“Yesterday, Typhoon ‘Banyan’ passed through the Mariana Islands and headed northwest towards the Philippine Sea. Affected by the typhoon, the eighty UA Navy ships docked at the Guam Military Base were forced to temporarily relocate. Scholars affiliated with the World Meteorological Organization have yet to provide an official explanation to the reason Typhoon ‘Banyan’ formed. Some scholars claimed that the reason why a typhoon of this scale formed in December may be due to global warming…”
“International organizations have dispatched rescue teams to Country F and Malaysia for emergency response. It remains to be seen what kind of impact ‘Banyan’ will have on the Asia-Pacific region. Next, a professor from the University of Colombia…”
The morning news played on the TV while a simple and nutritious breakfast was placed on the table. However, Timoshenko, who was in front of the table, was focused on neither. He stared at the map on the wall.
To be precise, he was looking at the dotted line on the map.
The dotted line that divided the country into two.
If Joseph Kennedy was elected and the UA joined the Earth Defense Alliance in anticipation, the relationship between the two countries was bound to be in a honeymoon period for a long time, and it was unlikely that Celestial would support him in continuing this war.
In the worst case, Colombia could even become the second Korean peninsula. The two countries shared the same heritage, same tradition, the same language, but because they were caught between two superpowers, they were forced to be divided into two countries…
He had no hope at all.
But fortunately, Trump won.
To be honest, he was relieved when he saw the results of the election.
In addition, Celestial Trade had been amassing troops in South Colombia recently, which made him see the dawn of an unified Colombia.
During this period, his subordinates had been advising him to seize this opportunity to create a border incident and tear up the armistice agreement. It was just that Celestial Trade had been silent, which made him hesitant on making the decision. Celestial Trade could accept the consequence of Colombia turning out of control, but he could not bear the consequence of being abandoned by Celestial Trade.
“Push back everything on my schedule for the day. If you can’t push it, get Antonio to go for me.” The breakfast on the table was barely touched as Timoshenko pushed back the chair and stood up. Then he looked at the assistant beside him, “Arrange a flight for me. I’m going to Xin.”
“Is it too rushed?” The assistant hesitated, “It will take at least three working days to submit an application for a state visit to the Xin Embassy through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs…”
“Apply directly to Celestial Trade. They will arrange it for us.” Timoshenko interrupted his assistant, paused, then continued, “If I didn’t overthink, Jiang Chen should also want to see me now.”
…
“I heard that there was a typhoon there. You have to be careful not to be blown away.”
“The typhoon is at the Mariana Islands. It’s far away from me. It will at most rain a few times.” On the phone, Jiang Chen listened to Liu Yao’s playful words and laughed, “Have you been busy lately?”
“Not as busy as you,” Liu Yao pouted and with a hint of complaint in her tone, “Humph, men are all the same. You all like the next one. After you got those two little lovers in Nippon, you completely forgot about me.”
“How come,” Jiang Chen was confused as he tried to defend himself, “were you not filming when I went to Nippon last time? So, I didn’t invite you.”
The way she got jealous was a bit strange.
She was not jealous of Ayesha or Xia Shiyu, instead, she was jealous of Qian Xia and Officer Kwai.
“Really?” Liu Yao asked suspiciously.
“Yes!”
“Hehe, then I can rest assured. Wherever you go next time, remember to bring me! Promise…”
Jiang Chen had to admit that Liu Yao was the most sophisticated in the art of being jealous. She could satisfy Jiang Chen’s vanity while also ensuring he was not tired or annoyed. This was also what Jiang Chen was most satisfied with.
It was also why Liu Yao could go from a little-known actress to a star in Asia.
From her background, who else could compete with her?
The phone call with Liu Yao was Jiang Chen’s quick moment of relaxation. After a few more words, Jiang Chen hung up and picked up the document again.
This document was the outline of the meeting in the afternoon. He had to review it before the meeting.
In the past few days, Jiang Chen had been busy with Celestial Trade’s deployment. The senior officers of the Navy, Army, and Air Force on New Moon Island had held more than a dozen meetings. The meetings included the expansion of the military, raising the military budget, formulating combat plans for possible partial or even full-scale wars…
It was precisely because of this that Timoshenko did indeed overthink. Jiang Chen had no plans to see him at all.
South Colombia was a very critical component in the strategic plan of Celestial Trade in South America. However, the so-called critical component was only from geographical factors. It would be better to count on Moro soldiers than South Colombia soldiers in a war.
Of course, since he was already here, Jiang Chen had to see him to ensure that they maintained a good relationship.
After Jiang Chen received the call from the embassy, he thought about it for a moment, then called Ivan to cancel the afternoon meeting. In the meeting room of the Future Building, Jiang Chen met Timoshenko, the warlord who disturbed the calmness of South America.
Strictly speaking, it was the third time the two had met. The first time was when the Colombian Civil War just broke out, and the second time was at the Coro City International Defense Exhibition. Every time Jiang Chen saw this old warlord, he noticed that there were more white hairs around his ears.
After a simple greeting, Jiang Chen invited Timoshenko to sit down. The receptionist that stood on the side poured tea for the two, then respectfully exited the room.
“How do you like those pilots?” After he touched the teacup with his finger to test the temperature, Jiang Chen retracted his right hand, looked at Timoshenko, and smiled, “I mean the ones produced by Future Heavy Industries.”
“Very easy to use. Your technical prowess is impressive.” After a pause, Timoshenko continued, “But you know, I’m not here today to discuss this.”
In the Colombian Civil War, Russia was the second-biggest winner after Celestial Trade. After Timoshenko got the loan from Future Bank, the first thing he did was spend money, buy equipment, and arm his second-tier army. Arms orders of more than three billion dollars had helped Russian military companies reduced a lot of accumulated inventory. For example, Timoshenko bought an entire squadron of MiG-29s.
As for the pilots, they were naturally the “Matador” electronic pilots bought from the defense exhibition.
“I know what you want to discuss,” Jiang Chen said softly while he looked back at Timoshenko, “My suggestion is to wait patiently.”
“How long shall we wait?” Timoshenko quickly responded, “Our people long for unity.”
“I can’t give you a specific time, but if you have paid attention to our actions, it should not be difficult to see that we have already begun to make preparations for this,” Jiang Chen said. “We also hope that Colombia can be restored to unity. After all, a unified Colombia is more in line with the interests of Celestial Trade in South America. On this point, our position is the same.”
When Jiang Chen saw the anxiety in Timoshenko’s eyes, he paused for a moment, and his tone carried a hint of warning.
“In addition, Mr. Timoshenko, I have to remind you that during this period of time, please restrain your subordinates and exercise caution. Regardless of whether there will be unpleasant wars in the future, you must ensure at this time that you remain calm. The last time you arrogantly advocated an early revolution and disrupted our plan. I don’t want to hold you accountable, but I hope that was the last time.
Trump would visit Xin after taking office.
Even though he did not have many expectations for the diplomatic visit, Jiang Chen still planned to make the next decision after his meeting with the new president.
As Harmony’s Space Colonization Ship approached, if he could avoid unnecessary internal friction, he would do anything possible to ensure no conflicts happened. However, if this president who pursued the concept of “UA First” was really as tough as he promised in his campaign speech…
Jiang Chen could only say that Celestial Trade would never make a compromise.
However, plans always change. While he was preparing for war while he waited for the transfer of power to happen in North America, the Colombian people posed a difficult problem for him…
