Chen Nian rested at home for more than two weeks in total, and no one disturbed him during this period. He also spent the most relaxing period in four years.
However, while he was enjoying his vacation, the international situation became more serious day by day.
In the African region, the conflict in Darfur is intensifying. Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, is in danger. The Djibouti military port is blocked by the Fifth Fleet. Two Type 052B destroyers in Guangzhou and Wuhan are in a difficult confrontation with several Burke-class destroyers and a USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier.
At the same time, due to the impact of the war in Sudan, many neighboring countries, including Egypt and Ethiopia, are ready to take action. If China had not repeatedly spoken out and used investment in Ethiopia as a deterrent, Ethiopia would have almost taken the opportunity to deploy troops on the border and seize actual control of the Blue Nile River. .
North Africa is in such chaos, and southern Africa is equally unstable.
Although the Gauteng high-speed rail project went smoothly, due to the aftermath of Mandela's series of extremely stupid policies, South Africa's economy continued to deteriorate, partisan disputes became more serious, and even large-scale unrest occurred in Cape Town, the capital.
Moreover, after seeing the "demonstration effect" in Darfur, the opposition has intensified its contacts with the United States in an attempt to overthrow black rule and rebuild white order.
Under such circumstances, it is almost impossible for society to maintain basic stability.
If South Africa had not been economically strong, I am afraid that the tragedy in Rwanda would have happened again.
——
In fact, such incidents have already begun to emerge.
Large-scale tribal armed conflicts have occurred uniformly in Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon, Angola, Zambia, and Guinea. If no one among them contributed to the flames, even the United States itself would not believe it.
This is true for Africa, let alone the Middle East.
The dispute over oil is becoming more intense day by day, especially after the strengthening of the Fifth Fleet, and tensions in the Persian Gulf are back to their peak in the past two decades, second only to the eve of two wars.
Under such circumstances, several conflicting oil-producing countries will naturally not miss the opportunity. For a time, weapons of mass destruction, dirty bombs, poison gas bombs, and nuclear weapons
All kinds of news are flying all over the sky, and it’s hard to tell whether it’s true or false.
Compared with these two regions at the center of conflicts, the situation in Europe and America is relatively stable, but economic fluctuations are still severe.
The aftermath of the economic crisis has not dissipated, and what makes the European and American markets even worse is the arrival of the Chinese.
The Chinese businessmen who had accumulated a lot of money and made a fortune finally took action. In the European market, riding on the thunderous power of the "Mountain Moving" project, Huaxia Heavy Machinery almost swept the entire European market. Local traditional machinery manufacturing companies all White flag, only a few old-school companies with accumulated technology in finishing are encouraged to maintain.
But how long they can last, who knows?
For the United States, the impact they have received mainly comes from the fields of daily necessities and consumer goods.
Due to the explosive breakthroughs in China's civilian technology, the entire industrial structure has undergone a major transformation.
The most profitable thing now is no longer exporting primary products and handmade products, but exporting finely processed end products after acquiring technology.
This also led to a rapid accumulation of funds, and the United States quickly discovered that they could no longer buy many things.
This can be said to be harmless in the short term, but in the foreseeable future, if daily consumer goods continue to be out of stock, it will also be a major blow to the industrial development of the United States.
More importantly, the United States was surprised to find that 555 Fulton, which first entered the local market before the financial crisis, had established a firm foothold and began to play its role as a "comprador".
Real estate, which had just experienced a sharp decline, had inadvertently gained momentum again.
——
It seems that these people felt that the last time they were hit was not hard enough, so they wanted to pull them up and hit them again.
All in all, East Asia has become the only island.
While everyone is struggling to survive, the rabbits are thinking about how to sweep the world.
In a room.
The meeting secretary reported the situation.
".So that's the current situation."
"Although they have paid a huge price, the situation in Africa has indeed been disrupted, and it has also caused certain disruption to our investment there."
"Currently, this kind of interference has been controlled within a limited range."
