Chapter 262
The Murata family, having been the same family as his uncle Daitsuru Murata who died at the end of the Metal War in 2069-2070, truly became a laughing stock.
Even if the Blaze Luminous system successfully withstood the close-range nuclear explosion, the fleet would most likely be destroyed, and Katsutoshi Murata didn't think Vera and Tokyo would give him a good outcome.
The reputation of incompetence will crush him.
Turning his head, he asked bluntly, "Haven't our carrier-based aircraft wiped out those rice-diggers who are burrowing in the mountains yet?"
"Beyond visual range strikes have been launched."
The staff officer hesitated, then added, "But according to the latest reconnaissance intelligence, the New America has exposed bases in the Coast Mountains and Nevada Mountains in multiple locations, and these bases are mixed with camouflaged troops, which has significantly affected the progress of the cleanup."
Katsutoshi Murata remained silent.
Camouflage troops: a simple yet effective delaying tactic.
Ground troops, especially those in the mountains, can easily camouflage themselves, much easier than warships.
The inflatable weapon model from 2077 is based on being the same size as the real thing. It is painted with a special metallic paint and has a built-in motor that can emit heat and electromagnetic waves and even a hacker signal simulation port that can send data link signals. It is enough to deceive hypersonic reconnaissance drones, intelligent control of escort aircraft, radar and spy satellites.
The truth is mixed with the falsehood, and there are many in some places and few in others... If you see it, even if it hasn't been touched yet, would you dare to ignore it? If you ignore it, and it suddenly replaces the fake with the new one, you'll be caught off guard. Therefore, you have to blow it up.
This will take time.
As long as time is wasted and interference is caused, the objective of the disguised troops will be achieved.
"Make them speed up their work."
Katsutoshi Murata desperately wanted to retaliate by throwing a nuclear bomb at them, but he couldn't.
The Coast Mountains and the Nevada Mountains are both located in the Western States, which belong to the territory of the North American Free State Alliance. The New America was the aggressor, while the other side was an ally. It was somewhat inappropriate to drop nuclear bombs on the territory of an ally on the first day of the war.
Moreover, the New America only launched anti-ship missiles, not nuclear warheads.
As for the nuclear explosion just now?
Katsutoshi Murata looked at the external media section that the staff officer had brought up with a gloomy expression.
"The White House is deeply concerned about the nuclear explosion in the Golden Gate Strait of San Francisco."
"We hope Arasaka will acknowledge the patriotic American people's desire for unification. Your interference has provoked the wrath of Patriots..."
Quickly and skillfully.
Washington's response to the recent nuclear explosion can be summed up in one sentence: It wasn't me, I didn't do it, don't talk nonsense.
All sorts of 'touching' speeches have emerged, such as those from grassroots initiatives, like the legendary old lone wolf who, seeing the war reignite, decided to punish the evil Arasaka with his mutilated body, based on his simple values.
The whole thing is about how this incident is like the Fourth Corporate War, and that it's because Arasaka's reputation is too bad and the things they do are too shady.
What that traitor, Lark, said is even more unbelievable; it's all fabricated, a frame-up, and the information is all forged. Yes, I'm talking about you, Vera Adelheid Russell. You have that kind of technology!
A triple denial followed by a triple blame-shifting.
Believe it or not, they believe it, and they're making a lot of noise about it, with many media allies, and it seems to be based on solid evidence. They're just trying to drag things out as long as possible.
Ugly and dirty political tricks.
It has nothing to do with him; Lord Saburo can ponder it himself.
His immediate priority is to maintain the integrity of the Seventh Fleet and eliminate external threats.
"The fleet should maintain formation, increase speed, and move away from the strait."
After glancing at it, Katsutoshi Murata looked away. "Continue to launch carrier-based aircraft, conduct counter-attack operations, contact nearby allies, eliminate the remaining influence of the new United States, and have the garrison at the San Francisco branch cooperate with our carrier-based aircraft to carry out long-range precision strikes."
"Cyber warfare team, cooperate with Song Zhaomei to locate the Shinmi hacker group that just attacked the command system, and burn them down!"
The porthole was sealed by the gate of the tri-proof protective barrier. The external monitoring screen showed the fluorescent green Blaze Luminous modules flashing intermittently and the flashes of explosions reflected on his face.
Cyberspace, a vector of exclamations and panicked migrations of San Francisco citizens above the noisy clouds.
Song Zhaomei's expression was inscrutable, as if she felt a sense of satisfaction in taking revenge on her former master.
