I built an armada.

Chapter 857 Dingping is in trouble, I'm dismissing you.

He shouldn't have suffered such a setback, especially considering he's a high-ranking military engineer.

Liu Huaming replied helplessly, "Marshal Xue, I just wanted to share the joy of victory with Dingping. I didn't expect him to make such a request. I regret it now..."

"Okay, is there any point in talking about this anymore?"

Before Liu Huaming could finish speaking, Xue Shuai decisively interrupted him, saying very seriously, "Liu Huaming, this matter is now entrusted to you."

"You must treat this matter as your top priority and not be careless in the slightest!"

"If anything happens to Dingping, I will remove you from your post and put you on trial! Do you understand?"

After saying this, Xue Shuai hung up the phone decisively without giving Liu Huaming any chance to explain.

Hearing the disconnected call, Liu Huaming's face darkened, and he couldn't help but let out a long sigh, feeling utterly helpless.

Ugh, what kind of mess did I make? I was the most innocent one, but I got a severe scolding.

Now that things have come to this, Xu Dongguo and the other bigwigs are well aware that no matter how much they struggle, it will be of no use. Next, they must come up with a plan.

Su Dingping's aircraft carrier trip is inevitable, and no one can stop it.

There was nothing they could do. Su Dingping's demands were too tempting to refuse; the benefits were simply too great. They couldn't stop Su Dingping either, so they could only comply.

"You all heard that, Commander Xue gave a direct order. The problem is back to square one. Now, don't just sit there, start thinking about what to do next."

Liu Huaming took a deep breath and tapped his fingers lightly on the table a few times. "Hurry up. If anything happens to Dingping, I won't be able to escape responsibility, and neither will you."

"Everyone needs to think and come up with solutions. Everyone needs to use their brains!"

The bigwigs fell silent instantly, their brows furrowed in deep thought. Clearly, this matter was also very thorny for them; a perfect solution was so difficult to come up with.

After a moment, Xu Dongguo broke the awkward silence: "Commander, there might still be room for maneuver in this matter. How about we do this..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Zhaoxin, who had rushed in, pushed open the door to the conference room.

Upon arriving at Liu Huaming's side, Zhang Zhaoxin immediately opened the folder and urgently reported, "Reporting to the commander, the latest intelligence indicates that the situation has changed."

New intelligence suggests the situation has changed?

Upon hearing this, everyone was overjoyed; they had come at just the right time.

Does that mean that the Enterprise's extremely risky voyage is doomed to fail?
However, what Zhang Zhaoxin reported next made them all wish they could just buy a block of tofu and bang their heads against the wall; perhaps that would be a quicker solution.

"Reporting to the commander, the Eagle Tribe's Foreign Affairs Department released a new announcement one minute ago."

"Its content is the same as ours, with a map at the end that marks all of our hundreds of cities, large and small, and marks them with nuclear strike symbols."

Clearly, the Eagle Tribe is launching a tit-for-tat retaliatory action against the Dragon Summer Tribe.

At first, Liu Huaming thought that something had happened at the front line, that the captain of the USS Enterprise, Willis, had changed his mind and refused to surrender, choosing to fight them to the bitter end.

To be honest, he was hoping Willis would regret it, so he could issue the order to wipe out the entire Enterprise carrier fleet, leaving not a single one alive. Why should the executioner of that time be allowed to live? Of course, if he were to leave one alive, it would definitely be the Enterprise, which he would use as leverage to negotiate with the Eagle Tribe.

In any case, even if Willis changes his mind, the Enterprise carrier fleet will not be able to cause any substantial damage to the naval fleet operating on the front lines.

Judging from the current situation, the frontline fleet has gained an absolute advantage.

The aircraft carrier fleet has no anti-aircraft missiles left, so isn't that just a piece of fat meat in the mouth of the Longxia Navy? They can eat it whenever they want.

Furthermore, even if the USS Enterprise were equipped with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, the frontline fleet's air defense missiles would be more than capable of handling them, so there would be no real concern.

