Chapter 186: Seychelles Civil Unrest

Upon hearing this name, Tajik really had a good rant: this name was too inferior, and he wondered if the missile’s performance could compare with the Eagle Strike 83 missile.

Although it seemed that the numbers had doubled, the size of each missile had significantly decreased.

When they were outfitting the ship with missiles before departure, Tajik thought these were anti-aircraft missiles.

He was even more surprised later because the engineers told him that the original 8-union Sea Red Flag 7 anti-aircraft missile setup had been replaced with the Tuna missile launcher.

Because the Tuna missile is an integrated anti-air and anti-ship system, and it uses the new N2 propellant, its size appears even smaller than the usual anti-air missiles.

However, the Tuna missile still surpasses the combat efficiency of large anti-ship missiles.

Given this, although it would be possible to make anti-aircraft missiles smaller, from the perspective of shared launching devices, it is naturally better to make them a uniform size.

Thus, a warship equipped with missiles can maximize effectiveness when performing single-type missions.

For example, the total number of missiles on this frigate is 32, which, it so happens, is more than the anti-ship missiles on the Asan Galaga-class destroyers.

Tajik actually felt a bit uneasy about this because he had never heard of a country’s naval warship using the same missile for both anti-air and anti-ship purposes.

After all, different missile missions call for varying flight methods, placing distinct demands on guidance systems and engines.

Nevertheless, using a single set of universal launchers is a trend, such as with the U.S military’s Burke-class and Tang Country’s 055-class, where the vertical launch systems accommodate anti-aircraft missiles, anti-ship missiles, and cruise missiles.

Now, after the successful trial of the anti-ship missiles, it’s just the anti-aircraft missiles left to test.

Soon, an unmanned target drone took off from an island, flew a considerable distance, and simulated an aircraft attack on the warship.

Air search radars warned and locked onto the target immediately.

The anti-air missile was quickly launched and ascended. In a short while, the target drone exploded in the air 200 kilometers away and 5,000 meters high—which was also captured and transmitted back by another unmanned drone nearby.

What surprised Tajik was that another drone camera was present in the same airspace, detected by the radar too, but it precisely locked onto the intended target drone.

The missile also accurately destroyed the target drone and not the nearby unmanned drone, showcasing impressive guidance capabilities.

Tajik was already somewhat numb to these advancements because, through the engineers, he had come to know that this domestic defense company of the Tanga Federation had employees from all over the world—all of them first-rate engineers and experts.

It made him wonder how the president managed to assemble them into becoming employees of a Tanga Federation company—perhaps in the future, the Tanga Federation could even build its own warships.

With the sea trials perfectly concluded, Tajik had fallen in love with his warship.

At the moment, he was mocking Colonel Rick, the captain of another warship who had not been lucky in the draw and had actually felt fortunate at first.

Tajik believed that with his warship’s current power, it would easily trounce Colonel Rick’s vessel several times over.

Just the radar search range alone would crush Rick, ensuring that he would be ‘game over’ without even detecting Tajik.

However, Tajik was suddenly awoken from his pleasant dream that night as a battle alarm sounded on the warship.

A messenger ran to Tajik saying, “Captain, we just received orders from the Ministry of Defense, requesting our ship to rush to Seychelles for an evacuation operation immediately.”

“Show me the order.”

Tajik took the telegram paper and quickly scanned it.

It turned out that a sudden civil unrest had erupted tonight in neighboring Seychelles, and the military attempted to overthrow President Danfor but was discovered in advance; the Presidential Guard clashed with the rebels.

President Danfor, protected by his guards, had retreated to a desalination plant built with the help of the Tanga Federation.

There, with the support of the plant’s security forces, he was resisting the rebel assault.

Many Tanga Federation expatriates needed protection, and since his warship was the closest, it was imperative to rush there for reinforcement.

Tajik promptly ordered the warship to weigh anchor and set sail for Seychelles, unaware that the ship’s defense system was on automatic mode.

At this very moment, inside a temporary command hall in the island’s industrial park, Du Qiu and Star Ocean were discussing the sudden incident.

In fact, it was Star Ocean who had discovered the situation that night, and Du Qiu, without hesitation, notified Danfor to evacuate, saving him from the ordeal.

Speaking of which, Du Qiu’s initiative to build a desalination plant under Tanga’s name had something to do with the entire event.

Originally, Du Qiu thought that if the plant was built in the company’s name, there might be some losses.

