One wave after another. On April 14, 1988, the 14th U.S. convoy fleet had just sailed out of the Strait of Hormuz. The guided frigate "Roberts" in front of the formation hit a mine, and a 27-meter-diameter hole was blown out of the middle of the hull.
meter big hole and lost power.
The "Roberts" incident angered top U.S. officials. After discussions with Vice President Bush, Secretary of State Shultz, Secretary of Defense Carlucci and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Crowe, President Reagan decided to attack Iran's ship attack base. The operation was codenamed
"Praying Mantis".
In the early morning of April 18, the U.S. Middle East Task Force dispatched six ships from its base in Bahrain. The first surface battle group composed of the cruiser "Wainwright", the "Simpson" and the "Bagley" frigates attacked Iran.
"Siri" oil drilling platform; the second surface battle group composed of the dock landing ship "Trenton", the "McCormick" and the "Merill" destroyers attacked the "Sassanid" drilling platform.
The daily output of these two platforms accounts for 75% of Iran's daily crude oil production, and they are responsible for monitoring waterways, guiding and commanding Iranian ships to lay mines, and harassing or attacking passing ships. Therefore, the US military decided to destroy them.[
At 9:01 a.m., the Second Surface Combat Group arrived in the waters near the USS Sassan platform. The USS Merrill went online and made multiple calls to the platform in Persian and English, asking the Iranians on the platform to evacuate. The Iranian side
Refuse to respond.
Sixteen minutes later, the destroyers "McCormick" and "Merrell" opened fire with their 127mm main guns, and the Iranian platform fired back with its 23mm anti-aircraft guns. Soon they were out of power and had to request a ceasefire via wire. The US military allowed them to board under surveillance.
The boat leaves.
Afterwards, the US Marines boarded the platform to collect evidence and detonated the platform with explosives. At 9:20, the first surface combat group successfully drove away the Iranians on the platform through wires, and at 9:32 they began to destroy it with main guns.
"Xili" platform.
Iran's retaliation came very slowly. At 12:15, an American Sea Cobra helicopter spotted three patrol boats attempting a sneak attack over the waters about 35 nautical miles away from the First Surface Combat Group. After the encounter, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards first launched a British-made
The "Blowpipe" portable guided missile shot down the helicopter. At 12:46, the Iranian Navy frigate "Sabalan" severely damaged the logistics support ship Willitide flying the US flag near the Mubarak offshore oil field in the western Strait of Hormuz.
Boat.
At about 13:00, the Iranian "Jolson" Female Warrior 2-level guide boat, guided by the shore-based radar, approached the "Wainwright" cruiser at a high speed of 35 knots. The "Wainwright" was on the "Jolson"
The USS Wainwright issued a warning when it was 10 nautical miles away. The Iranian guide boat maintained radio silence and took the lead in launching a US-made Harpoon anti-ship missile at the "Wainwright".
The "Wainwright" quickly launched chaff interference and maneuvered to avoid it at high speed. The harpoon was interfered with and fell into the sea. At this time, the USS "Simpson" destroyer in the same formation intercepted the "Jolson" because the distance was too close.
, it was too late to launch the harpoon and directly launched the Standard-1 air defense missile.
The "Jolson" was hit by 5 Standard-1 missiles before it sank, killing 15 Iranian sailors. At 14:26, two Iranian Dolphin helicopters used rockets to attack the Panamanian "Skan Bay" located in the Mubarak offshore oil field.
Oil drilling platform.
Four -6 carrier-based attack aircraft that scrambled from the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier "Enterprise" flew over the oil wells within a few minutes. Seeing that the situation was not good, the Dolphin helicopter fled at a very low altitude.
At this time, three Iranian naval patrol boats attempted to continue attacking the "Skan Bay" drilling platform. The -6e attack aircraft threw four stone-eye cluster bombs at the leading patrol boat, sinking it. The two patrol boats behind immediately turned around.
escape.
At 16:00, the Iranian frigate "Sahand" joined the battle. At 16:21, the "Sahand" fired a harpoon first, but it was lost due to interference. At 16:34, the US-6e two-plane formation launched
1 harpoon, 1 Paveway 2 laser-guided bomb were thrown, two were hit, and the "Sahand" was severely damaged.
At 16:43, the USS Strauss guided destroyer fired another harpoon at the "Sahand", and the "Sahand" was hit again. At 17:06, the "Sahand" was stuck
Captain Saar ordered the ship to be abandoned. The ship sank at 21:11 that night.
The Iranian Navy was unwilling to fail and ordered the "Sabalan" frigate, which relied on the island's concealment, to attack. As a result, the ship was bombed by Paveway 2 bombs dropped by the -6e fleet. The captain and other commanders were killed on the spot, and the ship was severely damaged.
The Americans won. Chang Lin, who was taking care of his wife in the hospital, said with a sigh of relief: "The Americans are cruel this time. I guess Iran will never dare to provoke again. The Iran-Iraq war is about to end."
1988 was a year of major turning point in the Iran-Iraq war. On April 24, the two sides used hundreds of missiles to attack each other's towns, setting off a "city attack" of unprecedented scale.
