Traveling Back to the 1960s: The Entire Internet Teaches Me How to Build Missiles

Chapter 74 Contingency Election!

"Sixteen dollars? That's a bit of a high stake—"

Zhou Yunxiao clicked his tongue in amazement. These days, Moutai is really "flying" liquor. He remembered that it was only four yuan a couple of years ago, but it rose to eight yuan last year, and now it has doubled again due to the poor harvest!

My monthly salary of 98 yuan is only enough for six bottles.

He made a bet with Ye Ling, betting only on a Hero brand gold pen, which the supply and marketing cooperative sold for six yuan.

Ye Ling waved his hand while wincing, "A loss is a loss. Take it away now and stop dangling it in front of me."

Zhou Yunxiao chuckled and placed the bottle of Moutai back on the table. "I'll leave this bottle with you for now. I'll come back for it after this 501 mission is over. If the mission goes smoothly, this will be a celebration drink—if we mess it up, you can sprinkle it on my grave as a sacrificial offering!"

"Pah, pah, pah, stop saying such unlucky things. I think you're just afraid Jiang Weimin will sneak a drink, aren't you?"

Ye Ling said half-jokingly, then patted him on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Be careful, be careful, and be extra careful. Bring Qiu Xiaomei back safely."

"Yes, sir!"

Zhou Yunxiao returned to his dormitory and began packing his luggage. Jiang Weimin asked him enviously where he was going on a business trip, but he refused to say anything due to confidentiality regulations.

"So who are you going on this business trip with? Is this your first time going out on a mission? You should find an experienced senior colleague to guide you, right?"

Zhou Yunxiao remained silent.

The chief of staff personally led the team, so he was indeed a very experienced veteran.

"Alright, it seems the level of secrecy is quite high this time? So how long will you be gone, and when will you be back? You can at least tell me that."

"Now that you're gone, I'll be living alone all by myself. It's kind of boring."

Zhou Yunxiao shook his head again.

Top Secret 501, barring any unforeseen circumstances, should be able to return to base before May 1st.

"Alright, alright, you're a model of secrecy, Director Xu likes guys like you the most."

Jiang Weimin then took out two frozen pears he had made and handed them to him: "Take these and eat them on the way. Otherwise, by the time you come back, these pears will be thawed. Now you can finally open your mouth, right?"

Zhou Yunxiao closed the metal clasp and brass lock on the small leather suitcase, then clapped his hands, took the frozen pear, and grinned, "Thanks, Lao Jiang! You're so kind!"

Jiang Weimin nodded, "Please be careful."

"Understood."

The next morning, before four o'clock.

The sky was still pitch black, but Zhou Yunxiao was already carrying a small leather suitcase and lining up at the entrance of the canteen.

The top-secret 501 team, consisting of seven people and led by Chief of Staff Xu Qianxue, went to the Confidentiality Department to have Director Xu sign off on the confidential documents and security packages. Then, Ye Ling and Political Commissar Sun personally escorted them to the gate of the headquarters before they set off in the dead of night.

Just as they were about to get on the bus, a sudden gust of wind swept across the Gobi Desert, howling and blowing, which immediately knocked Ye Ling's hat to the ground.

The secretary quickly bent down to pick up the hat, but the wind blew it away, leaving her looking quite disheveled.

Chief of Staff Xu, who was waiting to depart, hurriedly told Ye Ling to go back and avoid the storm, but Ye Ling stayed put, watching his peaked cap rolling around like a ball. Instead of feeling embarrassed, he laughed loudly and said, "It's nothing. It's not unusual for the wind to blow in the Gobi Desert. What's a hat like mine? I've seen far more storms in my life than this one."

"However, the wind today is really strange. I wonder if it's blowing from Siberia, deliberately trying to provoke me. Right now, the whole world is blowing against us, it's really fierce! But don't panic, don't be timid. What's the big deal about a little wind? The key is whether you can withstand it!"

"If you relax your guard and can't withstand this gust of wind, you'll end up like this hat of mine, all blown away! Alright, that's all for now. Good luck on your triumphant return!"

After saying this, the secretary picked up the hat and put it on Ye Ling's head. He waved to the political commissar and then turned to leave.

