Hogwarts: From Selling White Peppers to Becoming a God

Chapter 427 Total War

The cargo ship incident shocked the international community.

Since the cargo ship was a Sino-British joint venture and had many British crew members on board, Patrick immediately ordered two aircraft carriers to cross the Atlantic and sail into the Americas, thus launching a similar maritime blockade against the United States.

The United States, of course, could not stand idly by in the face of such actions. As a result, two aircraft carriers from the Atlantic Fleet approached Panama, and the two sides confronted each other in the Caribbean Sea, where the situation became extremely tense.

At this very moment, despite strong opposition from the United States, the Soviet Union launched three more rockets, carrying hundreds of Magic Satellites into space.

Pentagon.

In a video conference room, everyone looked somber.

"If we launch missiles to destroy their satellites, it will likely be seen as a signal to start a war, which could lead to a nuclear war," a chief of staff said. "But we are far behind the Soviet Union in the development of aerospace weapons, and we have a high probability of losing once a full-scale war breaks out."

"But if we don't retaliate, the Soviets can keep launching satellites into outer space," another chief of staff said. "When their satellites are all over our heads, we will completely lose our chance of victory, and at that point, we will be completely at their mercy!"

"What about the possibility of destroying the satellite by means other than nuclear warheads?" a White House staffer asked on television.

"The environment in outer space is unique, and the destructive power of ordinary weapons is very limited. Moreover, satellites travel at very high speeds. If we want to destroy a sufficient number of satellites, we may need to launch thousands of medium- and short-range missiles, which could raise greater alarm and lead to unpredictable consequences."

"What if we declare beforehand that we will only destroy the satellites and not strike their homeland..." another White House staffer asked.

"That's pointless. Destroying their aerospace weapons and striking their nuclear facilities are almost equivalent in effect. They won't back down because of that. Doing so will only let them know our target first and see our weakness."

"Mr. President," said one of the chiefs of staff, "it is up to you to decide."

On the television screen, William remained calm. After a long pause, he asked, "If a full-scale nuclear war were to break out, how many people on both sides would survive?"

The chiefs of staff were all taken aback, and one of them said, "That's unimaginable. Under our current strategy of mutual assured destruction, a nuclear strike is actually divided into three rounds. The first round is to directly destroy important facilities and land-based nuclear missile bases on both sides."

"Once the other side realizes that we have started a nuclear war, they may unleash all their land-based nuclear weapons on us without reservation. After the first round of mutual attacks, major cities in both countries will be completely destroyed, and the population of both sides will be reduced by one-third."

"The next step is a second strike, based on sea-based nuclear weapons, to ensure that the enemy suffers more damage than we do, thus preventing them from establishing an advantage in the future."

"Finally, there is a third round of strikes. After both sides have ensured the destruction of each other, in order to prevent other countries from taking advantage of the opportunity to develop after the war, they must carry out nuclear annihilation on the rest of the world's major countries."

"This round of attacks will plunge the entire world into a quagmire of mutual destruction. Conservative estimates suggest that nuclear war will kill more than half of the world's population. Due to radiation, the collapse of social systems, and other subsequent effects, the world's population may drop to one-tenth of its current size or even less in a few years."

"For all of human civilization, that would be the end of the world."

Everyone fell silent; that terrifying apocalypse was something no one wanted to see.

The decision they were about to make today could become the fuse for the apocalypse, and the thought sent chills down everyone's spines.

William on television remained calm. Suddenly, he said, "Perhaps only in suffering can humanity learn reverence."

No one understood his meaning, but William had already made his decision: "Launch a nuclear missile and destroy their satellite!"

……

"According to our model predictions," an officer projected a pie chart onto the screen, "if we continue to launch satellites, the probability of the United States responding militarily is 92.7%, with an 86.4% chance of destroying our satellites with nuclear missiles and a 61.3% chance of intercepting them when we launch rockets."

"Even if the United States does not respond militarily this time, there is a 99% chance that it will respond militarily the next time we launch a satellite. In other words, if we choose to continue launching satellites, we will inevitably encounter military intervention from the United States."

"The possibility of it escalating into a full-scale nuclear war?" another silver-haired general asked.

"The probability is extremely high," the officer said. "According to the pioneer's deterrence model, if we do not give up launching satellites, the possibility of the United States ultimately choosing nuclear war is close to one hundred percent."

Everyone exchanged glances. Stopping the launch of the magic satellite was impossible. Everyone present already knew of the existence of the gods, and the magic satellite was currently humanity's only weapon capable of launching real-time attacks against them. Giving up the magic satellite would be tantamount to cutting off their own arms.

"Then, let's discuss how to deal with a full-scale nuclear war," the silver-haired general said. "What is our survivability under a nuclear strike?"

"We have now identified and marked 50 US missile control centers and 480 intercontinental ballistic missile silos." Another officer projected a map showing the coordinates of missile silos across the US onto the screen. "They are now marked by space satellites, and if necessary, we can destroy all targets within one minute."

"No, now it only takes 45 seconds." Another officer looked at the tablet in his hand and said, "Today we launched another two hundred satellites, further enhancing our strike coverage. Pioneers calculated that even in extreme circumstances, it would only take a maximum of 45 seconds to destroy all these nuclear threats."

"What percentage of the targets are known?" someone asked. "Missing even one would be an unacceptable loss for us."

"We have three space satellites equipped with state-of-the-art ground camera systems with an image accuracy of 0.1 meters. All their images undergo pioneering intelligent screening, and the detection rate of missile silos in the United States should reach over 99%."

"As for those that might be better concealed, our all-domain electromagnetic radar can locate their position the moment they are launched, and then destroy them with aerospace weapons."

"Furthermore, our super-powered tactical forces are trying to hack into the enemy's command system. Once the virus developed by the pioneers is integrated into their command system, they will have no secrets from us."

"What about submarine-launched missiles?" someone else asked.

"Nuclear submarines can dive to depths of 500 to 600 meters or more. At such depths, even our satellites would have difficulty detecting them. However, submarine-launched missiles must surface to within 100 meters of the surface to be launched. This makes it much easier for us to detect them."

"Similarly, once a missile is launched, it will be difficult to escape the eyes of our satellites."

"Even if we cannot detect the missile in the early stages of launch, we can still detect it after it enters our airspace, and with our interception capabilities, we can destroy it as soon as we detect it."

"According to the Herald's predictions, in the most extreme scenario, once a full-scale nuclear war begins, we will at most have one or two small bases attacked."

"And if necessary, the enemy can be completely destroyed by us within three hours."

"In conclusion, the United States' nuclear deterrent capability against us has failed."

Everyone exchanged glances and breathed a sigh of relief. "What's the pioneer's suggestion?"

"If the other side launches military intervention, a full-scale war will immediately commence."

(End of this chapter)