"This is a war of national power," Comrade Li Runshi, Vice Chairman of the Military Commission and Political Commissar of the Southern Theater Command, explained at the meeting.

China's extremely risky offensive had reached Ceylon, separated from India by only a narrow strait. In the ordinary view, what China should do next was to cross the strait and march north into India. However, Li Runshi did not have such an idea. According to the strategy of mobile warfare, China had almost infinite space on the ocean. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army in Ceylon was merely a feint; what was really to be employed was the navy, especially the navy's submarine force, with the aim of maximizing the consumption of British transport capacity.

If the British wanted to retake Ceylon, they would have to transport a large number of troops to Ceylon. These soldiers naturally could not swim to Ceylon carrying heavy equipment. Given India's pitiful shipbuilding capacity, its replenishment ability was extremely lacking.

Most importantly, China did not have a plan to invade India. It was unlikely for the British to travel thousands of miles from the Atlantic directly into the Pacific to aid New Zealand and Australia from the east. This sea route was long, and there was a lack of supply points in between. Pushing out to Ceylon was completely in line with the most common military essential: "The key to manipulating the enemy lies in attacking what the enemy must save."

Coming up with such a strategy was not difficult; the difficulty lay in possessing such national power. China building warships like dumping dumplings into a pot was certainly national power. Recruiting commanders and fighters to operate warships and training them required massive investment. All work, including positioning and sea condition surveys, required massive investment. Without powerful national power, these could not be achieved at all.

Since China already possessed everything it had now, all comrades did not feel there was any problem with this plan. On the contrary, everyone highly appreciated Comrade Li Runshi's strategic planning. According to the Army's original idea, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was to first fight into Burma, and then attack India from Burma. Compared with the current plan, that plan would cost more and it would be difficult to mobilize the British army. The British army could mobilize a large number of Indian troops to fight a war with China. And China's attitude towards India was hoping to "liberate India," or rather, hoping that the Indian people could rise up themselves to overthrow British colonial rule.

If China and India engaged in mass slaughter on land, the hatred formed would likely be difficult to dissolve for a long time. Relatively speaking, striking Britain's strength fiercely was equivalent to promoting India's independence movement. Because after capturing Port Blair on the east coast of South Andaman Island, China had many unexpected gains. The British had built many prisons on South Andaman Island to detain Indian revolutionaries. In this raid, among the prison personnel liberated by China, there were a large number of such candidates. For example, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

Savarkar was a true Indian nationalist; this gentleman known as the father of Indian nationalism was very interesting. The father of Pakistan in Chen Ke's timeline, Ali Jinnah, was not a true Muslim; he often acted in violation of Islamic prohibitions, and many older Pakistanis knew this. Savarkar claimed to be a radical Hindu, but this gentleman was actually a genuine atheist who never believed in the existence of ghosts or gods. He only had to use Hinduism as his banner in order to create the concept of an "Indian Nation."

It had to be said that Mr. Savarkar was quite materialist for an atheist. He himself understood very well the tradition of India never forming a unified country and being internally fragmented. That was why he tried to create an "Indian Nation." And the British, wearing the crown of the Emperor of India on their heads, were very sensitive to such a truly threatening guy, so they sent him directly to prison.

Historically, this Mr. Savarkar was a wonderful person in many ways. He himself was a vegetarian, but he ate meat. The reason for eating meat was "People who don't eat meat are too sissy and lack manliness!"

Comrade Li Runshi was originally a humorous and wise person, and also a recognized theorist within the People's Party. These past few days, Mr. Savarkar and Li Runshi had very happy conversations regarding the Indian revolution. But conversations with this leader of the Indian ideological world often turned Comrade Li Runshi's train of thought towards Chen Ke. An Indian ideological leader who could be sentenced to two life terms by the British was indeed much more profound in his seriousness than ordinary Indians, but compared to Chen Ke, he still appeared very childish.

Chen Ke possessed an unshakeable status in the People's Party, reaching the point where no one dared to openly oppose Chen Ke's actual execution. This was not because Chen Ke was unfathomable. Apart from focus and persistence, Chen Ke's personal aptitude could not be considered shocking. Analyzing with the IQ and EQ theory founded by Chen Ke, and the corresponding scientific discipline of human behavioristics, Chen Ke's EQ was only just enough to be a leader. That is to say, compared with Chen Ke's god-like status, Chen Ke's communication with others was merely at a human level.

The three famous successors in the second generation, whom the Party knew well—Li Runshi, Wu Xiangyu, and Ren Peiguo—all surpassed Chen Ke in EQ. Even surpassed him by a lot.

Even though the comrades had a clear understanding of Chen Ke's personal ability, still no one dared to openly oppose Chen Ke. Because Chen Ke had strengths that no one else could reach. It would be better to call him a practitioner than a theorist. However, Chen Ke's own research into these theories was merely to serve practice.

