No worries. We can focus on the labor efforts next turn, and at least we got a pass. Hopefully, this will push back the start of the War, and the day of reckoning.
SMASH THE WRECKERS!
SMASH THE CRYPTO-CAPITALISTS!
SMASH THE BLACK GOLD GANG!
The original version of that segment was a little too stageist, which was exactly what I was trying to avoid. I think the origins of permanent social stratification are too easily naturalized, as if they would automatically result from simple population density. As it is, the biggest 'dangers' in terms of post-war state formation are either some pre-existing concentration of monopolizable capital (such as as pre-war facility), or else an ideological holdout like the Yankees or even the Red Guards. Old world blues is hard to overcome.
I must admit that a point in favour of the first two Fallout games is that they avoid the assumption that the traditional state must emerge as a result of natural material conditions. For the most part all state-like entities that emerge in those two games are the product of self-conscious ideological decisions based on how Wastelanders view the Old World. Fallout 2 in particular I think avoids the trope of the politically unaware 'tribesman' who blunders their way into the shackles of agriculture considering that the protagonist of that games is consistently presented with large-scale political decisions that effect the Wasteland as a whole and they're consistently contrasted with the vestiges of Western 'Civilisation'.
Unfortunate the PRC is a nation far more dependent on oil then the United States so it war would be inevitable.
Also we should be careful in giving the Red Guard to much power Post-War, a fanatic organization being too powerful is always a bad idea.
Hey can we start setting nuclear defenses?
I kinda want to see if we can save the capital from nuclear annihalition, I mean Washington DC survive, barely, so can we.
Also China has some robotic forces on they side, such as the Liberator drones, granted they are very shitty but with some effort can be made more efficient.
Remember if we improve the performace of the military more farter the timeline will be streched but not too much since making the PLA too powrful create it's own set of problems.
As for plans:
Expand Urban Shelters: This episode of atomic terror is hardly the first, and so we've already established a network of fallout shelters throughout many of our major cities. In recent years, however, many of these have been neglected, or requisitioned towards other ends. Let us renovate these underground palaces of the people, and make sure that as many as possible can survive the initial wave of destruction. (600, one year per level)
Missile Defense Installations: The simplest way of fighting nuclear missiles is to deploy even more missiles in defense. If we surround our urban and strategic centers with batteries of anti-air weapons, we can keep the enemy rockets at bay. A handful of them, at least. (900, one year per level)
Factory Bunkers [Labor]: Our industrial capacity cannot survive without its educated workforce, and the latter would be most distressed if we paid no attention to their survival. To keep them motivated, and possibly alive, we can begin to construct discrete bunker complexes near the major industrial sites of each province, making sure to incorporate them into the ongoing emergency drill regime. Each level of investment will secure the workforce of around a dozen factories for at least a decade after their bombardment, and longer if only a portion makes it to the shelters in time. (450, 9 months per level)
We can build as many supply depots we want but unless we don't improve fallout shelters it will be all for nothing. These projects are essential if we have to have any hope in saving important places and saving large swats of our population, different from the US we can't trow the private sector at it to fix the problem for us, so is up to our Ministry. Besides the PLA and Red Guard would appreciate military defenses on the homeland, specially if they are built around the capital.
Due missele defenses and maybe we can stop the Party from siphom too many of our resources to fuel the war effort since we are supporting it in our own way.
Shelter Longevity Research: No shelter can last forever, and our current designs don't last long at all. If any part of the Chinese people is to survive, then we need to make some important strides in the fields of hermetic sealing, atmospheric filtration, and water recycling. With the proper degree of innovation, we can turn our existing installations into true Bunkers of the People. (500, 100 ongoing, one year)
Ultra-Preservatives: In time, everything rots, including the food in our shelters. The longer we can make it last, though, the longer its inhabitants can survive. Ironically, radiation might be a good candidate for enhancing the longevity of foodstuffs, but we'll still need to experiment with it to see if there are any negative side effects. (400, 50 ongoing, one year)
Shelter Logengivty and Ultra-Preservatives are a absolute must no questions asked once the Auxiliary Robotics is done.
Alao since Zhang coup will pass peharps Nuclear Intensification will become more reseonable to be accomplished.
