Chapter 138 The Truth About the Passenger Plane (Part 2)

If the Soviets had wantonly shot down a civilian airliner, the world's public opinion would have bombarded the Soviet Union. However, if the Americans had used the airliner as a cover, equipped it with reconnaissance equipment, and deliberately let the airliner get lost, in order to spy on the Soviet Union in this way, then the US government would have been the complete target of public criticism!

The US government actually ignored the nearly 300 lives on the plane and risked their lives by using the plane as a reconnaissance tool! This is even more difficult for the public to accept!

Although the Times was closed down on the same day, the news was reprinted by more newspapers and broadcast by radio stations. In the West, public opinion is free! The government has no right to interfere!

Almost on the same day, the news spread all over the world, including America across the ocean.

When President Carter, who had just entered the White House, received the news, he knew that the situation was not good. After discussing with his think tank, the White House spokesman solemnly emphasized that this was a complete Soviet conspiracy! The United States absolutely did not use passenger planes as reconnaissance aircraft, which violated basic international norms!

The United States swore solemnly that this matter had nothing to do with the United States and that it was a Soviet conspiracy!

The masses were skeptical, especially the families of the victims, who hoped that the U.S. government could give a reasonable explanation. If it was a conspiracy by the Soviet government, why were there reconnaissance equipment in the wreckage?

Admiral Stan Fittner, the current director of the CIA, was promoted by President Carter to become the head of the intelligence system. And now, not long after taking office, he has encountered his most troublesome thing.

Using passenger planes for reconnaissance was a plan made by his predecessors. He just agreed to it. His subordinates analyzed the pros and cons and thought that if it succeeded, they could detect the Soviet Union's most secretive military deployment on Sakhalin Island, especially since there seemed to be a lot of land forces there recently, and there were also ballistic missile launch sites in the Soviet Far East, which had never been effectively detected before. If it failed and was shot down by the Soviet Union, it would also make the Soviet Union's international reputation bad. Shooting down a civilian airliner would make it a world enemy.

Moreover, the United States would have an excuse to launch a tentative attack on the Soviet Union, test its own weapons, put heavy pressure on the Soviet air defense system, and suppress the seemingly powerful MiG-25 fighter.

But now, the development of things is beyond his expectations.

"Those reconnaissance equipment activated their self-destruct devices when the plane was hit, and they will never leak the secrets of the plane." Carter frowned as he listened to the words of his trusted deputy, Admiral Fitner. "What's going on? Now the whole world knows that we tampered with that plane."

"The reconnaissance equipment they exhibited was not from our passenger planes, but from our Blackbird reconnaissance planes," Admiral Fitner said. "The Soviets are so cunning. They are throwing mud at us."

The Soviets were really shameless, but until now, the Soviets have not said anything, including that the exhibit was a high-definition reconnaissance device. It was a reporter from the Times, who was working for the KGB! It was that guy who first recognized it.

Moreover, if this matter was disclosed directly by the Soviets, the Western world would not agree at all, and most people would think it was a conspiracy. But now, it was recognized by their own reporters, and they all believed that the US government was deceiving the world. Damn, this simple trick, can't these crazy reporters see it?

"Then let's just expose this matter. This is a Soviet conspiracy!" said President Carter.

"In this case, the news that our most advanced Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft was shot down by the Soviets will spread all over the world. Now, the Soviet MiG-25 has caused us a headache. This time, the navy and air force jointly strangled the Soviet fighter planes in the airspace near Sakhalin Island, but it did not pose a substantial threat to the MiG-25. Our Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft is the only reconnaissance aircraft with the same triple speed of sound and an altitude of 30,000 meters as the MiG-25. It is our powerful weapon and will never be shot down." Admiral Fittner said.

The Blackbird is a god-like equipment in the US military. It can have mechanical failures, but it must not be shot down by the enemy!

In fact, the equipment on the Blackbird also had a self-destruct device, but now it seems that the self-destruct device must have failed. The device had a number on it, and the reporter on the Thames took a very clear photo. By looking at the number, you can tell that it was from the destroyed Blackbird.

"So what do we do?" President Carter asked.

"In short, we definitely didn't do any of this." Admiral Fitner said, "These are all Soviet conspiracies. The people's mood now is understandable. After a period of time, this matter will gradually calm down. At the same time, we can also release the news of our air battle. We won the victory over the Red Empire and we avenged the passengers of the downed passenger plane."

The battle over Sakhalin Island was top secret. During the Cold War, such confrontations existed at all times, but they were all conducted in private and rarely known to the outside world. After all, everyone had their face to save, and if one side was slapped in the face, they would retaliate, and the scale of the war would expand, and it might even turn into a world war.

But now, there is no time to worry about so many things. If this kind of thing that promotes one's own ambitions and destroys the prestige of others is made public, public opinion will immediately shift from the inside story of the downing of the passenger plane to the United States having an absolute advantage over the Soviet Union. Once the Third World War breaks out, the United States will sweep across the Soviet Union and bring freedom and democracy to the people enslaved by the Red Empire.

Carter lowered his head and thought. This plan was obviously a way to get out of the current situation, but was the price too high?

At this moment, the door of the round table conference room was pushed open, and the White House Chief of Staff hurried in and said to Carter: "President Carter, the Soviet government has released a recording!"

Recording! Turn on the radio and you can hear the voice inside.

"Captain, I see two fighter planes. The Soviets have already flown behind us."

"We are a civilian airliner. The Soviets dare not attack us."

"Captain, I seemed to hear some banging noises outside just now. Are those two Soviet fighter planes firing shells at us?"

"Idiot, didn't you also serve in the Air Force? The shells used by night-flying fighters are a combination of high-explosive shells and tracer shells, which are used to indicate the trajectory. Did you see any tracer shells just now?"

…………

There was deathly silence in the round table conference room.

Black box! The Soviets found the black box of the passenger plane! Just a few sentences revealed that the captain and the pilot knew that the route was wrong and that they had entered Soviet airspace!