To get from Dongfeng Base to Jinyintan Base, you first need to take a train from Jincheng to Tianduo City. So the two GAZ-69s didn't go to Huangyangzhai Railway Station, but instead went to Qingshui Station.

The base is about 300 kilometers from Qingshui. The road is particularly difficult to travel due to the washboard road in the Gobi Desert. The driver did not dare to drive fast. The journey took from dawn to midday sun, and then to sunset.

We ate on the train when we were hungry and slept on the train when we were tired. After more than ten hours of bumpy travel, we finally arrived at Qingshui Station.

After the base's vehicle arrived, Staff Officer Xu led six people downstairs, waved goodbye to the two drivers, and then went into the guesthouse to rest.

It was already evening, and the bus to Jincheng wouldn't depart until the next morning, so the team members, who had been traveling all day, decided to rest here for the night.

The next morning, Mu Chunsheng settled the room fee at the front desk of the guesthouse, and Staff Officer Xu led everyone to the military station to find the person in charge.

Due to the special nature of the mission, all seven men were armed on the mission. Zhou Yunxiao carried a large black star gun and two spare magazines in his bag, both of which were oiled and meticulously maintained.

Although before setting off, Ye Lingqian repeatedly instructed everyone to keep a low profile, not to cause trouble, and not to do anything heroic, and to prioritize the escort mission above all else.

But if you really encounter an emergency, you should draw your gun when necessary, and use up all the spare magazines before you die. That would be a glorious death!

After Chief of Staff Xu handed the letter of introduction and officer's ID to the person in charge of the supply station, the other party was startled when he saw the rank, quickly saluted, and hurriedly notified that the person could pass without inspection.

Staff Officer Xu chuckled and sized him up. "Newly transferred? Where's Old Song?"

"Reporting to the commander, Director Song has been assigned to build a secret communication line. I cannot disclose any further information!"

"Okay, thank you for your hard work."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Staff Officer Xu waved and led the six men onto the train.

After receiving instructions from the station manager, the flight attendants specially arranged soft sleeper berths for them and even provided them with a free lunch.

This made Mu Chunsheng, who was about to take out his food coupons, beam with joy, as if he had found a hundred yuan.

For this business trip, Captain Mu was the highest-ranking and most senior officer besides Staff Officer Xu, so he took on the responsibility of being the deputy without hesitation, and all the travel expenses were temporarily managed by him.

The departure time was in mid-March. According to the deadline of the 501 task, the business trip would last a month and a half. Director Qin of the Logistics Department specially gave them a two-month allowance.

Each person receives 30 cents per day for food, 1.5 jin of grain coupons, plus 6 liang of oil coupons.

By eating out more often, I can send more money home as a subsidy.

After lunch, Zhou Yunxiao lay on the train berth, pulled out the copy of "Reference News" he had taken from Ye Ling's office, and began to study this year's rather dramatic election with great interest.

Perhaps Ye Linghe, Xun Zong, Director Chen, and others were just hoping to make a quick buck and use the U-2 reconnaissance plane incident to create obstacles in the election.

But Zhou Yunxiao understood that this was a good opportunity to break the existing balance.

However, the situation developed far beyond the butterfly effect he had imagined, and it even spiraled out of control. After the November election, major media outlets, based on early vote count data, claimed that Nixon had won California, a swing state, by a narrow margin of over 1700 votes, thus securing his victory.

Kenneth then called to congratulate him and concede defeat.

However, a few hours later, the Kenny G team discovered that the vote difference was less than 0.5% of California's total votes, so they withdrew their previous congratulations on the defeat and requested a recount.

After the Secretary of State restarted the vote count, Nixon's lead plummeted to just over 300 votes. Kenneth's team immediately filed a lawsuit, citing "vote rigging," and requested a full manual recount.

Despite Kenneth's majority in the House of Representatives, many people refused to vote for him or even abstained due to public opinion.

Thus, the most absurd scene in history unfolded: the House of Representatives held a month-long, 20-round election, and neither candidate was able to secure a majority of votes!

After Eisen's term ends, according to the Succession Act, the 79-year-old Speaker of the House will temporarily assume the duties and continue to actively organize the election of candidates.

In the next round of voting in the House of Representatives in March, several Southern delegations finally changed their stance and cast their abstentions for Nixon, giving him exactly 26 states' support and winning the election!

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