Chapter 782: The multiple-choice questions and this plan are not bad

On the pier, looking at the bustling metropolis, Mr. Cassia's family was momentarily plunged into a state of happy bewilderment.

Mr. Cassia had been engaged in international business for many years, and his primary area of responsibility was the Federation.

There were no wealthy countries on the island of Xiang Yalan; almost all of them were equally poor.

This point was very strange.

They possessed abundant mineral resources, owned rich natural resources, had vast tracts of land suitable for growing all sorts of things, and enjoyed a suitable climate.

Yet, wealthy countries could never be born on this land.

Was it a problem with the land itself, or a problem with the rulers of this land?

In all likelihood, it was the latter.

Because although the country was poor, and people couldn't afford to eat and had no work, the ruling families were each richer than the next, living as if they were in a different dimension from the underclass.

The only place near Xiang Yalan that could trade with them and bring in revenue was the Federation.

Mr. Cassia had always been engaged in international trade with the Federation; he would study all kinds of books, newspapers, and magazines related to the Federation, obtaining all sorts of information about it.

Under his influence, his family also held a very special longing for the Federation.

Because in all these external propaganda pieces, the Federation was as beautiful as a utopia!

People like utopias; an idealized society is what everyone yearns for, but everyone knows that a utopia is just a beautiful aspiration and does not truly exist, yet because of this, they believe even more firmly that utopias exist in this world.

The Federation was that utopia.

At this moment, standing on the soil of the Federation, smelling the faint scent of unburned machine oil in the air, along with an indescribable local flavor, Mr. Cassia took a deep breath—it was indeed as sweet as he had imagined.

Even the smell of machine oil was like the sweet scent of cream.

"From now on, we will live here," he said, looking at his wife and children.

His wife also came from an ordinary family in Lapa; she didn't have much worldly experience, hadn't attended university, and hadn't received a higher education.

At this moment, she was too nervous to speak. There were cars everywhere, people everywhere, and the dock workers passing by, carrying things and smoking cigarettes, glanced at them with dead, lifeless eyes. Mrs. Cassia immediately pulled the two children closer, looking at the dock workers with vigilance.

This place didn't seem as good as Mr. Cassia had always described it.

The two children, however, were full of curiosity about everything here; they looked around, not afraid of anything at all.

They were also "victims" of the Federation's cultural propaganda; this was also the place they yearned for.

"Don't be afraid, it's very safe here."

The Federation couldn't actually be called very safe, except for New Jincheng.

But compared to Lapa, where people would lose their lives on the street over a few dozen dollars at the drop of a hat, this place was indeed safe in the true sense of the word.

Soon, Lansi's motorcade arrived. Ervin, who had met Mr. Cassia before, took the initiative to greet him: "Mr. Lansi is tied up with some matters for the moment, so he asked us to come and pick you up."

"You should come and rest with us first. Mr. Lansi will dine with you all at dinner time. In a few days, you can head to New Jincheng."

"Everything is almost ready over in New Jincheng, and I believe you will like it."

Watching the car door of the luxury vehicle open, Mr. Cassia let his wife and children get in first, then thanked Ervin for coming to pick him up.

Although he was a diplomatic ambassador for a country, not every ambassador had the style of an ambassador.

Lansi had specifically instructed that they should be made to fully feel the beauty of the Federation, so after the car circled the Bay Area, the Starlight District, and the city center, it finally arrived at the Lansi Manor in the suburbs.

The journey took a full two hours, and there were people specifically assigned to introduce them to the origins of the beautiful scenery and architecture along the way.

This journey was an eye-opener for Mr. Cassia's family.

After they rested for a while in the afternoon, they met Lansi at the dinner table.

"Apologies, I've been particularly busy these past few days and couldn't come to pick you up. I must apologize to you and your family!" Lansi said, pressing his hand to his chest with an apologetic look, bowing slightly toward Mrs. Cassia.

This left the woman feeling both respected and somewhat at a loss.

Mr. Cassia hurriedly stopped him: "We are friends, Lansi. Friends don't need these formalities."

Lansi smiled; this was "recognition between friends." When the relationship shifted from him always saying "we are friends" to the other party taking the initiative to say "we are friends," it meant that the relationship between the two sides had undergone a huge change.

"Please, sit." Lansi invited the family to sit down and then had the cook start serving the dishes.

It was still the cook from the Anderson Restaurant. Last winter, Mr. Anderson (the stubborn old cook) had a fall, broke his hip, and had been lying in bed unable to move ever since.

His health was still considered decent, but even so, the doctor said he needed at least half a year of rest before he could possibly return to normal.

A full recovery was unlikely; this was already the best possible outcome.

So today's cooks were all young apprentices, though they had all been carefully trained by Anderson.

As the restaurant grew larger, its status higher, and the number of branches increased, it was impossible for him not to pass down these unique skills.

