.After leaving the White House, Chandler said nothing and thought silently.

Brian sorted out the documents and said tentatively: "It seems that the president is not that smart."

Chandler came to his senses, glanced at Brian, and said, "You don't know much about the president. He is not only smart, but also very smart, at least smarter than you think."

"But he said nothing and did nothing."

"What can he say and what can he do?" Chandler smiled and said, "Before the implementation of the plan, I submitted a detailed plan. I bet that the president has read it from beginning to end before locking the plan into the top-secret file cabinet, and has more than once. Although the president holds great power and even if he violates the law, he still has the power of administrative pardon, but the president is not supreme and cannot do whatever he wants. Faced with such impure things, he must be careful and try not to be involved in actual actions. The president knows what we are doing and what we are going to do, but he will not ask us directly or inquire about the progress of the action. Only in this way can he stay out of the matter when necessary and let others take the blame."

"You mean..."

"Do you know why the President asked me to be the Director of Cia?"

Brian shook his head and did not answer the question.

"If the president needs to find someone to withdraw the troops deployed in Afghanistan, he should replace the Secretary of Defense instead of sending me to the CIA." Chandler smiled and said, "Although the CIA played a crucial role in the withdrawal, it is nothing compared to what we are doing. I talked with the president alone two years ago before accepting the appointment. I can't tell you the content of the conversation, but you can know that the president needs someone with great courage and skill to lead the CIA to deal with the troubles we encounter when we move from strategic expansion to strategic contraction, so that he can focus on more important things."

"So, our actions in Taiwan have long been authorized by the president?"

Chandler nodded and said, "If this action is not done well, it will definitely deteriorate China-US relations sharply, and may even cause a series of wars in the Western Pacific. You must be very clear about how serious the consequences are. Such an important thing, no one dares to make a decision without the authorization of the president."

"When the beginning, why didn't the President give us clear instructions?"

Chandler smiled and said, "Didn't you figure it out yet? When encountering this kind of problem, the president has kept silent and has given us hints."

"But……"

"Do you know why the president is dining in a small restaurant east today?"

"this……"

"It's the President's private restaurant, a family dining location. Because the President's family often talks about family affairs at the dining table, there is no recording equipment in the restaurant, and the conversation will not be recorded." Chandler glanced at Brian and said, "Now, do you still think the President is not smart enough?"

Brian nodded thoughtfully, as if he understood what Chandler meant.

"Even so, the president is still very cautious." Chandler sighed and said, "Fortunately, the president has not opposed us to launch the backup plan."

"Supply plan!?" Brian's eyes widened.

"It's all in that document. The president has read it and has no objection, which shows that he has agreed."

"But the President didn't look carefully at all."

Chandler smiled and said, "Don't forget that before becoming a state legislator, he was one of the most famous lawyers in Chicago, and it didn't take much time to look through a document."

"So that..."

"Call Hunter and Bob and let them go to the conference room in half an hour."

Brian nodded, picked up the phone hanging on the cabin wall, and contacted the two deputy directors in charge of operations and intelligence.

In less than half an hour, the helicopter sent Chandler and Brian to the apron of Cia Langley's headquarters. When they arrived at the conference room, the two deputy directors had been waiting for a long time.

After the meeting began, Brian first introduced the report to the president.

"The president's attitude is very clear. The most urgent task is to find out the reason for the sinking of the 'North Carolina' and to find the real murderer behind the scenes." Chandler paused for a moment and said, "We are very clear about what is going on. The president also knows it. So what we have to do is to not only find the real murderer, but also give an explanation to the public and calm the public opinion storm. For the public, there is no truth in this matter."

"Then you have to make up a reason to convince the public." Bob sighed, looking a little haggard.

Chandler nodded and waited for Bob to continue.

"It's not difficult to make up the reason, the key is how to convince the public." Bob handed the folder in front of him to Chandler. "This is the preliminary investigation result. The two photos inside are submarine landforms synthesized by the 'Hartford' with sonar. It's a bit blurry, but can be roughly identified."

"Another submarine in the battle group of the USS Roosevelt aircraft carrier?" Chandler found the photo.

It is a black and white photo and has been marked.

Bob nodded and said, "From these two photos, the North Carolina suffered a very serious blow before the sinking of the 'North Carolina'. Initial judgment, at least two torpedoes were hit, and the explosion points were all near the bow of the boat. When the submarine sinks, the pressure-resistant chamber that was not damaged was flattened by sea water, but is still relatively complete, with only the bow of the boat missing. After the deep submarine arrives, the search range will be expanded, hoping to find the scattered submarine wreckage."

