As news of the US military's latest stealth fighter jets being sold to a neighboring country by Afghanistan at scrap prices spread rapidly through live broadcasts, the entire world erupted in an instant.
"What the hell, when did Afghanistan get so powerful? Didn't they only have two or three rusty guns before?"
"Fake! It must be fake. The US military's latest stealth fighter jets are undetectable even by polar bear aviation radar. How could Afghanistan possibly shoot them down."
"This is all a staged act by China and Afghanistan. Don't be fooled by them!"
"But the United States just released intelligence earlier saying they were going to bomb Afghanistan. If this is all fake, then why wasn't Afghanistan bombed!"
"This... this must be the US military being merciful, not wanting bloodshed and deciding to give Afghanistan another chance!"
"US military being merciful! Are you out of your mind? In all these years, millions, if not tens of millions, have died by the hands of the US military. If they were merciful, then I'd be God incarnate!"
While the internet was hotly debating the authenticity of the matter, a furious roar erupted from the office of the new CIA Director Anderson Collyford within the White House.
"This is unscientific! According to tests, the new stealth bomber can absorb and reflect ninety-nine percent of radar signals. Even with China's help, Afghanistan's antique radar, which isn't even good enough to be a television signal tower, shouldn't be able to lock onto our stealth bombers. There must be something wrong here!"
Smith Lunen had personally experienced many similar incidents and was obviously much calmer than Anderson Collyford.
After Collyford finished his outburst, Smith Lunen shrugged and said unhurriedly, "Mr. Anderson, the most important thing now is not to investigate why our stealth bombers were shot down by Afghanistan, but how to explain to others why our planes were so vulnerable."
"The United States' economic hegemony, or political hegemony, is all built upon military hegemony. If others realize we've become weaker, including our current allies, they will immediately turn into vicious hounds and tear us apart."
"Yes, yes, we should give the world an explanation first. Anderson Collyford suddenly realized, 'Smith, what do you think if I release a statement like those on the internet, saying we discovered that Afghanistan was holding innocent civilians hostage in a military base, and we temporarily canceled the operation to avoid harming the innocent?'"
Smith Lunen shook his head. "That doesn't sound good. That excuse might fool ordinary people, but many of our allies saw our planes taking off. Now that the planes haven't returned, and Afghanistan has done that live broadcast, there's no explanation other than our planes being shot down!"
"But we absolutely cannot admit that Afghanistan has the capability to shoot down our latest stealth fighter jets! You must know that in modern warfare, it's all about air superiority. If we lose air superiority, we are doomed to lose."
A glint flashed in Smith Lunen's eyes. "We can admit that Afghanistan shot down our fighter jets, but we absolutely cannot admit that they shot down our latest stealth fighter jets. We should say that what they shot down were our previous generation stealth bombers that are already being retired."
"And that's not enough. To fully divert everyone's attention and prevent them from doubting the combat capabilities of the US military, we need a few scapegoats."
"US Army Commander William Stern, colluded with the previous US President Joseph Biden, sold US fighter jet secret intelligence, and at the same time, used inferior products and swapped parts for US stealth bombers, causing the performance of US bombers to decline."
Hearing this, Anderson Collyford's eyes lit up. "With the two of them taking the blame, this defeat can easily be glossed over."
"Mr. Anderson," Smith Lunen interrupted his ecstasy, "these are just stopgap measures. To completely eliminate doubts from other countries about the US military's combat effectiveness, we need a resounding victory."
Anderson Collyford nodded vigorously. "I understand what you mean. Although I don't know how China destroyed all of the US military's latest stealth fighter jets, it's clear that this kind of equipment must be very expensive to produce and very troublesome to manufacture."
"Otherwise, they would have brought them out during the last joint exercise, instead of using a few large sky rockets to put up a show through sheer numbers."
"For safety's sake, I will personally lead the command for this operation and also bring back that useless William Stern. The commander of the US military, fainting from spitting blood due to a single battlefield defeat, is truly a disgrace to soldiers!"
In the forward operating base's war room in Afghanistan, commanders from twelve countries, including the UK, Germany, and Japan, were arguing heatedly about what had just happened.
British Commander-in-Chief Burwell Grain slammed the table. "This operation has serious problems! The US military boasted about reducing Afghanistan to ruins, but in the end, over a hundred of their latest stealth bombers were wiped out, not to mention several were captured and sold to China by Afghanistan at scrap prices!"
"I never thought the US Air Force had declined to this extent," a shrewd gleam appeared in the eyes of Japanese Commander Yasuda Saburo. "My great Yamato Empire can provide air support. However, since we've contributed more, shouldn't we get a larger share of the spoils?"
Burwell Grain saw through Yasuda Saburo's subtle intentions but did not expose him. Instead, he changed the subject. "Afghanistan's military strength is even greater than we imagined. I need to re-evaluate the cost of this war. With the loss of air superiority, our losses in fighting Afghanistan may exceed the gains..."
Before Burwell Grain could finish speaking, the roar of a large number of fighter jets echoed from above. He was startled, mistaking it for Afghan warplanes coming for retaliation. As he rushed out in a hurry to find cover, he bumped into the CIA Director Anderson Collyford, who was striding towards him in uniform.
Anderson Colly outstretched his hand to stop Burwell Grain, looking at him with a half-smile. "Mr. Burwell, where are you in such a hurry to go?"
"A good dog doesn't block the way," Burwell Grain forcefully pushed away Anderson Collyford's arm. "The Afghan Air Force has started attacking. I don't want to die like this. I'm going to find an anti-aircraft shelter!"
The smile on Anderson Collyford's lips deepened, and he took a half-step back to clear the passage. "Mr. Burwell, please take a closer look. Are those planes in the sky Afghan planes, or our great American fighter jets."
Burwell Grain stepped out of the conference room and looked at the dense swarm of fighter jets circling overhead, the large stars and stripes on their wings, and his eyes widened involuntarily.