Britain followed the high-end, classy route of battleships, while China pursued the route of carrier battle groups. Germany, having gone through a brutal Great Depression, could not afford to build battleships. Coupled with Germany's submarine technology, which already looked down upon the rest of Europe, China and Germany engaged in deep cooperation regarding submarines.

Before the war, Germany and China had signed a plan for 120 ocean-going submarines. Due to British interference and obstruction, what Germany received was a full set of blueprints, some processing technology, and key equipment for 36 submarines. Even so, the German Navy launched wolf pack tactics to ambush British convoys in the Atlantic.

Hitler genuinely wanted to make peace with Britain. Even if he conquered the British Isles, the British government could still flee to Canada; they would absolutely not surrender. Britain still possessed vast colonies. Even if the British government were driven out of Europe, Germany lacked the power to occupy or exploit Britain's colonies. Instead of that, it was better to make peace with Britain and recognize Britain's current colonial privileges. After Germany fully digested the vast territories of the Axis powers from the Arctic to North Africa, it would possess even greater say.

But Britain could not accept such a peace. By September 1940, Britain had suffered unprecedented losses. Apart from being thoroughly driven out of the Western Pacific, Britain had now almost lost the Indian Ocean as well. Not to mention the Indian independence movement, which had gone from surging undercurrents to a raging storm.

After swallowing Australia and New Zealand, Britain's former colonies in the Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean declared independence one after another under Chinese manipulation. China had already sent telegrams to the world, openly supporting colonies in obtaining their independent status. This open support stirred up monstrous waves in the colonial regions along the Indian Ocean rim. Even African countries in the South Atlantic were showing signs of anti-British sentiment.

The colonial system was Britain's lifeblood. Without its vast colonies, Britain was merely a European power. The current Europe had only two powerful blocs remaining: the Soviet Union and the Axis. Compared to these two powerful blocs, Britain really didn't count for much. Britain could not possibly defeat either of these groups with its own strength, let alone defeat both at the same time. The British could only desperately try to pull the United States in as their backer, while refusing Germany's peace proposals.

Since Britain was sticking to its guns, Germany could only adopt submarine blockade tactics against Britain. The effect was naturally very, very good. Germany laid down double and triple blockade lines; once a British merchant convoy was discovered, they implemented large-scale wolf pack siege tactics. The guerrilla fleet led by the *Bismarck* and the *Prinz Eugen* was even more elusive. Of the key equipment for 36 submarines purchased from China, Germany had completed 26. These 26 submarines not only participated in the siege of British merchant convoys but even crossed the North Atlantic to attack British naval bases in Canada.

As an island nation lacking resources, the German submarine encirclement and strangulation in the Atlantic dealt Britain an unprecedented blow. And in the Indian Ocean, British warships and civilian merchant vessels had basically vanished. The latest news from the Indian Ocean was that Chinese submarines had begun to operate rampantly at the mouth of the Red Sea. With the Red Sea exit blocked, if British convoys wanted to enter the Indian Ocean, they had to circle more than half of Africa. There were no ports along the way capable of effective repairs; a breakdown meant a tragedy in the making.

After dominating the world for over a century with absolute naval superiority, Britain finally understood what it felt like to be a weak naval power.

In order to restore traffic in the North Atlantic, Britain made a request to the United States to "exchange British bases across the globe for escort vessels." It had to be said that the British couldn't help but play some small tricks here; they included some of the bases in the Western Pacific, which they had essentially lost, in this list of bases.

The upper echelons of the United States were mostly as cunning as ghosts, and they quickly discovered these issues. Roosevelt, who came from a naval background, found Britain's little trick exceptionally laughable. Of course, this could also be seen as a very subtle statement from Britain: Britain hoped the United States could get tough with China.

Clearly, Roosevelt and most of the American upper crust had no such intention. After hearing Roosevelt's suggestion that Britain should hold peace talks with China, Churchill felt like he had been struck by lightning. Britain had forced the world to sign so many treaties; Churchill was very clear on how China would treat Britain if they signed a treaty with China now. If Britain did not recognize what China had already obtained, China would not choose peace with Britain. China was far from being unable to fight on.

Stimulated by this, on October 11, 1940, Churchill delivered his impassioned "We Shall Fight on the Beaches" speech in the House of Commons: "We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old!"

The rumor that Churchill was a traitor selling out British interests had Chen Ke as its chief manipulator behind the scenes, but this was the first time Chen Ke had seen this complete speech. Previously, he had only seen the part where Britain swore to fight to the end. Reading the part begging the United States, Chen Ke actually felt a sense of "the cuckoo crying blood and the ape wailing." At this moment, Chen Ke couldn't help but suspect whether "Fatty Qiu" really was a traitor to Britain. After spending a few seconds ruling out this possibility, Chen Ke couldn't help but say, "Is Churchill putting on a performance of 'Crying at the Qin Court'?"

