A fierce battle gave birth to the first group of First-Class Merits and combat heroes of the Chinese National Defense Force since the start of operations in North America.

Mid-level comrades needed to propagate these hero stories throughout the country, allowing the people to see that on this brand-new battlefield of North America, the young Chinese soldiers had not only avoided complacency but had developed a stronger and more resolute will for war.

The upper echelons naturally cared about this as well, but their vision encompassed much more. For instance, the first combat application of Chinese ballistic missiles—their performance in actual combat—made the comrades responsible for equipment research and development extremely excited.

In He Rui's original timeline, during World War II, humanity waged a comprehensive war on land, in the air, on the sea, and under the water. Blitzkrieg, air-land integration, broad-front deep operations, and elite infantry squad-and-platoon tactics—all these maneuvers that would greatly influence future military development were created.

In the realm of equipment: jet fighters, ballistic missiles, and drones. Although the technology of this era was not as advanced as that of the 21st century, in terms of pioneering, the new weapons and equipment created during World War II remained the core equipment of warfare even in the 21st century.

The use of the Dongfeng-2 (DF-2) ballistic missile in North America sparked a discussion at the Central Military Commission (CMC) meeting. At this time, Marshal Cheng Ruofan was stationed in Mozambique, overseeing the logistics for the World People's Liberation Army. Marshal Zhong Yifu was in Singapore, responsible for the Central and South Pacific regions. Marshal Hu Xiushan was in Hawaii, coordinating the logistics for the North American war. Xu Chengfeng was in Japan, coordinating the work of the entire Asian Coalition.

Only Marshal Zheng Silang remained in the capital. Although he was effectively holding the center, he also had the task of commanding domestic forces to respond to any unexpected situations at any time. To put it more bluntly, he was prepared to execute military tasks against the Soviet Union should any unforeseen changes occur there.

Therefore, Zheng Silang was very interested in the application of ballistic missiles on the battlefield. During the CMC meeting, he posed his own question: "Should ballistic missiles become weapons for executing daily tasks?"

Li Runshi asked, "Do we not already have rockets equipped with gyroscopes?"

Faced with such a response, Zheng Silang frowned and thought for a while before asking, "Does Chairman Li believe these are two pieces of equipment with different operational models?"

Li Runshi immediately nodded. "I do indeed believe so."

After speaking, Li Runshi had his secretary write the key points he had excerpted from the report on the blackboard. China currently possessed both missiles and multiple rocket launchers. Although the two weapons appeared similar in shape and propulsion, once the specific key points were clearly listed, the fundamental differences between them were immediately apparent.

**Range:** Rockets have a relatively short range, generally not exceeding 100 kilometers; missiles have a much longer range, currently reaching several hundred kilometers. The range of missiles also has immense potential for improvement.

**Guidance System:** Rocket guidance systems are relatively simple, and some rockets have no guidance at all. Missile guidance systems are more complex and advanced, typically equipped with autopilots and various guidance methods, resulting in higher strike precision.

**Flight Pattern:** Most rockets fly within the atmosphere with continuous propulsion. Missiles may fly both within and outside the atmosphere and are propelled only during the active phase; after the engine shuts down, the warhead flies by inertia, following a parabolic trajectory.

**Control System:** Rocket control systems are simpler, perhaps only correcting errors and controlling the flight path at a few set points on the trajectory. Missiles possess a full-time control system, flying under the control of the guidance system from the moment of launch.

**Targets:** Rockets are primarily used against area targets such as fortifications, armor, and concentrations of personnel. Missiles can more precisely strike specific strategic and tactical targets.

**Launch Mode:** Rockets typically use inclined launches; missiles mostly use vertical launch methods.

...

After Marshal Zheng Silang and other junior members of the CMC finished reading the comparison, Li Runshi offered his own view: "I have also studied the Chairman's initial system settings for missile R&D. In those settings, the Chairman defined the application of missiles for specific targets."

