Chapter 208 Hello, 1997
Later that day, Arlington County, Virginia, on the other side of the world.
The new Defense Secretary William Cohen, who took office less than half a month ago, has just walked into the office and is preparing to deal with some tasks left 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 piles 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 member of the Elephant Party 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 pits deliberately dug for him by his ex.
"Mr. Minister, an urgent message from the military attaché stationed in New Delhi."
The secretary placed a document on the desk.
"It's an urgent call, it's an urgent call again, why are everything..."
Cohen muttered while casually opening the folder.
Then he took a long breath of air, and the temperature in the entire office seemed to be a little higher.
Obviously, this time it was not someone deliberately causing 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, the 13th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"General, I need an explanation."
Cohen handed the other party the document just now.
At first, he was a little angry.
In the 1990s, 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, and seemed to know no more than he did.
“I can’t explain anything, Mr. Minister.”
The gray-haired John handed the document back to Cohen:
“If my guess is correct, this should It was Langley's move, but... something happened, so our military attache knew about it."
Then the two of them were silent together.
"How could the Air Force not know about this kind of professional aviation reconnaissance equipment?"
About a minute later, Cohen asked with some distress.
"Mr. Minister, you know that the CIA has great authority in intelligence."
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. There is no need and of course no authority to conduct terminal management."
"Hu ——"
Cohen threw the folder on the desktop with a snap:
"Then this matter..."
"Don't worry about it"
The admiral shook his head:
“This matter has nothing to do with us. If we get involved, if anything happens in the future, they may blame it on our military.”
“But According to the statement in this document, the pod they lost seems to be very advanced. Is it really okay?”
Cohen, who just took office, is 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 high-altitude and 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. That's all."
"Besides, Langley still has insider connections in the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency, which is better than ours."
Cohen bowed his head. He frowned as he looked at the document.
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 bother with 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, did not 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 intensively 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 date.
Of course, the theme must still be the story of spring.
But the scene that can’t be resisted 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, it is generally said that you are not old enough in this era.
"Mom, my 22nd birthday has not even passed yet..."
Chang Haonan replied with a look of helplessness.
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 your girlfriend.”
As expected, Zhou Li’s topic ended here:
“Not now In our era, parents could marry upon meeting each other, so why couldn’t you and the girl have been dating for several years after we met? It happened to be the neighbor’s daughter when we lived in the bungalow before..."
Chang Jiayao Beside him, he held his head and suppressed a smile.
Chang Haonan was speechless.
He couldn't 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 the old He family?"
“Yes, 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 join relatives to work during the Chinese New Year. Don't you know?"
This time 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 have decided to be laid off due to the restructuring of their factory. Her daughter can't find a good job here, so she just plans to go to the south as a family."
Zhou Li spent a while. Only then recovered 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."
Listen Chang Yuanchao's expression changed when he arrived here.
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, so she didn't mention anything. Blind date thing.
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 wave of layoffs.
For a family, it may mean leaving their hometown.
Fireworks went off outside the window.
1997 is coming soon.
(End of this chapter)