Who could have imagined that things would turn out so differently from what he had expected?

It turned out that the Eagle Tribe's foreign affairs department had stirred things up again, reflecting the will of the Eagle Tribe's high-ranking leaders. The Great Chief and his entourage were clearly unwilling to accept this. It truly disappointed him.

"Nuclear strike marker?" Xu Dongguo asked, quite puzzled.

"Yes, Chief."

Zhang Zhaoxin immediately handed over the intelligence documents and placed them on the conference table.

Everyone immediately crowded around to take a look, their brows furrowing and their faces showing displeasure.

"Our nuclear arsenal has an absolute advantage! We are capable of detecting and destroying them instantly! (Image)"

Sure enough, on that map, all the hundreds of cities, large and small, of the Longxia tribe were marked with a 'nuclear strike' symbol, and even the nuclear radiation range was circled.

On the side of this nuclear strike warning sign, the words "Detect and Destroy" are written in very large and eye-catching red font.

Upon comparison, everyone immediately noticed that the content of these announcements was virtually identical to the targeted announcements previously issued by the Longxia tribe. The only difference was that the maps used by both sides had been switched.

The script was changed from Longxia script to English, and that was all.

As for the rest, there's no need to delve into it too much; it's insignificant. In short, this announcement is simply a tit-for-tat response to their previous statements.

There was nothing new to report, and an exasperated look appeared on their faces. They felt an urge to curse. Was this some kind of joke?

"Holy crap, is this what the number one superpower on Earth does? They just translate our previous announcement and change the map. Is it really worth arguing about something like this?"

"I'm so angry I could laugh. Such petty-mindedness! I just took a look, and they've basically just translated our text, oh, and added two extra words. I'm speechless." "Is the Eagle Tribe doing this to show they're stronger than us? Are they determined to gain the upper hand? Don't they know that this only exposes their paper tiger nature?"

"As the saying goes, a barking dog doesn't bite. If they really wanted to use nuclear weapons, they probably would have done it already. Why would they be arguing with us like this?"

"They have absolutely no originality, not even a shred of innovation. How lazy can they be?"

After much discussion, the leaders reached a consensus: the Eagle Tribe's foreign affairs department's actions this time were petty and childish.

Just because they have more nuclear weapons than the Longxia tribe doesn't mean they're so great. It's really ridiculous!

"No matter what, this matter still needs to be resolved."

Liu Huaming tapped the table lightly a few times, and after everyone's attention was focused, he said, "Judging from the current situation, launching the Yunfan-2 anti-ship ballistic missile is still necessary. Otherwise, they will keep nagging and talking nonsense here."

"If we hit another aircraft carrier, they will realize that if we can hit one, we can hit a second, or even more. In that case, they will have to reconsider."

Liu Huaming paused for a moment, took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and then continued speaking.

"Even if they retaliate, it won't be a big deal for us. At worst, we'll just be back to where we were decades ago and have to start all over again. That's how we've always survived the hard times."

"But if we overturn the table, can they withstand our nuclear retaliation?"

"They are going to fall from their dominant position, and the Eagle Tribe will push them down. Will they accept such a consequence?"

That's right, this is the basic judgment of the top naval leaders that the Eagle Tribe dares not easily use nuclear weapons, after all, the consequences are too terrible.

The Eagle Tribe had been in a dominant position for so long that they had become accustomed to it and considered it their right. Any provocation was seen as a threat, and they would act decisively and ruthlessly.

They've done this before, and it's ruined many countries like this!
However, the Longxia tribe was tough and resilient, and did not succumb to such discipline and threats! Most importantly, the Longxia tribe was not like the Keyi tribe, which lacked the confidence and courage to overturn the table!

This forced the Eagle Tribe to take the matter seriously. If they were to consider a complete breakdown in relations, they would have to consider the Dragon Summer Tribe's nuclear counterattack!

