Just when Wang Ming seized the first wave of the financial crisis, made his first big deal with Saudi Arabia, and started implementing China's large-scale infrastructure plan, the other side of the sea was already falling into a sea of boiling fire.
The futures market plummeted in blood red, and the stock market had no room for recovery. Even though the United States immediately came up with a rescue strategy and announced further easing policies on the spot, the almost vertical downward curve did not pick up at all. signs.
As Chen Feiyun predicted, the number of suicides in the United States hit a record high within a month.
Countless investors chose to end their lives at this time, but their departure triggered a new round of chain reactions.
the reason is simple.
They are often the main source of income for a family and control the entire family's funds.
When those funds go up in flames, the family will be irreparably broken.
The wave of large-scale supply cuts and defaults has finally arrived.
One bank after another declared bankruptcy, and hundreds of millions of depositors were driven by huge panic to the streets, wanting to withdraw their own money.
But obviously, under the tide of bank runs, even such an extremely reasonable request has turned into a luxury.
At this point, social and economic activities have almost come to a standstill, and the crisis in the financial sector has finally spread to the real economy in the largest and most extreme way.
Ahead is an abyss of eternal destruction, but it's too late to brake.
In the office of the May Meeting, Houston sat on the chair with a pale face, and the assistant opposite had an equally pale face.
The two of them stared unblinkingly at the TV on the wall, and on the TV, Bush, the then President of the United States, was delivering his speech about the crisis.
".This is a major tragedy and there's no doubt we've had a difficult time."
"But we guarantee that the federal government will not give up on anyone."
"We are already urgently discussing response strategies and believe that the sluggish economic situation will be reversed soon."
Hearing the president's speech, a bitter smile appeared on Houston's face.
Twist? How to reverse it?
On what?
Do you rely on your mouth to speak, or rely on your money printing machine to print?
Yes, according to historical experience, when such a large-scale crisis breaks out, it is indeed a good strategy to transfer the crisis to other countries by releasing water and printing money.
The problem is that even if the crisis is passed on, it will take time!
Now, what we lack most is time!
Maybe after another week or two, the economy will break through the most critical point and then completely enter the downward fast lane.
When that time comes, it's already too late.
So, what’s the point of talking about “discussing policies” and “not giving up on anyone”?
Hurry up and think of a solution!
Even if you sacrifice a group of people and risk your life and limbs to survive, it's still better than everyone dying together, right?
Thinking of this, Houston directly picked up the remote control and turned off the TV.
Then, he turned to the assistant beside him and asked:
"You have already seen the current situation, and there is no need for me to repeat it. I would like to ask you, what do you think of the current situation?"
"Or put it another way - do you think we still have a chance?"
The assistant sighed deeply, then shook his head and replied:
"If we only rely on our own strength, there is absolutely no hope."
"I have never seen such a serious financial crisis, and I can't even find a similar case in the history books."
"It came so quickly and violently that we didn't have any time to prepare."
"It will take at least another month for the introduction of various policy tools, and in this month, who knows how far things will develop?"
"The only thing we can do now is to print as much money as possible, release as much water as possible, and then use administrative means to the greatest extent to stop all financial activities."
"Even if we are going to die, we must hold our breath first and delay the moment of suffocation until a few weeks later."
"Only in this way can we have a chance to make a comeback."
After hearing the assistant's words, Houston nodded solemnly, and then continued to ask:
"You just said that if we only rely on our own strength, there is no hope."
"That means that if other aid is introduced, maybe we can turn it into a crisis?"
The assistant shook his head again and replied:
"It is impossible to turn it into an opportunity, but if Europe is willing to step in to help us rescue the market, then at least it can save us from the abyss."
"Currently, the biggest problems we face are the violent fluctuations in commodity market prices, the plunge in stocks, and the bankruptcies caused by the large-scale cessation of mortgage payments."
"The combination of these three has almost locked down our entire market economic activities."
"If we can find even one breakthrough among these three, the follow-up work will be carried out smoothly."
