After receiving Li Xiang's call, Chen Nian suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment.
No wonder he always felt that the situation was so familiar. It turned out that such a thing had indeed happened in his previous life.
Of course, the other party's methods are not 100% proactive, and not every step is deliberately foreshadowed by them.
Some of them are indeed exploratory strategies they have made, such as restrictions on the semiconductor industry, military contraction, and downgrading of the arms race.
But the other part, such as competition in the field of talent, should be an emergency measure after the strategy fails.
Of course, there is no point in carefully distinguishing the nature of each strategy. What Chen Nian is most concerned about is actually a few key clues that can characterize the situation.
It was already 10 o'clock in the evening. Chen Nian was sitting in the office and finally waited for Chen Guo and Li Xiang, who rushed over as quickly as possible.
"what's the situation?"
As soon as she saw Chen Nian, Chen Guo immediately asked.
"I suspect that the other party is laying the groundwork for us and preparing to drag us into the water."
"South Island?"
"That's right."
Hearing Chen Nian's answer, Chen Guo nodded slowly.
On the way here, Li Xiang had already told him his speculations, so he already had a certain understanding of the basic situation.
But after hearing Gao Chennian's answer, his first reaction was still doubt.
Are you kidding me?
Taking back the South Island can be said to be a top-level strategic goal. Once achieved, it will not only achieve unity in terms of ideology and national identity, but more importantly, the opponent's multi-point layout will also be wiped out.
In this case, will they give it a chance?
However, after thinking carefully for a moment, he suddenly realized that this strategy was not impossible.
The key to implementing the strategy lies in the advantage of military strength.
Yes, accumulated over the decades after World War II, this can be said to be the most powerful trump card of the United States.
With the explosive development of China's science and technology and the subsequent full-scale economic development, what else can they rely on?
Soft means alone are not enough.
But there is no advantage in fair competition, so the answer is obvious as to what to do.
You can only drag your opponent into your area of expertise and then use rogue means to defeat him.
Local conflict, or one-sided agent conflict.
They can afford it. After all, the arms that are about to expire in the ammunition depot always have to find a place to be digested.
Compared with spending money in the Middle East or Africa, if you can spend it on the sea, it is definitely the most cost-effective thing.
Thinking of this, Chen Guo frowned.
He looked at Chen Nian and asked:
"You told Li before that you need to determine some key information. What are they specifically?"
Chen Nian pushed the A4 paper filled with words in front of him and replied:
"It's all up there, take a look first."
There are not many words on the paper, only six words in total.
Determine the future travel plans of key personnel of the other party.
Determine the other party’s main arms sales direction next year.
Determine the opponent's short-term military equipment development plan, especially the production plan and active equipment maintenance plan.
Obtain each other, South Island economic cooperation direction and South Island industrial layout strategy.
Obtain changes in material reserves of the other party and South Island.
Obtain the adjustment situation and future trends of island system personnel.
Chen Guo and Li Xiang hurried forward, and after seeing clearly what was written on the paper, they both fell silent.
After a long time, Li Xiang finally spoke:
“These pieces of information are crucial, but the problem is, they’re not easy to obtain.”
"A lot of it belongs to the other party's top-secret information. If we can get it, the other party's intelligence department will probably have to undergo a major overhaul from top to bottom."
After hearing his words, Chen Nian nodded slightly and replied:
"I know it's not easy, but to truly confirm their strategic direction, this information must be obtained."
"Of course, it doesn't have to be direct information, indirect evidence can also be used."
Li Xiang hesitated for a moment, and finally looked at Chen Guo.
"This matter is completely beyond my ability - Professor Chen, what do you think?"
"Me too. If we have to get this information, I'm afraid the entire upper-level strategy will have to be adjusted."
"Let's report it first. We should already have some of the information. Let's take it over first and make some basic judgments."
"It can only be the."
Li Xiang nodded slightly, then turned back to Chen Nian and asked:
"If it is finally determined that the situation is true, what should we do? Do you have any judgment?"
Logically speaking, such non-technical questions should not be answered by Chen Nian, but as the two people who have the most contact with him, both Chen Guo and Li Xiang have a clear understanding of the boundaries of Chen Nian's capabilities.
Therefore, when he asked this question, he was actually expecting Chen Nian to give a "standard" and "effective" answer.
However, this time, Chen Nian did not give him the answer he wanted.
"I don't know, there's no standard answer to that question."
Chen Nian did not lie. In fact, in his opinion, there is no standard answer like a "technical solution" to any major strategic issue between the two countries.
The world situation is a huge chaotic system, and the situation is changing every moment. Even the slightest disturbance will make the entire system go in a completely different direction.
Therefore, asking him to answer the question "what to do" is completely forcing someone to do something difficult.
But he can indeed give a general direction.
So, he continued to speak:
"But one thing is certain, we cannot avoid war completely passively."
"Avoiding conflicts cannot truly avoid conflicts. Those resources saved in the military will definitely be lost in other fields. This is an iron law of international exchanges."
Hearing this, Chen Guo and Li Xiang nodded at the same time, but neither spoke.
After a moment of silence, Li Xiang spoke:
"There is an unreal feeling. We seem to be very close to conflict."
"It's always been close."
Chen Nian's expression was a little surprised, but he quickly calmed down.
Li Xiang's words suddenly made him realize something:
It turns out that in this era, most people are not prepared for the so-called conflict.
There has been peace for a long time, and they have not experienced the confrontation in 2016, nor the conflicts in the river valley, nor have they witnessed the tense situations caused by a trip abroad.
Even in the eyes of some people, the other party is just an "annoying friend".