"And, as our forces in Djibouti are gradually deployed, the unrest will be further suppressed."
"So, we believe that our current strategic layout in Africa has not been affected."
"At the same time, the global economy is in turmoil because of their irrational actions in Africa, and this is our perfect opportunity."
"In the next stage, we should still advance the original plan step by step, deepen the resource strategy, and obtain the most fundamental underlying advantages."
"On the one hand, we must step up the development of various mineral resources in Africa, especially iron ore resources, and strive to reduce our dependence on the four major international miners in the short term."
"On the one hand, we must speed up the process of technological development, exchange technology for resources, and reverse the scissors gap."
"According to the early plan, we need to complete the development of the African region within the next five years and completely solve the domestic resource dilemma."
Hearing this, the old man raised his hand to signal the secretary to pause, and then he said:
"Don't repeat things that are too macroscopic. Everyone knows what they are talking about."
"You mainly talk about the preparation status of several key conditions under these macro strategies, and talk about the specific matters!"
The secretary paused and replied:
"In terms of matters, the first condition is the establishment of African influence, that is, the need to compete with the Fifth Fleet and expand the presence of the Djibouti military port."
"In this regard, the Spark Team has entered the sprint stage. It is expected to take about one to one and a half years. After the 055 and 001 ships are launched, they will be dispatched to Djibouti immediately to form a confrontation."
"The military has also given its opinion on how to deal with the one-and-a-half-year power vacuum period, and the air force should temporarily fill the gap."
"Currently, the construction of Djibouti Airport has been completed and it can take off and land large transport aircraft and bombers."
"Understood."
The old man nodded.
He could naturally understand what the secretary meant. The so-called "can take off and land" means "cannot actually take off and land." In the future, fighter jets represented by the J-22 and J-20 should still be the main combat force of the Djibouti base. .
But as long as the airport is there, it is a serious deterrent. It means that if things get out of control, we have the ability to use the last resort.
"Except for Djibouti, how is Guinea's layout?"
"Negotiations are ongoing, but currently, the situation on the west coast of Africa is extremely turbulent, and Guinea's official control has declined. If we want to open up the situation, we still have to rely on the completion of the Djibouti base."
The old man frowned slightly, and after thinking for a moment, he said:
"Guinea is our most critical source of iron ore in the future. Whether we can break Australia's iron ore monopoly depends on our operations in Guinea."
"If the notice continues, we will increase the Spark Team's financial budget for the third and fourth quarters, speed up technology and equipment research and development, and seize the opportunity at all costs."
"We must let those 'friends' across the sea understand that the era when just a few warships can force us to dare not move is over."
"They think whoever has the bigger fist can speak, so let's show them who has the bigger fist!"
"clear!"
The secretary nodded solemnly and recorded the old man's plan on paper.
"At next week's meeting, we will set the agenda to discuss your proposal. Once the proposal is passed, we will implement it as soon as possible."
“Not as fast as possible, as fast as possible.”
The old man sighed softly and continued:
"We don't have much time. We must seize every minute and every second."
Two weeks later, the Spark Team's additional budget plan was approved. Under Chen Guo's operation, this "windfall" was quickly allocated to several key projects of the Spark Team.
Among them, the Deep Blue 16 project and the 055 project took the bulk of the additional budget.
According to Chen Guo's estimation, with the support of additional funds, the construction period of these two projects can be shortened by at least 20%.
In other words, by January 2008 at the latest, the first aircraft carrier and the first fourth-generation ship should be sailing on the sea.
In the office, Chen Nian, who had just returned to NPU, sat opposite Chen Guo, listening to his arrangements for the Spark Team's capital budget.
In fact, such a budget report had already been done once at the beginning of the year, but due to budget changes, Chen Guo gave Chen Nian another report.
"So basically, as of now, the Spark Team's budget completion will be controlled at about 80% according to your requirements, and the remaining 20% is the risk margin."
"But I really don't understand. What exactly do you plan to use the 20% of your budget for?"
