Chapter 733 - 707 Treaty of Peace

"Actually, we do not intend to equip too many laser satellites. We will fund the research and development of upgrades, but the final operating number will be maintained at no more than five. There won’t be many."

Lu Jianfei first revealed a huge secret that astonished Lin Ju, before continuing the previous topic:

"We only have two conditions: reducing the number of nuclear submarines and opening up commercial trade protection. Just these two, in exchange for China not exceeding five laser anti-missile satellites for the next ten years, and America not to exceed five laser anti-missile satellites before the year 2030.

The criteria for defining laser anti-missile satellites is a light source power of more than one megawatt. If the power cannot be determined, then it is judged whether the weight exceeds ten tons, covering all spacecraft within the first cosmic velocity.

As for the laser smelting satellites used by United Mining, they need to be jointly supervised by both countries, must not have the capability to maneuver into near-Earth orbit, and the number must not exceed three."

Exchanging economic benefits as the primary purpose was one of the trading principles established by the higher-ups.

In the view of the leaders and think tank researchers above, even though humanity is facing unprecedented risks of war, the situation is expected to remain controllable for a considerable length of time, and the likelihood of a large-scale civil war on Earth is very low.

In such circumstances, it is unnecessary to pour too much energy into the military. As long as a rough balance of power is maintained, with both sides checking each other to prevent any one party from taking reckless actions, it should be sufficient.

If the conditions are ideal and America also agrees to major disarmament, our own pace of military upgrade can be slowed down, and it’s better to turn our attention to space.

Though forgetting the possibility of war is dangerous, if war is destined not to happen and we desperately prepare for it, the outcome is something everyone has already witnessed thirty years ago.

And our think tanks believe America wouldn’t want to start another conflict, either. The position of both parties on this matter is relatively restrained.

It is definitely a cost-effective deal to exchange the reduction of armaments, which is in our favor, for tangible economic benefits, especially when it also involves demanding America to cut back on its nuclear submarine numbers.

If America agrees or is willing to enter negotiations on this, it means they don’t wish to see the flames of war either, proving that our strategy is viable and correct.

After more than 20 years of rapid development, China’s economy is about to reach its peak. However, going past that peak means a downhill path awaits, making the market the most crucial issue for the future that must be prepared for early.

Especially now, when we need to accumulate our savings for large-scale investments in space, the foundation must be laid as solid as possible before we can make a breakthrough.

Lu Jianfei tried to explain as clearly as possible, not wishing for Lin Ju to have any resentment, but the latter seemed to show little reaction.

This was actually not too different from what the base had anticipated. The base had always believed that while expecting human unity was wishful thinking, a large-scale melee was also unlikely to occur.

But he noticed one issue that had not been mentioned:

"If we control the power and number of laser weapons, what about the space ships? In the next ten years, we are definitely going to Mars and Titan. We can’t go there without high-power laser weapons. They are one of the only two high-energy weapons we have, along with nuclear warheads."

"So, that’s an exception."

"Although we haven’t reached any specific limitations in this respect, a basic principle has already been established. No matter what stance we decide to take regarding the extraterrestrial crisis, developing space forces is absolutely necessary.

Therefore, space warships—or it could be something else—will be unrestricted in the force against alien civilizations, otherwise, it would be like tying our own hands."

"But if we develop space ships with powerful weapons, attacking Earth would be very easy, making the previous limitations meaningless."

Lu Jianfei nodded without arguing against Lin Ju’s point and then continued to explain:

"So this is just a basic principle. When put into practice, it might mean that these offensive space ships are not allowed to be deployed within a certain range. I believe they will likely be limited to beyond the asteroid belt, or say, Mars’s orbit.

The construction process must be strictly monitored. The preferable option is manufacturing or assembling on Mars, where aggressive components must leave Earth under surveillance immediately after production. They are only allowed to be assembled onto the ship when sent to Mars or another planet, and all high-energy weapons must be registered.

In this way, even if a space ship from Mars were to rush to Earth, it would take at least several months, giving any party on Earth plenty of time to respond."

Manufacturing or assembling on Mars with local resources? That seems quite challenging.

Lin Ju had just thought about this issue when he recognized the intention behind it:

If humanity does not possess these capabilities, the space forces built will hardly be up to the task of resisting alien civilizations, or carrying out escape operations.

Still, this will surely create many loopholes, but that will be at least ten or twenty years later, and we need to trust the wisdom of future generations.

A ten-year lifespan of an agreement is already long enough. The Third Empire went from a loaf of bread costing 500,000 marks to producing 8,000 planes a year in just ten years.

Lin Ju:

"Developing space forces requires not only technology but also strong industrial capacity. What we have now is not enough. Even if we possess advanced technologies, we cannot accelerate the development of the whole society. Real warship manufacturing is at least ten years away."

"The same goes for America. Fortunately, we have ensured at least a decade of peaceful development. In this period, our job is to fully enhance our technological and industrial capabilities. There will be no hot war, nor any particularly severe events to disrupt trade and the economy.

The next ten years are crucial. Once this stage is over, whether the alien civilization is malicious or benevolent, we will devote ourselves to developing space forces for at least several decades, until we believe we have a basic ability for self-preservation."

Lu Jianfei had more to say but refrained. That being, if we can fully confirm that alien civilizations are hostile to humans, the wartime readiness will continue unabated until the outbreak of war.

Like the World Wars, humanity has never experienced anything like it, and even think tanks focus on the here and now in periods of ten or five years, as no one knows what the coming decades will bring.

Lin Ju: "Then we must strive to survive as long as possible; otherwise, future humans might not care about alien civilizations and focus on enjoying themselves."

Lu Jianfei: "At least you are the person most likely to see that day."

As the topic shifted to matters of life and death, the atmosphere turned somewhat mournfully solemn. On the cosmic scale, a human’s life is far too brief, and one generation’s time is even shorter. The duration of a cosmic war might even be enough for the rise and fall of a nation.

When one’s thinking stretches beyond Earth, everything familiar seems to lose its luster, becoming insignificant.

Both fell silent for a while, each lost in their thoughts, and then Lin Ju said:

"Let’s go, General Lu, I will grant you access rights here. Whatever you need, just look it up directly."