readx;

Does Naoto Kanno have a choice? It's safe to say no!

What is happening in the country has pushed Naoto Kanno to the edge of the cliff. The Kawasaki family www.biquge.info said that even the Iwasaki family was suspected of treason, and Mitsui, Sumitomo, Fuji, and Miwa joined forces with the five major conglomerates of the First Persuasion Industry to force the palace, and if they lose the support of the United States, when they return to Tokyo, that is, when Naoto Kanno steps down.

What's more, the arms order is the big cake that the five major consortia dream of.

Although after the Mitsubishi consortium, only Mitsui, Sumitomo, and the Miwa consortium were able to take over arms orders, and Fuji and Daiichi did not have much say in the manufacturing field, the huge arms orders of more than 100 billion US dollars inevitably required the use of a variety of financial means, which could also bring huge profits to these two consortiums.

The point is that Ben must take a step at this time, even if there is an abyss ahead.

If we don't move forward, the sledgehammer in the hands of the United States will fall on Yue itself!

At his fourth meeting with Norris, Kanno made significant concessions, promising to take action against the mainland in the near future.

Although Kanno did not mention how he would retaliate, he had to agree to plan a retaliatory action with the United States. In return, Norris also made it clear that the Seventh Fleet will be dispatched at the time of the operation, the size of the air force stationed in the country will be increased, long-range bombers will be deployed to Guam, and two F-22A squadrons will be deployed in Okinawa to enhance the deployment of the United States and coalition forces in the western Pacific region.

However, Norris also said that the United States will not directly intervene until the situation expands.

Before leaving, Naoto Kanno and Norris participated in the signing ceremony of the agreement to participate in the development of the F-35B fighter and order the fighter. Once approved by the parliaments of both sides, the agreement will enter into force within a month, and the first instalment of research and development funds will be paid as planned.

As for the procurement of the F-22A, Norris still did not let up.

After signing the agreement to purchase the F-35B fighter jet, Norris put forward a proposal that even Naoto Kanno did not expect, that is, if Naoto Kanno participated in the development of the F-35C and promised to purchase a certain scale of this type of fighter, the United States would consider selling electromagnetic catapults to him.

To put it simply, as long as Ben is willing to pay for it, the United States can help Ben build an aircraft carrier carrying conventional take-off and landing fighters.

Without a doubt, this is a very tempting piece of cake.

Although it has long planned to build a small aircraft carrier carrying vertical/short take-off and landing fighters, has accumulated a lot of experience through the construction of "Yuexiang"-class destroyers, and already has the technical strength to build a small aircraft carrier, with the mainland's first aircraft carrier and an aircraft carrier with a leaping deck capable of carrying heavy carrier-based fighters to sea, the small aircraft carrier plan is obviously backward, and only a medium-sized aircraft carrier carrying conventional take-off and landing fighters can compete with it.

As for large aircraft carriers similar to the "Kitty Hawk" or "Nimitz" classes, even if they were capable of building them, the United States would have stopped them.

In the long run, it also needs a medium-sized aircraft carrier of the "Charles de Gaulle" class, which has the capability of ocean-going operations.

Even if there is no F-35B, as long as the authorities are willing to invest, they can develop medium-sized carrier-based fighters similar to the Rafale. Of course, it can also be purchased from France, or it can be converted to the purchase of the F-35C developed by the United States.

The main problem, again, is the catapult.

Without a catapult, even if a conventional fighter can be carried by using a leaping deck, it will not be able to carry a more important fixed-wing AWACS aircraft, and the combat capabilities of the fighter will be limited.

In today's world, only the United States is able to produce catapults.

When France was building the Charles de Gaulle, it had to turn to the United States for help and buy a C-13 steam catapult.

With the development of technology, the United States has eliminated steam catapults and developed electromagnetic catapults for the aircraft carrier "Ford" under construction.

If this kind of catapult can be obtained, it will be possible to build a medium-sized aircraft carrier in a short period of time.

It can be as short as five years or as long as 10 years.

Even ten years is not a long time for naval construction.

Unfortunately, this cake is very expensive.

Norris made this proposal only after the authorities signed an agreement to purchase F-35B fighter jets, making it clear that he wanted to kill him more. Originally, it was planned to purchase the F-35A to replace the F-4 and F-1 fighters of the Air Self-Defense Force, but the Maritime Self-Defense Force was going to build a small aircraft carrier, so it was changed to the F-35B to simplify the logistics support system and save maintenance costs. Now the United States has offered to sell the F-35C and provide electromagnetic catapults, so that after purchasing the F-35B, it will continue to spend huge sums of money to purchase another type of fighter.

Don't look at the difference between the F-35B and the F-35C with only one suffix, the difference between these two fighters is the greatest.

Of the three models, the F-35B is more similar to the F-35A, with a commonality rate of more than 75 out of 5 and less than 60 percent with the F-35C. In order to meet the requirements of the Navy, the F-35C made many improvements, such as increasing the wingspan to increase the wing area, reducing the wing load, strengthening the collective mechanism to accommodate the high overload of take-off and landing on the carrier, increasing the volume of internal fuel tanks to increase range, and adopting a larger internal bomb bay to accommodate the Navy's ammunition. These improvements have increased the multi-purpose capability of the F-35C, but reduced the combat capability of air supremacy.

