Shadow Empire

Chapter 998 The Unresolved Issue and the Federation's Aircraft
The conflict between Lance and Governor Wade did cause some discussion in Indenau, but the mayors did not end their cooperation with Lance as a result; on the contrary, they cooperated even more closely.

Who knows when this cooperation will end? Let's strengthen the cooperation while they can still reap some benefits.

If the Lance family were to withdraw from the Indenau market in the future, they wouldn't have so many benefits.

Many people don't think the Lance family can last long, after all, they are outsiders.

Others were trying to reconcile Lance and Governor Wade.

"...Look, we've been working together for so long, no one is more compatible than us."

A city mayor was pouring wine for Lance, a cigarette dangling from his lips, while offering him a drink.

The mayor was not behaving like a mayor at all; beneath his rolled-up sleeves was a few centimeters of thick body hair.

If he weren't wearing clothes, people wouldn't even be able to tell whether he was an animal or a human if he were thrown into a zoo.

But this guy, who looks more like an animal than a human, is now actively trying to persuade Lance and Governor Wade to reconcile.

Lance didn't say anything, but watched as more wine was poured into his glass. He picked up his glass and clinked it with the hairy mayor's, and then they each took a sip.

Perhaps sensing Lance's determination on this matter, Mayor Dohair frowned. "Lance, we've been cooperating for a long time. I know you give us the highest commission, and many places don't offer this kind of commission."

"From a certain perspective, the commission we receive is the most unreasonable, because it's too much."

Lance then turned his attention back to him. The hairy mayor coughed and said, "I know this was a tactic you used to try and grab more market share, but you don't need it anymore."

"Then why can't we lower our profit-sharing ratio a bit?"

"For example, if you reduce it by half, say 25%, then Wade will take 20%, which will only account for 45% of the total profit. In this way, you will not only not get less, but will actually get 5% more."

“We can all be satisfied, so there will be no conflict between you, our cooperation will continue, and we will maintain stable control of the market here.”

This is indeed a very good suggestion, and even if he hadn't said it, Lance would have considered reducing the share that the mayors received from him.

Even if Jinbiao Liquor Industry makes a comeback, as long as they don't share profits with the mayors, even if they reduce the profit share to only 20%, 10%, or even 5%, there will still be people willing to cooperate with them.

After all, five percent is better than nothing!
He was somewhat surprised that the hairy mayor would bring up this suggestion on his own initiative.

After all, in the Federation, interests are the most important thing.

He used to have a good relationship with Admiral Myers, but they broke up because of their respective positions. Now it's the same with Governor Wade. As long as someone's core interests are touched, breaking up is the norm.

Therefore, it is indeed quite commendable that Mayor Duomao took the initiative to reduce his own interests in these businesses in order to maintain the stability of the entire business.

Lance picked up his glass again, took a sip, and then shook his head. "I can feel your sincerity and good intentions in trying to resolve the conflict between me and Wade, but that's not the point."

Lance put down his glass and looked at him. "The core issue is that he wants to force me to submit, but I don't want to submit, understand?"

"It has nothing to do with how much he can get."

“I’m willing to give it to him, I can give him more, but I’m not willing to give it to him, and no one can take it from me.”

Mayor Duomao suddenly felt even more troubled. "Then how can this problem be solved?"

Lance shook his head. "This problem can't be solved, so don't bother trying."

He didn't want to talk about it because it was pointless; neither of them was likely to compromise now.

If Lance were to back down now and acknowledge this 20%, even if the mayors were to voluntarily reduce their own share to balance the interests involved.

But what if Governor Wade comes up with another excuse to increase the share by 5% or 10% next time?
Should he agree or disagree?

If we don't agree, we'll be stuck in this stalemate again.

Yes, given Governor Wade's personality, he'll definitely try to ask Lance for more, and ultimately he'll still have to face the same problem!
Ultimately, it comes down to Lance's power not being strong enough to create sufficient deterrence, but he does possess enormous wealth.

Mayor Dorothy sighed and ultimately gave up on the idea of ​​talking to Lance and Governor Wade. He could only assure Lance that he would continue to cooperate with him as long as no unforeseen circumstances arose.

If he can make these promises, Lance has already achieved his goal.

Lance has traveled to many places recently and reached a consensus with those mayors. As long as there is no force majeure, their cooperation will continue, and they will receive the profit sharing promised by Lance.

No one could refuse such a large sum of money; no one could.

