Hwaseong Gray Palace.

By the time CIA Director Cullen arrived, the meeting had been going on for half an hour, and more than a dozen military and political dignitaries, including the president, were waiting for him.

Cullen wasn't deliberately late, he was waiting for a very important piece of information.

Photo taken by the "Keyhole" reconnaissance satellite.

Because it was in such a hurry, there was only one photocopied copy in addition to the original.

Thankfully, it's mostly a few photos, and a brief description that comes with it.

After reading it, Herbert handed the document to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who was sitting on the right-hand side, and Secretary of State James handed the document to the secretary of defense on the left-hand side.

Neither Herbert nor James spoke, just looked over to Cullen.

"There is enough intelligence to prove that the Liangxia Army did not deploy aviation in King Khalid Military City, and the Air Force did not make a large-scale sortie last night. There is reason to believe that it is likely that the one who exchanged fire with Iraqi armored forces near the border last night was only a battalion of marines. ”

"Just a battalion?"

At the same time as the question came out, Defense Secretary Bruce waved the document in his hand. It was as if he was the main character in this room.

Cullen just nodded, not answering directly.

The CIA is only responsible to the Gray House, and is subject to the intelligence office under the Gray House, and has no direct relationship with the Pentagon, and does not need to listen to the orders of the Department of Defense.

Bruce was obviously very angry, and after noticing Herbert's face, he became honest.

In this room, it was not his turn to call the shots.

Even if his relationship with Herbert is extraordinary, it is not good enough to be in the Gray Palace, in front of many high-ranking officials and generals, facing the director of the CIA.

After calming Bruce down, Herbert turned his gaze to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff next to him.

"The elite units of the Liangxia Marine Corps stationed in Saudi Arabia are the first to obtain new main battle tanks." Colin is noticeably much calmer than Bruce. "If the Liangxia Air Force had sent the 'joint command plane' that had just entered service, there would be nothing surprising about this result."

"You mean 'Finger-10A'?" James asked directly.

Colin nodded and said, "Our 'United Star' has also been commissioned, and during the exercise, it has shown strong detection and command capabilities. There is reason to believe that the 'Finger-10A's ability to detect the ground and command ground forces in combat will not be worse than that of the 'United Star'. ”

Actually, Colin didn't say that "United Star" was a copy of the "Finger-10A", or that he got inspiration from the "Finger-10A".

Although it won't be as inferior as the copycat version, it's hard to say that it surpasses.

It would be nice for the "United Star" to reach the level of the "Finger-10A".

Even Herbert couldn't help but sigh after Colin finished speaking.

As a veteran of the last Great War and a pilot of carrier-based aircraft in the Naval Air Corps, Herbert was well aware of the military strength of the Liangxia Empire.

If you want to say it, the Nuland Republic has been chasing the Liangxia Empire, but it has never caught up!

The defeat in the last war, the civil war that broke out because of the defeat, and the series of reforms that followed, can be seen as the preparation or price to be paid in order to catch up with the Liang Xia Empire. Nearly half a century of hard work, without exception, was to wash away the shame of defeat.

Of course, it's still to regain what was lost: the Howaii Islands.

However, the gap is still very obvious.

The first is population.

According to the statistics of the last census of the Liangxia Empire, that is, five years ago, the population has exceeded 700 million, and now it may have reached 800 million.

Last year's census of the Republic of Nuland was 360 million, and even if you count the illegal immigrants who are not counted, it will certainly not exceed 400 million.

This alone determined that the war potential of the Nuland Republic was far inferior to that of the Liangxia Empire.

According to the summary made after the war, the number one reason for the defeat was that the population was only half of the Liangxia Empire.

In the popular saying of the post-war period: more people are not necessarily stronger, and fewer people must be weak.

In fact, this determined the basic policy of the Nuland Republic after the war.

To put it simply, it is to encourage its citizens to have more children, relax immigration restrictions, and strengthen exchanges with other countries in the isolated continent.

On this basis, the North Orphan Free Trade Zone led by the Republic of Nuland was formed.

This is also the world's first international organization focusing on economy and trade, and thus opened the era of free trade!

Since then, on the basis of the North Orphan Free Trade Zone, the Republic of Nuland has launched the "Southward Expansion Strategy", and this set of economic and political strategies proposed and implemented by former President Ronald is also known as the "Second Monroe Doctrine", and the core idea is to reoccupy the Western Hemisphere.

The "Southward Expansion Strategy" became a symbol of the rise of the Nuland Republic.

