The 25.12 million square kilometers of the Mediterranean Sea are roamed by two of the world's most powerful navies, the Soviet Red Navy and the United American Combined Fleet. The huge plastic surgery of pen & fun & pavilion www.biquge.info is enough to make the old European countries show a look of envy. For example, the former British fleet can only watch the United States Combined Fleet run rampant in the Mediterranean, remembering the glory of the sun that never set.

As for the North African countries, looking at the Soviet Union's attitude of "the uncle doesn't care about the collision and the fishing", they can only choose to swallow their anger.

A fleet of heavily armed heavy cruisers marched through the calm waters of the Mediterranean, like a giant steel beast, paddling through the waves and weaving past other ships far inferior to its own size.

As a mobile arsenal of maritime weapons, the Kirov-class is a product of the era of giant ships and cannons.

However, the glory of the cruiser belongs to the past, and both Tikangadero and Kirov will be turned into sculptures in the historical museum, and they will be replaced by destroyers, but the Kirov class still appears in front of the world, proclaiming to them the power of the red polar bear.

After more than half a century, the steel behemoth of the sea is back again.

As long as they remain, the seas of the Red Empire will never allow the enemy to take half a step.

Even if it's a nautical mile!

The Kirov-class, which symbolizes the aesthetics of red violence, is a well-deserved Mediterranean Titan, and its massive body is only worthy of being compared to the Nimitz-class in front of him. Even the Algerian president, after seeing the large fleets of the United States and the Soviet Union under naval surveillance, was shocked by the nearly 100 anti-aircraft missiles and anti-ship missiles on the Kirov ships.

He said sourly to the admirals around him, "When will our navy have such a warship?" ”

However, this is only a dream for North African countries after all, and two destroyers will be able to make them financially strained, and even Thailand, which has a small aircraft carrier Nalubet, will not be able to smile when facing the new aircraft carrier to serve.

The Navy's funds and budget are burning.

The Red Navy has put aside the ships that were decommissioned on a large scale last year, and now has nearly a few hundred ships in service that need to be maintained, and no country in the Mediterranean can compete with them in terms of numbers alone.

The four fleets of the Red Empire are not just casual words, but fought hard with blood and strength.

Although the cruiser fleet does not have the exaggeration of the appearance of aircraft carrier battle groups, it can also make people feel a strong sense of fear.

Mario had previously consulted with security adviser Berger whether it was worth it to directly use an aircraft carrier battle group for the sake of a Mediterranean alliance.

In Mario's view, aircraft carriers are mobile burning depots that attract congressional protests for every nautical mile sailed. Mysterious forces from Capitol Hill will always cut off their funding approval at the most critical moment.

"Of course it's worth it." National Security Adviser Berger replied, "The most important thing about a Mediterranean Union is political interest in exchanging millions of dollars for a Mediterranean Union." We are better able to open up the raw material market in North Africa. That's what matters. And President Mario, be clear that this is our best chance to control a regional alliance. When the United States becomes the de facto controller of the Union for the Mediterranean, it is equivalent to controlling North Africa and Southern Europe. ”

"The Soviet Union has nothing to fear, they are no match for the United States in terms of foreign currency savings, the United States has the most powerful foreign currency system in the world, but what do they have? Take a bunch of ragged arms that no one is rare to pledge, and don't laugh at the dead. ”

The reason why Berger dared to let President Mario make a direct decision was that the United States did not need to negotiate terms with anyone, because he himself was a condition.

When the United States expressed its intention to join the Mediterranean project, Israel, which has a keen sense of politics, immediately dispatched an Israeli ambassador to the United States to hold private discussions with the White House.

It didn't take long for a temporary ceasefire agreement with Palestinian organizations to be announced, all of which were tried to increase their bargaining chips in the negotiations.

"But there's also French President Jacques Chirac, who won't make it easy for us to achieve our desire to take control."

