A stone mountain made of majestic rocks stands in the vast desert. The gray-white sand shines under the setting sun. The rock walls rise from low to high, and are as neat as a knife and an ax.

Climbing huge steps one after another.

These steps are the masterpieces of nature that have been ground by wind and sand over time, as if a giant had used his miraculous craftsmanship to create a direct path to heaven.

In this desolate and remote place with undulating mountains, there are two roads and a railway running through the desert. The roads and railways are like shining links, bringing modern civilization into this ancient and wild land.

Pakistan, Gansi Gobi.

This Gobi is composed of deserts and mountains. It is located east of Kohat, Afghanistan, and west of the Indus River. It covers an area of ​​just over 100 square kilometers. Such small patches of desert and Gobi are found in western India.

The area is almost everywhere. In later generations, most of these generous areas were turned into fertile fields due to water conservancy projects, but now, they are still desolate and dead.

A long line of tanks, armored personnel carriers, anti-aircraft artillery vehicles, troop transport trucks and infantry, led by the red flag, rolled toward the east.

After the Soviet army's border defense line east of Kohat was implemented by the Anjia Army's central breakthrough and outflanking and encirclement tactics by the left and right wings, Sun Desheng's four divisions of the Eighth Group Army took only half a day to encircle the two regiments.

The Soviet army was completely wiped out, and then the prisoners were sent to the rear. The main force quickly headed east along the railways and roads. The goal was to cross the Indus River as soon as possible and join the Seventh Army in the big city of Rawalpindi-Islamabad.

Generally speaking, mountains are like yin and yang, with water on the back as yin and water as yang. The road where the Eighth Army marched is a typical example. At the eastern foot of Stone Mountain, which is only 600 to 700 meters above sea level, there are unexpectedly large green shrubs.

The humid air from the Indian Ocean brings vitality to this place, which is completely different from the desolate and decayed scene on the western slope.

A battalion of armored vehicles is advancing rapidly on an asphalt road surrounded by green grass. On one of the large communication and command vehicles, Major Huo Yingjie, the reconnaissance battalion commander of the 22nd Motorized Infantry Division, is checking the map and passing through the lookout from time to time.

, compared with the scenery outside. Due to the high temperature, the inside of the armored vehicle was like a big steamer, and big drops of sweat on the forehead were dripping on the map.

During the hottest months of summer, the Air Force's reconnaissance planes frequently flew out to take photos of the topography near and far, and produced relatively accurate military topographic maps. However, mapping and marching are two different things, so before the main force marches, it is necessary to

Send a reconnaissance team to set off in advance to confirm the road and avoid possible risks.

Major Zhang Kerui, the battalion instructor who was looking at the map with Huo Yingjie, said:

"So far, we have discovered 26 wells along the highway and five caves that provide shade and shelter from the scorching sun. Therefore, there is no problem with drinking water. Soldiers with heat stroke can also be sent to the caves to rest and take medicine in time.

Medicines for relieving summer heat.

"What makes people suspicious is that several villages and towns located next to the highway are deserted. Especially the village after crossing the mountain col and entering the oasis, which seems to have a population of at least a thousand, has disappeared out of thin air. According to the map, in front of it is Ti.

Ergan City, this is the most important town on the west bank of the Indus River. It has a train station and a population of nearly 10,000. I hope to find something!"

Huo Yingjie nodded and was about to answer when he suddenly heard the sound of running water. He quickly approached the observation hole on the carriage wall and was surprised to find a clear stream winding down from the stone mountain in the distance.

The shrubs flowed between the grassland and the pasture, like a white jade belt. By the time they reached the roadside, they had converged into a river several meters wide.

The river is less than one meter deep and constantly collides with the rocks on the river bed below, creating white waves. The entire river is gurgling, creating a quiet and peaceful scene.

"It's hard to imagine that the east and west sides of Stone Mountain are actually two different worlds. There is long yellow sand over there, and here there is green grass. If we hadn't experienced it ourselves in one day, who could have imagined it?" Huo Yingjie

He said with some emotion.