In conventional warfare, the Longxia tribe is completely fearless and will simply confront the enemy head-on. If nuclear weapons were used, the Longxia tribe might be set back a few decades, but it wouldn't be completely destroyed. On the other hand, the Eagle tribe would fall from its dominant position.

Because the Longxia tribe will inevitably retaliate, many of the Eagle tribe's megacities will be destroyed, and its military industry will suffer a devastating blow.

Not only that, but the military bases and assets deployed around the Eastern Continent's waters will also be destroyed by the Longxia tribe's nuclear strike.

As a result, the military strength of the Eagle Tribe will be greatly weakened, and its overall national strength will plummet. It will probably take decades to recover and it will be impossible to reach its current level again.

The powerful weapons and equipment we once possessed, as well as the super-strong urban infrastructure, have been destroyed and need to be rebuilt. Even if everything goes very smoothly, it will still take a long time.

Moreover, at this point, the White Bear tribe will almost certainly jump out to interfere and obstruct in various ways!

In this dire situation, the Western tribal alliances that revered the Eagle Tribe would reconsider their master-servant relationship. They would surely turn against the Eagle Tribe and, together with the White Bear Tribe and its allies, reshape the global order.

With its overall national strength severely damaged, it is completely impossible for the Eagle Tribe to dominate the nations of Blue Star, just like the White Bear Tribe now, no, it may be even worse than the White Bear Tribe today.

If such a situation were to occur, it would be absolutely unacceptable and an unbearable burden for the Eagle Tribe.

Taking these consequences into consideration, the advisors only suggested that the chief use nuclear weapons as a deterrent, rather than actually launching a nuclear war to destroy the country's power, but merely to save face for the country!

Liu Huaming tapped his fingers lightly on the table twice, then continued speaking.

"What I just said doesn't mean we shouldn't be vigilant. We still need to be prepared for any eventuality. We can't let the enemy take advantage of any loopholes. We can't place our national security entirely on such speculation."

After this reminder, the bigwigs nodded in deep agreement.

"Sir, please rest assured, we have not let our guard down for a moment and are well prepared," Xu Dongguo replied.

Previously, Deng Zhenhua from the Army side had released the message, which was a signal to the Eagle Tribe. It was precisely because of this that the Eagle Tribe stepped in to facilitate the previous bilateral consultation on the use of nuclear weapons.

That round of negotiations ultimately broke down, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that it made the Eagle Tribe understand the Dragon Summer Tribe's bottom line: if nuclear weapons were used, both sides would retaliate with nuclear weapons.

Therefore, bilateral conflicts are limited to the use of conventional weapons, with each side striving to achieve its own interests on that basis!

Seeing that everyone understood, Liu Huaming then ordered Zhang Zhaoxin, "Zhang Zhaoxin, contact the front lines and Dingping. Yunfan II can proceed with the launch process. It's time for us to give the USS Bald Eagle a little something."

"This missile is meant to tell the Eagle Tribe that we have clearly mastered the technology of using ballistic missiles to hit aircraft carriers, and it is not just a fluke or an accident."

Zhang Zhaoxin immediately straightened up and accepted the order, saying, "Yes, sir!"

He turned around and hurriedly walked out to arrange these two matters.

After the meeting room doors closed again, Liu Huaming continued, "Alright, let's continue with the previous topic. Xu Dongguo, please continue."

"Yes, Chief."

After receiving the order, Xu Dongguo continued, "I think the key to this matter lies in Dingping's personal safety. We also need to deliberately conceal his unique identity."

"In other words, I think we can arrange for Ping to be a member of our entourage and board the USS Enterprise with us, keeping a low profile as much as possible."

"Of course, we can't be too deliberate. It would be best to let him go with the soldiers at the front and blend in with them."

"In that case, I think even if Willis is very vigilant, he probably won't have the slightest suspicion."

This suggestion naturally made everyone think. Their only concern now was to ensure Su Dingping's personal safety and make sure everything went smoothly.

(End of this chapter)