What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 452 Trans-dimensional Communication
"Minister, the announcement has been issued."

Upon hearing his subordinate's report, Johnson slumped into his chair and let out a long sigh of relief.

The release of this announcement caused great controversy internally, mainly because the enemy's stronghold or important base had not yet been found, which seemed to indicate a sense of impotent rage.

But there's nothing we can do about it, mainly because the Federation has had enough of the feeling of punching cotton.

From the news that most people see, the Second Fleet's strength is far inferior to that of the Empire, and even a single carrier strike group would have an overwhelming advantage.

However, in reality, they always resorted to opportunism, exploiting various imperceptible loopholes to achieve multiple impossibilities, causing repeated heavy losses.

This forced the senators to have their doubts:
What happened to that heavenly army back then? Over the years, they've been constantly stumbling over minor issues.

If we don't set up a proper and fair fight, won't everyone think that the empire has loopholes to exploit?
After the air force and several air defense ships cautiously remained in the Panama Canal for half a month and found no signs of further attacks, speculation began to emerge:

They dared not, believing that their weapons were not yet capable of gaining any advantage in actual combat, and were afraid of revealing their presence.

In order to seize the initiative and save face, the Joint Chiefs of Staff approved the Air Force to carry out a special strategic bombing operation.

If no action is taken within 168 hours of the announcement, an air strike will be launched by a bomber group consisting of B-52s and B-1Bs.

Whether or not the bombs yield any results is unimportant; what matters is letting the outside world know that the Hans hiding in the forest have nowhere to escape, and that Imperial warplanes can come and go as if they were in an empty field.

At the very least, the Empire will announce the destruction of several important targets after the bombing operation, and only when the Second Fleet jumps out will there be a chance to seize the enemy and deliver a head-on blow.

Johnson naturally opposed the purely face-saving ultimatum and the secret bombing, and he attempted to call in the USS George for an air strike mission, but this was ultimately rejected by the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Losing a few B-52s and B-1Bs is no big deal; we can just place orders and replenish them in a year or two. But if we lose another nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, that would be a catastrophe, and our strategy for the next seven or eight years would be greatly affected.

The cost of the failed opposition was that, at least on the surface, the Air Force had an edge over the Navy. Even with Johnson's desperate efforts, several of his capable subordinates were forced to reassign, including the commander of the Enterprise, Calvin, who was transferred to the Philadelphia Naval Base to oversee the mothballed conventional aircraft carrier.

Fortunately, Fern and Johnson were ultimately spared, and there is still hope that they can be recalled one by one in the future.

The announcement also signifies the assembly of a large aerial formation, and Johnson has once again urged the U2's Antarctic reconnaissance mission.

……

Miru Coast
In a deserted forest on the edge of a cliff, several people dressed as travelers were carefully making their way through.

Leading the way was "Seventh Brother" Avilo, one of the seven core members of the Justice Brothers.

After that chance encounter, the Hans' U-boat drove them away, neither agreeing to cooperate nor refusing, and without leaving any tokens at the agreed location.

Itamar had considered abandoning the seemingly fantastical plan, but reality forced him to ask Aveiro to try to contact the other party again.

Nearly a month had passed since their first encounter. The group arrived at a large rock, and Avila immediately noticed that the rock had been moved.

Several men immediately moved it aside, revealing a huge metal box underneath.

After excitedly opening it, what came into view was... a model ship?
A very exquisite toy model of the Bismarck battleship, weighing over 100 pounds and more than a meter long, even decorated with various flags.

After studying the chimney for a long time without finding a place to remove it, someone suddenly noticed a roll of paper stuffed inside. When they unfolded it, they saw a line of text on it.

If any of his subordinates could understand it, they immediately translated it:
"Put it in the moonlight, and then we can communicate (Stell es ins Mondlicht, dann knnen wir kommunizieren)" "So this toy is a communicator?"

Aveiro squatted on the ground and carefully closed one eye to try to observe the inside, but ultimately found nothing.

He suspected there might be a radio or cell phone inside, but if he removed it... what if he angered the other party? What if there really was some kind of advanced technology?
They found it hard to believe and didn't understand how to use it, but they still carefully put the model ship into a box and laboriously carried it out of the forest to another secret hideout.

Soon, the "First Brother" sent instructions, clearly not believing in such a strange thing, and asked Aveiro to try to make contact that night.

Fortunately, it didn't rain tonight. As the moon occupied the sky, the two men laboriously placed the mannequin by the window.

After hesitating for a long time, Aveiro finally shouted at the model with great shame:
"These are the Brothers of Justice, can you hear me?"

The translator hurriedly relayed the message aloud, but after several attempts, there was no response.

Just as they were beginning to suspect they'd been tricked, one of the henchmen suddenly exclaimed:
"There's something moving under the boat!"

The group quickly approached and discovered that the two rudders at the stern were rhythmically swinging back and forth, with regular pauses.

Morse code!

……

大湾
After reading the Empire's announcement, Tang Wen seriously doubted that they were on a different timeline than himself.

What does it mean to capture multiple people and have 40 allies coordinate an attack?
This was clearly all bark and no bite. The T6 drones flew all day and only saw a small base with a dozen or so people. Occasionally, they could hear the roar of the sky and a few early warning aircraft sneaking around searching from high altitudes.

A phone call was made within 168 hours, but they gave me a full seven days?

When did the empire become so magnanimous!

Tang Wen was eager to see what would happen in seven days, but suddenly sensed a slight disturbance.

With my eyes closed, I saw several people in the small house gesturing wildly and talking.

He immediately realized that these were the righteous brothers!
After finding the coordinates left by the other party, he discovered the large rock and immediately began to think about the best way to contact them.

Modern communication and radio were ruled out, so he finally came up with a solution:

Zero-risk communication can be achieved by utilizing the distance-insensitive control capabilities of shipyard vessels.

For example, the warship simulation toy manufactured by that shipyard provides a 360-degree observation point without blind spots.

Not only can it create an illusion by setting up "moonlight" or "binary rudder swing," but it also doesn't have to worry about being monitored or detected.

Even if you're fishing with an IAA (Independent Artificial Intelligence Agency), you'll find that all radio positioning methods are ineffective, and inside there's only a small black box with a vacuum tube that also has a self-destruct function.

The people in the room were still talking, but Tang Wen only recognized the translator's Chinese. He quickly ran to the South Pacific to find a Chinese captain, then converted a sentence into Morse code and used the ship's rudder to express it:
"Tell us your identity and purpose; this is the beginning of everything."

(End of this chapter)