The motorcade continued to move forward for about a quarter of an hour. The sun was almost approaching the horizon and the temperature seemed to be getting lower. The car in front suddenly stopped.

"There's a situation!"

This was the first reaction of Huo Yingjie and Zhang Kerui, but just as they put their hands on the gun cases at their waists, they suddenly remembered, why didn't they hear the gunshot? You must know that the wheeled armored vehicles equipped by the reconnaissance battalion have an armor thickness of

15mm, ordinary bullets cannot penetrate this protective shell at all, but the vehicle-mounted cannon and machine gun can cause huge damage to the enemy.

"What's going on?"

Huo Yingjie put down his gun, picked up the car radio and asked.

"Report...report to the battalion commander...that there is a situation!"

After a while, the voice of company commander Du Qifan came intermittently.

"I know there's a situation. What's going on?" Huo Yingjie frowned.

"Massacre! Inhumane massacre, the river... there are all corpses in the river..."

Huo Yingjie and Zhang Kerui looked at each other, feeling a little surprised in each other's eyes.

Soon, the two people rushed out of the armored vehicle and, under the protection of the two guards, quickly ran to the front of the convoy. They saw that the river bed and both sides of the river on the right side of the road were indeed densely packed with corpses.

It is estimated that some time has passed since the massacre, and the temperature in western India is very high. Most of the corpses have decomposed, and white maggots are crawling everywhere, which looks very scary.

Although camp instructor Zhang Kerui was also very shocked, the education he received made him react immediately:

"There were men, women, and children. Many women were naked and severely tortured before they died... Depending on the situation, about five to six thousand people died in the massacre. It is estimated that all the people in the villages and towns along the highway died here. So.

If too many corpses gather together to rot and deteriorate, a plague is very likely to occur. We should report the situation in time and let specialized people handle it. We also need to leave immediately, otherwise if we really contract the plague, it will quickly infect the entire army!"

Huo Yingjie also came to his senses and immediately ordered the soldiers who were getting off the car: "Get in the car, get in the car immediately, let's leave here immediately. After the situation is reported, everything will be handed over to the superiors! Brothers, the water in this river is

It has been contaminated, please don’t drink it to prevent infection!”

The convoy soon started, and Huo Yingjie quickly reported the situation through the car radio. He felt like there was something stuck in his heart, and he felt heavy and uncomfortable.

Before nightfall, the convoy drove into the dead and silent city of Tiergan. There was no one in the huge town, not even the crowing of cocks and the barking of dogs. It was so quiet that it made people feel chilly.

Soon, the scouts who were searching around found a large pit four to five hundred meters long and wide in the west of the city. The pit was filled with corpses. Just like what was found in the evening, the corpses had also decayed. On the ground near the pit,

It was crawling with maggots, and the putrid smell made people sick.

In the distant woods, the scouts also found many stiff-dead crows, vultures, magpies, etc., with bird feathers scattered all over the ground.

...

When the news reached the General Staff Headquarters, it was already dark in Xinjing three time zones earlier.

An Yi is at the military airport, anxiously waiting for the plane to land with his wife Ou Chuer, who is the president of the South China Central Bank, Minister of National Security Du Yi, Minister of Finance Zhou Chongan, and Minister of General Staff Intelligence Department Liu Qing.

The submarine formation entered the Haiphong Port Naval Base in the evening and was greeted personally by Navy Commander Lu Guang, Political Commissar Li Weiqing, Deputy Commander Yan Kaitai, and Chief of Staff Li Haiqing. The gold was successfully put on the an7 large transport plane parked at the base airport an hour and a half ago. According to the time

, will land at Xinjing Military Airport soon.

An Yi came to pick him up at the airport this time, mainly because he wanted to see what the concept of more than six thousand tons of gold is.

In this era, among the many neutral countries, Spain's gold reserves were only 60 tons, Sweden's was 250 tons, the Netherlands was 220 tons, Turkey was 120 tons, Portugal was 100 tons, and Switzerland was 700 tons. The gold reserves of all these countries combined,

It's less than one-third of 6,000 tons. It's hard to imagine what a huge fortune that is.