Hearing Li Runshi's view, Zheng Silang did not immediately voice his opinion. As a soldier, Zheng Silang rated the role of the missiles in this battle very highly. These DF-2 ballistic missiles carried a 500kg explosive warhead. According to reports, when a missile landed among dense British attacking forces, it killed hundreds of British soldiers in an instant.

From the perspective of the cost-effectiveness ratio, missiles were too expensive. Multiple rocket launchers of equivalent value would have killed several or even a dozen times more British troops in a dense formation.

Rockets have a short range, but aircraft have a range far greater than that of missiles. The cost of an aircraft dropping a bomb with a 500kg warhead from the air is even lower than that of a missile.

Although Zheng Silang had various less-than-positive views on missiles, he also believed their response speed was extremely fast—something rocket launchers and aircraft could not match. If the support weapons this time had been rocket launchers or aircraft, they could not have provided such rapid assistance.

Watching Zheng Silang's reaction, Li Runshi wasn't certain of his train of thought, but he understood that Zheng Silang was surely considering ballistic missiles from a purely military perspective.

Such a thought was a perfectly normal reaction for a professional soldier like Zheng Silang. However, in Li Runshi's view, this consideration seemed somewhat narrow.

Just as Li Runshi was about to discuss other issues, he heard Zheng Silang ask, "Chairman Li, from a political perspective, how would you consider the scope of a missile's application?"

Li Runshi replied with his usual frankness: "Although this world is indeed filled with constant war, overall, the cost of war is becoming higher and higher. The two major reasons for the outbreak of war are that the benefits of winning are too high and the cost of initiating war is too low. In the future, missiles can effectively increase the cost of war and decrease the cost of conflict."

Just as Li Runshi said this, Zheng Silang couldn't help but praise: "Well said! Decreasing the cost of conflict through deterrence—this view is incredibly precise. Being able to increase deterrence against strategic targets is an entirely acceptable cost from the perspective of preventing war."

Seeing that Zheng Silang could actually accept the deterrent power of missiles, Li Runshi was indeed a bit surprised. Because Zheng Silang could not possibly be unaware that China's missiles could threaten other countries, and other countries' missiles could also threaten China. In Li Runshi's view, the underlying color of the He Rui government's philosophy to date was still a nationalism seeking liberation.

Even those who held doctoral, master's, or bachelor's degrees from abroad had not become more inclined toward communist ideals just because they had seen more of the world. In fact, the opposite was true; because these outstanding students had seen the reality of foreign countries, now that China possessed a massive advantage, they were more inclined to return everything the "foreigners" had done in kind.

Imperialism, as a low-level political model, is actually very close to human instinctive reaction: an eye for an eye, and the strong bullying the weak. One doesn't even need to specifically learn it to possess such a mindset.

Seeing that Li Runshi did not speak, Zheng Silang thought he had interrupted at an inopportune moment and said with a smile, "Please continue, Chairman Li."

Li Runshi nodded and continued: "Therefore, from a political perspective, it is necessary for us to continue the research and development of ballistic missiles. End of report."

"...That's it?" Zheng Silang was somewhat surprised. However, there was nothing wrong with Li Runshi's conclusion. Zheng Silang knew very well that with China's current strength, as long as they won this war, they would become even more powerful. At that point, only a madman would directly provoke a head-on war with China. Such madmen are rare and cannot serve as a reason for maintaining China's super-strong military system.

Although Zheng Silang didn't say it aloud, he had actually begun studying how to maintain a military capable of fighting a world war after the conflict ended. To maintain such a powerful military, one must have a reasonable justification. If no force existed that could cause the world to erupt in war again, China indeed had no need to maintain a world-war-capable military.

Thinking of this, Zheng Silang praised: "According to the reports, the young people today are truly patriotic. Originally, many old comrades thought these young people, living entirely in an era of peace, might lack mettle. Now it seems their mettle is not lacking at all. Calling for headquarters to conduct an indiscriminate bombardment of their own position—even in the days when we were fighting with blood-red eyes, few had such courage!"