In the U.S. Navy, air supremacy is performed by the F/A-18E/F, which is a multi-role fighter.

For the Maritime Self-Defense Force, the F-35C is not so perfect.

Crucially, the cost of acquiring the F-35C is too high, and it will not only cost a lot of money to procure it, but also create a serious logistical burden.

Moreover, the F-35B can also meet the needs of the Maritime Self-Defense Force, and there is no need for another carrier-based fighter for at least the next ten years.

Affected by this, Naoto Kanno did not take the cake, but promised to consider Norris's suggestion.

With this result in mind, Naoto Kanno set off for home three days after visiting Washington.

At this time, Liu Wei had already left Yueben. According to Li Tingxuan's request, he first went to Hong Kong to meet with Dian Bin and others, and after settling down with Rina Tanaka, Kotone Takeuchi and others, he left for Hainan and met Li Tingxuan in Sanya, who was inspecting naval construction here.

Inspecting the construction of the navy is just an excuse, or it is to give Wang Xueming face.

The submarine equipment that Liu Wei and the others obtained in Yueben has provided great help to the navy. As a token of gratitude, the Navy invited comrades from the Third Department to Sanya to inspect and take a look at the aircraft carrier that was about to return to Yulin Military Port. Wang Xueming did not have exclusive benefits, and immediately invited Li Tingxuan to accompany him.

Thinking that Liu Wei was about to return to Hong Kong, Li Tingxuan accepted the invitation.

The inspection activities had long since ended, and Wang Xueming also returned to the capital with the comrades of the Third Division. Li Tingxuan stayed, and also chartered a luxury suite in the most luxurious hotel in Sanya.

Fortunately, it is now the off-season, and the hotel owner knows Wang Jinquan, an old classmate of Li Tingxuan, and gives an internal preferential price.

Money is a trivial matter, and Li Tingxuan didn't think about paying for it himself.

Although he didn't see Liu Wei, through the news brought back by Zhou Yulong and Dian Bin, he already knew that Liu Wei had made a lot of money in Yueben.

If you don't knock him, knock whom?

When Liu Wei met Li Tingxuan, he was basking in the sun on the beach. There were dozens of sun loungers on the silver beach, but they were empty, except for Li Tingxuan, there were only two agents of the Military Intelligence Bureau standing in the distance. Li Tingxuan never brought bodyguards before, but after the deputy became a regular, he was equipped with two bodyguards according to the rules.

"How were you doing along the way?"

"No problem." Liu Wei was wearing a beach suit, exactly the same as when he swam to Hong Kong. "Any news of the Greyback Jackal?"

"Grayback jackals?" Li Tingxuan was stunned for a moment and said, "Are you talking about Chai Jinkang?" ”

Liu Wei nodded.

In this book, he never asked the gray-backed jackal's real name, and the gray-backed jackal never mentioned it. Back in Hong Kong, Liu Wei learned the name from Dian Bin.

"I've received the news, he's still in Ben, and he won't be back anytime soon."

"Still in the book?" Liu Wei was stunned for a moment, as if he didn't understand what Li Tingxuan meant.

"He let go of Damu Ronggu, and now he's a double agent."

"What!?"

"Surprised?" Li Tingxuan smiled and said, "He reported to me, saying that this is the only way to break into the intelligence system and truly grasp the movements of the authorities. The only one who knows the truth is Da Mu Ronggu, and he is now at our service. ”

Only then did Liu Wei understand that the gray-backed jackal did not betray, but continued to stay in Yueben as a double agent.

"Don't worry, he has been doing it for more than ten years, and he is already familiar with this business." Li Tingxuan glanced at Liu Wei, "How are you going to settle them?" ”

"The women?"

Li Tingxuan nodded, indicating that this was what he meant.

"I haven't thought about it yet, if they want to leave, let them go." Liu Wei sighed and said, "I didn't think I would bring them with me, but since I've already done this, I can't leave them behind." The severance funds will be paid by me, and you don't have to pay for them, but they need to arrange a new identity for them. ”

"It's a small thing, and the point is, what if they don't want to go?"

Liu Wei smiled bitterly and said, "Then let them stay in Hong Kong." ”

"It's not a long-term solution, after all, if the authorities continue to investigate, they could easily become a breakthrough point."

"Do you have a good arrangement?"

"Buy them an island, you're not short of money anyway."

"Buy an island? Come on, I'm not that rich yet. ”

"I kept some of the money you got from Kawasaki Okamotsu, Iwasaki Eiichi, and Iwasaki Shintaro. The money is yours, and even if you hand it over to the bureau, I won't be able to enjoy it alone. Besides, Kotaro Hashimoto left a lot of money to Yumi Hashimoto, as well as the benefit fee given by the Li family, not to mention buying an island, it is not a problem to buy an archipelago. The main thing is what you think. ”

Liu Wei let out a long breath and said, "I don't have any ideas, if you say so, then buy an island." Anyway, I've got to have a place to stand in the future, right? ”

Li Tingxuan smiled, that's what he was going to say.

"I'll let Dian Bin be responsible for the affairs in Hong Kong, so you don't have to worry about it for the time being." Li Tingxuan paused slightly, "If it's okay, come back with me tomorrow." ”

Liu Wei nodded and didn't say anything more.

came to Sanya to find Li Tingxuan, Liu Wei only wanted one thing, so he had to go back with Li Tingxuan.

(To be continued)