I built an armada.

"So, your conclusion is..."

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Cohen, tapped his fingers on the table to summarize.

"Are we losing both our quantitative and qualitative advantages in low Earth orbit, this future strategic high ground?"

"Moreover, our existing advantages have been rapidly eroded by the other side in a more efficient and lower-cost manner."

"Wouldn't this severely weaken our military operational capabilities globally, especially in the Western Pacific?"

Because the competition for near-Earth orbit resources is no longer just a commercial or scientific competition.

This is a battle for the cornerstones of future war command and control, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance, and space-based communication support!
Losing the advantage of near-Earth orbit means that the Eagle Tribe will be caught up with, or even surpassed by, the Dragon Summer Tribe in the military field!

The conference room was silent, with only the low hum of the air conditioning system.

Everyone understood that Cohen was right, but at this crucial moment, no one dared to speak up in agreement.

The shockwaves from the Longxia tribe's advancements in aircraft carriers, sixth-generation fighter jets, and electromagnetic weapons have barely subsided when they catch up rapidly in the space domain.

This all-encompassing, multi-layered sense of oppression made these decision-makers, who were used to the advantages of technological superiority, feel extremely suffocated!
The iron fist of reality has repeatedly struck them hard in the face, forcing these elites who dreamed of living off their hegemonic dreams for a lifetime to wake up.

When an empire is on the verge of decline, the problems are not apparent from the paper alone.

What policymakers see is still a thriving scene.

At most, there might be some natural disasters or man-made calamities in certain places, but the empire's economic and political systems simply couldn't function.

Even orders from the imperial central government could not reach the local areas.

Often, the upper echelons of an empire simply perish while indulging in a life of decadence and debauchery.

Not to mention the Eagle Tribe, this fragmented empire.

To be precise, Eagle Tribe is a company that masquerades as a nation.

This country itself is a political entity forcibly formed by a group of scattered merchants in order to resist exploitation from their mother country.

When this country was first established, it had only 13 states.

The remaining land was obtained through various means of deception and fraud.

Even the renowned Lone Star Republic only reluctantly joined the Union under military pressure.

The Lone Star Republic even retains the right to independence "when necessary".

As is well known, each state in the Eagle Tribe has its own separate legal system.

Theoretically speaking, such a country should be very slow to perceive the rise of an enemy.

However, the Longxia tribe rose to power far too quickly, with technology exploding at an incredible rate, as if it were free.

The key point is that these technologies have not only caught up with the Eagle Tribe, but some technologies have even surpassed the Eagle Tribe.

In a country controlled by electoral politics, policies are unusually sensitive to such matters.

In today's information-rich society, people in every country can quickly and easily receive information from all over the world.

Even with the existence of information cocoons, some information can never be kept secret.

If the people discover that the country, which the Eagle Tribe has always portrayed as an evil empire, has some technology that surpasses theirs, they will believe that their current government is failing to act.

If they want to be re-elected, it will be much more difficult for them to win votes.

More importantly, these could become tools for political enemies to attack them.

There is no possibility of peaceful coexistence between the Eagle Tribe and the Dragon Summer Tribe.

The very nature of the Eagle Tribe nation dictates that its entire ruling class is reactionary.

When the relationship between the Eagle Tribe and the Dragon Summer Tribe thawed, the Eagle Tribe had already demanded that the Dragon Summer Tribe cease exporting its ideology to other countries.

However, as the Longxia tribe grows stronger, the daily lives of its people no longer need to be publicized by the Longxia tribe. With the development of the internet, the public will naturally learn about it themselves.

Once the people are allowed to see the world and understand what daily life is like for the people of the Longxia tribe, then they will no longer be able to enjoy and exploit the people.

It is precisely because of this relationship that the elites of the Eagle Tribe are so wary of the rise of the Dragon Summer Tribe.

Because if the Longxia tribe were to become a world-class power, it would truly harm their interests, and could even cost them their lives!

"They want to start a space race."

Secretary of State Olsen broke the silence.

Compared to others, he is more concerned with the political and diplomatic aspects.

"This is absolutely a new space race, and we must be extremely vigilant!"

"Just like the 'Sputnik moment' of yesteryear, but this time it's more comprehensive, more prolonged, and more dangerous!"

"They use peaceful use and global services as a pretext to build a space system centered on themselves."

"It is clear that there is no place for us in the system constructed by the Longxia tribe."

"It is foreseeable that soon people will ask whether our space capabilities are still reliable?"

"Everyone."

His expression was serious, and he leaned forward slightly.

"If Longxia's satellite network offers cheaper and wider-coverage communication and remote sensing services, how many countries will switch to them?"

"This is not just a military issue, but also an economic, political, and even rule-making issue!"

Before the rise of the Longxia tribe, the only tribe in the world with the capability to commercially launch satellites was the Eagle tribe.

The White Bear Tribe used to have this capability, but now they can't even manage their own satellites, let alone commercialize them.

As for the Eastern Wilderness Tribe, it has been almost completely wiped out in recent years.

Therefore, if any country wants to launch a satellite into space, it can only pay a high price to the Eagle Tribe.

As the world's only GPS positioning system, this single system alone can generate enormous profits for these powerful and wealthy individuals every year.

Although everyone says they value it, in reality, the rise of the Longxia tribe is more important than the immediate benefits.

However, if the rise of the Longxia tribe could potentially harm their commercial interests, these elites would become restless.

Putting aside everything else, just in the field of global positioning alone, they will be facing a formidable competitor.

Therefore, when the minister talked about economic issues, everyone present paid more attention.