In mid-November, the weather was somewhat gloomy, and Shinkin City had already experienced a snowfall.

The cold air arrived even faster this year.

Senator Cleveland left the city in his car and headed to a military base in the suburbs, pondering some issues along the way.

Without having been a senator, one cannot understand how busy a senator is.

As one of the most important departments of the federal government, it is not only concerned with matters such as proposing legislation, but also with all events that happen in the country. The Presidential Office will handle one case, and Congress will also handle another.

Moreover, Congress handles things more meticulously, with various committees and working groups that break down the issues into smaller, more manageable parts to find a solution.

Unlike the president, who solves problems himself if he knows how, and leaves them to Congress or the cabinet if he doesn't know how to solve them.

Senator Cleveland has too many things to consider: war, the people, industry, production, international relations...

But he also enjoys it.

Time flies when you're deep in thought.

Of course, his age also plays a role; he has become more focused, but his mental agility is not as good as it was when he was younger.

Everyone goes through this process—

When they were children, sitting in the classroom for forty minutes felt like an eternity!
Every day is a long and agonizing one, as if the concept of time in the children's eyes is a process with a very long span.

But as they get older, time seems to speed up; not to mention forty minutes, even an hour or two will pass quickly.

Everyone has this feeling that time is passing faster and faster.

But in reality, time itself doesn't change; what changes is the level of activity in people's minds.

It's like running. The intensity of running one round trip in one minute is definitely different from running ten round trips in one minute.

If the intensity of this kind of movement is the speed at which humans perceive time, then naturally, the older one gets, the harder it is to perceive time, and time seems to pass faster.

In what could have been the blink of an eye for Senator Cleveland, the car had already come to a stop.

There were two barbed wire walls in front of us, and inside the barbed wire walls were iron thorns, a kind of thing used to prevent people from moving, with sharp blades.

If you accidentally fall in, you will soon be covered in wounds and eventually die from blood loss.

Two soldiers approached the car, and Senator Cleveland rolled down the window and showed his pass.

The soldier checked his pass, then went back to the guard post to verify its authenticity again by phone before returning it to Senator Cleveland, bowing and saluting, "Senator, you may go in."

Senator Cleveland nodded and rolled up the car window again. In his opinion, a strict access control system was better than letting him in casually, at least they were at work.

Led by a military vehicle, the two vehicles arrived directly beside a runway, where a large number of people had already gathered.

They set up a makeshift tent, but it wasn't very warm because the side of the tent facing the runway was completely open.

Many people he knew had arrived early, and they all greeted him as he approached. Today they were going to test-fly an aircraft intended for deployment in the battlefield.

The aircraft manufactured by the Republic of Dantra brought more variables to the Federation battlefield. They could easily locate artillery positions and then launch air attacks on them, which were difficult to defend against.

Although some military industrial groups have begun to produce and put into use some weapons specifically designed to shoot down aircraft, such as anti-aircraft guns and rapid-fire cannons, the effect has not reached the level people imagined, and they can not easily shoot down aircraft.

These planes fly very high, and it's not easy for bullets to hit them. They drop cluster bombs and then leave immediately.

Moreover, even if they could hit some planes, they couldn't hit all of them, and the Federation gradually lost its advantage on the battlefield.

The new alliance hopes that the Federation can immediately come up with countermeasures, and the Federation is also stepping up its research.

In the past, the development of aircraft was not fast because there was no "power" to drive it.

But now, its development speed has been greatly improved due to the military's procurement intentions.

Self-interest is the primary driving force behind scientific progress, without exception!

In recent years, the best-performing entities in the Federation have been the major military-industrial groups, which are becoming behemoths, making many people envious and resentful, yet unable to get involved.

Unlike ordinary industries, military enterprises cannot simply set up an assembly line to produce goods; the military industry involves many aspects.

Metallurgy, chemical engineering, machinery, and various other fields all require mechanical experts who are proficient in design.

Therefore, even though the market knows that the military industry is a booming sector, they dare not venture in to take a look.

The federal government's proposal to purchase a large number of aircraft for war has presented an opportunity.

Numerous aircraft companies were quickly established and began developing aircraft capable of being used in warfare.

Today, some companies have completed their designs and prototype production, and are showcasing them to the Department of Defense and Congress.

Ultimately, the decision of whether to make a purchase and how much to purchase rests with these people.

Later, more people arrived and gathered together to discuss some recent events.

Once everyone had arrived, an officer came forward, coughed twice, and drew everyone's attention.