Li Runshi did not want to discuss this with Zheng Silang. It wasn't that he didn't know how to manipulate such an excellent case for operation, nor that he didn't know such cases were actually an inevitability. Li Runshi knew these things, so he very much wanted to discuss them with He Rui, not with Zheng Silang.

Fortunately, Zheng Silang was only speaking from sentiment, and the CMC meeting soon moved to strategic issues. The fact that the United States had not launched a crazed assault indeed lowered the difficulty of the war, but it also caused deviations from previous arrangements. The CMC had to create contingency plans, and the prerequisite for these plans was undoubtedly making a judgment on American actions. Was this lack of movement short-term, medium-term, or long-term?

Making such judgments was Li Runshi's forte, and he soon proposed his view. America's current hesitation stemmed from the fact that they hadn't yet obtained the substantive control over Canada they desired. Once Britain relinquished control, the U.S. military would enter Canada en masse. At that time, war would inevitably erupt.

Therefore, at this stage, what needed to be judged was not American intentions, but British intentions. What exactly did Britain intend to exchange Canada for!

This judgment made the comrades' eyes light up. It must be said that although at the beginning of 1940 Britain was still the world hegemon—the maintainer and greatest beneficiary of the Versailles order—less than three years later, when the CMC considered problems, Britain was no longer a nation that had to be considered independently. No one even thought back to the fact that Britain had once been the world's hegemon.

Only when considering the U.S., the Soviet Union, and Germany, and only when considering the liberation of the vast African colonies, did Britain exist as an interested party.

China was too busy now, and Britain truly couldn't be considered a main dish. It was only when it was mentioned that Britain could determine a change in the nodes of a major Sino-American campaign that everyone remembered Britain could still exert a certain influence on the current world.

But realizing Britain's role didn't mean they could make an accurate judgment. Some comrades even sighed: "Since Britain is hard to judge, let's just continue executing our previous plan."

Li Runshi did not like such indolence. He made a suggestion: "Let's contact the British who are cooperating with us or who have expressed an interest in cooperation. Have them search for intelligence. Simultaneously, we can also ask the Soviet Union to activate their intelligence system to get the information we need."

Zheng Silang's brow furrowed slightly, and he asked with uncertainty, "Is the Soviet Union reliable?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the other members of the CMC nodded. As China's largest neighbor, the Soviet Union's attitude toward China was increasingly annoying the Chinese upper echelons. From a geopolitical perspective, the Soviet Union's eastern territories were at all times under Chinese military threat.

The Chinese high command was well aware of this and, conversely, didn't care about the bunch in the Soviet Union who were shouting about the "China Threat Theory." After all, those who truly said such things were in a defensive mindset, and China was indeed a massive threat to the Soviet Union.

What made the Chinese high command very unhappy with the Soviet Union were the groups of people who held an offensive attitude. Among them were officials and civilians. Their main characteristic was using the possibility of a real threat from China as a reason to consider how to "thoroughly eliminate the Chinese threat."

From the perspective of geopolitics and global reality, the Soviet Union could never permanently eliminate the threat from China unless it could bring about China's permanent division.

From the Chinese standpoint, those who thought this way had undoubtedly cast themselves as enemies of China. They could already be called enemies. Therefore, more and more Chinese who could obtain relevant information held an increasingly negative view of the Soviet Union, and Zheng Silang was one of them. Because the information Zheng Silang could obtain far exceeded that of ordinary Chinese, his view of the Soviet Union was exceptionally negative.

Li Runshi, on the other hand, was indifferent. In terms of acknowledging facts, he found his own vision far exceeded that of the party's high command. Even when facing so-called enemies, he didn't hold much personal hatred. From the perspective of materialistic dialectics, those people did not shape their personalities and views through their own ability. They were simply a result, not a cause. Just like at a banquet, although every dish has its own characteristics and flavor, the one truly responsible for the dish is the chef, not the ingredients. Li Runshi was interested in the chef, but held no personal opinion on the ingredients.