The "Golden Peony" plan, in a sense, has laid the foundation for South China's future financial stability. Although the Chinese dollar cannot be said to be on par with the US dollar in the future, as an international settlement currency, it is completely natural to take a share of the Bretton Woods system.

It can be done.

An Yi hugged Ou Chuer's waist:

"Now major banks in Europe and the United States have branches all over South China. In order to ensure the stability of the Chinese dollar and prevent black transactions, we require all banks' gold and silver to be fully deposited in our vaults. However, the total gold is less than

One hundred tons!

"Originally, I planned to build a golden palace and cast all the gold and silver into gold bricks, gold bars, silver bricks, and silver ingots, and display them publicly to stabilize people's hearts. However, considering the frequent wars, it would not be a good idea if the evil neighbors would remember them.

, so this idea has been abandoned! When international peace is restored and the country is stable in the future, we must build such an underground gold exhibition venue to let the great powers see our strong economic strength!"

Ou Chuer's eyes lit up: "This is a good idea! We can introduce this to the society as a visit and tour project. As long as the safety facilities are good, just the tickets can make a lot of money. Those who are big savers or those who buy national bonds can make a lot of money."

Large companies can visit it for free, I think this is enough to shut up all those who question our credibility in Huayuan!"

Zhou Chongan listened with interest and came over and said:

"In total, we have quite a lot of gold. We are probably behind the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan. Even if we break away from the currency issuance model linked to industrial production, the value of our currency will remain high. Now the U.S. dollar

The exchange rate with our Chinese dollar has increased

To one to five point seven, looking at this trend, it won't be long before it breaks through the five point mark. The bonds we bought will earn back almost without spending a penny. Fortunately, we are at war now. If it were peacetime, our goods would be invisible.

If the price doubles, I guess it won’t be sold!”

An Yi nodded: "At that time, government subsidies and economic intervention and regulation will be needed! Generally speaking, currency appreciation is good for the import of goods, but bad for exports! Therefore, we must build a large enough territory, so that

Even if foreign trade is blocked, domestic demand can still be used to drive economic development!"

During the conversation, the huge roar of airplanes was heard in the distance.

...

When returning by car, An Yi and Ou Chu'er cuddled together without speaking, and their minds were filled with golden gold.

No one would have thought that the rusty-looking iron boxes were all filled with neatly stacked gold bricks. The logo of the Bank of France was still clearly visible on the gold bricks. Therefore, the gold must be stored before storage.

It needs to be re-smelted and molded at the metal foundry under the central bank and stamped with the logo of the South China Central Bank.

In the other car, the two intelligence chiefs Du Yi and Liu Qing were relatively silent. It was also the first time for them to see so much gold with their own eyes. A string of digital things that were originally just turned into physical objects and appeared in front of their eyes.

The impact was not ordinary, and both of them were dizzy.

This batch of gold totals 6,125 tons, which is equivalent to 13,503,313 pounds in the British system. Each gold brick weighs about 27 pounds, which is 500,120 gold bricks. Each box contains 10 gold bricks (about 122 kilograms), which is 50,012 boxes. It is completely conceivable.

That spectacular sight of mountains of gold.

Being able to see the results of the "Golden Peony" plan with their own eyes, both of them felt that all the previous hard work was worth it. Reality gave them the best reward - according to regulations, 2% of this staggering amount of wealth would be paid out

Ten out as a reward. All departments and individuals participating in the plan will get their own share based on their role in the plan. The number of participants in the entire "Golden Peony" plan is more than 2,000. Calculated based on the average,

Everyone can easily get a bonus of millions of Chinese dollars and become a millionaire from then on.

Of course, just like Du Yi and Liu Qing, most of them will not use this wealth. Instead, they will give it to Sichuan South Group as an investment and exchange it for shares in newly completed factories and companies, thereby obtaining a steady stream of profits.

Stable income.

The motorcade stopped at the gate of Xiaonanhai. Shen Ziling, the director of the General Staff Operations Department, was already waiting there. After a brief inquiry, An Yi apologized to Ou Chuer with a wry smile, immediately got out of the car and got on Shen Ziling's SUV to go to the General Staff.
To be continued...