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Something bad did happen, and it had to do with Norris. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Norris was relieved to arrange for Copperfield to make contact with the attackers, but then he was overwhelmed by the president's personal involvement.

The first priority is to hold a press conference.

Although Norris does not need to come forward, there is a press spokesman for the White House and a press spokesman for the State Department, but the news released has to be reviewed by Norris and polished by his news writer.

Such a big thing must not be hidden.

Whatever the reason, it is important to make the relevant information public as soon as possible, so that the public knows what is happening and prepares the people.

It's just that several of Norris's aides disagree on how to describe the severity of the incident.

National Security Adviser Cologne insisted that the matter should not be taken too seriously, because it would seriously undermine the prestige of the US political axe. More importantly, if the public were to know that the terrorists had occupied Manhattan Island, taken more than two million civilians hostage, and perhaps possessed weapons of mass destruction, it would certainly cause large-scale unrest, at least not in the vicinity of New York. If tens or even tens of millions of people feel threatened and forced to leave their homes, there will inevitably be unforeseen and serious consequences. Even from a public security point of view, the turmoil caused by the instability caused by the National Guard is severely understaffed and the regular army is unable to carry out internal security tasks, will cause more people to be harmed. In Cologne's judgment, the damage caused by the large-scale scramble would even exceed the attack itself.

Cologne's point of view is not wrong, Norris has taken these issues into account.

It's just that in terms of the credibility of the political axe, the consequences of concealing the truth will be even more serious. Sooner or later, such a big matter will come to light, and the people will find it difficult to tolerate the concealment of the political axe.

There are many people who hold this view, including several of Norris's senior aides.

Arguments are arguments, the staff only have the right to make suggestions, not decision-making powers, and it is up to Norris to make decisions on what to do. This is also the main value of the existence of the president, which is to pick out the most advantageous from the many proposals and then implement them. If the president has to find a solution to everything, he can't do it even if he is exhausted.

When it comes to decision-making, Norris does have a hard time.

What's worse is that the press conference has already been scheduled, and the news must be announced as soon as possible, and there is not much time for Norris to think deeply.

This is also where the president is tested the most.

It's not easy for anyone to make decisions that affect millions, if not tens of millions, of people in just over a decade.

In the end, Norris took a middle ground.

The release mentions the terrorist attack on Manhattan and the cutting off of ground transportation from Manhattan to the surrounding area, but does not mention the scale of the terrorists, the weapons of mass destruction they may have, and emphasizes that the federal political axe is in control.

It must be admitted that Norris is a very sophisticated politician.

This statement not only emphasized the seriousness of the situation, but also avoided the panic caused by excessive leakage of information, and further strengthened the public's confidence in the federal political axe.

When it came time for the press spokesman to face reporters, Norris asked the secretary to arrange a meeting with congressional leaders.

Although Norris has mobilized the National Guard in several nearby states within the purview of the president and prepared the Marines stationed on the East Coast, the National Guard is not a regular army, far less effective than the regular army, and the size of the Marine Corps is not large enough. If terrorists on the island must be eliminated by force, the ideal option is to use the regular army.

To do this, Norris must gain congressional support to give the regular army the authority to carry out combat missions on its home soil.

While waiting for congressional leaders, Norris met with several federal workers with special statuses.

After Cologne's introduction, Norris learned that they belong to the federal secret agency and are the main members of the "Future Soldiers" project.

After listening to the introduction, Norris realized that the problem was even more serious than he thought.

The main experimental base of the "Future Soldiers" is in New York, and it is on the island of Manhattan!

Although as president, Norris has the right to intervene in all secret projects, on the first night of his swearing-in, he was briefed on many secret projects, and knew that the "Future Soldier" program has been in existence for more than 20 years, has gone through four presidents, spent hundreds of billions of dollars, and has thousands of researchers engaged in related research. But as with any secret project, Norris only knows what it is, not why.

Prior to this, Norris did not know the specifics of the "Soldier of the Future" project.

According to the rules, the project leader will submit a research progress report to the White House every month, but these reports will basically not be sent to Norris, and will generally be handled by the national security adviser, and only in special circumstances, such as disputes over the allocation of research funds, will Norris intervene to coordinate with several agencies involved in the study, such as the Department of Defense and the CIA.

As for where the research base is, Norris is even more unclear.

Norris couldn't understand the main experimental base in Manhattan, and even Cologne couldn't say clearly, after all, as early as more than 20 years ago, the "Future Soldier" experimental base began to be built and completed more than ten years ago, and why the previous president made such a decision, Norris and Cologne are not clear.

For Norris, solving problems is far more important than figuring out the past.