"Then where do you think we should break through?"
Houston asked.
"The impact of commodity market prices is extremely macro, and we have no way to control it for the time being."
"Stocks mainly rely on expectations, but in order to reverse expectations, we must first pay back the money we owe the people."
"So, the only feasible breakthrough is bank bankruptcy."
Having said this, the assistant paused for a moment, then stood up, took out a pen, and began to write his plan on the whiteboard beside him.
"I think that's how we should handle it."
"First, we want to give all homeowners a grace period to defer their mortgage payments for a reasonable period of time."
"This can give them breathing time and ensure that they will not completely give up on themselves because of a breach of contract."
"Secondly, we need to actively look for new sources of funding for banks."
"It's useless to just rely on the central bank to release water. We have to seek help from other countries."
"Whether it is investment, the purchase of government bonds, or new trade orders, it will bring us huge help."
"I think it's time for us to talk to Europe."
"Now, they are the only ones in the world who can save us."
Houston nodded helplessly.
His heart was extremely sad.
Once, for a long time, he only regarded Europe as a vassal of the United States.
Whether it is economically or militarily, they seem to only care about their own side.
But now, things have changed.
He actually wants to ask them for help. This is probably the first time since World War II.
Soon after, the White House.
The president sat on his throne, sternly reprimanding his men.
"I have said countless times that we must ensure the basic economic structure."
"The real economy cannot be abandoned. Even if we want to transfer industries, we must ensure the bottom line of domestic productivity!"
"What now? A financial crisis has almost destroyed our entire country!"
"This is a lesson, a painful lesson!"
"Everyone is responsible for things reaching this point!"
Seeing his angry expression, no one present dared to speak.
——
Yes, the current president is simply passing the blame, and even contradicts himself in what he says.
This is not a discussion helpful to the current situation, this is just pure venting.
However, even if he is venting, he cannot be interrupted at this time.
Because what happened half an hour ago was really embarrassing.
It was originally a carefully planned speech aimed at boosting market confidence and boosting people's morale.
The first half of the speech actually went very smoothly.
Many people present were already aroused. They chanted in unison with the president's speech, as if there was no obstacle that they could not overcome.
However, with the appearance of an intruder, everything began to change.
The young man in military uniform waved his prosthetic limb and rushed to the security personnel without hesitation. He asked the president heartbreakingly, asking him why he was spending a lot of money to fight a meaningless war and why he wanted to kill people. He left his right leg on the battlefield and asked him why the money he had finally saved was burned down for some reasons that he could not understand at all.
He was very emotional. If it were not for the medal of honor on his chest and the prosthetic limb on his hand, he would probably be shot dead on the spot.
But even so, he was subdued by security personnel and pinned firmly to the ground.
The president tried to calm him down and explain to the people present what had just happened, but no one wanted to listen.
Their eyes have been completely attracted by this tragic hero.
Some people even lost their minds and began to attack the security, trying to pull the veteran up from the ground.
The scene was chaotic, and another voice gradually began to sound in the crowd.
“Pay back my money!”
"Pay back the money."
These simple four words soon gathered into a wave.
The situation was completely out of control, the security personnel were busy putting out the fire, and even the innermost bodyguards were affected.
Then, at a certain moment, the man stood up.
Then, he gave the president a resentful look and shook the prosthetic leg out of his hand.
Years of military life had made his arms extremely developed, and the prosthetic leg broke through and hit the president in the face.
The emergency evacuation plan was immediately launched, and under the protection of bodyguards, the president finally returned to his palace.
However, even though half an hour had passed, the red marks from the prosthesis still remained on his face.
Therefore, his anger is not unreasonable.
At least, everyone can understand.
Therefore, everyone present listened to his speech quietly. It was not until he vented his anger and calmed down completely that this meaningful discussion finally began.
The president sighed deeply and apologized for his gaffe.
Then, he asked a question that everyone expected:
“Where else can we get assistance?”