Li Runshi knew why the three, including himself, were selected as the second-generation successors: because they were recognized within the Party as talents in theory. The theory pioneered by Chen Ke was very magnificent; he himself was a person for whom research into theory only needed to be enough to serve practice. Chen Ke was a person who attained an unprecedented status through extraordinary practical achievements.

For China's rapid industrialization in a short period, the greatest driving force behind it was Chen Ke. Li Runshi was very clear about this. It was not just that Chen Ke provided the initial funds for the revolution with his own technology, nor just that Chen Ke established the People's Party. It was that Chen Ke clearly and plainly made the comrades of the People's Party understand the meaning of capital and its application mode. Now the general direction of China's capital investment was completely controlled in Chen Ke's hands. Chen Ke decided the direction of China's industry, and decided the line of China's industry and agriculture.

This was just like how revolutionary theories are all based on exactly the same facts, but due to everyone's different thinking, the revolutionary road presents a wide variety of practices. Developing industry is also the same; on the basis of exactly the same theory, there are countless feasible routes. Chen Ke pointed out a road with his own strength; without any practical basis, Chen Ke proved his correctness with results.

Up to now, the results have all been proving Chen Ke's consistent correctness. No one is willing to oppose Chen Ke controlling the general direction of China's capital operations anymore. One sentence from Chen Ke is worth ten thousand sentences; the direction he proposes without experiment is the direction of the People's Party's industrial development. Comrades regard this as the norm, believing that walking on the correct successful road is inevitable. Failure is only because comrades did not understand Chen Ke's correct intentions.

As a person who was fundamentally not meddlesome, Li Runshi had never thought of proving his own correctness by opposing anyone. Precisely because of this, Li Runshi increasingly felt the danger contained within. Things all have two sides; while crossing layer upon layer of difficulties and walking the only road that could quickly save China, the vast majority of people thought this success was so easy. Because any failed road does not reach the end; the successful road merely finished those one hundred links.

Just like China now returning to the Indian Ocean which it hadn't entered for hundreds of years, and easily suppressing Britain in the Indian Ocean, the only reason People's Party comrades could find was that Comrade Chen Ke pointed out the correct road, and the People's Party worked hard together with laborers nationwide, overcoming all devils hidden in the details, completed the work, and reached the destination.

This explanation was realistic; a wise leader led the working people to complete a task. This was a fact.

The only problem lay in that this matter itself was not the norm. Yet quite a few comrades thought such an "abnormality" was actually replicable. Li Runshi found that an astonishing number of people in the military high command held this view. Chen Ke's position and Chen Ke's contribution seemed to be equated; comrades believed that only a person like Chen Ke should obtain such a status. In other words, the current position ought to possess such ability, and continue the current system.

Li Runshi certainly could not stir up such a discussion; he could only find someone to discuss this matter with, and the one he could discuss with was one of the secretaries of the Southern Front Command, Wu Xiangyu. As the iron-clad next Premier of the State, Wu Xiangyu could very well understand Li Runshi's point of view. Of course, Wu Xiangyu's angle of viewing this problem was vastly different from Li Runshi's. "I heard Chairman Chen Ke has a preparation; he will only retain the positions of Party Chairman and Chairman of the Military Commission in the future. Moreover, he prepares to change your position from Party Vice Chairman to General Secretary."

Wu Xiangyu was very smart, only his temper was a bit impatient. Even though there was great improvement with the help of his spouse after marriage, human nature is hard to reverse. So his answer was also this "unfathomable."

Li Runshi thought for several minutes before finally understanding what exactly Wu Xiangyu wanted to say. What Li Runshi thought of next was not Wu Xiangyu, but Zhang Yu's evaluation of Chen Ke. Zhang Yu had said, "Chairman Chen Ke is fundamentally not like a human being in many places," "He is standing in an endless abyss looking at this world."

Only those in the endless abyss can see the true light, but how many People's Party members can see this point? How many people can see through this point, and have the ability and opportunity to sink to Chen Ke's depth? In the eyes of the vast majority of people, Chen Ke is not in an endless abyss at all, but high above, residing at the top of the world with boundless radiance. This understanding itself is wrong, but this kind of cognition is the most universal cognition.

The information revealed in Wu Xiangyu's words was very simple: since Chen Ke also discovered that his status was very likely linked to his position, then Chen Ke would cut out everything except the only core position of Party Chairman from the People's Party. And turning the only Vice Chairman into General Secretary seemed like a demotion of one level, but in fact, it was a kind of true protection.

In the future, the People's Party could completely not establish the position of Chairman; this position would forever belong only to Chen Ke alone. As long as future generations are not confused by that vain name, and are not stupid enough to want to use such stuff as reputation to prove their own power. The People's Party without a Party Chairman, firstly, could have an eternal banner, and secondly, could also show sufficient "humility." At the same time, it could also cut off the Chen Ke who is different from ordinary people from many troubles.

Towards Wu Xiangyu who proposed this perspective, Li Runshi had a feeling of seeing the true Wu Xiangyu. In terms of insight into practical work and human hearts, Li Runshi felt he really was inferior to this comrade.