Chapter 1013 Sino-Western Negotiations (Garrison)

As Lieutenant General Zhang Shouzheng, Director of the Joint Political Work Department of the Western Theater Command, finished his words, the entire conference room suddenly fell into silence.

Da da da--

The only sound left was the sound of Gu Chengyuan's knuckles tapping on the table, clear and regular, like an ice-cold second hand, precisely striking on the tense nerves of every member of the Western Theater delegation.

See you in the picture!

No one expected that the core issue of the negotiations would be pushed to the forefront so directly and so quickly - this request will directly determine the fate of this trip to the Western Theater!

To ensure a long-term, stable supply of materials to a massive war zone? The weight of this requirement is so heavy that it is suffocating!

Even before the end of the world, looking around the world, how many countries can possess such a strong foundation and continuous delivery capabilities?

At that time, Germany had only 300 tanks in its entire army; even in Europe, only France could be considered a true military power...

If Zhang Shouzheng's current request is placed within the pre-apocalyptic European framework, it would probably require the combined efforts of several countries to barely support it!

What’s more, it is after the end of the world when order collapses and production collapses?

So at this moment, the hearts of all the members of the Western Theater delegation were in their throats, their eyes fixed on the face of the young commander, holding their breath, waiting for the final statement that would determine the life and death of millions of their soldiers and civilians.

The air seemed to solidify into a heavy lead block, and every heartbeat was clearly audible...

Time passed in suffocating silence.

Just as the hearts of the members of the Western Theater delegation in the conference room sank and the light of hope seemed about to be swallowed up by despair, the young commander sitting at the head finally spoke.

Agree or refuse, neither say agree nor refuse, but choose to say 'or'!

"Very good." Gu Chengyuan's voice was steady and powerful, breaking the stagnant air. "Director Zhang Shouzheng's explanation just now has enabled us to clearly grasp your core demands."

He turned his gaze to his side and said, "Now, Comrade Wu Bin, Chief of Staff of our theater, will explain our corresponding terms of the agreement to the Western Theater delegation."

"Yes!" Lieutenant General Wu Bin, Chief of Staff, responded solemnly, picking up the documents he had prepared long ago. He straightened his body, glanced across at the other side, and said in a deep voice:

"Comrades from the Western Theater Command, I, Wu Bin, am hereby presenting my demands for our core interests to the Central Asian Theater Command."

As soon as these words were spoken, the members of the Western Theater Command delegation, including Deputy Commander Lieutenant General Zou Yuan and Director of the Joint Political Work Department Lieutenant General Zhang Shouzheng, suddenly felt tense.

They understood that what the other party was about to reveal was the weight they had to bear on this trip and the price of maintaining cooperation!

The voice of Wu Bin, the theater chief of staff, was clear and stern, and every word was weighty:

"The core of our demands is mainly focused on strategic energy security!"

"Specifically, all strategic energy reserve bases within the Western Theater must be prioritized to ensure our access rights!" Wu Bin's tone left no room for doubt.

"At the same time, the joint dispatch mechanism between the two sides must be led by us. All key decisions involving energy distribution must be reviewed and approved by us before they can be implemented!"

"Also, to protect our energy security, we need to station troops at key nodes such as energy extraction, production, and transportation!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the air in the conference room suddenly froze. The expressions of the representatives from the Western Theater Command changed slightly. Lieutenant General Zou Yuan frowned, and Zhang Shouzheng's pen tip paused slightly on the paper.

Is the Zhongzhou War Zone targeting energy?

Core members of the Western Theater Command delegation, Lieutenant General Zhang Shouzheng, Director of the Joint Political Work Department, and Lieutenant General Zou Yuan, Deputy Commander, were not surprised by this request.

It can even be said that this was a result they had anticipated long ago.

Prior to this meeting, the Western Theater had conducted several rounds of thorough deliberations. The core topic was: What are the Central Plains Theater's possible strategic demands? And what can the Western Theater offer as a bargaining chip?

All the deduction results ultimately point to the same focus without any suspense - energy!

The reason is cold and realistic: no matter before or after the end of the world, the only core value of the Western War Zone that can attract the covetousness of the outside world is probably the underground resources.

This is both a deep sorrow and a cruel blessing.

The tragedy is that, apart from resources, the Western war zone seems to have nothing else; the good news is that at least there are resources - compared to those truly barren lands where no grass grows, this is a blessing from God.

However, faced with the Central Plains Theater's proposal that went straight to the heart of the matter, the Western Theater delegation, which had been mentally prepared, fell into hesitation.

There are two main reasons, both rooted in harsh reality:

First, control is weak and resources exist in name only:

The large-scale oil and gas production bases within the jurisdiction of the Western Theater Command are mainly distributed in Xin Province, Shu Province and Gan Province.

Shu Province: Currently, the Western Theater Command has not been able to fully integrate and control the sparsely populated Northwestern region. In the future, the possibility of control of Shu Province falling into the hands of the Central Plains Theater Command is greater than that of them.

Xin Province: As the largest oil and gas producing area in the jurisdiction, it has several large oil fields with an annual production capacity of over 10 million tons, but its control has always been firmly in the hands of the Xin Province Production and Construction Corps.

Since the Hami wind power base incident, the relationship between the Corps and the war zone has remained tense and the contradictions are deep.

Unless a military takeover is implemented, the new province's oil and gas resources cannot be converted into effective bargaining chips in the Western theater of war.

Gansu Province: After excluding many small and scattered oil fields, the only one with large-scale development potential that can theoretically support the consumption of the behemoth Zhongzhou War Zone is the Longdong Oilfield, the core of which is the Qingcheng Oilfield.

The proven reserves of Qingcheng Oilfield are 3.58 million tons, and the predicted reserves are as high as 6.93 million tons. The total reserves exceed 10 billion tons. The annual production potential is comparable to that of the entire new province, and is expected to reach a stable level of 6000 million tons. The prospects are extremely promising!

however!

This eye-watering figure is merely a blueprint expectation.

When the apocalypse broke out, the Qingcheng Oilfield was still in the final stages of exploration and the initial stages of development and construction.

This means that the attractive reserves and production capacity cannot be converted into real strategic resources in the foreseeable short term!

So after some heavy calculations in the minds of the delegation members, a cold fact surfaced: under the actual control of the Western Theater, there is currently no oil-producing area that can meet the requirements of the Central Plains Theater.

Either it is beyond their control, or effective production capacity has not been formed.

The only oil fields that actually have actual control and stable output capacity are a few small and medium-sized ones. Their production capacity can barely sustain the basic survival consumption of the theater, and there is absolutely no spare capacity to support a long-term, stable energy supply agreement across theaters...