In the stalemate, Iraq gradually gained the upper hand. On April 17, the Iraqi army launched an offensive code-named "Ramadan" against the Iranian defenders in the Fao area. After two days of fierce fighting, on the afternoon of the 18th, all two areas occupied by Iran were recovered.
Fao region for many years.
Linsha spent more than a month in labor. After her body recovered, she and Chang Lin took turns holding the baby. They watched the war in the Persian Gulf and worried about the construction of Paradise City. When the first batch of high-rise buildings were erected
, the hot summer has arrived.
"Chang Le, grandpa is coming to pick you up!" Chang Lin knew that Hu Zhiyong was coming. Firstly, he wanted to take away the children, and secondly, he wanted to see the current situation of Paradise Island.
"This child was born in the Year of the Dragon, and he will definitely be the real Dragon Emperor in the future!" Taozi grabbed Xiao Changle and kissed the child in a funny way.
"Hahahaha, that's ridiculous. Are people born in the year of the rat a rat?" Chang Lin couldn't help but laugh, and took out a cigarette to light it.[
"Save it, be careful of choking the child." Linsha hurriedly took the cigarette from Chang Lin's mouth and threw it into the ashtray angrily.
"Report, Iran announced its acceptance of United Nations Security Council Resolution 598. On August 20, the two sides reached a ceasefire." The communications team leader ran in and reported what he heard on the news to the commander.
"The war is finally coming to an end!" Chang Lin said he understood and said to the communications team leader: "Let's have more contact with Iraq and Iran. Now is our opportunity to sell supplies."
"Yes, I will convey the Commander's words to the Minister of Foreign Affairs."
The Americans and the Kuwaiti foreign minister arrived at the same time. Chang Lin was surprised and asked Webster, who had landed on Paradise Island for the first time: "What's wrong with you?"
"Your Excellency, Commander, you promised to return Bubiyan Island to us as soon as the Iran-Iraq war is over." The Kuwaiti Foreign Minister did not wait for Chang Lin to speak, held up a check and said: "I know you were landed on Bubiyan Island."
With a lot of effort, this is enough to sell your infrastructure and all your goods!"
"Oh?" Chang Lin looked at the two diplomats in surprise, thought for a moment and said, "Okay! I understand the psychology of the Kuwaiti government, which is that they are afraid that I will not leave Bubiyan Island. Well, you can send people now
I'll go over and take over, but I have a request that we be allowed to take away some of the cattle and sheep."
Webster was surprised and asked Chang Lin in a low voice: "Are you really going to give up?"
"Hahahaha!" Chang Lin pursed his lips and smiled, and said humorously to Webster: "You must think that I will make things difficult for you and refuse to leave. You are wrong. Bubiyan Island is not a blessed place. You will understand after occupying it for a long time.
"
"The South Island you occupied is not suitable for habitation?" Kuwait's Foreign Minister was surprised. The country paid 10 billion US dollars, is it a dead land that it got back?
"The ancestors of mankind are not stupid. The fact that Bubiyan Island has not been inhabited for thousands of years shows everything!" Chang Lin refused to go on and said cheerfully: "How about visiting my Paradise Island?"
"OK!" Webster nodded, indicating that this was what he meant.
In the City of Paradise, buildings are under intense construction. Webster's eyes widened in surprise. The city of 400 square kilometers has been formed, especially the wind power generation equipment, which adds a beautiful aspect to the city.
"The climate here is also bad!" Chang Lin sighed, pointing to the newly greened trees and said: "To plant 30 million green trees in this city, we need to dig a deep hole in the ground and cover it with fertile soil.
earth."
"Amazing!" Webster already had a general understanding of the city and asked doubtfully: "How many people do you have? Isn't such a big city a waste?"
"I want this place to become an open port, attracting businessmen from the world like Hong Kong." Chang Lin smiled and talked about the future.
"What a courage!" Webster admired and said sincerely to Chang Lin: "I came here to discuss a cooperation plan with you. Your red marble and your white granite are both very famous. With our
I’ll exchange wheat and cotton with you.”
"Oh? What a good idea!" Chang Lin happily agreed and said to Webster: "If your country is willing, we can be the first to establish diplomatic relations."
"Okay, I will convey your words to the president." Webster was happy. He did not expect that Chang Lin would take the initiative to establish diplomatic relations.
"You can take this opportunity to choose a good place, and I promise to build you a beautiful embassy!" Chang Lin couldn't wait and wanted to establish relations with the Americans immediately.
"You have a conspiracy?" Webster was surprised. Chang Lin's behavior was so abnormal that he did not dare to agree easily.
"Fuck, tell me clearly! I will not return this island to Yemen. I guarantee that any country that has established diplomatic relations with me can walk freely in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea and wear the same pants as Yemen. I will attack ships like Iran and Iraq.
Fight and destroy their commercial channels!”[
Chang Lin raised his eyebrows and showed his bottom line without any politeness. Webster sighed and said: "You are cruel, this move is really cruel!"
"Not as ruthless as you Americans! We are the same as you. You think I don't know? You want to build a permanent naval base on Bubiyan Island, but I tell you, don't, you will pay the price with blood!
"
Chang Lin was not threatening, but told Webster that there was another reason why Bubiyan Island could not be inhabited. The Americans were surprised and asked in confusion: "Can you live there? Can't we live there?"