s on. I will make it happen!” said Han Tianyu. He picked up a piece of sandwich on the table and quickly left the room without even saying goodbye.

The plan was huge and required the approval of the higher-ups in the government. Fortunately, given that the situation was at a tipping point, the plan was approved without discussion.

The plan got to work as quickly as Han Tianyu got back to the military base. The first step of the plan was to find an elite pilot that could fly the alien machine. The best pilot amongst the top pilots in China was selected. The selection process would take some time but even if they could find a pilot at that very second, there was still the problem of a lack of power source.

Since the plan was at the highest on the priority list, another branch of the military force had halted the production of Androids to spare a few nuclear-powered batteries to make a total of five nuclear-powered battery packs. Three of these battery packs would be used for actual weapon’s presentation while two of them would be used for training.

When everything was ready for the pilot to fly it, Han Tianyu and the rest of the officers had found out that the alien machines were not as powerful as Jiang Fei had described.

The speed of the fighter jets was only, at most, two times faster than the current fastest fighter jets. The second problem was the fighter’s weapon. Although it did have a powerful particle beam cannon that could instantly destroy any target locked, the fighter jet had only very limited rounds. Two shots of them would immediately deplete half of the battery!

“This is incredibly inefficient!” said the head engineer that was in charge of performing checks and maintenance on the fighter.

“What are you saying?” asked Han Tianyu. “Are they really not as good as how they look like?”

“It’s not that. The fighter is power. There’s no doubt about that. The problem lies on our side. We do not have any kind of power source that could truly bring out the prowess of these alien machines! From the looks of it, we are only able to bring out less than 10% of the machine’s true potential!” said the head engineer.

The best analogy was having a powerful race car with 2000 horsepower but ran on lower quality lead-laced petroleum instead of the RON100 premium petroleum that it deserved. To put things in perspective, the driver of the race car was a beginner driver instead of a seasoned racer! That was how far China was lagging behind in terms of powering the alien machine.

The alien machine was supposed to be powered using Energy Crystals. Only with sufficient power source could the fighter reach its top speed. Not only that, one Energy Crystal would provide the jet enough fuel to circle the entire Earth for ten circles! With an Energy Crystal, the firepower of the jet would be devastating. Interceptors were ships that were once used to escort ships, intercept high-speed missiles, and attack spaceships in outer space. One could only imagine just how powerful was the alien tech.

With no choice in hand, the head engineer was forced to reserve-retrofit in a nuclear battery pack into the fighter jet. In doing so, he had basically attached ankles weights to the alien machine. Not only did the fighters have less than half of their top speed, but their fight duration was also reduced to less than 4,000 kilometers. In a battle, pilots of these fighters would have to make a turn in less than 1,500 kilometers for refueling. The worse one to be nerfed was the fighter’s weaponry. In a real battle, the pilot had only one shot. If he had fired twice, he would not have enough power to make the return trip.

“1,500-kilometer flight distance? Twice the top speed of the current fastest fighter in the world? That’s all I need,” said Han Tianyu. Even though it was disappointing but he had a plan ready for it.

As Jiang Fei said, Han Tianyu only needed to make a presentation. In the worst-case scenario, he would only need to shoot down the opponent once and leave. He had only needed to make a statement to the Americans that China had the better fighter. There was no need to go for war anytime soon. It was a presentation to scare the Americans away from their waters. If it all went well, the Americans would retreat to focus on gathering intel on China’s new tech, which would give China and Jiang Fei more than enough time to prepare a counter strike. One could only pray that the Americans would call off the attack and go back to their lands instead of persisting on attacking.

Once the fighters were ready, Han Tianyu used his influence in the media to make a taunting statement to the American. Han Tianyu had openly challenged the Americans for a standard one-on-one dogfight.

Americans had always thought themselves as the “big brother” in the world. When someone dared to challenge them, they would surely be bringing in the rain with them. Excluding the new alien machines that Jiang Fei had given them, China was known to be one generation slower than the best countries in the world. It was the perfect taunt since the Americans were still oblivious to the alien fighter jets that were in China’s hands!

As soon as Han Tianyu made the declaration, the Americans responded twenty minutes later. Two sides met each other in China and discussed about the rules and conditions of the battle.

In the first fight, both sides would send out one fighter jet and fight each other until either side conceded or got their fighter destroyed. No assistance could be given to the pilots.

In the second fight, assistance from their base was allowed but direct interference to pilots was not allowed.

In the third and final fight, in case no side had won twice in a row, assistance from their base was allowed and interference using radar jamming and electronic interference were allowed. A direct assault on the enemy craft using any form of physical weapons was not allowed.

Both sides agreed that this would only be a military exercise. Win or lose, even in a scenario where the pilot did not survive, both countries must agree to not seek retribution that would lead to war.

Even though the contract was made publically, deep down, everyone knew that a war between China and American was unavoidable.

The three-round match was basically an open field where both countries were able to observe each other’s technology in an aerial combat. From America’s point of view, they did not need to observe China for new technology, all they wanted to do was to give China a chance to fight on the same stage as them. In truth, they wanted to humiliate China!

China, on the other hand, was merely trying to buy time. Having a dogfight was nothing more than a plan to delay their attacks!