Mario frowned, although France did not compete with the United States everywhere like the Soviet Union, but the style of duplicity made Mario secretly wary. He had told Tenet before: "Chirac is a poisonous snake, and if necessary, he can aim his fangs at his allies and bite down hard." So from the time of Charles de Gaulle to the present, we all need to be wary of them. ”

Berger sneered, and he stretched out a slap to President Mario, "In addition to the start-up capital we have prepared for France, and the small treasury prepared by France, how much start-up capital do they have?" It is not the French who hold up the entire Union for the Mediterranean, but the United States. Half of our investment alone is accounted for, and if the World Bank pulls out the bottom of the kettle, will the Mediterranean Organization be able to support it? ”

Finally, he shook his left hand and said mockingly, "France is nothing, and when France chooses to part ways with Germany, the hope of Europe's rise has already sunk." ”

Berger had a point.

The United States is the biggest financier of the Union for the Mediterranean.

As for France, as for the USSR?

"Now it is France begging us, not us pleading with Chirac."

Berger is confident.

At the same time, the French side was also worried about the intervention of the United States and the Soviet Union in the Mediterranean.

"A narrow body of water could not hold back the ambitions of the Empire, whether it was the Strait of Gibraltar or the Strait of Istanbul, the protests of Morocco and Turkey were mere flies buzzing in the ears and not affecting the progress of the behemoth. If you look at the US aircraft carrier battle group and the Soviet cruiser fleet entering the Mediterranean, don't they all stay at verbal condemnation and protest, who dares to really send the navy out to monitor and obstruct it? ”

"It's the real one, the navy of a great power. A hundred years ago, Great Britain could have done it, and France and Germany would never have been able to reach such heights. ”

At this time, President Chirac can only describe his mixed feelings, and everything did not go well at the beginning of the Mediterranean Union. The Soviet Union and the United States, which had encountered internal resistance, coincidentally used force to deter and bring each other to their knees in the simplest way, which was simply a clear view of the imperialist nature.

French Prime Minister Jospin told Jacques Chirac, "This is just the beginning." There are now three forces in the Union of the Mediterranean, we, the United States and the Soviet Union. In President Chirac's thinking, the United States is a competitor to us in the competition for markets and raw material origins, and we will not cooperate with the Americans, but on the contrary, we will ally with the Soviet Union to squeeze the United States. ”

"So, how France moves this move will greatly affect the next direction of the Mediterranean countries, except for Morocco and Turkey protests, other countries have not been in a wait-and-see state? So how France goes, the impact on the Mediterranean pattern will become very critical. If you cooperate with the United States, it is equivalent to ceding command to the Americans, but if you cooperate with the Soviet Union, at least we can guarantee that we are the leader of the Mediterranean Alliance. The influence of the USSR here was too limited. With the exception of one Istanbul Strait, their influence can barely extend into this area. Although, as they say, the accession was to broaden the channels of trade, France was always the dominant power in the Mediterranean. ”

Jospin's Franco-Russian alliance coincided with what Chirac had in mind. Indeed, if the two countries do not unite, it will only allow the United States to dominate alone.

Soviet.

The union of the two great powers is enough to make the United States worry about the small moves it is ready for.

"And the current Union for the Mediterranean is just getting started, and in the eyes of the continental powers it is just a small fight, and when it comes to the day when it can 'go north', President Chirac will know how important it is to seize the initiative. And in the previous joint meeting of Europe, Kohl made it clear that Germany cannot support the huge EU spending and needs to cut spending, right? ”

Chirac nodded, always feeling that Cole was ready to leave at any moment. The EU really can't get mixed up, and Germany bears the brunt of the losses. Now Kohl is still thinking about stabilizing the European Union, which is somewhat unscrupulous, so much so that he ignores France's small actions. It also made Chirac more unscrupulous to expand his influence in Europe.

"Therefore, we must recognize what France wants to do, first of all, to ensure the primacy of the Union of the Mediterranean, secondly, the cooperation of the Soviet Union to squeeze the United States to the point where it cannot resist, and finally, the most important thing, to develop and grow."

"Now, it's time to make a phone call and talk to General Secretary Yanayev, President Kohl."

"I think they're going to be looking forward to it."

Just as Yanayev was about to leave work, he received a call from Chirac, Yanayev glanced at the clock on the wall, held the microphone and whispered to the people next to him, "Call me the translator." ”

Faced with the sudden call, Yanayev was a little surprised. But he picked up the phone anyway.