But in fact, this friend wants our lives every moment.
Once the incident breaks out, the consequences will be more serious than any previous friction.
Because it can't end in any kind of peaceful way.
The final result is either that one side gives in and is completely defeated.
Or, it's an all-out conflict.
This was the source of Chen Nian's previous anxiety.
Before Li Xiang could figure out the key to the problem, he intuitively sensed this threat and automatically shifted his attention to strategic nuclear counterattack capabilities.
Chen Nian suddenly felt dumbfounded.
Should I say I'm sharp or pessimistic?
But no matter what, at least the current development direction in equipment is in the right direction.
If you want to stop the opponent from drawing a sword, the best way is to show a sharper blade in front of it.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the sea.
In the corner office, Bob sat behind his desk with a serious look on his face, sorting out the latest information he had obtained.
Since Houston's "suicide in fear of crime", the entire May Conference power system has almost fallen apart. In order to maintain the normal operation of the intelligence department, Congress has made adjustments to relevant agencies and unified the external intelligence affairs that originally belonged to the May Conference to the Corner Tower. deal with.
This means a comprehensive increase in Bob's power - this is indeed an incredible result. Before the order was issued, Bob even thought that his fate would be the same as Houston's.
But obviously, Congress did not intend to leave this country unavailable, so Bob reached the pinnacle of power in this bizarre way.
Of course, the expansion of power also means the expansion of responsibilities, and he has to take on more work, the most important of which is external strategic layout.
In the past few months, he made a series of adjustments in a familiar way and finally determined the so-called "ultimate strategy". According to the established goals of this strategy, all departments immediately took action to provide The final step that determines the victory is fully prepared.
Of course, his preparations weren't quite ready until now.
——
In other words, he is not completely sure yet.
After all, this was a big gamble that either won or failed, and he had to make sure that all the details were done to the extreme.
After reading the last report, Bob raised his head, turned to the waiting assistant, and asked:
"Have you received feedback from these four companies, Lockheed Martin, Thor, General Motors, and Lockheed Martin?"
Upon hearing his question, the assistant quickly replied:
"All feedback has been received and there are no problems."
"The four companies promised to complete the expansion of production capacity within a month and prepare for new orders."
"It is expected that within two months, Lockheed Martin will be the first to start executing the contract, and the other three companies will be ready within 90 days."
"Overall, the plan is being implemented smoothly and there are no problems with our production capacity."
"But again, the concerns of all companies are the same. They are worried that orders will not be fulfilled and money will be lost."
"That's not something we need to think about."
Bob interrupted the assistant with a look of disdain on his face.
Of course, he knew that there was a risk that the orders he promised could not be fulfilled. After all, no warmonger could guarantee that a war would happen at some point.
But isn’t this the money these companies make?
If you want to obtain excess returns, you must bear excess risks.
He doesn't care about the losses that breaking the contract may cause to the other party. What he cares about is the resistance to his strategy caused by the other party's inability to complete the order on time.
After a pause, Bob continued to ask:
"How is the communication going on the South Island side? Arms sales, appointments and removals, and restrictions are reported separately."
"In terms of arms sales, we have negotiated a US$4.6 billion contract, mainly for the design of anti-aircraft missiles, fighter jets and other anti-landing combat equipment."
"According to your request, the price we gave is not high, and the other party is also very satisfied."
"In addition, we have committed to further export plans, with the main target being radar systems."
"Well done."
Bob nodded slightly.
Seeing his reaction, the assistant continued:
"In terms of appointment and dismissal, Ma Yingnai is currently more likely to take office, but we have reached a consensus with most members and will support Gu Kuanmin to take office."
"Gu Kuanmin? I know him. He seems to be too old."
"But he is the most suitable candidate. If we don't choose him, we can only choose Wu Zhaoxie. However, we have used this person very well so far and it is not suitable to use him as a sacrifice."
"Understood."
Bob understood immediately.
In such a huge strategy, one's own side must leave a good backup for itself.
The "talker" standing in front of the stage is the best scapegoat.
Obviously, this role cannot be filled by a truly useful person - anyway, Bob doesn't expect the person in this position to have any abilities. What he needs is just a dog that can bark firmly.
In this case, it is perfect to let an 80-year-old man be the dog.
"What about restrictions?"
"The previous semiconductor strategy did play a certain role, but the other party responded quickly, and they had already launched a backup plan two years ago. Overall, the effect was limited."
"I'm afraid the layout in this area cannot achieve the expected results, and we need to consider abandoning it."
"But fortunately, we don't need to apply pressure in this way. They have already misjudged their overall strength. As long as they are teased a little, they will definitely bite."
"What I'm worried about is not that they won't bite the hook, but that when they bite the hook, they will bring the scissors to cut the fishing line."
Bob replied with a frown.
After hearing this, the assistant couldn't answer for a while.
After a few seconds of silence, he spoke:
"So, we have to close the line quickly, so fast that they don't have time to break free."
"That means we must put enough pressure on them at the beginning of the incident to create enough sunk costs for them to gamble to the end."
"This is not easy to handle. I'm afraid we will have to make them lose at least one fleet."
"unnecessary."
Bob shook his head and replied:
"We just need to knock out their flagship."
"Their 001, and the 055."
"This is their biggest source of confidence. If we knock them off, everything will fall into our rhythm."
"This is indeed the best outcome but what if, they just watch and don't bite the hook?"
As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Bob couldn't help but laugh.
He asked rhetorically:
"Do you think we're really fishing?"
"If they don't take the bait, the benefits we will gain will only be more."
(End of chapter)
