Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1274 Politicians and State Advisors (4k)

The time it takes for such a publicly announced message to reach White Room at Citibank is not long. Citibank's electronic surveillance is not to be underestimated. Moreover, this kind of message, which will definitely be broadcast on international radio stations, does not even require such high-level monitoring methods as electronic surveillance. We can just send someone to guard the radio.

Decades later, such a surreal, makeshift operation might not even have enough staff to keep watch over the radio. But this was the 60s, the height of the Cold War, a time when the fighting spirit of various factions was at its peak, so naturally, such a situation wouldn't occur.

Along with this intelligence came a map that clearly showed the maximum range that could theoretically be covered from our territory, based on a range of 3500 kilometers.

The range of War Drum 3 is public knowledge, so it's not difficult for the Americans to deal with.

This intelligence was relayed from Langley Center to White Room at top speed. For Citigroup, the news that a long-time rival who had repeatedly hurt them possessed a fusion bomb was undoubtedly extremely urgent.

When the Citibank president received this intelligence, although his expression was grim, he was even somewhat pleased: "Well done, the lads at Langley Center! This intelligence came at just the right time."

He glanced at his watch; it had only been half an hour since the intelligence report was released. The Langley Center had really made something of itself.

The man at Langley Center twitched at these words. They had been reduced to the point where if they wanted to get intelligence from the East, it was either secondhand or something that the other party had announced to the world. He couldn't quite tell whether his commander's words were a compliment or sarcasm.

The commander was pleased, but his expression was truly grim.

If the kill radius of a fission bomb of about 2 tons can be considered relatively limited based on their live-fire tests—no, actual combat tests—then the kill radius of a hydrogen bomb of 300 megatons would be much larger, according to their live-fire tests.

To put it simply, 20,000 tons wouldn't even cover one-tenth of a district in the Big Apple, but 3 million tons would only require a few to cover the Big Apple.

"The speed of the Easterners is simply astonishing!" He muttered to himself as he looked at the intelligence report, then looked up and asked, "Has this intelligence been confirmed?"

Perhaps this is just the East bluffing, although the possibility is extremely small, but he still asked with a glimmer of hope.

However, reality often contradicts hope: "It has been confirmed that our monitoring devices around them detected seismic waves coming from their direction, and electronic reconnaissance units also detected abnormal electromagnetic fluctuations. Based on the analysis of intensity and time, it is very consistent with what they have announced, and there is no other possibility."

Airplanes simply cannot get in. Apart from indirect evidence such as seismic waves and electromagnetic waves, they have almost no way to obtain relevant corroborating evidence for the time being. Even if a satellite happens to pass overhead, photos can only be obtained after the satellite returns.

However, apart from not disclosing the location, the other party did clearly state the time and the extent of the damage. The approximate area of ​​the location can still be guessed. Combining the monitoring data and the published information, the authenticity of this matter is beyond doubt.

The Citizens president slumped back in his chair, recalling the words of the then-president when he was still deputy president: "As long as I live, they will never be able to build a fusion bomb."

He said this after his bankruptcy, stating, "As long as I live, they will never be able to build a fission bomb." Little did he know that his words would come true.

Perhaps he truly sacrificed his life to prevent the development of fusion weapons by the East? Once he died, this matter could no longer be suppressed?
When it comes to superstition, Western countries are not only just as prevalent, but have even surpassed them over time.

It seems I can't just spout nonsense anymore. The Citizens' president wiped the sweat from his brow and said to his staff, "Gentlemen, what do you think of this matter?"

“It’s bad news, Mr. Commander, look here…” The military advisor pointed to a point on the map. If it weren’t intentionally marked, this point would be almost invisible on the map, yet it was their most important strategic asset in the second island chain of the Asia-Pacific region.

—Kanjima Naval Base.

"This time, the Easterners have not only completely covered Southeast Asia and partially covered the Oil Bay, but also covered important support points of our second island chain. Theoretically speaking, these are the places that are now under threat, and the strikes are highly efficient."

As for the Japanese islands, we had already given up on considering it long ago, when we had the War Drum II missile with a range of 1700 kilometers and fission warheads. That place was simply too easy to strike.

As for strike efficiency, it naturally refers to the difference between fission and fusion. Although the 3500-kilometer range and fission bombs have been announced for a long time, they are still not as shocking as this complete fusion intermediate-range missile.

Just as the world's second highest peak is often forgotten, the second most powerful weapon is subconsciously perceived as having limited effectiveness.

And now, that last shred of illusion has been shattered.

"Should we..." The Citizens' commander's expression shifted between light and dark.

"No, they are too big, Mr. President. I must point out that people always exaggerate the power of atomic weapons. In reality, our existing atomic arsenal is simply incapable of completely destroying such a super-giant nation. This would bring enormous moral and political pressure, and after such an ineffective strike, the empty atomic arsenal and moral disadvantage would encourage our main adversaries to take risks and exploit the situation."

The concept of a super-giant country is less noticeable in the major powers. In fact, countries like ours and the United States, which are close to 1000 million square kilometers, are super-giant countries. As for the United States, it goes without saying that even if you dismantle it, it would still be the largest one.

A key characteristic of such countries is that they are difficult to defeat in one fell swoop. If a small country faces such a country, even if it is highly developed, it will fall into a vicious cycle: it keeps winning, but it is also constantly heading towards defeat. Of course, this is on the premise that the large country is willing to persist in resisting.

The reason the Gauls surrendered so quickly in Season 2 was not only because they were afraid of losing men in Season 1, but also because when Season 2 started, Hans had already broken through their defenses east of the capital and completely occupied the northeastern part of their territory. This part was the essence of Gaul, and by losing this part, the Gauls almost completely lost the resources to fight against Hans.

