Chapter 1801 Arctic Overlord
An Il-76 is flying in the sky.
"Brother Xiao, how does it feel to revisit the old place?" Chen Zetao asked Xiao Peng who was sitting next to him while sitting on the plane.
Xiao Peng shook his head after hearing this: "Captain Chen, do you believe me when I say I'm in a bad mood?"
Chen Zetao curled his lips and said, "What Captain Chen? I'm just a nanny leading the team. Why are you upset that you can't let Kasim and your 'New Calypso' come over?"
Chen Zetao came here this time with the title of "Head of the Exchange Observation Group", so Xiao Peng called him "Head of the Group Chen".
Xiao Peng shook his head: "I'm upset because when I came here to see Anna off last time, she told me that there was only an ordinary weather observation station here. Who knew that this was actually such a large military base?"
He was now at Alexandria Island, the same island where the Natui submarine had been discovered. Xiao Peng had also sent Anna to the island to inform the Russians about the sculpin.
Xiao Peng originally thought this was just a weather station, but it turned out to be their destination again! And Chen Zetao actually told Xiao Peng that this was a large military base?
Xiao Peng didn't know what to say: How could a place where the Il-76 could land be an ordinary small base?
However, Xiao Peng began to admire the Russians.
Alexandria Land, only 600 kilometers from the North Pole! Building such a large military base here? Currently, only Russia has the capability to build a permanent military base in the polar regions!
Chen Zetao smiled and said, "This is a Russian military secret. It's no surprise Anna kept it secret from you back then. In fact, they don't have just one but two such military bases. One is the 'Northern Trefoil' base on Kotelny Island, and the other is the 'Arctic Trefoil' base on Alexander Land. Look..." He drew a Mitsubishi Motors logo on the back of the chair in front of him and said, "The main buildings of both bases are triangular, so they are collectively called the 'Trefoil Project'. Russia is currently focusing on construction on the six major islands within the Arctic Circle, and perhaps there will be more and more 'Trefoil' bases like this in the future."
Xiao Peng whistled: "Russia really takes the Arctic seriously!"
Chen Zetao said, "Who doesn't value the Arctic? Otherwise, why would our country build nuclear-powered icebreakers? It's simply that we didn't have the capacity. Russia actually occupies about 60% of the entire Arctic. They've long considered it their own backyard. From the Soviet era to the present, their focus has always been on the Arctic."
Xiao Peng was a little confused. "I can understand their current emphasis on the Arctic. After all, the strategic and economic significance of the Northern Sea Route is clear. But why did they prioritize the Arctic? For the seabed resources? Wouldn't salvaging them be incredibly difficult?"
Chen Zetao explained: "It's mainly for military purposes."
"Military?" Xiao Peng was stunned after hearing this.
Chen Zetao said, "You know the Earth is a sphere. Why fly north first when flying from Daxia to Europe? It's because it's actually closer. By the same token, if you deploy missiles in the Arctic, the attack coverage area will be wider. The Arctic is not the South Pole. There are continents under the South Pole, while the Arctic is an ocean, and there's seawater under the ice cap! During the Cold War, the Soviet Union and the United States deployed strategic nuclear submarines in the Arctic to compete with each other. Do you really think that Daxia has nothing to do by developing nuclear-powered icebreakers? Do you think that organizing an exchange observation group here is aimless? The strategic significance of the Arctic is too great for the planet today. Moreover, there are three Arctic shipping routes, and North America's Northwest Passage is unusable. The Americans are not stupid. Their real purpose for promoting freedom of navigation is the Arctic."
"What do you mean?" Xiao Peng asked in confusion.
Chen Zetao explained: "Most of the Arctic Northeast Passage is along the Russian coast, so at the very least it has to go through Russia's exclusive economic zone. They can't avoid this route, but they don't want to spend money to support the Russian economy. Wouldn't it be better to come up with the so-called free navigation to avoid spending money on this route? And as I said just now, the strategic role of the Arctic is really too great. Now that our country has begun to enter the Arctic, the Americans can no longer cope. Now they also want to develop icebreakers to enter the Arctic, but in this regard, the Americans are already behind."
Xiao Peng was surprised after hearing this and said, "Can the Americans still fall behind?"
Chen Zetao nodded. "Although the Americans are the only superpower on our planet, they're not top-notch in everything. At least when it comes to polar development, they're a little behind. Russia has a lot of nuclear-powered icebreakers, and they spent nearly a decade building these two 'Shamrock' military bases in the Arctic, which are strategically crucial. Daxia's icebreakers have been launched one after another, and the nuclear-powered icebreakers should be completed soon. This is all for our country's Arctic strategy. The Americans only have a few icebreakers, and they're all salvage vessels from half a century ago. They have poor icebreaking capabilities and endurance. Even though they're a powerful nation, it's too late for them to start development now."
Xiao Peng blinked. "Isn't that an exaggeration? I see our country's icebreakers are always heading towards Antarctica!"
Chen Zetao glanced at Xiao Peng and said, "Brother Xiao, why are you getting confused too? Antarctica is a continent! Why are we deploying so many icebreakers just to break ice on the edge of Antarctica? The North Pole is the core!"
Xiao Peng finally understood after hearing this: "Why did you ask me to go to Arctic Clover this time? It's so mysterious."
Chen Zetao asked Xiao Peng a question in return: "Brother Xiao, do you know how many ships sank in the Arctic Circle during the Cold War alone?"
Xiao Peng smiled bitterly and said, "Brother Chen, I've read a lot, but do you think I know these military records? Oh, I know the Communist Youth League sank here."
The Komsomolskaya was a Soviet-era attack nuclear submarine. By today's standards, it wasn't very large. It was comparable to the French Suffren, both being considered "pocket-sized strategic nuclear submarines." However, at the time, it was the largest and most advanced nuclear submarine in the world.
The most amazing thing about this nuclear submarine is its deep diving ability!
Among military submarines, the theoretical maximum diving depth of conventional submarines is 300 meters, but no submarine can reach this depth yet. Nuclear submarines are deeper, with a theoretical depth of about 600 meters. It is rumored that the US nuclear submarines can dive to a maximum of about 800 meters, but because the performance of nuclear submarines involves a country's core secrets, many data are estimated.
How deep can the Soviet Union's "Komsomolskaya" nuclear submarine dive?
1200 meters! They even disclosed the submarine record-breaking process directly, fearing that others would not know.
I guess the Soviet Union is the only country in the world that can do such a stupid thing!
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