The military-industrial scientific research system of the academic master.

Later that day, on the other side of the world, in Arlington County, Virginia.

New Defense Secretary William Cohen, who took office less than half a month ago, has just walked into the office and is preparing to handle some of the work left behind by his predecessor.

He has served on the Intelligence Select Committee for the past dozen years.

Although it sounds like the name of an intelligence agency, it is actually a clerical position connected with a think tank. It has nothing to do with intelligence business and cannot even be regarded as a federal department.

Of course, there is indeed a lot of oil and water in it.

However, this also means that his previous experience cannot provide him with much help in his new position in the defense field, so he is still in a bit of a hurry.

Cohen looked at the pile of documents and forms in front of him, feeling somewhat helplessly grateful that things had been calm recently and nothing particularly difficult had happened.

However, before he could relax, there was a knock on the office door.

"Come in."

Cohen, who didn't even raise his head, thought that he might have found some documents in some nook and cranny.

As the only Elephant Party member in the current Donkey Party government in the United States, he is not surprised that he has encountered some difficulties and obstructions.

Some of the troubles were even pitfalls deliberately dug for him by his ex.

"Mr. Minister, this is an urgent message from the military attache in New Delhi."

The secretary puts a document on the desk.

"It's an urgent call, it's an urgent call again, why is everything..."

Cohen muttered while casually opening the folder.

Then he took a long breath of cold air, and the temperature in the entire office seemed to be a little higher.

Obviously, this time it was not someone deliberately trying to cause trouble for him, but something really happened.

"Contact General Shalikashvili. I want to meet with him."

About half an hour later, a Caucasian officer wearing the rank of four-star general came to Cohen's office.

John Shalikashvili, 13th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"General, I need an explanation."

Cohen handed the document to the other party.

At first, he was a little angry.

In the 90s, the United States had not yet gone crazy with the issue of identity, so in Cohen's view, it was understandable that it would cause him some obstacles due to the donkey-elephant dispute, but making such big news in order to exclude him was a bit outrageous. Line.

But soon, he discovered that the admiral sitting opposite also had a look of astonishment on his face, and seemed to know no more than he did.

"I can't explain it, Mr. Minister."

The gray-haired John handed the document back to Cohen:

"If my guess is correct, this should be an action carried out by Langley, but... something happened, so our military attache will know."

Then the two of them were silent together.

"Does the Air Force not know about this kind of professional aviation reconnaissance equipment?"

About a minute later, Cohen asked with some distress.

"Mr. Secretary, you know that the CIA has extensive intelligence authority."

Shalikashvili shook his head helplessly:

"Many reconnaissance equipment, such as this pod and even U2S reconnaissance aircraft, are their assets. The Air Force only operates them on their behalf. It is not necessary and of course does not have the authority to conduct terminal management."

"call--"

Cohen threw the folder onto the desktop with a snap:

"Then this matter..."

"Leave it alone."

The admiral shook his head:

"This matter has nothing to do with us. If they get involved, if anything happens in the future, they may blame it on our military."

"But according to what this document says, the pod they lost seems to be very advanced. Is it really okay?"

Cohen, who had just taken office, was still a little worried.

"Whether it is advanced or not is something Langley should consider, Mr. Minister."

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff still insisted on his opinion:

"In addition, it said that the pod was hung under a MiG-25, and that plane was suspected to have been shot down."

"So there is nothing to worry about. Although I am from the Army, I also know that a high-altitude, high-speed aircraft will disintegrate directly after being hit, breaking into thousands of pieces. From the airborne equipment to the pilot, it is impossible to leave anything behind. The whole thing."

"Besides, to put it another way, Langley still has insider connections with the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency, and they are better at it than we are."

Cohen looked down at the document and frowned.

He ignored the third reason given by the other party.

Even if the so-called insider relationship exists, I am afraid it is no longer useful for some reasons.

Otherwise, why go to all the trouble to engage in aerial reconnaissance?

But the first two statements are quite reasonable.

"Well, you're right, General."

The new minister thought of all the troubles his colleagues had caused for him in the past half month, and finally decided to listen to the opinions of professionals and ignore the matter.

……

The turmoil in the South Asian subcontinent is destined to only affect a small number of people. For the vast majority of Chinese people, the most important thing today is obviously the New Year.

Chang Haonan, who was at home, didn't know that he had been targeted by the electronic industry system. At this time, he was sitting around with his family, making dumplings and watching TV.

The Spring Festival Gala of this era is still relatively eye-catching. In addition, he has been working at a high intensity since his rebirth, so he is happy to let his mind go for a while and only occasionally answer some questions raised by his sister.

At this time, a sketch called "The Flowers in the Dark" just started to be played on TV.

Chang Haonan suddenly felt that his past memories began to attack him.

Because this is a sketch about blind dates.

Of course, the theme must still be the story of spring.

But the unbearable scene is a blind date.

Sure enough, when she was halfway through, Zhou Li stopped what she was doing and turned her head to look at Chang Haonan.

"Xiaonan, you will be 23 years old after the Chinese New Year."

In the Northeast, this era is generally said to be empty.

"Mom, my 22nd birthday hasn't even passed yet..."

Chang Haonan replied helplessly.

No matter what others think, he has lived his whole life again, and he just feels so damn young now.

"23 is indeed not too old, but it's time to think about my girlfriend."

As expected, Zhou Li’s topic ended here:

"We are not in that era anymore. We can get married as soon as our parents meet. Why can't you and the girl have been dating for several years after they met? It just so happened that the daughter of our neighbor when we lived in the bungalow..."

Chang Jiayao was beside her with her head down and laughing.

Chang Haonan was speechless.

He could not understand at all how the relationship between neighbors in the past could be maintained for so many years.

But before Chang Haonan could figure out how to politely refuse, Chang Yuanchao, who had been concentrating on making dumplings just now, raised his head in astonishment:

"You mean the daughter of Lao He's family?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

Zhou Li looked at her husband in confusion, as if wondering why he reacted this way.

"Lao He's family is going to Fujian Province to work with relatives during the Chinese New Year. Don't you know?"

Now it was Zhou Li's turn to look shocked:

"I don't know. I met Lao He's wife a few days ago."

Chang Yuanchao shook his head:

"Lao He and his wife are already determined to be laid off due to the restructuring of their factory. Her daughter can't find a good job here, so she's just planning to go south with her family."

It took Zhou Li a while to recover from the shock:

"Lao He's wife didn't tell me this. She specifically asked us about Xiaonan's situation. I thought she wanted to bring the two families together."

Chang Yuanchao's expression changed after hearing this.

As a police officer, he immediately figured out what the other party was planning.

"Lao He's wife... No, I can't marry her."

Zhou Li also turned around later and realized that the other party wanted to tie up Chang Haonan and stopped mentioning the blind date.

Chang Haonan, on the other hand, never thought about agreeing in the first place, so he had no feelings about this matter.

But, for the first time, he intuitively felt the impact of the layoff wave.

For a family, it may mean leaving their hometown.

Fireworks went off outside the window.

1997 is coming soon.