Because before that, almost all high-ranking officials, including Norris, believed that the attack on Manhattan was by no means an ordinary terrorist organization, or even a terrorist organization, so after learning that the "Future Soldier" experimental base was in Manhattan, Norris immediately thought that the purpose of the attackers was likely to be this experimental base.

You know, no matter how powerful a terrorist group is, it is impossible to occupy Manhattan Island for a long time.

When the US authorities come to their senses, no one should try to take advantage of the United States.

If it were only a short-term occupation, the attackers would not have made so many demands, or would not have expected the United States to accede to all the demands made.

The demands are made only in order to divert the attention of the US authorities and create hypotheticals!

Thinking of this, Norris didn't ramble, and immediately asked the secretary to call Archibald and Robert, who had stayed in the White House and had not had time to leave.

The heads of the "Future Soldiers" also resigned and left at this time.

"You all know that, right?"

Faced with the president's question, Robert turned his gaze to Archibald in a bit of a daze.

The Minister of Defense gritted his teeth and said: "This matter should have been reported to you earlier, but at the beginning of the meeting, there were many people who did not have access to information related to the 'Future Soldier', so ......"

"That's not a reason." Norris looked calm.

Archibald let out a long breath and said, "The experimental base is indeed on Manhattan Island, and there is an undersea tunnel connecting to Roosevelt Island. General Robert and I agreed that the best way to do an infiltration operation was to enter Manhattan through this tunnel. ”

"All think?" Norris frowned.

"Although we have lost contact with the experimental base, judging by the results of aerial reconnaissance, the attackers have not found the experimental base for the time being." Archibald paused, then added, "We've sent someone to Roosevelt Island, and we're in contact with someone over there. ”

"Can you be sure that the undersea tunnel has not been damaged?" Cologne immediately asked.

"It is absolutely certain that we have identified the location of the explosion at the time of the attack, and the attackers did not discover this undersea tunnel, so it is impossible to destroy it."

"The question is, how can it be guaranteed that the infiltrated special forces will not be detected by the attackers?"

"There are several exits from the experimental base, and we will closely monitor the situation on the island with reconnaissance aircraft, provide all-round information support for the special forces, and look for the most suitable breakthrough. According to the statistics just obtained, there are three million civilians on the island, and the vast majority of them are concentrated in buildings. As long as our special forces can enter, they will be able to blend in with the population. Judging by the tactical intelligence at hand, there are not many attackers on the island, probably only a few hundred, and the special forces are fully capable of avoiding the attackers and even being able to seize control in a tactical assault. ”

"It's too risky to do this, if the attackers have weapons of mass destruction......"

"They do have weapons of mass destruction."

Cologne and Norris were both startled and looked at Archibald in disbelief.

The Minister of Defense did not take the lead and left the opportunity to speak to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"The latest reconnaissance report has just been received, and our reconnaissance aircraft has detected an anomalous source of radiation, and it has been determined that it is radiation emitted by highly concentrated uranium rods." The admiral sighed, "Although it is not certain that it is not weapons-grade enriched uranium for the time being, we must prepare for the worst. If the attackers were able to capture Manhattan Island, they would be able to get the most primitive nuclear warheads and detonate them. ”

"Where are the nuclear warheads?" Norris hurriedly asked.

"The Empire State Building, and most likely on the top floor of the building."

Norris gasped, and Cologne's face became very gloomy.

"Calculated from the height of the explosion, even a tactical nuclear warhead with a yield of 5,000 tons can destroy all buildings within a radius of one kilometer in an instant, produce strong radiation that can kill all personnel within a radius of five kilometers in a very short time, and cause serious radiation contamination to the entire Manhattan Island."

"Nothing like this can happen!"

Robert nodded and said, "We have determined the location of the nuclear warhead, and once the operation begins, we will first destroy the Empire State Building and stop the attackers from detonating the nuclear warhead." ”

"Bombs against nuclear warheads!?"

"A bombing would be enough to destroy a nuclear warhead, perhaps collateral damage, threaten thousands of civilians, or even shatter the warhead and cause radioactive contamination, but it would be much less expensive than an attacker detonating a nuclear warhead and killing hundreds of thousands of civilians and millions of civilians."

Norris fell silent for a moment, for he also knew what was to be weighed.

If the terrorists have nuclear warheads, they will have the basis for a long-term occupation of Manhattan, and if it drags on, it will inevitably make the situation even more out of control.

"On top of that, we have to prevent the attackers from causing even more damage."

"What's the bigger loss?"

Archibald glanced at Cologne and turned his gaze to Norris, as if the issue should be raised by the president, and the national security adviser is not yet at that level.

(To be continued)