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On the fourth night of the incident, Norris faced with an unprecedented challenge. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

At dinner, the generals of the army, represented by Robert, once again proposed to launch an immediate attack, destroy the terrorists' weapons of mass destruction, and send troops to retake Manhattan Island.

Unlike previous times, this time, Robert submitted a detailed battle plan and operational assessment.

The battle plan is not much to say, it is to use all the forces of the US military to fight a street battle in Manhattan and eliminate all the terrorists.

Norris values operational evaluation.

Fight a large-scale street fight in the most prosperous place in the world, and the losses will certainly not be small. Even by the most conservative estimates, the economic damage is in the trillions of dollars. If the terrorists had been prepared, for example, by deploying defensive lines in urban areas and using dense buildings to block U.S. troops, the losses would have been even greater.

Fortunately, Norris was mentally prepared.

If we really want to fight, the economic losses are still secondary, and the key is the casualties, especially civilian casualties.

On this small island, which is less than 60 square kilometers, there are three million civilians, with a population density of more than 50,000 people per square kilometer, most of which are concentrated in the south of Central Park. In Lower Manhattan, the population density is more than 100,000 per square kilometer. Street fighting is fought here, and it is not the army and terrorists who are unlucky, but the civilians.

Norris is also most important to the potential harm to civilians.

It is a pity that the operational assessment report submitted by Robert was completely unacceptable to Norris.

According to his estimates, even if everything goes well, it will take 24 hours for the US military to eliminate all the terrorists, and the combat casualties will be more than 500, and the resulting civilian casualties will not be less than 5,000. This is still the ideal situation, and the reality is certainly not too ideal. How many civilian casualties will ultimately result, Robert did not submit detailed data, but certainly not less.

Even by the most optimistic estimates, Norris could not accept it.

More than 10,000 people were killed in the 911 attacks. If there were 5,000 civilian casualties, Norris would certainly not be able to account for it to the population.

You must know that this incident is very different from the 911 incident.

It's been four days, and the U.S. military has also been fully mobilized, and it still causes such huge casualties, not to mention the people and the Republican Party, even Norris can't accept it.

Because the president would not nod, the military's proposal was put on hold for the time being.

Before Norris could breathe, there was another big problem on the part of Congress.

Under the impetus of Republican congressmen, a special bill was passed at a special session of the Senate and House of Representatives, that is, the president must give priority to the interests of the people when resolving the crisis and use all means to protect the lives and property of the people in the surrounding areas.

Although this bill has no coercive force, it is tantamount to an ultimatum to Norris.

As a politician, Norris could not have been unaware of the important surname of this bill.

To put it more thoroughly, this is the Republican Party shirking its responsibilities, or it is falling into the ground.

After the bill is passed, whatever Norris does, he will be held fully responsible for causing a large number of civilian casualties. When the time comes, the Republicans will be able to stand up and accuse the Beneji Federalist of the Axe and claim that the president is not acting in accordance with the special bill of Congress.

What the result was, Norris knew very well in his heart.

As a president who has failed to defuse the crisis, Norris is certainly not eligible to run for re-election, and the prestige of the Beneji Party will also suffer.

In the general election in a few months' time, the Republicans will win comfortably.

Of course, this is just the beginning.

If the Republican Party is allowed to govern, it will definitely take advantage of this incident to play the safety card and take all of Norris's efforts to defuse the crisis for himself.

Even if it is not for personal gain, Norris has to think about the national interest.

It was not the terrorists who attacked Manhattan, and whatever way the next president retaliated would go astray and lead the United States to a point of no return.

Norris saw it clearly, but couldn't find an effective way to deal with it.

If you act on the special bill passed by the Diet, it will inevitably have an impact on the overall situation. To put it simply, in order to ensure the safety of people's lives and property, it is necessary to immediately carry out a comprehensive evacuation, move the people around Manhattan to safe areas, and then establish a blockade line.

Leaving aside the fact that everyone is willing to leave their homes, the military force used for this purpose alone is enormous.

Let the army evacuate the people, how can it still be capable of attacking Manhattan Island?

If it drags on, the attackers who occupied Manhattan will have enough time to do what they want, such as emptying the Federal Reserve Bank's underground vaults, destroying the Future Soldier laboratory, deploying tighter defenses on the island, and even using weapons of mass destruction.

Dragged to the end, the federal axe will have no choice but to make a full compromise with the attackers.

