Yesterday, there was a rumor on the Internet that the waters of the South China Sea are going to be lively. It turned out that the Philippines was engaged in military exercises with three partners, the United States, Japan and Australia, claiming to show "freedom of navigation" and mentioning the "South China Sea arbitration" in a bold way. They probably want to demonstrate and put more pressure on the South China Sea?
The Philippines, in particular, began to publicize the military exercise in various media in advance, as if it was really going to be a war. It stands to reason that the military strength of these countries is also quite strong when put together, and the ships and aircraft are all elite.
But things turned out unexpectedly. In the afternoon, everyone thought that the military exercise was in full swing, but it was suddenly declared over. It's as simple as that, as if I've come to take a walk around the South China Sea, turn around and leave.
Those US, Japan, Australian, and Philippine ships that came from afar had no time to show their muscles, so they had to pack up and go home. As for the statement issued by the Philippine military, saying that "the joint maritime cooperation activities have been successfully concluded", there are no accidents, which sounds quite peaceful, but is there any story behind this?
Why did the joint military exercise end so suddenly? The outside world began to speculate, and the answer may be related to a message released by the PLA's Southern Theater on the same day.
On the day of the exercise, the Southern Theater announced that a certain unit of its naval aviation had carried out large-scale cross-sea flight training and antisubmarine flight training, and that it had dispatched a Gaoxin-6 antisubmarine patrol plane, which was not ordinary equipment.
This aircraft was originally based on the Y-8 medium transport aircraft, but its capabilities go far beyond transportation. Its detection and analysis skills are very strong, especially against underwater targets, and it is simply a natural hunter.
The most noticeable thing is the pointed "tail spine" on its tail, which is a new type of "magnetic anomaly detector", which is used to detect underwater targets such as submarines, and its ability is quite strong.
In this way, everything is clear. With such anti-submarine patrol planes patrolling over the South China Sea, the fleet movements of those "four-nation military exercises" will certainly not escape the eyes of the PLA. Their every move may be under our watch. In this case, there is not much they can do, they can only choose to withdraw their troops.
Interestingly, there were also some vignettes on the Internet. Some people say that the special fighters of the People's Liberation Army hovered in the air, like the hegemon of the sky, so that the opposite "four-nation alliance" lost its fighting spirit. Of course, this is just gossip uploaded on the Internet, and outsiders have no way of knowing what the real situation is.
The abrupt end of this military exercise disappointed many viewers who were looking forward to the wonderful scene. After all, who doesn't want to watch the armies of several countries battle wits and courage at sea? But judging from the results, the smell of gunpowder in this "big war" does not seem to be strong at all, but rather seems to have been quickly extinguished.
This is reminiscent of some previous military exercises. For example, the USS Reagan aircraft carrier and the large-scale joint exercises that the United States has conducted are so loud that they have attracted the attention of the world every time. And this time, the "four-nation joint military exercise," which was blown to the sky, why did it go so unchecked?
The Philippine side was quite tough at first, and they seemed confident that they could demonstrate their strength and determination to the world through this exercise. But in the end, it turned out to be like they were doing a show, and it was a show that didn't attract much of an audience.
Was it because the PLA's response was so swift that it caught the other side off guard? Or was it because they had to end the exercise early because they expected the PLA's strong response?
Of course, netizens have something to say about such a result. Some people feel that this is a demonstration of strength by the PLA, which makes the other party lose the courage to continue.
Some people also believe that this is just a strategic adjustment of the other side, and that temporary concessions do not mean anything. Others see it as a game of minds, and the one who has the last laugh may not be what it seems.
But in any case, the exercise did leave a deep impression. Not because of how wonderful it is, but because the way it ended was just so unexpected. This can be regarded as a unique experience in the history of international military exercises.
What should have been a climactic military event turned into a ridiculous vignette. The South China Sea, an ancient and mysterious sea, has once again become the focus of global attention. As for the true meaning and impact of this military exercise, I am afraid only time will tell.