"You mean, the explosion point is near the bow?"

"This is just a preliminary judgment. What's going on. We will not know until the submarine wreckage is salvaged."

“How much time will it take?”

"Not too little," Bob sighed and said, "The water depth at the sinking site of the 'North Carolina' is more than 1,800 meters. Although the current technical equipment can salvage submarines, it is very difficult and requires a lot of preparation. In two months, the monsoon season in the North Indian Ocean will arrive. At that time, the waves on the sea surface are more than five meters high, and salvage work will be suspended and will not start again until the beginning of next year."

"Can you fish the submarine in two months?"

"Not much hope."

Chandler pondered for a while and said, "Focus on finding high-value equipment, and don't rush to salvage the wreckage of the submarine. Even if we know who did it, we must try to get favorable evidence."

"That's all."

"Now, at least I know how to deal with the public." Chandler smiled and said, "What the public needs is only a reasonable reason. Since the submarine was sunk by torpedoes and the bow was completely blown up, the processed photos can be handed over to reporters to use their imagination."

"It's better to let the reporter know what to say and what not to say." Hunter, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke.

Chandler nodded and said, "In order to be more convincing, we have to announce the news before the reporter released the news, saying that an accident occurred during the routine anti-submarine drill in the North Carolina, and the stored mk48 torpedo or vertically launched cruise missile exploded."

"It's not appropriate to do this?"

"Why?" Chandler looked at Bob.

"If you really say that, you will definitely offend a lot of people." Bob hesitated and said, "At that time, the public will definitely think that there are serious design flaws in the 'Virginia' level. If Congressmen make this statement and suspend the construction of the 'Virginia' level, General Electric and Northrop will definitely be greatly affected."

"There must be an impact. For example, the stock market value of the two companies plummeted, and thousands of shipbuilders were in danger of unemployment, but they were both short-term and would not have long-term impacts." Chandler smiled and said, "The 'Los Angeles' class is old and is gradually retired. If Congress asks the Pentagon to re-examine the 'Virginia' class design plan, it will not only be harmful, but will be beneficial."

"benefit?"

"If you want to maintain fifty-five attack nuclear submarines, you can only design a new submarine as soon as possible, except for continuing to build the Virginia class. It is definitely not a bad thing for General Electric and Northrop. Designing a brand new attack nuclear submarine requires at least tens of billions of development funds." Chandler glanced at Bob and said, "For them, why not make an extra development cost?"

Bob forced a smile and said, "The submarine is still secondary. If the sunk causes are pushed onto a torpedo or missile..."

"There is no need to worry, just like we need submarines, we also need torpedoes and missiles, so arms dealers who produce torpedoes and missiles can get better opportunities."

Bob nodded and said nothing.

"Just deal with it like this, and hand these photos to the reporters as soon as possible." Chandler put the photos into a folder and returned them to Bob. "Remember to contact the Pentagon and let them post the news as soon as possible. If the reporters are in front of it, the public will question the authenticity of the information."

“I will deal with it as soon as possible.”

Chandler nodded and said, "Troubleshooting public events is only a minor issue. You still have to find the submarine that sunks the North Carolina."

"We have mobilized all resources to closely monitor all ports along the Arabian Sea with reconnaissance satellites, reconnaissance aircraft and ships, especially the port of Guadal in Pakistan and the port of Chah Bahar in Iran." Bob looked at Chandler and said, "The Navy has taken action. The USS Washington battle group is rushing to the South China Sea and is expected to arrive in three days. Five attack nuclear submarines drawn from the Atlantic Fleet and the Pacific Fleet are also rushing to Southeast Asia at full speed and are expected to arrive within a week. In addition, anti-submarine patrol aircraft deployed in Singapore will completely block the Strait of Malacca, Sunda Strait and Lombok Strait. The Navy will also establish anti-submarine search areas in the Timor Sea, the Alafra Sea and the Banda Sea to prevent the target submarine from bypassing Indonesia and heading north from the Western Pacific Ocean. As long as the submarine is planning to return to China, we will catch it."

“What if it doesn’t enter the South China Sea from the East Indian Ocean?”

Bob was stunned and said, "There is nothing to do. After all, it is a nuclear submarine with almost unlimited range. As long as there is enough food, we can return from any route. We cannot monitor all routes, or even all waterways."

Chandler nodded, indicating that he understood Bob's meaning, and then turned his eyes to Hunter.

If technical means cannot be used, they can only rely on non-technical means.
Chapter completed!