Reading the document with Chen Ke at this time were the old comrades of the Central Advisory Committee (CAC). After reading it, several of them couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Churchill definitely hasn't studied *The Internationale*," Zhang Yu said while laughing.

You Gou only chuckled a few times at first, but after hearing Zhang Yu's words, she couldn't help but laugh loudly just like in her younger days, pounding the table with her small fist as she laughed. Having finally suppressed her mirth, You Gou said with a slight stutter, "I didn't expect to live to see Britain in this state today! Truly happy! Happy!"

Even a comrade as serious as Qin Tongren couldn't help but sneer hehe after reading the document. He had just stopped laughing, but every time his eyes swept over the document, he couldn't help but chuckle again. After several times, Qin Tongren simply laughed out loud as well. Chen Ke had once predicted the possibility of a "frenzy to carve up Britain," and at that time, Britain still existed as the world hegemon. But now, facing imminent destruction, Britain was nothing more than a pitiful country letting out a wail. The contrast between the two was simply too great, too rapid.

Chen Ke waited until everyone had laughed enough, then waved his hand. "Comrades, for Britain to say such things shows they still have standards and ability. At this moment, Britain has already chosen the best method."

"If we were the United States, would we agree?" General Political Commissar of the Army He Zudao had not retired from the front lines; he was personally responsible for everyone's itinerary. The attitude of the United States would determine the future direction; as for Britain itself, it had reached the end of its rope.

As soon as He Zudao finished speaking, You Gou jumped in to say, "The United States can only fight for the interests of the United States. They might fight the Germans; that is the North Atlantic, after all. The cost of fighting us for the sake of the British is too high, and the probability of victory is too low. I don't think the United States will make a move before they have a chance of winning."

"Given the level of mobilization the United States is only just beginning, where is their chance of winning?" Zhang Yu clearly didn't think highly of the US. "In another year, our warship repair system in New Zealand and Australia will likely be completed. Added to the air force bases, no matter how the US attacks, our navy and air force can match the US in quantity and quality. After we take the Philippines, whether the US can even hold Hawaii will be a question. Are the Americans prepared to attack China from Alaska regardless of the financial cost?"

Attacking China from Alaska was, of course, a joke. Leaving aside how the US would transport supplies to Alaska to stockpile them, just stationing a large army in a place where the sun barely set for half the year and was barely visible for the other half... the US would first have to consider how to solve the soldiers' psychological problems.

However, Chen Ke did not smile. It wasn't that the US had no methods. With the powerful national strength of the United States, there was still one final method. To make the United States ultimately reach a terrifying balance with China in terms of ultimate destruction was the purpose of this trip to the Northwest by Chen Ke and the Central Advisory Committee, accompanied by He Zudao.

The "Nuclear Winter Theory" of the past was the joint masterpiece of American and Soviet nuclear industry scientists. During the Cold War, both the US and the USSR accumulated nuclear weapons capable of destroying the world. In that terrifying era of destruction, both sides once believed they could preserve large armies through defensive systems, and that these armies preserved until the end would be the guarantee of final victory in a world ravaged by nuclear weapons.

The profession of nuclear weapons scientists was nuclear weapons development, but they themselves were not madmen advocating the destruction of the world. So the Nuclear Winter Theory quickly became popular. The purpose of the Nuclear Winter Theory was to let the world understand that after a devastating washing of the earth by nuclear bombs, no country could possibly have a "future." Only a tiny minority of rigorously protected people could survive for a long time, but the human race was doomed to extinction.

This theory was able to become popular worldwide quickly because the vast majority of personnel, including those operating nuclear weapons, believed they had basically no possibility of becoming the "tiny minority of rigorously protected people." Since that was the case, why sacrifice their own lives in vain for that "tiny minority of rigorously protected people"?

But when nuclear weapons were just developed, no one held this view. Nuclear weapons were very likely considered capable of fighting an "elegant war." Weapons of immense power, high-tech electronic buttons, strategic bombers gathering the pinnacle of technology. Just pressing a button could destroy an entire city. If the United States mastered such technology, heaven knows what those people would think.

To prevent nuclear war, one had to possess nuclear weapons. This view of Chairman Mao could be said to have completely grasped the core of the contradiction. Now, the old guys of the CAC had been pulled to China's nuclear weapons test site.

