Churchill was very clear about the significance of the Middle East to the British Empire. As a discovered oil producing region, Middle Eastern oil had always been an important material for Britain to balance its trade with China. At Roosevelt's suggestion, Churchill proposed the "Continental Transport Line" plan to the Shah of Iran, Pahlavi I.

Pahlavi wouldn't believe the British reasons even if pigs could fly. The British explanation was that since maritime traffic between the British mainland and India had been almost completely cut off, Britain decided to attempt to open up a "Continental Transport Line."

This continental transport line would start from the Suez Canal region in Egypt, cross the Gulf region, cross the Iran region, and finally connect with northwestern India. The transport line described by the British seemed very reasonable, but Pahlavi I was no fool. The British purpose in doing this was to thoroughly tie Iran to the British war chariot. And this time, the British didn't even drop any subtle hints. They informed Pahlavi I that the British were going to station a large number of troops in Iran. According to the "proposal" put forward by the British side, Britain prepared to let several Indian divisions maintain this transport line in Iran, and at this moment, these divisions were already advancing towards the border between India and Iran.

Intelligence obtained by Iran proved that the British were not joking. Indeed, several divisions were marching into Iran, and those divisions were composed of white people, not Indians. According to inference, it was likely an army composed of white soldiers conscripted from those Australians and New Zealanders in India. In addition to these troops, some Indian troops were also mobilized to northwestern India, preparing to implement the "Continental Transport Line" strategy.

If Britain hadn't made such a move, Pahlavi I was preparing to find time to secretly open up an oil trade route with China. Chinese naval vessels had already secretly "visited" the Iranian coastline many times. With no oil revenue for a year, Iran was also encountering significant problems financially. The British actions couldn't help but make Pahlavi I wonder if there were traitors within Iran.

After thinking it over, Pahlavi I could only adopt a compromise approach in the face of the status quo. On one hand, he tried every possible way to "stall", and on the other hand, he told China everything about the British movements.

China's domestic reaction to this was not particularly intense. At this time, the Southern Advance Plan had already been completed, and China had entered a new stage of strategic adjustment. For China, after preliminarily integrating the production capacity of East Asia, constructing the defense system of the West Pacific was the top priority. This was precisely not the time to further send troops to strike at Britain.

The quality of oil from Borneo and northern Java was excellent, and the refining cost was very low. This oil was enough to supply China's oil demands in the south. The news sent back by the prospecting teams in Australia and New Zealand made the Chinese side even more excited. Under those savage lands lay huge mineral deposits just as Chen Ke had said. Iron ore with an iron content of at least 60% was everywhere. The iron content of high-quality iron ore was actually as high as 70% or more. Moreover, the reserves greatly exceeded imagination, so large that initial exploration could not even correctly estimate them.

China had always lacked high-quality iron ore domestically. Iron ore with an iron content exceeding 40% was considered high-quality ore in the Chinese mainland. The better the quality of the ore, the lower the smelting cost. The huge ore reserves drove the mining department crazy with joy. But this involved another problem: how to transport iron ore from Australia back to the country over thousands of miles.

It wasn't that ports with a throughput of ten thousand tons of ore hadn't been built in the mainland, but such large-scale infrastructure construction was a terrifying project. For example, if the road surface wasn't strong enough, heavy vehicles coming and going would crush the road surface within a month. This was an extremely high requirement for a country's industrial level and a severe test that could prove whether a country possessed truly powerful strength.

This kind of project required large investment, had a long cycle, and was slow to yield results. It wouldn't be anything in peacetime; the industrial sector would definitely be willing to make such a strategic investment. But right now was wartime, and whether this could be done required great courage. However, the attraction of that high-quality iron ore to the metallurgical industry was indescribable. Taking New Zealand as an example, the speed of industrial construction in this region far exceeded imagination, relying on the local high-quality iron ore. High-quality ore caused the costs of New Zealand's steel enterprises to plummet, and the steps to smelt high-quality steel were greatly reduced.

The qualified rate of parts in the aircraft manufacturing plants in New Zealand soon exceeded that of factories in the mainland. This was not because of a difference in technology, but because the raw materials were truly different. Being able to thoroughly digest the West Pacific region and incorporate these regions into China's economic system, China's industrial sector truly had the confidence to take on the whole world with the power of China alone.

Now China's Southern Advance strategy was no longer a secret. Everyone believed that the decision made by Chairman Chen Ke was a true "Plan for Ten Thousand Generations". A huge price was paid, but what was obtained was China's true bright future.

While the vast majority of people were immersed in the West Pacific, Chen Ke did not have this thought. He once again convened the 12-Man Council. The content discussed this time made everyone feel that Chairman Chen Ke was inevitably "coveting Shu after getting Long" (insatiable).

"If we can drive the British out of the Middle East..." Chen Ke put forward this view.