Edit: also building enough defenses and we maybe can avoid the worst effects of the Century of Annihalation or avoided all toghter if possible.
Not sure I like forcing through Zhang's gambit. I think it would be fine if it was forced in the plan, because that's our patron calling in a favor, but to offer the choice and renege on it feels worse.
I do think interesting outcomes could come from Zhang having to force us to join on his scheme, rather than us volunteering. It feels wrong to say we should get a favor from Zhang, because idk if we should get a benefit from something we didn't choose. However it could offer different choices of political orientation in the following crisis. Because we prioritized political support with other factions than our current patron IC-wise, it could make our PC consider alternative patrons to orient to, or somehow getting an independent base to rely on.
Not sure I like forcing through Zhang's gambit. I think it would be fine if it was forced in the plan, because that's our patron calling in a favor, but to offer the choice and renege on it feels worse.
The out of universe reason for this is that I was actually going to wait until the next turn before giving you that deadline, only to realize that within the established lore, an energy crisis would already have happened on this turn. So the one without a choice was me, in a way. Still, apologies.
Insofar as you'll get a favor out of this, it's only because Zhang feels bad about forcing you to go along with his plans. He's a paternalistic kind of patron, which means that he wants to see himself as acting in your best interest, even if you don't realize it.
The out of universe reason for this is that I was actually going to wait until the next turn before giving you that deadline, only to realize that within the established lore, an energy crisis would already have happened on this turn. So the one without a choice was me, in a way. Still, apologies.
The out of universe reason for this is that I was actually going to wait until the next turn before giving you that deadline, only to realize that within the established lore, an energy crisis would already have happened on this turn. So the one without a choice was me, in a way. Still, apologies.
Well next year the Sino-American War will start on it's earnest if follwoing cannon. I still believe China for the better part of the conflict was in a better position since it control Anchorage oil fields until 2077.
It's doubtful really since it's mentioned that biofuel came too late to change the course of China so will Zhang coup against the Oil Gang. There's also the Chairman Cheng opinion that Zhang is not taken on consideration.
Even then most people in the Party probably believe that the US would not be willing to invet that much in a war far away from they frontlines over a resources that's no longer in great demand for them. A quick landgrab.
They certainly don't predict the US would roll in power armor, that was still on development stages, that manage to halt PLA advance and proceed to engage in ten years of trench warfare, granted it was largely a game of positioning than attack but still, then proceed to launch a counter invasion on Chinese mainland that descend, once again, in trench warfare once again.
Edit: either way China infrastructure is too reliant on oil and would not be able to change overnight.
Changing the subjec, a project that should be taken in consideration when the war starts would be the Latin American Solidarity Fund [Fraternal], if only to divide the attention of the US military to watch out for Cuba and Nicaragua in order to protect the Mexican oil fields while China is busy in Alaska.
It's doubtful really since it's mentioned that biofuel came too late to change the course of China so will Zhang coup against the Oil Gang. There's also the Chairman Cheng opinion that Zhang is not taken on consideration.
Those are two different things. The first is Biofuel project delayed and restricted by the Oil Gang itself. The second is a political coup against a group that has led China into an energy crisis and been lying to the Party about how much fuel was left, thereby undermining its ability to prepare. Said group is also the main proponent for trying to take over Alaska.
So yes, this can avert the War for a time. This quest is an alternate timeline where there's people like Zhang Lifeng with sufficient connections and pull to halt this before the machinery gets set in motion. Most likely, when the War does start, it'll be initiated by FUS.
Well, duh. But the Rustification Revolts show the Chinese economy was able to endure several years without oil coming in before hitting the breaking point. A couple years for us to set up many more nuclear plants and using Siberian oil to ease the transition is manageable, and there's no reason to think a Zhang in control of the Ministry can't persuade the party leadership to see things our way.
To be clear, those Revolts are written with the assumption that history continues along the lines of canon, meaning the war happens and the oil trickles in. I can't incorporate decisions you haven't made yet, after all, including the likelihood of Zhang's gambit. You'll get more on the state of the country in the next post.
Those are two different things. The first is Biofuel project delayed and restricted by the Oil Gang itself. The second is a political coup against a group that has led China into an energy crisis and been lying to the Party about how much fuel was left, thereby undermining its ability to prepare. Said group is also the main proponent for trying to take over Alaska.
