Just two days after Independence Day, Jappel's mood returned from the tropics to Antarctica.

In a poll released yesterday, Jappel's approval rating fell to 27 percent, and the Democrats' support fell to 32 percent. The Democratic hawks led by Myers openly demanded on the television media that Japel pass the "Economic Rescue Act" voted in Congress last week as soon as possible to boost the support of the Democratic Party, improve the image of the Democratic Party, and attract more votes for the midterm elections.

Myers spearheaded the rebellion, showing that the Democrats were abandoning Jappel.

In the face of a "crisis of confidence" from the country and within the party, even if Japel does not think about the future, he must also think about his reputation. With two years left in his term, he does not want to be the first president since Nixon to be impeached and removed from office.

The "crisis of trust" from abroad made Japel even more on pins and needles.

The sinking of the Indian aircraft carrier turned out to be related to the United States!

Before receiving Santos's call, Jappel only knew that the Indian aircraft carrier had been attacked by an unknown submarine, but he did not know that there was a US submarine operating near the Indian aircraft carrier battle group at that time, and it was also attacked by an Indian anti-submarine warship.

It wasn't until 3 a.m. EST on the 6th, about 12 hours after the attack on the Indian aircraft carrier, that Japel received relevant information from National Security Adviser Eric. After leaving the Bay of Bengal, the New Hampshire followed the trail of the mysterious submarine to the Octave Strait.

Of course, it's not that simple.

Before being attacked by an Indian anti-submarine warship, the "New Hampshire" spotted the unidentified submarine, heard the sound of the submarine opening the torpedo tube cover and firing the torpedo, and fired a torpedo without the warhead safety deactivated at it, forcing it to float to the surface or accelerate its voyage and make a louder noise. It is a pity that when the mysterious submarine accelerated to avoid the torpedo, the "New Hampshire" was attacked intensively by depth charges, and failed to take the opportunity to record the characteristic noise of the mysterious submarine, but was blown off by the depth bomb and the photoelectric periscope was almost sunk by the Indian Navy.

"Is there any evidence that it was not the 'New Hampshire' that attacked the Indian aircraft carrier?"

"Yes." The New Hampshire recorded the sound of the submarine firing its torpedo. This is the strongest evidence. Eric replied in the affirmative.

"Contact Diego Garcia base today. Get first-hand information as soon as possible. Japel rubbed his forehead. I contacted Santos directly. India must be made known. We have nothing to do with the sinking of the Indian aircraft carrier. ”

Eric nodded. He came to report it. It is hoped that the conflict with India will be resolved as soon as possible.

"Also. Who ordered the torpedo attack on the submarine sites of other countries? ”

"This ......," Eric hesitated slightly. Said. "It's Secretary of Defense Gates."

"Gates?" Jappel's face changed immediately. "Didn't he know it was an act of war?"

"Gates just wanted to find out who sank the Destroyer. Under the circumstances, the submarine could only be forced to speed up by firing torpedoes, making noise large enough to be recorded. ”

"Ridiculous, simply ridiculous!" Jappel was furious. Any act of war requires presidential authorization, and the Secretary of Defense does not have the authority to give orders to fire on submarines.

"Anyway, we've achieved our goal."

"What do you mean?" Jappel controlled his emotions and now needed to solve the problem, not create it.

Eric hesitated for a moment and said, "Wesley knows this better than I know. ”

"The CIA's deputy chief of intelligence?"

Eric nodded. "I also learned about the situation from him."

Without hesitation, Japel immediately picked up the phone and instructed the secretary: "Contact the Marine Corps immediately and ask them to send a helicopter to pick up Wesley." ”

Half an hour later, Wesley arrived at the White House aboard Marine One.

In the face of the president, this intelligence officer who has "served" several presidents did not look nervous at all.

"We did an analysis of what happened before and after the sinking of the Destroyer." Wesley is very professional and tries to be objective and fair when presenting the situation. "Under the circumstances, it was very likely that the submarine attacking the Destroyer would have fired a torpedo at a distance of twenty kilometers or even more, and the 16k novel Wàp. text version was first published using an electric torpedo with very low noise. After succeeding, the submarine headed south at full speed and left the key search area of the anti-submarine patrol aircraft. According to the time of arrival of the anti-submarine patrol aircraft, as well as the analysis of the search path, the speed of the submarine at the time of retreat was close to thirty knots, and at least not less than twenty-four. As a result, the submarine is not a conventional submarine, and even more so a submarine of the Pakistan Navy. ”

"Why?" Jappel wanted to know a little more clearly.

"Because all conventional submarines in the world have a maximum underwater speed of about 20 knots, and they can sail for a maximum of two to four hours at maximum speed."

Japel nodded slightly, motioning for Wesley to continue.