As the Premier, Li Shouxian was participating in a formal 12-Man Council for the first time. He said somewhat hesitantly, "I am more worried about whether doing this will cause us to cross the peak of our power prematurely."

The development curve is a very interesting thing. In a dynamic process with determined conditions, once the peak of power is reached, what follows is absolutely not sitting on the peak for thousands or tens of thousands of years. Instead, it will almost irreversibly enter a stage of declining power. There is only one way to solve it, which is to introduce new initial variables into this system. These new initial variables, in the process of growth, can continuously increase the power of the entire system and reverse the inevitable exhaustion of power.

However, everything has its pros and cons. Every added parameter will cause huge changes to the original system. If too many parameters are added, there will be the possibility of having to tear down and rebuild the existing system and structure. As a government worker with rich experience, Li Shouxian felt this deeply.

At this time, Li Shouxian did not want to sing any praises for Chen Ke. It wasn't that he would feel embarrassed, but that Li Shouxian felt that Chen Ke, the leader of the People's Party and China, was too competent, and sincere praise seemed very superfluous.

Before the system was shaken by the addition of new variables, Chen Ke himself could always give warnings in advance and provide some predictions and guiding principles. In the process, Chen Ke was very capable of grasping the pace of these changes. in the final summary, everyone could always discover that, in fact, some of Chen Ke's inexplicable layouts a long time ago were foreshadowing for these things.

If such things only happened once or twice, everyone could still be surprised. When it happened every time, the comrades became accustomed to this abnormal situation.

Li Shouxian was a very excellent comrade. Regarding obtaining a large amount of oil in the Middle East, he did not think this was a brand-new variable, and he didn't even think this was a parameter that could trigger a qualitative change from a quantitative change.

Of the 12 people sitting here who could decide China's future destiny, naturally, none of them were useless. Listening to Li Shouxian's simple statement, the comrades immediately understood Li Shouxian's meaning. With China's existing national power, if the brand-new system of the West Pacific could not be fully integrated into China's system, and China's own system adjusted and changed according to the existing situation, the national power mobilized by China was rushing towards the peak of power. It wouldn't take long to reach the peak.

Up to now, the comrades could also look at Chen Ke's Southern Advance plan from the perspective of hindsight. Therefore, the comrades could also understand Chen Ke's fear of the United States. On the current earth, the Soviet Union would not change their strategic arrangements and strategic layout in a short time. For this peaceful neighbor in the north, the comrades of the People's Party all believed that this peace should be maintained to the greatest extent.

Germany was too far from China, and the possibility of a direct conflict breaking out between the two sides was minimal. If there really was a conflict of that magnitude, it would mean that the entire world situation had undergone huge changes.

China's current advantage over the United States was completely built on the fact that China's strategic layout was earlier than the United States, and its strategic goals were clearer than the United States. Before the United States had many strategic choices and couldn't determine a final strategy, China had long completed its strategic formulation and execution. Therefore, the United States had not yet fully mobilized, and its industrial strength had not been transformed into military power.

China had not implemented general mobilization now either. The current situation was only a thin line away from general mobilization. Although Comrade Li Shouxian didn't know much about military affairs, he was still an outstanding talent in strategy. Obviously, if a new Indian Ocean-Middle East front was opened, it would likely force China to invest new forces. Since the strategic tasks in the Middle East could still be completed while maintaining the status quo, Li Shouxian did not approve of forcibly increasing investment in the Middle East in order to advance the strategic progress.

The number of people who could decide the People's Party's strategic considerations with their own views was extremely small. Li Shouxian's exposition was concise and to the point, yet the comrades immediately agreed with Li Shouxian's view. Finally, the idea of strengthening the Indian Ocean strategy was terminated. The 12-Man Council decided to continue maintaining the original plan of the Southern Advance strategy, continuously improve the West Pacific defense system, and continue to develop Australia and New Zealand.

Li Shouxian didn't expect his view to receive such support. He felt a bit unaccustomed to it at this moment. After all, it was Chen Ke who proposed the Middle East strategic consideration. Even if Chen Ke had stated in advance that this plan was "coveting Shu after getting Long", cleanly and neatly denying Chen Ke's idea brought a certain amount of pressure to Li Shouxian's spirit.

Looking carefully at Chen Ke, Li Shouxian didn't see any uneasiness or dissatisfaction in Chen Ke. Chen Ke didn't think there was any problem with his view being denied at all.

Li Runshi was observing both Chen Ke and Li Shouxian. The breadth of mind and spirit of these two core figures of the first generation of the People's Party's collective leadership were indeed extraordinary. Even though Chen Ke was already considered an absolutely correct leader, the leadership stratum of the People's Party had not become Chen Ke's yes-men. Unity and blind obedience were two completely different things. Every comrade still held their own position and views. This was enough to prove that the People's Party itself still had vigorous vitality. Such a People's Party was still invincible.