In the days after the outbreak of the conflict between China and India, Dudgway had to go to the White House several times a day. Either brief the president on the progress of the conflict, or analyze the direction of the war for the president. Although the secretary of defense is the president's number one military adviser, in Dugway's view, these matters can be left to the Joint Chiefs of Staff or the national security adviser.

For some reason, Westwood doesn't trust the military very much.

The following year, Westwood was elected president for the second time, and when the government was formed, there were serious differences with Congress because of the need to arrange a civilian defense secretary. It almost led to a difficult birth in the cabinet. Although after 4 years. Westwood changed course and appointed Dudgway, who had just been promoted to General of the 6th Squad Corps, as Secretary of Defense, but his views on the military remained unchanged, and he rarely listened to the military on major decisions. It is not for nothing that the president does not trust the military. Prior to this, Republican President Frederick was influenced by the military to involve the United States in two wars that could not be won, which not only caused a big defeat but also greatly affected the international image of the United States. Westwood's emphasis on civility over military force is also a tradition of Democratic presidents.

The president's perception largely determined Dudgway's attitude.

Since Westwood rarely listened to the opinions of soldiers, Dudgway rarely expressed opinions.

Entering the Oval, the president had just sent off several officials as the president's secretary, Jenny, was busy packing up cups and plates.

Bruderlin, and maybe Thomp, for sure.

It wasn't until two days ago that Dugway learned that the four were in China's Tse Ge for political subversion. Westwood did not tell the Secretary of Defense about this. Dudgway was not surprised, as he would certainly be against it, and the president listened to Tom and didn't want anyone to drag him back. Duchway was not outraged by this, and the secretary of state, the secretary of defense, or the four directors of the bureau were nothing more than aides to the president. It's just that Duchway is a little puzzled, and it turns out that his objection is correct, why would the president still exclude the Secretary of Defense from the decision-making circle?

Is it just because the Minister of Defense is a military man?

There were many things that Dudgway couldn't figure out, and he didn't have that much energy to think about.

When he met the president, Dudgway lit a cigarette first. In the past few hours, the generals of the 6 teams have been very busy, and the president has come to him, which must have something to do with the conflict that has just ended.

"General. Did you get the message? ”

"What's the news?"

Westwood walked over and sat down on the sand across from Dugway. "The Chinese Yuan has just announced a temporary suspension of military operations, and the combat aircraft of the Chinese Air Force withdrew from Indian airspace about four hours ago."

Du Qiwei nodded slightly, indicating that he knew about it.

"According to Brooklyn's analysis, the conflict is over."

"Basically, it can be said that as long as India accepts a fait accompli, the conflict is over."

"You think so, too?" Westwood looked at Dugway and said, "In that case, Rurajapani has lost his choice and must end the conflict. ”

After the president finished speaking, Dudgway waited for a while. "From a military point of view, India has been completely defeated. ”

"What do you mean?" That's what Westwood was waiting for.

"According to the intelligence we have, in more than six hours of fighting, the Chinese Air Force destroyed all important military facilities on the Gangetic Plain; In addition to not massively bombing military gathering sites, India has not only lost its territorial air defense system. Almost two-thirds of air power was also lost. If the drink is hit, Fengxian Zijun will definitely poison other sheep Zhuo to take care of himself, such as the military camp. The main purpose is to kill and injure the living forces of the Indian army. As the scale of the bombing increases, the Chinese air force also has the potential to strike India's national infrastructure. For example, traffic nodes, factories, TV stations, power plants, and so on. Without air supremacy and air defense, India will only lose even more. With the current situation, it is impossible for India to launch a counterattack in any direction, not even Pakistan. Rurajapani can only sue for peace with China and end the conflict. ”

Westwood nodded and said, "It's too hard to believe that the Chinese Air Force can defeat India in a few hours." ”

"It's unbelievable, but that's the gap between India and China." Dudgway extinguished the cigarette butt and said, "In a way." At the risk of a full-scale war with India, China launched a new round of military strikes at the risk of a full-scale war with India, and the air strikes of more than six hours not only broke down the Indian army, but also broke us. ”

Westwood immediately motioned for Duchway to continue.

