Accelerate the Shenyang FC-31 sixth-generation fighter project, with Shenyang primarily focused on carrier-based aircraft. Speed up the commissioning of the Fujian Carrier and Type 076. Move Type 004, Type 005, Type 006, Type 055 Destroyers, Type 054Bs, and subsequent Type 076 batches into wartime production.
Strength had always been the foundation for upholding justice. National defense was diplomacy's true backing. Dignity existed upon the edge of the sword, and truth lay only within the range of cannons! This remained true even when facing an extraterrestrial civilization!
This time, the enemy was still coming from the sea—but we were no longer the Great East of two hundred years ago!
Once you return, every department will act immediately! Conduct on-site inspections and investigations, then submit your reports!
Meeting adjourned! The following comrades will remain!
After the meeting ended, officials, experts, and scholars from all walks of life hurried away, while military leaders and several senior academicians who had been specifically named remained behind.
The senior academicians who remained wore grave expressions, unable to hide their concerns. During the previous meeting, the analysis of extraterrestrial technology had made it seem as though humanity was not too far behind the alien civilization, yet it had deliberately avoided the most important matter—the Sky Pit.
I kept you here because I want to ask a question. As a civilization capable of creating a Sky Pit, just how great is the true gap between us and them?!
We first analyzed their aircraft and used the possibility of shooting them down as an example to bolster confidence. Morale could neither be seen nor touched, yet it was one of the decisive factors that could shape a war. If even the officers fell into despair, then this war could not be fought.
Some intelligence was better kept confidential for now. Once we had thoroughly understood the alien civilization's information and intentions, we could make it public. But as the decision-makers, we had to know the truth!
The chief's words silenced the senior academicians present. As the saying went, the ignorant feared nothing. But experts like them, who had spent years researching technology on the front lines, understood better than ordinary people what technological suppression was and what a dimensional strike meant.
"Enormous! Very enormous!"
An academician spoke with a stern face and a heavy voice:
"The Sky Pit is ring-shaped. This model is a classic containment structure, using an outer ring device to restrain the passage within and maintain its stability. That alone is beyond us! We cannot even keep a nuclear fusion device operating stably for long periods, yet they can steadily restrain a wormhole—or something else we do not understand—and deploy forces tens, hundreds, or even thousands of light-years away!"
After the academician finished, the expressions of several elderly chiefs visibly darkened, as grim as ice. One particularly old man reached up to cover his heart, his brows deeply furrowed.
In the vast universe, another civilization could travel across immense distances to reach the Milky Way, locate the Solar System out in the "suburbs," and precisely open a wormhole on the third planet. What did that mean? It meant—you! Were! Finished!
"Medic!"
No need. It's an old problem. I'll be fine in a moment.
"There are still some contradictions. Theoretically, a civilization capable of opening wormholes should be at least Type II. Its fundamental science should utterly crush ours. Yet the aircraft it built have not displayed the performance they should possess, and they can even be shot down by 30mm autocannons. The technology displayed by the Sky Pit does not match what we encountered in actual combat. The specific reason remains unknown."
As they listened to the senior academician, the elderly chiefs' tightly furrowed brows eased somewhat. They had considered everything—except surrender.
Spend all the U.S. debt holdings as soon as possible and exchange them for the corresponding resources.
The aliens had arrived and cut off the Pacific Ocean, so the usefulness of U.S. debt would be greatly reduced. Although dumping large quantities of U.S. debt would affect the USA's economy and harm the broader situation, we had to prepare for the worst. If the aliens truly were that powerful, then preserving the embers of civilization and ensuring the continuation of Huaxia Civilization had to be our foremost concern.
"Understood!"
Accelerate technological research aimed at extraterrestrial civilizations. The weapons and equipment currently in our arsenal were designed to crush the previous generation, but alien technology was different from ours—human technology. The combat effectiveness of these weapons and equipment would be severely reduced.
"Understood!"
Having said that, the elderly chief turned to look at the naval commanders. The aliens' "gate" was above the Pacific Ocean, so the Navy would be the first line of defense against the threat. And within the Navy, aside from missiles, Naval Aviation would be the first to come into contact with the aliens.
I know our Naval Aviation foundation is weak, but we cannot abandon the enormous interests at sea!
As one of the Navy's key forces, Naval Aviation played an important role in protecting the nation's maritime rights and interests and maintaining security at sea. Think of the natural gas and oil beneath the ocean—those were energy resources, the lifeblood that kept industry running!
Every day, the first thing the elderly chiefs faced was the food, clothing, and basic needs of 1.4 billion people. Feeding 1.4 billion people was no easy task. Sea routes brought vast quantities of resources, crops, and oil from all over the world to Great East every day, keeping Great East running. Until circumstances made it impossible, maritime transport had to continue.
Before the alien civilization expanded and completely severed the sea lanes, we had to prepare in advance. Considering the risks, maritime shipments should be consolidated into batches and escorted by the Navy.
"If we are to provide long-range escorts, we do not have enough oceangoing warships."
At that moment, the naval officers suddenly felt that there were not enough dumplings in the pot. If only they had more oceangoing warships. As the netizens would say: there were simply too few ships per capita!
Unfortunately, Great East was not a hegemon like the USA, deploying forces across the globe. It had never intended to contend for supremacy, wishing only to protect one corner of the mortal world.
Then arrange the rotations properly. Maritime transport cannot be cut off—at least, not now! We will accelerate the construction of land transportation routes. Before Pacific maritime shipping is severed, import large quantities of oil, natural gas, Australian iron ore, and other strategic resources from the USA.
This was also one of Great East's geopolitical advantages. If maritime transport was cut off, it could still rely on the Eurasian continent and import through land routes, rather than being like a sea-power nation such as the USA, where losing control of the seas meant losing everything.
Once the Liaoning returned to port, immediately refit and prepare it. Make full use of the advantages of our conventionally powered carriers, ensuring that one carrier could always carry out combat missions and respond to threats that might arrive.
The naval commanders felt the crushing pressure on their shoulders—pressure the People's Navy had never faced before. The joy of Type 076 being launched had vanished completely, leaving only the heavy burden called responsibility.
This was a war we had never fought before! It was also a war with a vast disparity in strength! The enemy had changed! But our determination to defend the people had never changed!
Go back and prepare. Cancel all leave. The time when history tests us has come. Do you have the confidence to hand in an answer sheet that satisfies the people?
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
Meeting adjourned!
Before you continue