There would always be some lucky ones who became his apprentices and inherited his culinary techniques.

The cooks Lansi wanted were definitely the best; not only the best, but also the most flexible and intelligent.

They stood about fifteen meters away from the dining table with mobile dining carts, performing cooking demonstrations for the distinguished guests like acrobats.

This caused Mr. Cassia's two children to clap and cheer every time they produced huge flames or performed an acrobatic-like move.

At first, Mr. Cassia told them to be quiet, but Lansi indicated that the applause and cheering were a tribute to the cooks, so he stopped restraining them.

After about ten minutes, the dishes were plated, covered with table domes, and brought to the dining table.

They used a completely separate serving system; all the food was portioned out right next to them because the table was too large.

The cook introduced the food they had prepared while portioning it out for everyone. Everyone had their own serving, and if someone didn't like a certain dish, they could tell the cook they didn't need it.

Once the food was portioned out, everyone had a complete "menu" in front of them.

Lansi had someone open a bottle of truly fine wine, and dinner began.

For the children, this was the dinner they had imagined!

Because family was present, they didn't talk about work-related matters, instead chatting about some trivial, ordinary life topics.

When Mr. Cassia's eldest son asked the question, "Is the water in the Federation sweet?", Lansi directly had someone fetch a glass of tap water for him.

After the little guy took a sip, he showed a look of surprise. He hurriedly handed the glass to his younger sister, letting the little girl take a sip as well.

After the little girl took a sip, she handed it to her mother like she was presenting a treasure: "Mom, taste it, it really is sweet!"

The woman tasted a little bit; there really was a faint sweetness. She looked at her husband with some surprise. Mr. Cassia himself didn't know why this was.

But as someone who had long been influenced by Federation culture, he believed that perhaps this was the superiority of the Federation—even the water was sweet.

Dinner was very pleasant, with exquisite dishes and a perfect dining environment. Considering they had been traveling for more than a day, Lansi didn't disturb them further after dinner, choosing instead to let them rest.

The next morning, after enjoying breakfast, Lansi invited them to his private cinema to watch the latest movie, "The Raid on New Jincheng."

This was absolutely the first super-investment blockbuster in history. Although the special effects seemed very backward to Lansi, to the people of this era, this was a top-tier special effects blockbuster!

The family watched it with great absorption. During the tense moments, even Mr. Cassia gripped the armrest tightly and lit a cigarette.

When the movie ended, the family's emotions relaxed.

Compared to the children and wife's relatively straightforward understanding of the movie's content, Mr. Cassia saw the core beneath the surface.

Xiang Yalan had been forced into an awkward position in this war.

Lansi had people take the two children to the amusement park—along with Mrs. Cassia, of course; with people protecting them, there was no need to worry about their safety—while Mr. Cassia entered Lansi's office.

"What did you think of the movie?" Lansi asked after inviting him to sit down and pouring some wine.

Mr. Cassia's expression was somewhat solemn: "Very profound."

"Very profound?" Lansi walked over holding two glasses and handed one to him. "Why is it very profound?"

Mr. Cassia exhaled a puff of smoke: "Because we were never even a hypothetical enemy, and no one cares about our thoughts."

Hearing him say this, Lansi couldn't help but smile. Yes, not even having the qualifications to be a hypothetical enemy—that was indeed a very profound thing.

Of course, Mr. Cassia didn't think the Xiang Yalan region could become a hypothetical enemy of the Federation; the gap between the two sides was too vast.

He glanced at Lansi: "Is the Federation planning to do something to Xiang Yalan?"

"Why would you ask that?" Lansi didn't admit it immediately. "It's just a movie."

"We hypothesized a direction for the war, a trend, not political propaganda."

Mr. Cassia didn't believe Lansi's words; he was just thinking. He believed that Lansi taking the initiative to let him watch this movie had a purpose.

But he didn't have such strong opposition, because he was very clear about one thing: the situation over in Xiang Yalan couldn't get any worse than it already was!

Plus, now that their family had arrived in the Federation, he had more things to think about.

Looking at Mr. Cassia, who had fallen into deep thought, Lansi smiled and said, "The world changes very quickly. If you can't keep up with the changes of the times, you will be abandoned by the times."

He paused, raised his glass, and clinked it with Mr. Cassia's: "Whether to catch up with the pace of the new era or to sink to the bottom of the sea with the old era—that depends entirely on yourself."

Although it seemed he hadn't said anything, it also seemed he had said everything.

"You can consider it, think more, reflect more. It just so happens that the place I've arranged for you is in New Jincheng, the heart of the Federation."

"You are an adult and have your own way of understanding the world. I believe you will find the path to the future there..."

This movie brought Mr. Cassia too many feelings and thoughts.

He believed this movie was absolutely a signal, a trial, and absolutely not just a movie as Lansi had said.