"General Secretary Yanayev, about the Franco-Russian alliance proposed between Moscow, I would like to talk to you privately first. Do you have time now? ”

"Of course there's time, President Chirac."

Yanayev only then thought that the other party was coming for the Franco-Soviet alliance, and Chirac couldn't bear it anymore. It seems that Primakov's plan is going very well, and the other side is starting to scramble. At this time, the importance of the Soviet Union came to the fore.

Trying to dominate the United States, the United States would not side with the Soviet Union in the Mediterranean Union, so the Soviet Union became a very important ally of France.

"With regard to the plan of the Union for the Mediterranean, we want to cooperate with the Soviet side, and with regard to the Mediterranean Bank, I hope that the financial loans provided by the USSR and France will account for two-thirds!"

Chirac unleashed an attitude of not saying anything to the death, which was to ask the Soviet Union to come up with a loan of nearly $10 billion in one go. In order to suppress the nearly 13 billion World Bank loan projects of the United States, it is all out of its way.

Yanayev almost blurted out, or should I take a few aircraft carriers to pay off your debts?

"Nope."

Yanayev righteously refused, "The Soviet Union did not have so much money to provide, and we will come up with a maximum of 60 billion, which is our limit." And we also require that these loans be able to move freely within a short period of time. The remaining four billion are left to France to settle on its own. ”

“……”

Chirac didn't expect the Soviet Union to come to this play, which is completely different from his own script that he fully supported at the beginning. He also wanted to bargain with the other party, and Yanayev also played Tai Chi with Chirac.

"We have to continue to invest in oil exploration in the Arctic Circle, as well as in the Far East development program and the laying of oil pipelines in cooperation with Japan. Including the recent Asia-Pacific Cooperation Program, our foreign currency savings have been tightened. It's not that we are not willing to invest huge sums of money in the Mediterranean, but the economic power of the USSR dictated that we could only invest a maximum of 60 billion. ”

Yanayev deliberately said that the purpose of the leak was to make Chirac misjudge that the Soviet Union's foreign currency savings were in a hurry, and to send the wrong message so that the other side could make a wrong judgment in the following negotiations.

President Jacques Chirac said pointedly, "But if you look at the fact that the Soviet Union is still able to patrol the Mediterranean Sea with battlecruisers and provoke North African countries, it is really hard to believe that your foreign currency savings are ......."

Chirac's subtext says that I won't believe you fooling the United States.

Yanayev deliberately said with a great headache, "That's not the way to prop up the façade?" Everyone knows that the Soviet Union has been reducing the aging ships of various fleets and simplifying the bloated establishment, and to put it bluntly, the Soviet Union has become so difficult that even naval investment has become a big problem. The cruiser's patrol in the Mediterranean consumes a lot of the Black Sea naval budget, and the appropriation project does not know when it will come down. ”

Pavlov, who was sitting on the side, forcibly held back a smile, especially looking at Yanayev's serious lie, as if the Soviet Navy really couldn't open the pot.

In the face of Yanayev's helplessness, Chirac didn't know what to say for a while. The atmosphere was at an impasse, and he didn't know how to talk to Yanaev.

If the Soviet Union is not co-opted, the Mediterranean Union will become the pocket of the Americans.

But good news and bad news always go hand in hand.

"President Chirac, what do you think of this, if I propose a solution?"

In the past, OPEC and the Soviet Union signed a joint advance and retreat plan, which was to realize that oil production cuts were imminent, and there may be a period of low tide in the future, and if they did not take this opportunity to sell the backlog of oil, the losses would be even more serious when they plummeted in the future. Plans to replace bank loans with oil were naturally conceived. Yanayev has been talking with Chirac for so long, just to give him a little hope when the other party is cornered.

Seeing that the time was almost ripe, Yanayev took the opportunity to instigate the other party, "How about the signing of an oil supply project between the USSR and France, and we offset this loan with a batch of oil?" ”

"Rest assured, the Soviet side will definitely not treat our allies badly."

He almost patted his chest and swore a promise. (To be continued.) )