With three superpowers at his fingertips, he could dominate the 1970s.

Zhang Qi returned to his unit, closed the door, and summoned two trusted confidants.

"We'll receive a shipment of equipment in a couple of days: a cruiser, a destroyer, and a supply ship."

The two trusted confidants exchanged a glance, a hint of shock flashing in their eyes.

"These are all good stuff. But these things can't be included in the formation, they can't be put into service. They're for our troops to reverse engineer and study." Zhang Qi tapped the table. "When that person arrives, put these things in Guzhenkouwan. Have the military research institutes and researchers there speed up their research. The defense projects there should be done in conjunction with this."

He paused for a moment, then lowered his voice even further.

"There's one more thing. I've received information that there's a powerful figure capable of procuring certain things. However, she doesn't act rashly unless certain countries go too far and she sees it and can't stand it, then she'll take action."

The two trusted confidants exchanged a glance but didn't dare to say anything.

Zhang Qi leaned back in his chair and tapped his finger on the table.

"Little Rib and Kimchi, don't they always deliberately circle around in front of us before taking away any good loot? You two need to think of a way to provoke them, but not too obviously. Then provoke them and make them suffer some humiliation. It would be best to bring some fishermen along so they can endure some mistreatment."

He looked at the two people with a sharp gaze.

"I have connections at the Kyoto newspaper office, so I'll make this a bit bigger. When she delivers our equipment, we'll take advantage of the situation and squeeze some more money out of her. Otherwise, knowing her nature, she won't offer to help us out on her own."

Upon hearing this, the eyes of the two trusted confidants lit up simultaneously.

"Seriously? I get so envious every time I see those people carrying all that good stuff. And the worst part is they deliberately walk right in front of you, with that smug look on their faces—I've been holding back for so long."

"Alright, you two go and make the arrangements. I'll arrange things at the newspaper office once everything is settled."

……

The two trusted confidants received their orders and their eyes met as they went outside.

The older one is Zhou Jianjun, Zhang Qi's deputy chief of staff. He's quick-witted and tight-lipped. The younger one is Sun Haoran, deputy director of the operations department. He's a strong executor and has a fleet of ships and personnel that can be deployed at any time.

The two found a secluded spot, squatted down at the corner of the corridor, and began to plot.

"Let's start with the small things," Zhou Jianjun said in a low voice. "The Security Bureau's ships often patrol the East China Sea, and our fishing boats have been operating there for quite some time. Send a few fishing boats to that area, close to their patrol line, but don't cross it, just stay close to the edge. Those guys from the Security Bureau have bad tempers; if they see our fishing boats getting too close, they'll definitely come and chase them away."

"Let them drive them away, it's not like we haven't seen this before."

"It's different. Before, our fishing boats would just leave when they were driven away, but this time we have to let them detain the people. The boats can be released, but we need to detain a few people. The longer they're detained, the better, ideally three to five days. Once the news gets to the newspapers, and public opinion picks up, things will get serious."

Sun Haoran stroked his chin. "What about the fishermen? Who will go?"

"Find a few old fishing boats from Weihai and Zhoushan. They're all experienced fishermen who have dealt with us before; they're tight-lipped. Make it clear to them that you're just going out for normal fishing operations. If they get detained, don't panic, just cooperate. We'll compensate them later."

"Okay, I'll arrange that. After that, what about the kimchi stew?"

Zhou Jianjun thought for a moment. "It's even simpler with South Korea. They often conduct joint exercises, right? They do it every year around this time. It's normal for our destroyers to patrol nearby. They'll definitely scan us with radar during their exercises. We've tolerated it before, but this time we'll record the process, take some photos, and bring the radar tracking map as well, and hand it over to the newspaper."

"Isn't that impactful enough?"

"So we need to add a little something extra. Let their exercise formation get a bit closer, even closer to our coastal waters. Our ships will continue their routine patrols, not approaching unprovoked, but if they do push in..."

"Didn't they provoke us first?"

Zhou Jianjun nodded. "Right. And the people on our ships need to act like they're really frustrated, just stalling and not firing. Even if the Korean ships take pictures, don't say anything. When you go back and write your report, make sure you're fully expressing your frustration. Once all that material is put together, the newspapers will publish it, and public opinion will be stirred up."

"When do I start?"

"Let's start tonight. The fishing boats will be in place within three days. I've already had the intelligence team verify the Security Bureau's patrol schedule; Tuesday and Friday afternoons are their regular patrol routes. We'll choose Friday, when the fishing boats are operating and we'll run into them."

Sun Haoran rubbed his hands together, somewhat excited. "This job felt like setting up a scheme."