Chen Ke had taken the lead in creating many industries, but nuclear weapons were undoubtedly the most complex technical requirement Chen Ke had proposed, and the one he was least confident about. Chen Ke had explained the theory, structure, materials, and processes of nuclear weapons very clearly. But this plan, which lacked mathematical models and sufficient theoretical basis yet seemed to go straight to the end, encountered opposition from many key scientists. Chen Ke had to adopt extremely high-pressure tactics, excluding them all from the R&D system.

A large group of young technical personnel assumed the work of key engineers, and with the aid of transistor computers developed by China, countless amounts of money were smashed into it. The final crystallization was on that tall, tall iron tower in the distance.

At the meeting, many comrades of the CAC only then learned of this plan China was pursuing. And they were surprised to hear a piece of news: the nuclear material China had refined had already been mostly used up in several prototype experiments. The current nuclear test used the last of the material; there was not even a spare nuclear bomb.

You Gou glanced at He Zudao in surprise. Although she was He Zudao's wife and the former Secretary of the Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense who was not ignorant of nuclear weapons, You Gou didn't even know that He Zudao was actually responsible for the supreme command of nuclear weapons development.

"That is to say, if this isn't successful, we'll have to wait a long time for the next one?" Zhang Yu had understood the core content of the report; he was very surprised at the production speed of nuclear weapons.

"The next experiment will take at least 7 to 9 months," the young chief engineer in charge answered seriously.

"Billions smashed into it, and this is the result?" Zhang Yu pressed.

"Yes," the chief engineer answered very seriously.

Now even Zhang Yu didn't want to say anything more. In China, really only Chen Ke could forcibly push this project forward, and continue to push it even after experimental failures. Turning his head to look at Chen Ke, who looked equally solemn, Zhang Yu turned back to the young engineer and said, "Then we will wait to see the experiment succeed!"

October 16. The sky over the entire test site area was clear for miles. The troops had already inspected every detail of the test site. The nuclear weapon had been transported up the iron tower the night before. With the iron tower as the center, planes, artillery, defensive positions, and experimental animals in various bunkers were all in place.

Except for standard commands, no one within a radius of dozens of kilometers conversed privately, let alone whispered. The personnel of the CAC also kept their mouths shut. They sat behind a row of telescopes inside the pre-arranged observation post, wearing sunglasses.

The wind blew the red flag on the flagpole outside the observation post; everyone could clearly hear the sound of the red flag flapping vigorously in the wind on the high pole. Yet no one spoke. Apart from quietly waiting, there was nothing else to do at this time. That slender iron tower looked like a needle in the high-power telescopes, and the atomic bomb at the top looked even more like a tiny black dot. It was really impossible to connect something so simple in appearance with the terrifying power to destroy an entire city and wipe out units numbering in the hundreds of thousands on a plain in one go. It was said that if there were enough of such small things, they could even destroy the whole world. The old comrades of the People's Party all had civil engineering experience; they knew how hard it was to transform the world. If viewed from an airplane, countless manpower could only leave very slight traces on the ground. Destroying the world was completely beyond their imagination.

The comrades' only action was to constantly look at the clock on the wall or the watches on their wrists. At 2:58 PM, the comrades who had waited for a long time couldn't help but stand up one after another. But Chen Ke still sat steadily in his chair. However, Chen Ke's behavior did not mean he was indifferent. Chen Ke's slightly furrowed brow, his tightly pursed lips, and the subconscious movement of his fingers tightly interlaced all reflected genuine tension and anticipation.

You Gou walked to Chen Ke's side. Like the others, she kept her mouth shut tight. At this moment, she couldn't help but swallow several times in succession. Watching as she wanted to break the silence and say something to Chen Ke...

Just at this moment, a bright white light suddenly flashed on the distant horizon. Although the comrades were all wearing sunglasses, one could see from the slight tightening of the muscles on their faces that everyone couldn't help but squint slightly. After the white light flashed, a huge mushroom cloud suddenly appeared like magic at the position where the slender iron tower had stood.

Even though the distance to the iron tower was more than twenty kilometers, this mushroom cloud looked so clear. This was enough to prove its volume. A strong vibration came from underfoot, just like an earthquake. But the comrades' attention was now captured by that red mushroom cloud. It was composed of fiery flames. While presenting that huge figure, the mushroom cloud did not dissipate but was constantly expanding. Just when black and white smoke temporarily covered the flames, making one feel that the explosion had reached its end, red flames suddenly rolled out from inside the mushroom cloud again, making bright red and orange appear in human vision once more.

The original slender iron tower and that tiny black dot no longer existed. Between heaven and earth, it was as if only this incomparably huge, brilliant flame and thick smoke existed eternally.