Failure to act in accordance with Congress's special bill would have to bear the full consequences.

This time, it wasn't the attackers who cornered Norris, it was the Republicans.

Just when Norris was helpless and didn't know what to do, Cologne returned to Washington in time with good news.

"They promised to evacuate?"

"Yes, but we have to provide absolute security."

"What guarantees?"

"The attackers will be evacuated in batches, let's provide ten large transport aircraft. To ensure safety, they will also take over an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft and listen to all of our military communications channels. Cologne hesitated for a moment and said, "In exchange, they will release ten times as many women and children at the same time." ”

"That is, they have no intention of evacuating them all." Norris immediately got to the point.

Cologne sighed and said, "It is certain that the attackers definitely have weapons of mass destruction in their hands, and they will leave a group of daredevils to fight us to the end." ”

Norris frowned and said, "That is, we can't intercept the retreating attackers?" ”

"Not only can it not be intercepted, but it cannot be tracked and monitored."

"It's the equivalent of letting them out safely." Norris gritted his teeth and said, "You should know that if that's the case, I can't explain it to Congress." ”

"However, at least the safety of civilians has been ensured and the damage has been minimized."

"Do you want me to accept this outcome?"

"President, this is a special event." Cologne knew what Norris was thinking. "I know that we will not be able to account for the people if we let the attackers go, but we will not be able to account for the huge damage, especially the heavy civilian casualties. The key to defusing the crisis is to protect civilians and let all people know that we are doing our part. As for punishing the murderer, that's later, and we have time. ”

"But I don't have time."

Cologne was stunned for a moment, then understood.

Norris let out a long breath and said, "When you came back, Congress passed a special bill. If I compromise with the attackers at this time, the Republican Party has a rhetoric. You have to know that even if we defuse this crisis, even if there is even the slightest compromise and concession, the Republican Party will turn against us in the upcoming election. When this happens, the attitude of the people will inevitably suffer, and only the hardliners will be able to win the election and continue to lead the United States through the difficulties. We must think about civilians, but we must not bow to the enemy. ”

"Even so, we can take advantage of this agreement."

"How?" Norris calmed down.

Getting angry at Cologne didn't do anything, and Cologne was thinking about him.

"Even if we're dealing with the attackers, it's better to get them out of Manhattan. If you are forced to fight a street fight in Manhattan, it is best to weaken the attackers. Letting them go is the best way to go. In the end, there will not be too many attackers left, which greatly reduces the difficulty of military operations, and can also greatly reduce casualties and losses. As for the evacuated attackers, we can use other means to track and monitor them, determine their whereabouts, find out who is behind them, and then launch retaliatory strikes against their surnames. ”

Norris paused for a moment, and asked Cologne to speak in more detail.

"Eliminating the attackers is just a priority, and at most it can only stabilize the population. To explain to the public, we have to find out who is behind the scenes. Cologne paused and added, "Only when the real culprit is found can a retaliatory strike against the surname be launched and the people satisfied, so it is necessary to get more clues through the evacuated attackers." The most important thing is that as long as most of the attackers are withdrawn, the success rate of military operations will be greatly increased. The two-pronged approach can not only meet the requirements of the military, but also successfully defuse the crisis. ”

Norris nodded thoughtfully and said, "You're right, we really should take advantage of it. ”

"The key is the military, and they have to be made to accept the result."

"Then we'll have to convince them."

Cologne was stunned for a moment, thinking that the president was going to give him this difficult task again.

Norris pondered for a moment and said, "Wait for an emergency meeting, you will explain the situation." ”

"President, you know my relationship with General Robert, in my capacity ......"

"I know, I'll do it myself." Norris smiled and said, "The military has a battle plan, but it's still not perfect. If casualties and losses can be minimized, I will take the military's advice and silence Robert and Archibald. As long as we make concessions, the military will not make higher demands. The point is, the attacker must not be spared, even if it is just one! ”

"It's up to the military."

Norris nodded and said, "So you have to bring it up and let the military figure it out." ”

Cologne let out a long sigh and agreed.

"You go and prepare, the meeting will start in half an hour." "It won't last long, and you'll have to get back to New York before dawn to coordinate the work." ”

"Is this necessary?"

"Do you think I can rest assured if I let the military do it?"

Cologne nodded, not saying anything more.

Although it was a little hard, the president still trusted him and relied on him. As a member of the president's staff, Cologne is already very satisfied.

(To be continued)