As the Federal Intelligence Agency traitor who discovered the NUSA agents' covert operations, she witnessed and guessed almost the entirety of Miles's hidden scheme: the anti-ship missile saturation attack, which resembled clearing out inventory, was a ruse; if it succeeded, all the better; if it failed, it would serve as cover to allow the agents to transport nuclear weapons close to the aircraft carrier.
How to transport it?
During the Metal War, the New America. Army advanced west of the Nevada Mountains and besieged Sacramento, the capital of Northern California. However, the attack failed due to Arasaka's intervention, and the army withdrew. But the secretly built ammunition depots were sealed off as a backup plan that might be used someday.
This time, a group of daredevil agents used a specially modified underwater vehicle to transport him to the Golden Gate Bridge, where they disguised themselves as innocent unlucky people crossing the bridge who accidentally fell into the water due to an unexpected situation, thus bypassing the coast and the Arasaka guards on the beach for inspection.
Then, with the help of the roar of missiles and the hacking interference of the hacker group, especially the former, after the explosion of those special missiles that 'missed' into the sea without leaving a trace, interfering with the sonar and underwater tactical scanning systems, the submerged modified underwater vehicle was activated to approach the aircraft carrier battle group and then detonated.
Unfortunately, it was discovered and detonated prematurely. She did it.
"Wanting to launch a nuclear attack while trying to be vague and justify it in diplomatic settings is like dancing on a tightrope. Miles, you'll get burned sooner or later."
That night, Vera, who was in the Arasaka Tower of Night City, did not receive news of the second nuclear bomb explosion.
In the early hours of the morning, she waited in the office for Saburo's instructions.
Arasaka officially declared war on Militech.
Day 1, I'm going to start turning things around!
Chapter 256 Sharing the Spread.
Under normal circumstances, nuclear weapons, as an important component of military deterrence, whether they are tactical types with low yields or strategic types with yields of megatons or tens of millions of tons of TNT equivalent, exist as the ultimate means of armed forces of military and political entities.
But the Cyberpunk world is clearly abnormal.
There are too many wars, too fierce wars, and too frequent wars in this timeline.
Even if the global wars cease after the Fourth Corporate War, it is only relatively speaking.
Vera is familiar with the large-scale hot wars of modern times: two World Wars, two Vietnam Wars, six Middle East wars, two Korean Wars, three Central American wars, four Corporate War, orbital wars, the South Pacific Wars, space colony rebellions...
Other conflicts include countless smaller-scale wars, coups, and civil wars such as gang wars, behind-the-scenes wars, wars of terror, drug wars, water wars, and the New Central European War.
Marked by the end of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union and the beginning of a "quiet war" between the Old USA and the European Community, the first thirty years of the late 20th and early 21st centuries can be described as an era of conflict.
Nuclear weapons, the sword of Damocles in the eyes of the normal world, have been used far too many times here.
Nuclear attacks had precedents before the most well-known 2023 Night City Arasaka Tower nuclear explosion.
Furthermore, there are numerous cases, showing a clear trend towards normalization. (Hua)
The 1993 Colombian drug cartel's nuclear attack on New York, the 1994 Pittsburgh nuclear accident... these were just appetizers. What truly cemented the connection between the people of the cyber world and nuclear wasteland, nuclear radiation, and nuclear pollution was nuclear war.
In 1997, the Sixth Middle East War broke out and quickly deteriorated, eventually evolving into a nuclear war that affected the entire Arab world. The Middle East, North Africa, and Central Africa were turned into a highly radioactive wasteland, and vast deserts were vitrified.
As for the mastermind behind this, who could provide such a large number of high-yield strategic nuclear weapons? We don't know.
Anyway, afterwards, Soshikah almost gained control of the World Island's crude oil production areas.
In addition to the Americas oil market controlled by Petrochem.
Ten years from now, the two companies will fight a three-year Corporate War for energy dominance (II).
However, the pace of Nuclear War has not stopped due to global climate disasters.
Following closely behind was the 2008 Orbital Wars.
In the space race, the New America and the federalized, and the new Soviet Union, which normalized relations with Europe, waged a major war in space. The European Space Agency chose to intervene, and the war evolved into a clash between the Europeans and the Americans.
As a result, the old European Tycho Lunar Colonization used a mass projector to drop a two-ton lunar rock rich in thorium, deuterium, and uranium onto the New America city of Springs, destroying not only Springs but also the entire North American Aerospace Defense Command.