"It's a setup," Zhou Jianjun patted him on the shoulder, "but remember, you can't leave any evidence. The fishing boats are just doing normal operations, the ships are just doing normal patrols, all actions are compliant. Even if someone investigates later, they won't find anything wrong."

"clear."

……

Three days later, on Friday afternoon.

In the waters east of Zhoushan, three fishing boats were casting their nets as usual.

The boat captain, surnamed Chen, had been in the fishing industry for over twenty years and had seen all kinds of storms, but today's trip was different. Before setting off, someone approached him and told him a route, instructing him to follow it without asking any questions. He immediately recognized the route; it was right next to the patrol line of the local security bureau.

Having worked at sea for so many years, he understands everything.

Around 3 PM, a white security patrol boat appeared as expected. It moved quickly and headed straight for them.

The ship's loudspeaker was broadcasting in broken Chinese, "Leave immediately," while security personnel were watching them with binoculars.

Captain Chen shouted orders to his crew to gather the fishing nets, pretending to be in a hurry to leave, but deliberately slowed the boat down. The patrol boat from the Security Bureau drew closer and closer, finally grazing the side of the boat and crashing into it, its massive bow creating huge waves that pushed the fishing boat sideways for several meters.

One fisherman lost his footing and fell headfirst into the sea.

Security personnel boarded the fishing boats and detained the fishermen. The people on the other two boats were also detained separately.

Captain Chen was "released" and brought back, but as he stood at the bow of the ship, watching the Security Bureau's boat tow his men away toward their base, his face showed just the right amount of anger and helplessness.

Upon returning to the port, the first thing he did was make a phone call.

……

A week later, the joint exercise was held as scheduled.

Three destroyers (known as "Kimchi" in Chinese) and two frigates (known as "Little Sun") formed a joint fleet and conducted exercises in the East China Sea. One Chinese destroyer was patrolling nearby as per routine.

The Korean side deliberately designated a large exercise area, and their fleet advanced westward, at one point coming within less than 30 nautical miles of our coastal waters. Our destroyers' radar kept track of the Korean fleet's movements throughout the entire exercise.

Meanwhile, the enemy's radar wasn't idle either, scanning the area directly.

Our captain received instructions to only maneuver, not fire, not approach, and to record the entire process.

The soldiers on the ship gritted their teeth and carried out orders. The opposing fleet swaggered past them, flags fluttering, their demeanor arrogant. Someone on the Korean ship was taking pictures of our destroyer, their smugness clearly visible even from several nautical miles away.

Our destroyer kept its guns lowered and maneuvered, without firing a single shot.

But all the tracks, all the radar records, and all the photographs were brought back to the port.

……

When these things happened, Jiang Zhiyu was in Kyoto, at home with her two children.

She was unaware of the turbulent events unfolding on the East China Sea, nor was she aware of the elaborate schemes orchestrated behind the scenes. She simply received a newspaper from her guard on an ordinary morning.

"Comrade Jiang, look."

Jiang Zhiyu took the newspaper; the front page prominently featured a line of large characters:

"On the East China Sea, humiliations came one after another."

She read through it line by line.

A Japanese security agency vessel rammed our fishing boat, and the fishermen were detained.

The joint Japanese and South Korean fleets lined up and approached the coastal waters, with radar scanning our destroyers in one go.

Our ships obeyed orders, maneuvering and avoiding the enemy, keeping their guns lowered and not firing a single shot.

Diplomatic notes were sent out one after another, but they disappeared without a trace. Overseas newspapers distorted the truth, instead accusing China of creating tension in the sea.

The newspaper only published a few words of protest inside. But through military bulletins and word of mouth among the civilians, the humiliation suffered at sea gradually spread.

The guard timely interjected, "The soldiers in the camp are all furious, but they've been given strict orders not to provoke any conflict."

Jiang Zhiyu turned to the inner pages and read the section about the fishing boat being hit again. The fishermen were detained on Xiao Riwei's boat, unable to return home, and had been adrift at sea for several days.

She didn't realize anything was wrong. In those days, China suffered one humiliation after another at sea, and the accounts in later newspapers were all true.

"Donghai, right? Let's take a look while we're on the way!" She put down the newspaper, her tone indifferent.

She happened to be delivering something to Zhang Qi, so it was just a side trip.

The guard breathed a sigh of relief and quietly withdrew.

Jiang Zhiyu never expected that all of this would be Zhang Qiqian's doing.

……

Meanwhile, at the Eastern Theater Command headquarters, Zhang Qi was waiting for news.

the phone is ringing.

"Commander, Comrade Jiang is interested. He said he'd stop by on his way."

Zhang Qi put down the phone, leaned back in his chair, and smiled slightly.

On the way.

What a convenient route!