Chapter 1191 Nuclear explosion in Kyoto 2

Yokota Air Base, Underground Command Center

Unlike the relatively "comfortable" environment of the Kyoto shelter, the underground command center of Yokota Base is more like a purely functional fortress, filled with the ruggedness of military equipment and traces of post-apocalyptic resource scarcity.

When the 300-megaton nuclear bomb was detonated in Kyoto, Yokota Air Base was about 80 kilometers away from the epicenter.

The first few seconds were deathly silent.

Inside the command center, everyone held their breath, staring intently at the clock and sensor data.

Suddenly, without the need for sensor alarms, a deep, muffled rumble, as if from the depths of the earth, pierced through the thick strata and reinforced structure, faintly reaching everyone's ears.

Those are sound waves generated by a nuclear explosion, which travel at a much faster speed.

Immediately afterwards——

Boom... Rumble rumble rumble —

A continuous, dull tremor began to emanate from the ground, as if giants were pounding the earth in the distance.

The ceiling and walls creaked slightly, unsettlingly, and dust fell in clumps.

The lighting was stable, but some non-critical equipment screens showed interference stripes.

This is completely different from the earth-shattering impact of a near-field nuclear explosion; it is more like a moderate earthquake lasting for more than ten seconds with an intensity of about IV to V.

“Blast wave arriving! Seismic activity confirmed! Overpressure reading… approximately 1.5 psi at our location!”

(Shock wave arrives! Seismic activity confirmed! Overpressure reading... approximately 1.5 psi at my location!)

A sergeant, his eyes fixed on the pressure sensor, reported loudly, his voice carrying a hint of relief yet also a heavy tone.

An overpressure of 1.5 psi (pounds per square inch) means that many windows of ordinary buildings exposed on the ground surface without special reinforcement will shatter, and some inferior structures may be damaged. However, for the main structure of the command post, which is buried deep underground and reinforced, this is just a test of "a strong wind".

“All primary structures report minimal damage! No breaches!”

(All major structures reported minor damage! No cracks!)

The communication channel carried the sounds of ground guard posts and various reinforced units confirming that everything was safe.

Brigadier General Marcus Thorne's tense shoulders relaxed slightly, but his face remained grim as he looked at the screen at the radiation monitoring station.

Almost within a minute of the shockwave, the readings of the gamma ray and neutron detectors began to climb sharply, quickly exceeding the safety thresholds, and were still rising at an alarming rate.

"Radiation levels rising rapidly! Neutron and gamma flux are… sir, they're already an order of magnitude above safety limits and climbing! This is consistent with a high-yield strategic warhead!"

(Radiation levels are rising rapidly! Neutron and gamma flux... Sir, it has exceeded the safety limit by an order of magnitude and is still climbing! This is consistent with the characteristics of a high-yield strategic nuclear warhead!)

The technical sergeant's voice was filled with professional shock, not panic. They had anticipated this, but seeing the data with their own eyes was still appalling.

"Confirm wind patterns at altitude!" Thorne immediately gave the order.

The meteorologist pulled up a pre-apocalyptic weather model and limited real-time data, his face turning pale:

“Sir… predominant westerlies… fallout cloud is predicted to drift… directly over our position. ETA for significant particulate deposition… estimated 4 to 8 hours depending on the settling velocity.”

(Sir... the prevailing westerly winds... predict that the radioactive cloud will... drift directly over us. The arrival time of significant radioactive particle deposition... is estimated to be within 4 to 8 hours, depending on the deposition rate.)

A somber silence fell over the command center.

They successfully withstood the shockwave, but could not escape the invisible killer that followed—radioactive dust.

The base's air filtration system can mitigate some of the damage, but long-term radiation exposure, disruptions to external operations, and potentially contaminated water sources will pose even more severe survival challenges for them.

"They really did it... A multi-megaton device... on a civilian concentration center..."

Thorne said in a low voice, his tone filled with disbelief and a deep chill.

This is no longer a military strike; it is a devastating revenge, the ultimate release of hatred from the old era in this apocalyptic world.

"All external access is to be sealed. Initiate Protocol 'Deep Shelter'. Conserve power and life support. We're in for a long wait."

(Seal all external access routes. Activate 'Deep Dive' protocol. Conserve power and life support. We must prepare for a long wait.)

He gave the order, his voice weary and heavy.

In those brief few minutes, he even hesitated to lead his troops to safety before the nuclear fallout arrived, but the thought of the apocalypse quickly dampened his enthusiasm...

With such a small number of people, how long could they survive in the wild without the protection of the base and without supplies?

Although the iron coffin was a hopeless situation, at least compared to being in the wild, at least the body would be left intact...

'But since Zhou Bang dared to use nuclear weapons, is it possible they will subsequently launch a land attack?'

The thought of this possibility stirred a glimmer of hope within Brigadier General Thorne...

Although it's shameful, it's not without its reasons for survival...

Given Zhou Bang's tradition of treating prisoners of war well... perhaps being a prisoner of war isn't so bad after all...

As for national interests and military honor... to hell with them! All he wants now is to survive!

It's been over a year since the apocalypse, and those old men in Congress and the Pentagon back home, who has cared about their lives? There hasn't even been a word from them yet!

.....

Other remaining US military outposts within Japan

Smaller, more precarious U.S. military outposts in Okinawa, Sasebo, and other locations also detected the unusually strong electromagnetic pulse (EMP) disturbance and subsequent radiation signals emanating from Honshu Island using their own tattered monitoring equipment.

Because of the greater distance (hundreds of kilometers), they felt almost no physical impact, but the unusual peaks in radiation monitoring equipment, and the intermittent information received through possibly surviving, shielded equipment from Yokota base or other listening stations, allowed them to piece together the facts.

“Confirmed… Nuclear detonation… Kanto Plain. Yield estimate… massive.”

(Confirmed...nuclear explosion...Kanto Plain. Estimated yield...huge.)

Inside an underground facility in Okinawa, a technician stares at the flashing readings, his voice hoarse.

At an observation post in Sasebo, soldiers watched the faint but unmistakable rising curve on the radiation detector, the atmosphere heavy.

“Who would…? In this hellscape… Why?”

(Who would...? In this hell...? Why?)

The answer is almost self-evident.

The specter of history has never left...

These remnants of the US military, scattered across the Fusang Islands like isolated islands, were not feeling a direct physical threat, but rather a deeper psychological shock.

This nuclear bomb not only destroyed Kyoto, but also seemed to declare that the rules and bottom line of the old era had completely collapsed. In this wasteland, revenge and reckoning can transcend any time and space and be carried out in the most extreme way.

A sense of powerlessness, being swept into the unknown and cruel torrent of history, and a deeper anxiety about one's own fate, replaced the faint expectation that might have existed before for the restoration of the old order.

They are facing a more uncertain and dangerous future...

About an hour after the nuclear explosion, the remaining government forces of Goryeo, separated from Japan by only a sea and historically repeatedly thwarted by Japan, quickly caught wind of the news...