Ronald thus became one of the greatest presidents in Nuland's history.

Before Ronald, the Republic of Nuland was more of a regional power.

During the eight years that Ronald dominated the Gray House, the Nuland Republic completed its transformation from a regional power to a global power, becoming a true superpower.

To a large extent, Herbert was enjoying Ronald's political legacy.

It's no surprise that Herbert was Ronald's deputy for eight years, and his election as president two years ago was more like a deputy to a full-time officer.

But the problem is, it's only been 10 years!

Even if the Republic of Nuland has developed at the fastest pace in the world over the past 10 years, it will not be enough to make up for its own innate shortcomings, let alone reverse the balance of power.

Even if the Maple Leaf Country and Mexico are counted, the population is only 500 million according to the calculation of the Beigu Free Trade Zone, and the total population of the North and South Isolated Continents is less than 1 billion. The Liangxia Empire itself has 800 million, the huge southeastern region has about 400 million, the Sayi Imperial Kingdom has 100 million, the Gaoju Kingdom has about 50 million, and if the Southern Subcontinent is also counted, the total population of the Liangxia Empire's sphere of influence exceeds 2 billion.

Here, not counting the Crescent Moon Region and the countries in the eastern part of the Xuan Continent.

The huge disparity in population size determines the economic strength of the two sides in the first place.

To this day, the Liangxia Empire is still the number one power in the world.

Although the assessment of the total economic volume of the Liangxia Empire, different international institutions give different conclusions, but the overall gap is not very large, no institution denies the fact that the Liangxia Empire is the world's number one economy, and the estimates, that is, the proportion of the Liangxia Empire in the global economy, is also between 30% and 40%, far exceeding the second echelon of the Nuland Republic and the Manman Empire.

How big is the gap?

According to more objective estimates, the total economic output of the Newland Republic is probably only equivalent to 7 percent of the Liang Xia Empire, and no more than 8 percent at most.

If imports and exports are not taken into account, and only domestic production and consumption are calculated, the Nuland Republic is less than half of the Liangxia Empire.

To put it simply, the Republic of Nuland is more dependent on trade, and its relatively large economic aggregate can be said to be not unrelated to the Beigu Free Trade Zone.

Trade accounted for 30% of the economy in the Nuland Republic, compared to less than 10% in the Liangxia Empire.

According to domestic production and consumption statistics, the total economic output of the Nuland Republic is only about 6% of that of the Liangxia Empire.

The Empire was similar.

It is said to be equivalent to 50% of the Liang Xia Empire, but after deducting the gain of the Western Continent Group, the economic strength may be less than 4% of the Liang Xia Empire.

In addition, the Liangxia Empire owned almost all industrial categories, and in addition to importing a large amount of resources, it did not rely on foreign countries to a high degree.

In this regard, there is no comparison.

Even if the Northern Orphan Free Trade Zone prevails, some of the industrial products of the Republic of Nuland need to be imported.

Economic power directly determines the war potential of both sides.

This is the key to the fact that the international situation today is barely stable.

Although nominally, the current international situation is three-legged, but in reality, it is actually the Nuland Republic and the Empire of the United States that have joined forces against the Liangxia Empire.

In terms of overall size, the Nuland Republic and the Empire of Juman combined, especially after adding the Beigu Free Trade Zone and the Western Continent Group, must have surpassed the Liangxia Empire.

Unfortunately, such informal alliances are inherently inefficient and cannot bring out the full potential of both sides.

As a result, he could only barely withstand the pressure of the Liang Xia Empire.

This is also the key to Ronald's southward movement and the expansion of his influence in the Western Hemisphere, that is, in the isolated continent.

Friendly relations with the Empire could not last long.

In any case, the two superpowers have different interests and will inevitably part ways at some point in the future.

The key is that the Liang Xia Empire will definitely not let this 2-on-1 situation continue.

The most important thing is that the Empire may not be able to hold out for that long!

The landmark event was the Iran-Iraq war that broke out 10 years ago.

Although Ronald had not yet lived in the Gray House at the time of the incident, and Herbert was only elected vice president and was not a direct witness to the incident, the incumbent president at that time invited Ronald and Herbert over at the first time of the incident to ask for their opinions.

Whether or not to provide support to the state of Poland.

Herbert remembers very well that after learning about this, Ronald was furious.

For the same reason, the Empire informed the Nuland authorities only after making all preparations, or rather, giving assurances to the military dictator in Iraq.