"Everyone knows that India's current defense system is based on the military assistance provided by our country, from air defense systems to fighter jets for the Air Force, the vast majority of which we provide. Although the quality of the Indian army is too poor, and all we have provided to India are equipment that is about to be phased out, or equipment whose performance is limited, through this battle, the Chinese Air Force has proved with practical actions that our weapons and equipment are vulnerable and far inferior to China's weapons and equipment. Those countries that are still hesitant to buy our weapons or to burrow weapons from this will take a cue from this, and China's arms sales will increase several times in the next few years. It accounts for at least half of the market share of the international arms trade. The income from the loss point trade is nothing, but the arms trade is very different from the ordinary trade. ”

When it came to the point, Duchway didn't go any further.

Westwood is a smart guy and doesn't need the Secretary of Defense to make things too obvious.

The arms trade has inherent limitations compared to ordinary trade. It's like exporting cars and tanks, cars can be exported to any country, even if it's a hostile country, China has been exporting electric vehicles to the United States, and even exporting electric vehicles to the United States in the form of dumping, attacking the American auto industry; Tanks, on the other hand, cannot be easily exported. Even among friendly countries, at least China does not sell a single all-electric tank to the United States, and even for some of its allies, China's arms exports are reserved, and only the most important allies have access to the most advanced tanks.

To put it simply, the arms trade has a lot to do with ideology.

Political relations can fundamentally determine the level of the arms trade, and the arms trade can also affect the political relations between countries.

If any country buys China's weapons and equipment, at least it will not be hostile to China, after all, weapons and equipment are also "products" that need after-sales support, and if they turn against China, all weapons and equipment purchased from China will become furnishings. If any country builds its defense base on China's weapons and equipment, it will definitely form an alliance with China. At least in secret alliance with China, because weapons and equipment are systematically engineered, and the most core technology is in the hands of the exporting country, and if the relationship with the exporting country is not strong enough, the defense system will face the threat of addiction.

Building a sphere of influence through the arms trade, China is doing it, the United States is doing it, and the United States is the most

During the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, the United States used the arms trade to win over many third world countries and established several strategic encirclements against the Soviet Union to weaken the influence of the Soviet Union. on the battlefields of the Middle East. Israel, armed with American weapons, defeated Arab countries armed with Soviet weapons. In the end, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and other countries successively threw themselves into the Gulf War in Huaihuai, and the coalition forces led by the United States defeated the Iraqi army, and the United States displayed its might, immediately causing Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and other countries in the Gulf region to throw themselves into the arms of the United States.

As China's weapons and equipment become popular in the international market, the international situation, which is already not very favorable to the United States, will certainly become even more unfavorable for the United States.

This battle, which lasted more than six hours, hurt India openly and slapped the United States in the face.

After pondering for a while, Westwood let out a long breath and said, "In general's opinion, how can we turn the situation around?"

Turn the tide!? Du Qiwei smiled bitterly. "With the current situation, there is nothing we can do to reverse the situation unless we go directly to the war," he said

Westwood immediately frowned, and his gaze at Duchway changed a lot.

"We have not provided India with the most advanced weapons and equipment, and even if India is provided with the most advanced weapons and equipment immediately, the Indian army will not be able to master it, let alone defeat China on the battlefield. With the current situation, Rurajapani is unlikely to fight with China, and will not expand the scale of the conflict. This conflict is over, and in the short term, it will be difficult to find a country that poses a greater threat to China than India and is willing to confront China. We can't count on anything other than to help India regain its military strength, and we have to rely on ourselves. Of course, the cost of confrontation with China is too great for us to afford, and we should not risk it

Westwood nodded slightly, his expression changing slightly.

"At the moment, it seems that we have no choice. Only a fait accompli can be accepted. We should pay more attention to the future, because the conflict between China and India will not end with the end of the conflict, and sooner or later a larger-scale conflict will erupt. Or even a full-scale war. The more than six hours of fighting not only proved China's military strength and made us taste the bitterness, but also gave us enough enlightenment to point out the direction for future exhibitions. According to the information that has been obtained, China has used a lot of new weapons and equipment in this battle that have never been used in a war before, and many of them have been developed in the past few years. If I am not mistaken, in addition to the above-mentioned purposes, China's obstinate large-scale strikes are precisely to test the actual combat performance of new weapons and equipment and to clarify the direction of military development. ”

"What do you say?" Westwood was immediately drawn to the new topic.

Dudgway took out the documents he had brought and handed them to the president. "This is my brief assessment of China's strike based on the intelligence I received.

As China explores the direction of its future military strength, we can draw useful things from China's explorations to provide a basis for building our military strength. ”

Westwood took out his cigar and lit it before flipping through the Dudgway papers.

Dudgway was a great military man and a great secretary of defense.