"In terms of motives, China is the most suspicious. However, at the time of the incident, all of China's attack nuclear submarines were in the western Pacific Ocean, and it was impossible to attack the 'Destroyer'. ”

"Wesley, what the hell are you trying to say?"

"Combining these two cases, we can draw a conclusion." Wesley still doesn't look like he's in a hurry. "It's not a conventional submarine, it's not a Chinese attack nuclear submarine, it has a maximum underwater speed of close to thirty knots, so it can be concluded that this is an all-electric submarine."

"All-electric submarines?" Japel frowned.

"A submarine powered by batteries, propelled by electric motors."

"I understand this, but what's the point?" Jappel didn't want to dwell on technical issues.

After a slight pause, Wesley said, "There is only one country in the world that has the ability to build an all-electric submarine that does not use a nuclear reactor or a diesel engine, and whose performance is close to or even better than that of a nuclear submarine." ”

"You're talking about China?" Eric immediately asked.

Japel was startled and immediately understood. China is the only country in the world that can produce composite batteries and superconducting motors. "In other words, China is the most suspicious?"

Wesley nodded again. "After all other possibilities are ruled out, it is also a fact that the rest is hard to believe."

"How powerful are China's all-electric submarines?" Eric asked a question that interested him the most.

"This ......," Wesley hesitated slightly, "let's put it this way, if China has fourteen such submarines, all of our strategic nuclear submarines will be furnished." If China has 25 such submarines, not only will our strategic nuclear submarines become ornaments, but eleven aircraft carrier battle groups will also be mortally threatened. Now we do not have a single submarine with the performance above it. ”

Not only Eric was shocked, but even Japel was shocked.

"Actually, we should have expected this five years ago." With that, Wesley glanced at the national security adviser.

Japell immediately understood. "Eric, can you let me talk to Director Wesley alone?"

Eric was very knowledgeable and immediately got up to take his leave.

After the door was closed, Japel turned off the listening devices in the room, but did not turn off the monitoring devices.

"Your Excellency the President, you haven't forgotten what happened five years ago, have you?"

"Wesley, just say it." Japel didn't want to beat around the bush with the deputy director of intelligence.

"We have every reason to believe that China's breakthroughs in high-temperature superconducting materials and composite battery technology are directly related to the mysterious object that disappeared five years ago."

"You're saying that the mysterious object fell into the hands of China?"

Wesley nodded, it couldn't have been more obvious.

"Evidence, is there any direct evidence?" Japel did not dare to jump to conclusions.

"Our scientists at Mikel Air Force Base, commonly known as Area 51, have spent decades working on high-temperature superconducting materials, but progress has been very slow and we have not been able to make any real gains. In any case, China's research time in high-temperature superconducting materials will not be longer than ours, and it will not be higher than ours. Isn't it doubtful that China suddenly published its research results three years ago? Scientists in Area 51 have largely concluded that Chinese technology is directly related to a mysterious object that disappeared five years ago. Wesley spoke quickly, barely giving Japel time to think. The mass-to-energy ratio of the composite battery used in electric vehicles reaches 2 kWh per kilogram, which is 16 percent of the calorific value of gasoline combustion. The mass-to-energy ratio of the military model is certainly more than double that of the civilian model, and it can be used to build all-electric submarines. ”

Without arguing about the issue, Japel asked, "How long will it take for us to make a breakthrough?" ”

"If there is sufficient funding, it will take three years at the earliest."

"Three years?" Jappel's head suddenly grew bigger, and three years later, he was no longer president.

"The civilian model can be put on the market in two years, but the price is definitely much more expensive than the Chinese product. It will take three years for a military model with twice the performance of a civilian model to be developed at the earliest, and it may take even longer if it encounters an unexpected technical bottleneck. ”

"You submit a detailed report as soon as possible, and I will try to solve the problem of funding."

"In addition to funding, we lack the most critical conditions."

"What?" Jappel was annoyed, is it that intelligence officers are used to only half talking?

"Actually." Wesley knew the president didn't understand technology, so he tried to keep things simple. "The composite batteries and superconducting motors that China has put on the civilian market use nano-packaging technology, and we can't reverse engineer them or even disassemble them. Perhaps the military model will not use this hard-to-maintain packaging technology, but will have an open architecture. If we can get the real thing, we can make a breakthrough in our research and development work in a short period of time. ”

"I don't think China will sell military-grade composite batteries and superconducting motors, right?"

"There's no doubt about it." Wesley shrugged his shoulders, "We don't expect to get it through formal channels either. ”

"You mean ......"

"The Indo-Pakistani war has created opportunities for us. It is only necessary to dispatch a special forces unit and there is a chance to get a physical item of military grade. ”

Jappel's brow jumped a few times. Wesley's approach is feasible, but it also carries significant risks