A little-known fact is that even in the 21st century, the population density in that strip of land in central Gaul was actually quite low. This is somewhat like their national flag, where the central strip is white.

When facing a superpower, even nuclear weapons aren't that effective. Completely crippling a superpower would almost easily deplete the US nuclear arsenal. This is where the US's strategic thinking becomes more active. And vice versa. No matter which power is only blackmailing us without actually attacking, it's not because they're kind, but simply because they're afraid.

After hearing his staff's explanation, the US president was relieved and stopped pursuing the topic: "Is there any possibility that we could also bring the Easterners into our arms control negotiations with the White Bear?"

In fact, both Citibank and White Bear are feeling the strain of their uncontrolled nuclear arsenals. First, production is expensive; second, maintenance is expensive; and third, the sheer number of nuclear weapons is extremely dangerous. They are also seeking a way to control the size of their nuclear arsenals while maintaining their own advantages.

After a long period of probing contacts, the two countries began nuclear arms control negotiations in November 1969. Currently, they are not unaware of this issue, and the question of leadership is clear: should they also bring in the Easterners?

After all, this is also a super-giant country, theoretically sharing the same foundation and prospects as itself and the White Bear. Although they are still very poor and backward, judging from their development over the past ten years, some people have already felt the weight of Napoleon's words—this lion has finally lost control and begun to awaken.

Although they don't yet have the capability to directly attack Citibank's home market, who knows when they will?

As for Gaul and the British, to be honest, although they are both among the Five Virtues, the United States doesn't really think much of these two countries when it comes to nuclear weapons. Their territories are too small and they can't withstand the strain.

If we only consider the core areas of the local areas, one is 55 square kilometers and the other is 24 square kilometers, which is really not impressive.

“Uh… Mr. President, we currently lack channels of communication with them.” The political advisor’s words reminded the president of similar conversations from before. That country, roughly the same size as his own, was there, but within the Citizens’ political system, it seemed as if it didn’t exist.

This made him feel extremely absurd: "It's happening again, it's happening again. We have to do something to change this situation!"

“We’re trying, but it’s not very effective. For some unknown reason, the other party doesn’t seem willing to have much contact with us. However, I don’t think we need to worry too much about this. It’s a bad thing, but I’ve seen something different about it.”

"What shadow?" The commander was somewhat dissatisfied with his advisor's cryptic and evasive words.

The aide pointed to a certain area in the northern half of the unusual world map: "Here! Why are the Easterners' medium-range missiles targeting this area?"

Although he wasn't involved in military affairs, he could still read maps, and it was this understanding of the map that gave him some unique ideas.

The others understood his words, given the highly targeted placement of his finger. However, they didn't entirely agree with his idea: "Here? Their covering of this area probably wasn't intentional; it's merely an objective consequence of the missiles reaching a range of 3500. Subjectively, they shouldn't have had any initiative in doing so."

The man shook his head: "I don't think so. I believe that for Easterners, a range of 3000 kilometers is sufficient to cover the second island chain, Crown Island, and Southeast and South Asia. The Oil Bay isn't of interest to them; they don't yet have the capability to sit at the Oil Bay table. Therefore, this 3500-kilometer range is essentially meaningless. The fact that they would set the range of their medium-range missiles at 3500 kilometers despite their current poverty suggests only one explanation: this range is necessary..."

Regardless of whether he's talking nonsense or not, his analysis is at least of a certain standard. Purely from a geopolitical perspective, without considering factions or routes, his words sound very reasonable.

“What you said isn’t entirely without merit, but I still find it too incredible.” At this moment, everyone else, including the Citibank president, was in a state of “since it’s free, I might as well believe it a little.”

"And as far as I know, they don't necessarily agree on many issues," the aide concluded.

"what do you mean……"

"My idea is that perhaps when certain conditions are right in the future, they will have the need and desire to contact us."

"The future? Let's not discuss that for now; the future is too far away." By the time the future arrives, his term will be over, so why bother with all this?
The aide's words were analyzed from a politician's perspective, while the leader's current thought is simply to be a competent politician; the two are very different.

“Okay, then my advice is much simpler: continue to ignore tradition, keep a low profile and maintain the possibility of seeking contact, and don’t provoke them too much.”

The most convenient thing for the people in this small conference room is that the Easterners obtained the fission bomb two years ago, and they can continue the strategy previously formulated by the government. To some extent, whether the Easterners obtain fission or fusion is not a very big difference.

The only thing to be careful about now is to be more cautious in our actions in Jiaozhi, that's all.
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Compared to Citibank, the White Bear had much more complicated feelings about this matter. They never expected that the poor and weak country that used to have to borrow money to fight wars would develop so rapidly now.

They even possess the capability to launch missile strikes against their own capital, a matter that actually gives the White Bear a bigger headache than the Americans.

Citibank is quite far away, but Polar Bear is a different story.

For the polar bear, who likes to talk about using nuclear weapons to pave the way, even though they are now on the same side, the feeling about this matter is not so good.

A bald man was banging on the conference table, but the tool he was using to bang on the table was a bit unusual. The high-calorie, oily food necessary for high latitudes has made many people bald in the polar bear's family.

At this moment, the bald man was furious. The reason for his anger was not because of the success of our medium-range fusion warhead missile. This matter was more about understanding than explaining, and it was probably not going to be discussed publicly at this meeting.

His anger stemmed from other news that came back along with the missile report, especially the information about the Southern Comrades' High-Tech Products Exhibition, which made the comrades present somewhat uncomfortable.

(End of this chapter)