After all, the pro-Asan faction within Seychelles was significant, and securing his interests would be difficult if President Danfor fell from power.

However, building under the name of Tanga would at least ensure that another faction ascending to power would not dare to arbitrarily encroach on the desalination plant’s rights.

Since it was a project to build the plant, Du Qiu could afford to supply desalinated water to the people of Seychelles for free, but he wanted the hydrogen produced in the process.

After all the effort to construct a large desalination plant yielding abundant hydrogen, it was not to be wasted.

Naturally, the construction of the plant was protected by Iron Guard Security, and coincidentally, Danfor learned about the combat power of Iron Guard Security from a recent incident in South Sudan.

Therefore, he even made a special visit to the Tanga Federation, and Mu Weini, seizing the opportunity to expand the influence of the Federation, would not let it go.

However, he still asked Du Qiu for his thoughts and, getting a response that supported Danfor vigorously, naturally, he became very friendly with Danfor.

With the support of Tanga, Danfor felt emboldened and was long-suppressed by the pro-Asan faction until he was about to erupt.

Thus, he quickly enacted a series of new policies to fully exercise the powers of the presidency.

This touched a nerve, and the opposing faction immediately sought to retaliate.

Regrettably, what could have been a bloodless confinement of Danfor to smoothly conduct a new election, influence public opinion, and elect a new president sympathetic to their interests was thwarted by Star Ocean’s timely discovery and evacuation warning. The ensuing fierce firefight between the presidential guards and the rebels rapidly deteriorated the situation.

The opposition was in a dilemma but continued on stubbornly.

However, they weren’t foolish and knew the desalination plant was built with Tanga’s help; they immediately notified the Asan’s ambassador in Seychelles, requesting support.

Seeing how Asan had always regarded Seychelles as within its sphere of influence, especially with the number of residents of Asan descent being the highest among other nations, and the ruling coalition always favoring Asan – even during nuclear tests, Seychelles had supported them.

Unexpectedly, with the new president going against the veteran factions in the coalition and having issues with Asan, when the new policies were introduced—some obviously against the Asan expatriates—it became clear why the elder faction sought help, prompting full support from Asan.

Immediately, they dispatched a Galaga-class destroyer from the Indian Ocean on an escort mission to Seychelles.

In the dark of night, warships from the north and south sped towards Seychelles.

In the capital, Victoria, the sound of intense gunfire shocked the entire city.

The coup was so sudden that embassies and consulates across the world were completely unclear about the situation.

In fact, not only were foreign diplomats confused, but several Seychellois opposition parties were also in the dark, wondering what the ruling coalition was up to.

The nation’s army only numbered over 800, with about 500 in the army, yet the sound of gunfire seemed to carry an immense force.

While the veteran faction in the ruling party controlled the military, they couldn’t control the 50-man presidential guard, and the oversight happened right there.

What surprised the leader of the elders, Vice President Lagoria, was that after retreating to the desalination plant under construction, with just 50 people guarding the president, their combat capabilities surged dramatically, completely stopping the military’s attack.

Lagoria had wanted to issue a press release to accuse the president.

But just then, the entire city lost power!

At this moment, however, a tweet emerged on the internet from President Danfor, claiming a coup by Vice President Lagoria in conjunction with the military, attempting to kill him.

Coup plotters had the support of Asan, and a destroyer from Asan was reportedly arriving at the capital, Victoria.

Now, as President of Seychelles, he called upon the people to support him, the legitimate president, and completely overthrow the Vice President’s faction.

Now, the foreign diplomats understood what was happening.

It was clear that this was an attempted overthrow backed by Asan, and both sides had come to blows; it seemed that proclaiming any stance was inappropriate for the moment and better decided after daylight.

Throughout the night, the Seychelles military launched attack after attack, each repelled, with the death toll steadily increasing.

“Lagoria, I can’t fight anymore. If we keep going, our country’s army will all be wiped out,” the commander of the national defense forces, Ross, called the vice president.

“It won’t do, if we don’t eliminate Danfor tonight, we will indeed become traitors by dawn. After daylight, the opposition parties will surely unite to attack us.”

“But the army has suffered heavy casualties, and I have no troops left,” said Ross.

Lagoria responded, “I’ll assemble the National Guard immediately and deploy them up there. We should be able to breach that factory. Additionally, an Asan Galaga-class destroyer is already en route. If all else fails, we’ll level the factory with naval artillery.”

“Alright, I’ll wait for your National Guard to arrive and then initiate another attack.”