So yes, this can avert the War for a time. This quest is an alternate timeline where there's people like Zhang Lifeng with sufficient connections and pull to halt this before the machinery gets set in motion. Most likely, when the War does start, it'll be initiated by FUS.
FUSA is quite happy to adopt a isolionist policy and watch the world destroy itself. The US already solved the energy crisis, somewhat, but refused to share the tech with the rest of the world while also refusing to sell oil.
Although it would not be above the Enclave to push China into war.
<This does seem the most obvious response, yes. We seem to be facing difficulties in implementing an atomic power grid, and renewables are absolutely perfect for post-war survivors.
It might well synergies well with the hamlet guys and whatnot.
Could we just generally shift away from using oil as much as possible? Liquefying coal or using hydrogen in the short run seems to make the most sense since China doesn't have an abundance of fertile land to parcel away from agriculture. Mid term, having a heavy focus on intra-city light rail and inter-city rail would be the best option for reducing need for oil in the first place if we can just power them with traditional coal powerplants.
Bonus points if we can make most of these system subterranean to some degree. Basically at this point, we just need to leverage coal as much as possible.
I expect that unfortunately our best short term option may be the Siberian fraternal oil to get some oil flowing while we get some sort of alternatives started. We won't get nuclear up quickly (2 year rollout), and we now know biofuels won't close the gap any time soon. Hmm, unless it'll boost the every park with food program by spreading biofuel seeds? Maybe we'll get research to provide small scale distillation or whatever process makes the biofuel
I expect that unfortunately our best short term option may be the Siberian fraternal oil to get some oil flowing while we get some sort of alternatives started. We won't get nuclear up quickly (2 year rollout), and we now know biofuels won't close the gap any time soon. Hmm, unless it'll boost the every park with food program by spreading biofuel seeds? Maybe we'll get research to provide small scale distillation or whatever process makes the biofuel
To be fair the Energy options are bad because of the Oil Gang, Zhang Gambit have passed so is possible they will improve.
Nuclear Intesification progress probably will become more cheaper and open new research options to start creating our own version of fusion cells.
Then again we can always await for the war to start and open Intelligence actions so we can stole designs from the US if helps.
Either way Nuclear Intesification sounds like a better option to pursue than Siberian Oil Fields. Since the latter is a very short term solution whilentheblatter, while expensive, would give us a breating room.
To be fair the Energy options are bad because of the Oil Gang, Zhang Gambit have passed so is possible they will improve.
Nuclear Intesification progress probably will become more cheaper and open new research options to start creating our own version of fusion cells.
Then again we can always await for the war to start and open Intelligence actions so we can stole designs from the US if helps.
Either way Nuclear Intesification sounds like a better option to pursue than Siberian Oil Fields. Since the latter is a very short term solution whilentheblatter, while expensive, would give us a breating room.
I think we may have to do something short term to head off the Alaskan Offensive though, and I'm not convinced Nuclear will get faster. We'll have to see when the turn is posted
I think we may have to do something short term to head off the Alaskan Offensive though, and I'm not convinced Nuclear will get faster. We'll have to see when the turn is posted
Significantly delaying or completely preventing the Alaskan offensive could also be a significant risk. Lack of oil from Alaska could weaken China too fast for alternative energy sources to be developed, while delaying the offensive long enough carries the risk that US will introduce and begin deploying power armour making the initial offensive much more likely to fail. The ideal outcome, unless we find a lot of oil in Siberia, might be a slightly delayed war followed by a negotiated peace once we've been able to get rid of our oil dependency.
Of course in practice once the war starts avoiding the nuclear war will be almost impossible.
Significantly delaying or completely preventing the Alaskan offensive could also be a significant risk. Lack of oil from Alaska could weaken China too fast for alternative energy sources to be developed, while delaying the offensive long enough carries the risk that US will introduce and begin deploying power armour making the initial offensive much more likely to fail. The ideal outcome, unless we find a lot of oil in Siberia, might be a slightly delayed war followed by a negotiated peace once we've been able to get rid of our oil dependency.
Of course in practice once the war starts avoiding the nuclear war will be almost impossible.