He couldn't wait too long and took the initiative to propose going to New Jincheng early; he still had some preparations to make over there.

The huge effect brought by the movie continued to erupt; almost all movie theater ticket offices had long lines.

In the film critic column of the "Film Newspaper," almost everyone was recommending that people watch "The Raid on New Jincheng," believing it had already locked in the best of the year.

Coupled with the word-of-mouth that kept fermenting, it had become a super phenomenon.

Consequently, the President of the Dantela Republic, along with most of his cabinet members, high-ranking officials, and generals, had all watched this movie.

Ordinary people watched the movie and that was it, forgetting the content as soon as they stood up.

But for politicians, they had one more important thing to do—a post-viewing reflection.

Students' reflections were just reflections, to be written in a notebook.

But for them, they only needed to discuss.

The President sat in his chair, looking at the generals of the military: "This movie..." He pursed his lips and deliberated for a moment, "Is it possible to realize?"

As soon as this sentence was spoken, everyone in the room was stunned for a moment.

The Prime Minister asked in an uncertain tone: "Do you mean we can consider actually raiding New Jincheng?"

"Using the method in the movie to force the Federation to shift the center of the war from our side to their homeland."

The President nodded: "This is a movie, a movie filmed by Federation people. What if we won the naval battle?"

"If we hadn't lost actual control of Xiang Yalan, and our troops in Xiang Yalan hadn't chosen to surrender due to a cutoff in supplies, could we continue to deter the Federation's homeland and thereby actually achieve control over the entire East Ocean?"

Once the President's words were out, everyone fell into thought.

The Federation's movie was definitely biased toward the Federation. If everything developed as it did in the movie, but in the final great naval battle, the Dantela Allied Fleet wasn't destroyed by the Federation's naval fleet, but instead beat the Federation's navy into a rout?

If they still firmly occupied Xiang Yalan and maintained the deterrence against the Federation's homeland, what would the outcome be?

A general in the military said: "The Federation people might withdraw their troops from the local battlefield and form a defensive line in their south to avoid our invasion of the Federation's homeland."

Others had roughly the same idea. If they've already fought to their doorstep, how could they still keep their attention on the battlefield here?

The President had the same thought: "Then is the strategy and tactics shown in the movie possible to realize? Do we have a chance to shell New Jincheng and seize Xiang Yalan before the Federation people react?"

The Admiral pursed his lips: "Theoretically, there is no problem."

"The Federation people don't have many fortresses in the East Ocean, and they know nothing about our movements. If we avoid the Federation people's main shipping lanes, it is entirely possible to approach New Jincheng and shell it without them discovering us."

The Admiral became more enthusiastic as he spoke: "As the Federation's most important deep-water port, New Jincheng handles cargo transshipment for half the world. Once New Jincheng is destroyed, a large amount of supplies will be unable to be transported smoothly to the rear of Slader."

"At the same time, if the naval base located in New Jincheng is destroyed, we can not only avenge their attack on our port but also further strengthen our control over the sea."

"This will be of great help to us in cutting off military exchanges and civilian trade between other countries and the Slader military alliance."

"Once their supply guarantee is cut off, the changes on the battlefield should become even more intense and rapid!"

The Army General also nodded: "The reason the Federation army is advancing so fast right now is that they are continuously sending soldiers over and shelling our defensive lines for long periods."

"Their troops' military literacy is actually very poor, but they are too rich."

"If their supplies have problems, the pressure on our front line will decrease a lot, and casualties will also come down."

From morning to night, shells are flying overhead; no one knows when a shell will land beside them.

When the shells are no longer flying randomly in the sky, the sea of Federation soldiers has already pressed up, along with a large number of combat vehicles and tanks.

Even if the Dantela Republic side loses one person and can trade for two or three Federation people, they are ultimately retreating all the time.

Everyone has actually studied the Federation's tactics very thoroughly: it's just throwing money, crazily throwing money, and shells are fired over as if they don't cost anything.

Even if you blow up one of their artillery positions, a second and third will soon appear.

Instead, you will suffer huge losses because you exposed your own artillery positions.

Before more dominant tactics or war equipment appear, the advantage established by this tactic of competing in resources, industry, and population is too huge!

It is difficult to balance through ordinary strategy and tactics.

Hearing this, the President couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Who wrote this script?"

"We can invite him to be our military advisor; at least he provided us with a line of thinking that has great feasibility."

The atmosphere at the scene was very relaxed, not tense or oppressive, and everyone was laughing.

After laughing for a while, the President said: "You in the military should produce an assessment."

"If this plan is useful to us, it's not impossible to try it."

"Our navy can't always be wandering around the coastline; when necessary, we must also sail out and propagate our power."

The military generals naturally wouldn't refuse. Soon they skipped this topic and began discussing other matters.

But this matter had been listed on their plan.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 783 =====