"Metal hydrogen battery? According to the current progress, we can't spend that much money in the short term, right?"
"You know, our current annual budget is 220 billion, and 20% is more than 40 billion. Isn't it a waste if it is left empty?"
"If it doesn't work, let's just vote for the Army. Their equipment really needs to be upgraded."
Hearing this, Chen Nian shook his head firmly.
"No, this 20% of the budget must not be touched."
"Don't say it can't be moved. Even the additional money I gave to Xinghuo before was originally planned to be intercepted."
“40 billion may seem like a lot, but in fact, it’s simply not enough for what we want to do.”
Chen Guo looked at Chen Nian in confusion. After noticing the heavy meaning in the other person's expression, his heart skipped a beat.
"Something big is going to happen?"
Chen Guo asked in a lowered voice subconsciously.
He has long accepted Chen Nian's abilities that are beyond ordinary people's understanding from time to time. Before this, he had accurately predicted the economic crisis and also predicted a destructive event that might have a major impact on China.
So what did he see this time?
Chen Nian raised his head and looked at Chen Guo. After hesitating for a long time, he said:
"What would you think if I said that in 2008 we might face the most serious natural disaster since the founding of the People's Republic of China? The impact will not be completely eliminated even for more than ten years, affecting more than 10 million people?"
"Do you think I'm crazy, or"
"Tell me the specific situation."
Chen Guo immediately interrupted Chen Nian's words, and her expression became nervous.
The worst natural disaster.
If someone else said this in front of him, Chen Guo would definitely think that he had watched too many disaster movies and was suffering from paranoia.
But now, it was Chen Nian who spoke.
Then no matter how absurd it sounds, he must take it seriously.
Because that is most likely true.
Chen Nian took a deep breath. He knew that what he was about to say might have a major impact on his destiny.
His identity will become more elusive, and official attitudes may also change subtly.
Whether it's a benefit or a drawback, he doesn't know and can't define.
But he couldn't help but say it.
Because in his view, this is a responsibility that he cannot escape.
For such a responsibility, even if I go through fire and water, I will not hesitate.
Now that it's May, it's time for a showdown.
So, he opened his mouth and said:
"earthquake."
"In 2008, an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0 or above will occur in Sichuan. The disaster area will be huge and the losses will be immeasurable."
"What month?"
Chen Guo spoke again.
There was no hesitation or doubt in his voice, but only firm "trust" and "urgency" to solve the problem.
"May."
Chen Nian replied.
Chen Guo breathed a sigh of relief. He subconsciously looked at the calendar aside, and after confirming the current month, he said:
"That's okay. One year of preparation is enough anyway."
"Do you have more detailed information? For example, the exact location, the main form of the disaster, and the precise time. With this information, we can make plans as accurately as possible."
"I have both."
"I will write out the information I got as comprehensively as possible, and then I hope you can hand this information over to your superiors."
"And I ask our superiors to take action as soon as possible and mobilize all available forces to prepare for this incident."
"clear."
Chen Guo nodded solemnly. Then, he stood up, picked up the phone, called the logistics team, and issued a notice to convene the core members of the Spark Team for an emergency meeting.
"I will report this matter to my superiors immediately. At the same time, we will conduct a round of discussions within Spark and output a preliminary response plan."
"You probably don't have a specific response plan, otherwise, you wouldn't have this expression."
Having said this, Chen Guo had a comforting smile on her face.
Then, he patted Chen Nian on the shoulder and said:
"Don't worry."
"The scariest thing about earthquakes is their unpredictability."
"Now that we have information about this possible earthquake, there won't be much of a problem in dealing with it."
"You have done so many things in the past four years, and this country is no longer the country it was in 2003."
"Taking a step back, the worst possible scenario is to use the stupidest method to evacuate all residents in the disaster area."
"Isn't it just a bigger economic loss at most? Isn't it just spending money?"
"We have plenty of money."
"Even if it's not enough, we can still grab it."
"The money that was 'robbed' should be used as our disaster relief fund."
(End of chapter)
