Chapter 432: Total War

The cargo ship incident shocked the international community.

Since the cargo ship was a joint venture between China and the UK and had many British crew members on board, Patrick immediately ordered two aircraft carriers to cross the Atlantic and enter the Americas, also launching a maritime blockade against the United States.

Naturally, the United States could not sit idly by, so two aircraft carriers of the Atlantic Fleet also approached Panama, and the two sides confronted each other in the Caribbean Sea, with the situation being extremely tense for a time.

Just at this time, the Soviet Union, ignoring the strong opposition of the United States, launched three more rockets, carrying hundreds of magic satellites into the sky.

The Pentagon.

In a video conference room, everyone looked solemn.

"If we launch missiles to destroy their satellites, it will likely be considered a signal of war, which could lead to nuclear war." A Chief of Staff said, "But we are far behind the Soviet Union in the development of space-based weapons. Once a total war breaks out, the probability of us losing is very high."

"But if we don't counterattack, the Soviets can continuously launch satellites into outer space," another Chief of Staff said. "When their satellites cover our heads, we will completely lose the chance of victory. By then, we can only be led by the nose by them!"

"What is the possibility of destroying satellites by means other than nuclear warheads?" On the TV, a White House staff member asked.

"The outer space environment is special, and the lethality of ordinary weapons is very limited. Moreover, satellites fly very fast. If we want to destroy a sufficient number of satellites, we might need to launch thousands of short- and medium-range missiles, which might cause greater vigilance and lead to unpredictable consequences."

"If we declare in advance that we only destroy satellites and do not strike their homeland..." another White House advisor asked.

"That makes no sense. Destroying the other side's space-based weapons and striking the other side's nuclear facilities are almost equivalent in effect. They will not retreat because of this. Doing so will only let the other side know our attack target in advance and see our weakness."

"Mr. President," a Chief of Staff said, "this still needs your decision." 【43

On the television screen, William looked calm. He pondered for a long time, then asked: "If a full-scale nuclear war breaks out, how many people on both sides will survive?"

The chiefs of staff were all startled, and then one said: "That is unimaginable. Under our current strategy of mutually assured destruction, a nuclear strike is actually divided into three rounds. The first round is to directly destroy the important facilities and land-based nuclear missile bases of both sides."

"Once the other side realizes we have initiated a nuclear war, they may, without reservation, throw all their land-based nuclear missiles at our heads as much as possible. After this first round of mutual strikes, the important cities of both countries will basically be completely destroyed, and the population of both sides will plummet by one-third."

"Next is the second round of strikes, based on sea-based nuclear missiles, to ensure that the losses suffered by the other side are greater than our own, so that they cannot establish an advantage in the future."

"Finally, there is the third round of strikes. After both sides ensure mutual destruction, in order to prevent other countries from taking the opportunity to gain development opportunities after the war, it is necessary to carry out a nuclear destruction of all other major countries in the world."

"This round of strikes will plunge the entire world into a quagmire of mutual destruction. Conservatively estimated, nuclear war will kill more than half of the world's population, and due to subsequent effects such as radiation and the collapse of social systems, a few years later, the world population may drop to one-tenth of what it is today, or even less."

"For the entire human civilization, that is the end of the world."

Everyone was silent; that kind of terrible doomsday is something no one wants to see.

And the decision they were about to make today could become the fuse for doomsday. Thinking of this, everyone was breaking out in a cold sweat.

William on the television, however, still had a calm expression. Suddenly, he said: "Perhaps only in suffering can humanity learn to be in awe."

Everyone did not understand his meaning, but William had already made his decision: "Launch the nuclear missile and destroy their satellite!"

"According to our model predictions," an officer projected a pie chart onto the screen, "if we continue to launch satellites this time, the probability that the United States will respond with force is 92.7%, among which the probability of destroying our satellite with nuclear missiles is as high as 86.4%, and the probability of intercepting it when we launch the rocket is also 61.3%."

"And even if the United States does not respond with force this time, the next time we launch a satellite, the probability of them responding with force will be as high as 99%. That is to say, if we choose to continue launching satellites, we will inevitably encounter military intervention from the United States."

"The possibility of it escalating into a full-scale nuclear war?" another silver-haired general asked.

"Extremely high probability." The officer said, "According to the Pioneer's deterrence model prediction, if we do not give up launching satellites, the probability that the United States will eventually choose nuclear war is close to one hundred percent."

Everyone looked at each other. Stopping the launch of magic satellites is impossible. Everyone present already knows the existence of gods, and magic satellites are currently the only weapons humans have that can cause real-time strikes against gods. Giving up magic satellites is equivalent to cutting off one's own arms.

"Then, let's discuss how to deal with the problem of full-scale nuclear war," the silver-haired general said, "How is our survival capability under the other side's nuclear strike?"

"Currently, we have discovered and marked 50 United States missile control centers and 480 intercontinental missile silos." Another officer projected a map marking the coordinates of missile silos across the United States onto the screen, "Now they are all marked by aerospace satellites. If necessary, we can destroy all targets within one minute."

"No, it only takes 45 seconds now." Another officer looked at the tablet in his hand and said, "Today we launched two hundred more satellites, and our coverage strike capability has improved again. Pioneer calculated that in extreme cases, it will take at most 45 seconds to destroy all these nuclear threats."

"What is the proportion of known targets to the total?" someone asked, "If even one is missed, the loss is something we cannot accept."

"We have three aerospace satellites using the most advanced ground camera systems, with a photography precision of 0.1 meters. All their images will undergo Pioneer's intelligent screening, and the discovery rate of missile silos in the United States should have reached over 99%."

"As for those that might be hidden better, our global electromagnetic radar can locate their position the moment they are launched, and then destroy them through aerospace weapons."

"In addition, our super-powered tactical units are trying to find ways to invade the other side's command system. Once the virus developed by Pioneer is connected to their command system, the other side will have no secrets from us."

"What about submarine-launched missiles?" someone else asked.

"Nuclear submarines can dive to depths of over five or six hundred meters. Under such deep water, even our satellites are difficult to detect. But for submarine-launched missiles to be launched, they must surface to within a hundred meters underwater. In this way, the possibility of us discovering the other side is very high."

"Similarly, once a missile is launched, it is difficult to escape the eyes of our satellites."

"Taking a step back, even if we cannot discover the missile in the early stages of launch, we can discover the other side after it enters our country's airspace, and with our interception capability, discovery means destruction."

"According to Pioneer's prediction, in the most extreme case, once a full-scale nuclear war begins, at most one or two of our small bases will be hit."

"And if necessary, the other side will be completely destroyed by us within three hours."

"In summary, the United States' nuclear deterrence capability against us has failed."

Everyone looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief, "What is Pioneer's suggestion?"

"Once the other side launches military intervention, immediately launch a full-scale war."

(End of chapter)