There was no intention of consulting the Nuland authorities at all.

In the light of the circumstances, it was clear that the Nuland Republic was in the midst of a change of federal government and that there was no room for bargaining.

Of course, this is also true.

The outgoing Democratic president had no idea of engaging in a regional war, or would not have kicked the ball to the incoming Republican president-elect.

But the problem is that the Nuland authorities have no choice in this matter.

It was against this backdrop that the Iran-Iraq war broke out.

In the first year, Iraq was overwhelmingly dominant, pressing the Polish-Iraqi state to fight, and within a few months it captured most of the Low Provinces. As a result, when Ronald moved into the Gray House and completed the reorganization of the internal institutions, he immediately increased his support for the Poy State. It was after receiving the full support of the Nuland Republic that the Polish-Iraqi army made a beautiful comeback in the second year of the war.

This war, which lasted for eight years, did change the strategic pattern of the Poshawan region and dealt a heavy blow to the hegemony of the Liangxia Empire in the region.

To put it bluntly, the history of the Liang Xia Empire's monopoly on the world's oil depots is gone!

However, it also changed the relationship between the Nuland Republic and the Empire.

Prior to this, the Empire had always regarded itself as a victorious power, and had always been in a dominant position in its dealings with the Nuland Republic.

After that, the positions of the two sides were directly reversed.

One of the most critical reasons why the Iran-Iraq war ended two years ago was that the Empire could no longer support Iraq.

If the fight continues, the Polish-based state backed by the Nuland Republic is likely to win a complete victory.

Of course, the premise is that the Liang Xia Empire will not borrow it.

Judging from the situation at that time, if the Empire could not hold on, after it retreated, the Liangxia Empire was likely to come to the front from behind the scenes.

If this were the case, the previous eight years of war would have been fought in vain!

This war made it clear to the Nuland authorities that the Empire was not a reliable ally.

In fact, it was in this context that Ronald proposed the "southward strategy" with the purpose of "returning to the isolated continent" and "dominating the Western Hemisphere".

According to the situation at that time, it would take 10 years to complete the feat of dominating one side, and by dominating the Western Hemisphere, he would obtain the capital to challenge the Liang Xia Empire alone.

It's a pity that people are not as good as heaven.

In the year that Ronald won the second general election, the Liangxia Empire ushered in a notoriously hard-line Shoufu, Admiral Zhou Yongtao.

Before him, that is, after Lian Xusheng, the four first assistants were all civilian officials, and they were all relatively moderate in their attitude towards the outside world.

The appointment of Zhou Yongtao as the first assistant of the empire is actually a landmark event in the transformation of the Liangxia Empire from strategic contraction to strategic expansion.

Of course, this can also be seen as a reaction to the strategic expansion of the Nuland Republic and the Hindman Empire.

That is, in the hands of Zhou Yongtao, the military construction of the Liangxia Empire was back on track.

As a result, in just a few years, the Liangxia Empire declared its position as the global hegemon unshakable through action.

In the same few years, the Empire has basically eaten up the war dividends obtained in the Iran-Iraq War, and has once again been forced into a desperate situation.

Almost all of Zhou Yongtao's foreign policies were directed at the Empire.

It's also easy to understand.

After taking down the Manan Empire, the Liangxia Empire will rule the World Island and rely on the world's largest navy to complete the complete blockade of the Nuland Republic.

Because there is no navy to compete with, it is simply impossible for the Nuland Republic to dominate the Western Hemisphere.

This is also forcing the Nuland Republic to transfuse blood for the Empire.

To put it simply, unless the Nuland Republic intends to fight a war with little chance of winning, it will have to expend a lot of resources to bail out the Empire.

After spending a lot of resources on the Empire, what did the Nuland Republic use to challenge the Liangxia Empire?

In less than 10 years, the Nuland Republic will be exhausted.

At that time, the Liang Xia Empire will be able to kill and become the only superpower in the world without using a single soldier!

In fact, it was against this backdrop that the Empire began to instigate the military dictator in Iraq to try to reverse the situation by waging a war of spokesmen.

The difference is that this time it is the Liangxia Empire that will be challenged, and it will negotiate with the Nuland Republic in advance.

In order to gain the support of the Nuland Republic, it is necessary to ventilate in advance.

Of course, it is said to give face to the Nuland authorities, hoping to fight side by side with the Nuland Republic.

But looking at the current situation, will it be possible to support the military adventure of the Empire?

From Herbert downwards, no one was confident enough.