That's how the bottom line is broken.
Later, the forms of war became more diverse and more severe.
From the Chicago biohazard outbreak to the lunar rock explosion disaster in Australia (an unfortunate accident caused by a mass projector misfiring), and then to the even more dramatic and ruthless Fourth Corporate War: the razed Rio de Janeiro, and the Busan biohazard attack that killed millions of South Koreans in just a few minutes...
Sadly, after being bombarded with such negative news year after year, the use of nuclear weapons no longer seems to shock anyone.
Unless it's Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, Moscow, or Washington that gets bombed.
Because this is what Corporate War should look like.
In Night City, following the news of the attack on the Arasaka carrier battle group, the nuclear attack on San Francisco, and the collapse of the Golden Gate Bridge, the front page news featured the Arasaka Board of Directors unanimously passing a resolution to retaliate, and Saburo Arasaka officially issuing a declaration of war in Tokyo.
Pacific Time: April 22, 2077, early morning, Arasaka declares war on Militech.
At 1 a. m., Militech declared war on Arasaka.
At 7:40 a. m. on the 22nd, the New America. President Rosalind Miles delivered the MAGA speech "Unite! Make America Great Again!" at the White House, declaring Free State illegal and the Second Unification War beginning.
At 8:00 AM, the North American Free State Alliance reaffirmed the Declaration of Independence and declared war on Washington.
At 9:00 AM, the Barghest Group responded to the employment terms of the North American Free State Alliance and intervened.
At 10:00 AM, Lazarus Group responded to the New America employment terms and intervened.
At 11:00 AM, the government of the Lone Star Republic publicly supported the independence of the Free State Alliance and began to assemble troops westward.
Faced with this situation, most people in Night City quickly calmed down after a brief period of panic.
Without the city government saying anything, countless citizens were frantically hoarding guns, food, medicine, and weapons.
Those who wanted to run away and could have already packed their bags and fled. What's left are either ordinary people, natives, or miserable laborers, immature teenagers, speculators, or ambitious individuals.
The underworld, a chaotic and turbulent place, is rife with undercurrents.
The gangsters, drooling as they watched Mane beckon, were preparing to fight over the leftover scraps from the major power conflict.
For those eager to advance in Corporate Dog jobs, war is both an abyss of burying corpses and a ladder to climb higher.
Ambitious individuals who see an opportunity calculate their chips and roll the dice.
Chaos and order coexist, ambition and ideals intertwine, and the Fifth Corporate War has finally broken out in full force!
Arasaka Tower, Intercontinental Regional President's Office.
Beep beep—
The notification sound for the email.
[Arasaka Tokyo Global Headquarters, Information Department]: "This is to notify all employees of the companies in the Americas and the Night City US headquarters, including those in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, etc., that the War Authorization application submitted by Vera Adelheid, Executive Vice President of Night City, Vera Adelheid Arasaka Russell, has been approved by the Board of Directors."
"Vera Adelheid Arasaka Russell is hereby formally appointed as the Chief Military Commander of the North American Theater."
"Effective immediately."
"Authorization period: 2077/4/2211/30——∞"
Vera's indigo eyes flashed red as she put down the PDA in her hand.
"Call..."
We finally got it: real command of the army.
The dice have been rolled.
Vera gave a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth. "Nothing? Or, winning everything."
She spun around in her executive chair to look at the wide floor-to-ceiling window behind her, the dark-tinted smart polarized glass changing color in response.
Directly opposite is the Night City Building, Militech.
They are evacuating.
Just now, Militech CEO Lucas Hartford announced that their building in Night City is a demilitarized zone, and that all company forces except for retaining ownership of the building will be urgently withdrawn from Night City.
A decisive action that also minimizes losses.
Later, once Vera has won over the nearly retired, overweight Mayor Lucius Raine, and gotten her partner, Deputy Mayor Wilton Holt, to push the city council to rule Militech activities in Night City illegal, she's ready to violently dismantle this 'illegal building'.
As for why we need to obtain any damn laws, well, it's just for show.
Like the Fourth Corporate War, after the nuclear explosion, the New America and the Free State jointly ruled that Arasaka's business activities in the United States were illegal, and Arasaka, whose operating rights were revoked, was thus expelled from North America for half a century.
Why wasn't it canceled earlier?
Until the very end, who knows which side will win or lose?
What if I cancel the wrong thing?
The reason Night City dared to cancel is because New America has shown its fangs in the Metal War —to annex you. This is an irreconcilable conflict.