"Therefore we must respond!"

Minister Thurston raised his voice.

"In order to maintain our priority in the space sector, and to safeguard our commercial interests in space..." "We must immediately launch our own acceleration program, launch more satellites, develop more advanced technologies, and regain the initiative!"

"Our Ministry of National Defense has drafted the 'Guardian Constellation' plan, which aims to build a more resilient, more jam-resistant military satellite network that integrates some offensive capabilities..."

The minister presented the plan he had prepared long ago.

The expressions on everyone's faces changed simultaneously.

So all you've been saying is to scam funding?

"Where does the money come from?"

A calm voice interrupted him.

Everyone turned to look, and there stood Jenkins, the White House Chief of Staff and Senior Political Advisor to the President.

He had been sitting silently in the shadows behind the presidential seat until now, when he finally spoke, his gaze sweeping over the generals and officials present.

"Gentlemen, I admire your professionalism and sense of crisis, but please don't forget that the election is only a few months away."

He stood up, walked to the orbital simulation diagram, and ran his finger across the glaring red area:
"Voters don't care about sun-synchronous orbits, and they don't understand orbital mechanics. They care about employment rates, inflation, gasoline prices, border security..."

"The Chief is fighting for re-election, and every bit of political capital and every dollar of budget needs to be rewarded with votes."

"You're telling me you want to launch a 'space race' that could cost hundreds of billions, take years, have no guarantee of immediate results, and could even trigger a new arms race and budget deficit?"

Judging from the current situation, the chances of the Great Chief being re-elected are not particularly high.

If this plan is pushed forward now, the only ones who will gain political capital and benefits in the future will be the next government.

Letting them go through all that trouble to push forward a major project only to benefit their political enemies... it's better to just kill them!
This is what they mean by watching others make money being more painful than losing money yourself.

Moreover, this project was initiated during their tenure and requires the consumption of their own resources and budget.

No matter how you look at it, this is a losing proposition.

Jenkins' words were like a bucket of cold water poured over the heated military and technical discussions.

In reality, political considerations are an unavoidable framework for decision-makers making strategic decisions.

The so-called general election may seem democratic, but in the end it will degenerate into pure electoral politics.

Everyone is focused on the few votes in front of them, and the government doesn't make any long-term plans.

They will only make plans that yield results within their short four-year term.

They even went so far as to damage the country's long-term interests in order to make the data look better on the surface.

This is the problem that the Great Chief is currently facing.

Indeed, the rise of the Longxia tribe is worrying, and their interests may even be harmed.

However, the problem is that the entire project takes too long to implement and requires too many resources.

If they fail to win re-election, all of this expenditure will become a boon for the next government.

Even if they were to be re-elected, could they guarantee that the project during their term would surpass that of the Dragon Summer Tribe?

If it fails, then you'll have to take all the blame.

Conversely, if they are not re-elected, the project will be considered a failure, which would actually be a good thing for the next leader.

Because they can use this project to their advantage, attacking their leadership for wasting national resources and causing significant losses to the country.

From any perspective, this is good news for their political enemies.

Considering the political factors, ignoring it becomes the best option.

“But,” Field tried to argue, “if we do nothing and watch Longxia take control of low Earth orbit, the future security and economic costs will be even greater!”

"It will be too late when our GPS is jammed, our reconnaissance satellites are blinded, and our critical communications depend on other people's networks!"

"This concerns the cornerstone of our nation's long-term security!"

It must be said that Field did indeed have a certain degree of concern for the country and its people.

Oh no, it should be that they are worried about their own interests being harmed. As for the country and the people... they are just resources that can be sold when necessary.

“Long-term security is important, Martin.”

Jenkins turned around and spoke slowly.

"But Your Majesty the Great Chief needs to win November to have a chance to protect that so-called 'long term'."

"If the huge space spending causes domestic infrastructure bills to stall, social welfare to be cut, or the stock market to be affected by escalating tensions with Longxia... then 'long-term security' is meaningless to a great chief who may not be able to be re-elected."

After all, a country's budget is limited.

If more budget is allocated to a certain department, then it is necessary to draw budget from other departments.

Considering the potential "losses" that may occur during this process, the funds that ultimately reach the project may be less than one-tenth.

This will further increase the amount of money needed for the entire project.

The disastrous consequences of this are something no one can ignore.

He returned to his seat and placed his hands, crossed, on the table.

“We need a solution that can both respond to the Longxia challenge and protect our interests, and also be politically sound and even give His Majesty the Great Chief a boost.”

"What we need is not a purely money-burning military competition!"

Things are quite different now than they were decades ago.

The power of the Old White Bear tribe was far beyond what the current Dragon Summer tribe could compare to.

And what was the global situation like at that time?
Waves of thorny wolf hordes swept across the world, putting the Eagle Tribe at a critical juncture of life and death.

But now, the Longxia tribe has no intention of exporting its ideology to the outside world.

Moreover, even though the Longxia tribe is already catching up with the Eagle tribe, it is still far from reaching the terrifying level of the White Bear tribe back then.

Furthermore, the Eagle Tribe still wields enormous influence worldwide, allowing them to capitalize on the dollar's dominance and reap profits from around the globe wave after wave.

This creates the illusion for these people that they have plenty of time and there is no need to rush.

The chieftain, who had been listening silently, slowly raised his eyelids.

He was over seventy years old, but his blue eyes remained sharp.

It must be admitted that the current situation is not very good for him.

The pressure of re-election, attacks from opponents, challenges both domestically and internationally… (End of Chapter)