Upon hearing this, the staff member standing on his left quickly answered:
"This issue has been discussed earlier."
"At present, the May Conference has conducted the first round of communication with many European countries, the Middle East, East Asia, and Australia, but the results are not satisfactory."
"What do you mean unsatisfactory? Just tell me the result!"
The staff member took a deep breath and tried to organize his words well so that his words would not sound so sharp. However, after thinking for a long time, he still said bluntly:
"As a result, all countries rejected us at the first opportunity."
"They have too much time to take care of themselves. The crisis has begun to spread. No one can survive alone."
"Compared to us, they just have an extra buffer time."
"But if we want to talk about the impact, maybe they will suffer greater losses than us."
"How big can it be? Can they still compete with us? Don't they know that if we want to solve this crisis, we are the key?"
The president looked angry again. He could hardly understand such a "betrayal."
Are all these allies of mine crazy?
Their officials should have been a collection of the most rational elites in the world, but judging from the current situation, they seem to have made the most conservative, stupidest, and least visionary decision.
Looking at his expression, the staff also guessed what he was thinking.
So he replied:
"Actually, sir, our allies are very aware of what you are talking about."
"But what they know better is another key point."
"That is, even if all their power is overdrawn, it may not be enough to save us."
"In this case, blindly attacking will only make their own situation worse and I can understand their approach."
"I can't understand it, it's completely unreasonable."
The president slammed the table, scratched his hair anxiously, and walked around his desk.
"We have to convince them. Innate motivation is not enough to get us out of the crisis, we need help!"
"Yes. But no one wants to help us."
The aide's emotionless words made the president suddenly quiet down. At this moment, a word he learned from an ancient Chinese book a long time ago flashed through his mind:
Moral support from many, scant support.
The United States today is probably a typical example of unjust people with little help.
What did we do?
Why is this happening? Why can't we find a true ally in this moment of crisis?
The president sighed heavily, and after a moment of silence, he asked:
"What about China? Are they willing to take action?"
"That's the point, they're willing and even, they're able."
"So far, their financial markets have been rock solid."
"If they can help us rescue the market, then there may be room for recovery from this crisis."
"But the problem is...their conditions are too harsh."
"How harsh?"
The staff duly handed over a document, and after seeing the requirements on the document, the president's expression instantly distorted.
"unacceptable!"
"We can't possibly agree!"
"These conditions will completely destroy our development potential, and I will never allow this to happen!"
"But we have no other choice"
"No."
The president interrupted his staff.
Then, he said with a gloomy face:
"We still have options."
"oil."
"Oil in the Middle East, that's our only chance."
A few days later, the Zagros Mountains.
Under the cover of layers of rocks, a well-equipped team took advantage of the darkness to bypass the snow-capped mountains and groped towards a certain military base hidden under the mountains.
There are as many as 25 of them. For an elite unit like them, this number is enough to complete a small-scale annihilation operation.
But this time, their goal is not annihilation, but destruction.
There was silence on the radio, and the team members could only communicate with each other by the dim light sources on their watches and shoulders.
Maybe if you are not careful, the team members following you will completely lose sight of the team members in front.
Under the principle of complete radio silence, no one would notice that he was left behind.
For the stragglers, mission failure is secondary. Once they lose contact with the main force and are unable to join the subsequent evacuation operations, what awaits them is nothing but death.
After all, this is the interior of another country.
Once discovered, their behavior will be considered aggression.
Fortunately, however, the team's extraordinary qualities eliminated all accidents, and they successfully arrived at the scheduled assembly location at around 3 a.m.
Afterwards, all the team members gathered together, and several team captains pulled up the blackout cloth and began to make final checks on the next combat plan.
".So our goal for this operation is simple, which is to destroy the industrial facilities one kilometer away in the northeast."
"According to intelligence, that facility may be related to weapons of mass destruction, perhaps nuclear bombs or poison gas."
"But anyway, it has nothing to do with us."
"All we have to do is get close there, guide the drone to drop the bomb, and then evacuate quickly."