"Gentlemen, everyone is here. Now let them begin to demonstrate their products."

"The first aircraft to be showcased is the Peregrine Falcon produced by Xiluo Industries..." he said, reciting some parameters. In the hangar next to the runway, an aircraft was towed out and parked on the runway.

The runway has been completely cleared, including the snow and small amount of frost on the ground.

With the permission of airport staff, the pilot accelerated the Peregrine Falcon and quickly climbed into the air.

“It looks like a big toy,” one senator remarked, and the others laughed.

To them, airplanes are really not much different from toys.

The planes in the air quickly arrived at the designated location and dropped four cluster bombs.

However, considering the aircraft's load-bearing capacity, the cluster bombs were not very powerful. The ground targets were basically all hit, making the effect look somewhat intimidating.

Senator Cleveland has also been paying close attention to the consequences of the bombings. He doesn't really understand them, but he has his own thoughts: "It seems that the consequences of these bombs have no direct connection to the plane."

His words drew the attention of many people, who, upon closer examination, realized it was indeed true.

A bomb is a bomb, and a plane is a plane. The officer in charge of guiding the plane didn't seem to have expected Senator Cleveland to say something so simple and correct.

He paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "That's true."

"Should we change our presentation strategy?"

Senator Cleveland nodded. “I think you just need to get these planes airborne and tell us how much they can carry, how fast they can fly, and that should be enough.”

"As for the bombs dropped, I believe that the heavier the shell, the greater the damage. We have specialized companies that do this."

Others more or less agreed with his point of view. There were chemical companies that specialized in producing explosives, or military companies that produced bombs. They also knew that the effect of an explosion was related to the weight of the explosive.

Whether or not to perform the bombing demonstration is not very meaningful and is a waste of time.

The officer quickly explained the situation to the companies waiting to demonstrate the aircraft. After the peregrine falcon returned to the ground, the new plane was pulled onto the runway and prepared for takeoff.

One plane after another took off, circled in the sky, and then landed. The men couldn't really tell which plane was better.

Then a plane called "Sharp Arrow" appeared, which the officer introduced in detail.

"This Arrow model aircraft is different from the ones we have shown before. The designer who designed it said that it was not built so that it could fly to a great distance to drop bombs."

"Its purpose is to protect the space above us, so it's not for dropping bombs, but for attacking other aircraft."

As they were talking, everyone saw the company's ground staff take some very large balloons outside the venue, fill them with air, and then lift them into the air.

The Arrow-type aircraft, which was circling in the sky, quickly changed direction and shot down the balloons from a great distance.

This certainly gave the men a sense of novelty.

"Because it won't fly over enemy positions, there's more room for design optimization in this aircraft..."

According to the officer, this aircraft could serve as an important defensive measure to protect friendly artillery positions and attack the enemy from the air.

Aircraft of this period did not fly very fast. With the ability to reduce weight, these Arrow-type aircraft were more agile and faster than other bombers that aimed to fly farther and carry more weight, both in terms of flight speed and turning ability.

This gives them the opportunity to quickly engage enemy aircraft!

That concludes the presentation; the Arrow model aircraft in the sky quickly flew back down the runway.

The manufacturers' representatives were also very nervous, as this would determine whether their efforts over the past period would be rewarded sufficiently.

After discussing the matter with the senators, the Department of Defense generals, and the military generals, they decided to purchase three models of aircraft in two categories.

A long-range bomber, a medium-range heavy bomber, and that Arrow fighter.

Currently, they don't actually have such a precise classification; they are only distinguished based on their actual use and model.

Representatives from the three selected companies smiled, while the other representatives looked somewhat disappointed.

However, this does not mean they have lost their chance forever. They will still have opportunities. As long as they can develop aircraft with more advanced performance, they will definitely get orders.

Moreover, orders don't necessarily have to come from domestic sources; they could also come from overseas, such as allies within the Slade military alliance.

The group then returned to the warm buildings of the military base, where, after initial discussions, the federal government agreed to purchase one thousand aircraft.

Among them are 500 fighter jets and 500 bombers of two types.

The cheapest of these aircraft is priced at 43,000 federal soles, and the most expensive at 51,000 federal soles, averaging about 46,000 dollars per aircraft.

One thousand aircraft, that's forty-six million, and this is just one attempt at something new.

Once these aircraft prove effective on the battlefield, defense orders will flood the desks of these companies.

(End of this chapter)