"Comrades, whether the Soviet Union is reliable is actually not important. What we need is to gather intelligence. Since the Soviet Union currently has certain channels, why not ask? Besides, if we make a request of the Soviet Union, they will actually feel more at ease," Li Runshi replied.

This CMC meeting proceeded relatively smoothly, yet it didn't make most of the comrades very happy. After the meeting, Zheng Silang invited Li Runshi to dinner. After several rounds of drinks and dishes, Zheng Silang solemnly posed a question: "Chairman Li, you said before that if China became an imperialist country, you would call on the people of the world to overthrow an imperialist China. Do you really believe such external checks and balances can help China avoid the old path of the Dynasty Cycle?"

Even though this was a sensitive question, Li Runshi didn't care at all. Hearing Zheng Silang ask about the "Dynasty Cycle," he was actually quite heartened. Previously, senior cadres like Zheng Silang had naturally seen themselves as founding heroes and unconsciously used the traditional mindset of establishing a powerful dynasty to build the New China.

Every regime established after a total war overthrows a previous one; at the beginning, there are many official positions and resources. Coupled with high organizational levels, these new dynasties are mostly vibrant in their early stages, with high-level self-discipline, presenting what is known as the "spirit of a new dynasty."

But no matter how strong the spirit of the new dynasty, it is only one link in the Dynasty Cycle. From the vibrancy of its founding to the unequal distribution caused by rapid development, followed sixty years later by a comprehensive reform—if a "Restoration Sovereign" appears, the dynasty will flourish again for several decades. After that, it becomes difficult to reverse the accumulated problems, and the state step-by-step heads toward an inevitable decline and fall.

Li Runshi replied: "I certainly don't believe that relying on external conditions can solve China's problems. The internal contradictions of anything determine its attributes; external contradictions determine when the internal contradictions will erupt. If we expect external pressure to ensure China doesn't become an imperialist country, that's equivalent to giving up China's sovereignty. Comrade Silang, that doesn't sound like a question you would ask."

Zheng Silang's face flushed. After thinking for a moment, he nodded solemnly. "Indeed, Chairman Li, you are right. The reason I said that was because I remembered when I talked about this with the Chairman before, he said that even from a utilitarian, result-oriented perspective, so-called absolute dominance is not necessarily a good thing. 'If at home there are no law-abiding families and wise counselors, and abroad no hostile states and external threats, the state will usually perish. From this we know that we live in adversity and die in comfort.'

"China must not only become a self-disciplined country internally but must also accept the checks and balances of other countries. Only in this way will we not hold 'looting parties' domestically, but instead maintain an atmosphere of serious discussion on issues.

"It's only through your methodology, Chairman Li, that I've suddenly understood the Chairman's meaning!"

Seeing that Zheng Silang was in a good mood, Li Runshi made a request: "Since we've mentioned the Chairman, why don't we go to his place today and see if he's free?"

Zheng Silang hadn't chatted with He Rui for a long time. Having just straightened out a thought but not being entirely sure, he nodded in agreement. If he could see He Rui, he planned to find an opportunity to ask him privately whether what He Rui said and what Li Runshi said were based on the same methodology.

Li Runshi and Zheng Silang had both prepared for the possibility of not being received, but to their surprise, upon arriving at He Rui's, they were quickly invited in. They saw He Rui wearing quite thick clothes, sitting on the sofa in his study and reading. Seeing the two enter, He Rui stood up and said with a smile, "Marshal Zheng, you've only come now, making it impossible for me to congratulate you in person."

Hearing He Rui say this, Zheng Silang felt very happy. The promotion to Marshal was a decision made at the Politburo plenary session, something He Rui alone couldn't have pushed through. Since He Rui said this, it was naturally for Zheng Silang's joy.

However, from another perspective, Zheng Silang actually suspected He Rui was using this as a nudge, not wanting to see Zheng Silang get too big for his boots.

Just then, Li Runshi asked, "Chairman, Marshal Zheng and I have come together this time because we very much want to ask how you consider the problem of developing ballistic missiles."