"Note that according to preliminary deductions, the opponent's quick reaction force will arrive within about 3 minutes."
"That is to say, we must evacuate out of the opponent's pursuit range within three minutes after the explosion."
"Including the delay in the drone's release of the bomb, we have a total of five minutes."
"The route has been planned, I need everyone to remember your location."
"clear!"
Several squad leaders answered in a low voice. Then, they marked the location on their PDAs and checked the time again on their watches.
"The current time is 3:15, and the other party's changing of guard time is 4:00 to 4:05."
"In order to avoid hitting their changing of the guard force, we must set off after 3:50. In other words, we need to approach their base safely, quickly and covertly within 10 minutes."
"Now, everyone rest where you are, keep the radio silent, and wait for my departure order!"
"clear."
After getting everyone's answers, the commander-in-chief turned off the flashlight and lifted the shade cloth.
Then, he fumbled to find a suitable place to sit down, quietly looking at the brightly lit base in the distance, and rehearsing the details of the next action again and again in his mind.
This is a mission that involves risking one's life.
But compared to its meaning, one's own life seems to be nothing.
Because once the action is successful, those people in their homeland who are still struggling in the storm may be saved.
This is really a disaster, and I will have the opportunity to be the hero who ends this disaster.
He was lost in thought, and at this moment, someone tapped his shoulder lightly.
By the dim light of his watch, he recognized that the person in front of him was the captain of Team 2 and his most trusted partner.
The squad leader came to his side, lowered his voice and asked:
"So, are there really weapons of mass destruction there? I think we have used this reason once, and it is not very convincing."
Hearing his words, the commander-in-chief shook his head subconsciously.
Then he replied:
"Weapons of mass destruction is just a broad term."
"In effect, it was an underground uranium enrichment facility."
"It has not been officially opened, but according to intelligence, a series of equipment including centrifuges have begun to be moved in."
"You know, their transit time is today."
"What we need to blow up is actually not an industrial facility, it's just a centrifuge that they haven't had time to install yet."
"But does this make sense?"
The squad leader asked in confusion.
"Of course it makes sense we don't want them to have nuclear weapons, that's the point."
After hearing his answer, the squad leader was silent for a long time before continuing:
"But I feel that our action this time is actually much more than what meets the eye."
"At least we won't be here just to blow something up."
"Maybe we need to leave something behind."
"Am I right?"
The commander-in-chief did not answer, but his silence itself was an answer.
The two stopped talking, and time passed quickly. At 3:50 in the morning, as a long motorcade appeared from a distance, the team also began their actions.
They lurked in the night like ghosts, silently following the ravines on the plain, and rushed to a position less than 200 meters away from the edge of the base's security area.
This is the limit they can reach.
Even their most powerful projectile weapons are not enough to reach the core of this base without exposing their own position.
But luckily, their drones can.
In the silent night sky, a black shadow slowly flew over the base.
Subsequently, the ground beacon was locked and all combat units began to evacuate according to the predetermined plan.
Everything went smoothly, even so smoothly that one doubted whether such a large team was needed for this operation.
——
But at this moment, someone in the evacuating team was suddenly shot down without warning.
A full two seconds later, gunshots were heard from afar.
Later, someone in the team fired back.
Immediately afterwards, the drone dropped the bomb.
Fire shot into the sky.
All this happened in just a few seconds.
It seemed like it had been carefully rehearsed and it happened so smoothly.
The squad leader on the side looked at the commander-in-chief in astonishment, and under the dim firelight, his expression was extremely determined.
Yes, he already knew the plan.
The plan to "leave something behind"
A few days later, news of attacks on military installations in Iran spread throughout the world.
The drones used in the raids and the bodies of the attackers left at the scene pointed the finger at another country.
Saudi Arabia.
This is a crude and absurd conclusion.
But people who are in the fear of an impending economic crisis don't think it is absurd at all.
They only know one thing:
The real storm in the desert is coming.
(End of chapter)