Do remember that is enterily possible that the US will push China to war. In Fallout 3 manual states that China before the war was able to tap in deep oil reserves in the Pacific however due to sabotage, suspected American interference, they were not able anymore. It never explained what is was done but it probably would be something really to not able to drill in the Pacific anymore.
Do remember that is enterily possible that the US will push China to war. In Fallout 3 manual states that China before the war was able to tap in deep oil reserves in the Pacific however due to sabotage, suspected American interference, they were not able anymore. It never explained what is was done but it probably would be something really to not able to drill in the Pacific anymore.
Point is, it's entirely possible the US is already pushing China into war but they want the PRC to be the one to do the first move.
Edit: let's say China already is extracting oil from Pacific in the background per Fallout 3 manual, that the QM can or can't use, eventually they operations will be compromised some months before the war, making the energy crisis on China even worse thus the invasion of Alaska become necessary for the survival of the country in order to replace the loss from Pacific Ocean oil reserves.
Yeah I expect the best we'll be able to do it delay the war kicking off a couple years, but that's a few years of setting up projects that might save lives in the wasteland
Even the energy crisis couldn't stop the masses from celebrating their historical triumphs, such as the centennial of Shanghai's "January Storm".
With the start of the year, there has come a massive power shift in the state bureaucracy. Following a series of fiery meetings in the central committee and politburo, Vice-Premier Zhang Lifeng has appeared before the National People's Congress to explain the new course:
"Comrades, the People's Republic is in danger! A rightist conspiracy in the Ministry of Energy threatened to put us back on the capitalist road, sabotaging our development of the productive forces in favor of their petrochemical cartel. We have now done away with these wreckers, and have reorganized the ministerial apparatus so as to serve the people's interests more directly. Yet a grave threat remains! The Oil Gang's scheming has made us grossly dependent on the perpetual inflow of fossil resources, at the expense of our welfare and our environment. Only the deployment of mass ingenuity of innovativeness could resolve the present crisis. While we meet the present shortages with the firm resolve of a revolutionary fighter, we can be sure that our struggle will produce immeasurable abundance before long.
Let me close with these great words, which ring true once more:
As the Energy Ministry is reformed into a department of the State Planning Commission, Zhang also sends you an encrypted holotape with some of his thoughts on the present situation:
"You won't believe how many research projects were willfully abandoned by these bastards, Jie. We'll have to prioritize the ones that are most viable in the short term. Even then, I'm not sure that will be enough. The idle masses are growing restless, and the General Secretary is breathing down my neck about the Alaska deal, which is somehow still on the table. I'm going to play for time, Jie, but if we don't have a way out of this mess by the time of the party congress in October, they'll go with what the generals are advising."
After hearing all this, it takes a lot to keep yourself from having a conniption. The only silver lining is that Zhang has delayed his own robotics mandate. Also, with the present state of the workforce, you won't lack for shock labor. You just have to find a use for it.
Aspiration: Realize the promise of the Angang Constitution
Associated Entities: State Planning Commission, ACFTY
Deputy Minister and Head of Construction: Lieutenant General Zhu Yuannong
Factional Affiliation: Red Guards
Aspiration: Protect the Red Guards
Associated Entities: PLA, Red Guards
Head of Research: Shen Jiahao
Factional Affiliation: Academicians
Aspiration: Reveal the Beneficent Effects of Radiation
Associated Entities: Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Health
Head of Mobilization: Lin Mengyi
Factional Affiliation: New Traditionalists
Aspiration: Redeem the Ancient Philosophers
Associated Entities: Ministry of Education, Ministry of Culture
Factors of Evaluation
Environment: How well a region's ecology will be able to recover from mass irradiation, along with other forms of post-nuclear pollution.
Subsistence: How well a region will be able to sustain its pre-war population base in terms of nutrition, hydration, and the prevention of infections.
Industry: How much of a region's industrial production systems can survive a nuclear exchange, or be easily substituted afterwards.
Knowledge: How much of a region's cultural, scientific, and institutional expertise can be retained directly, or else easily derived from available sources.
Network: How well a region will be able to coordinate its post-nuclear activities, either internally or with neighboring regions, in terms of transportation, communication, and production.
Unit of Evaluation: Percentage of current capacity retained
Priority
Chongqing (1)
Environment
6%
Subsistence
7%
Industry
16%
Knowledge
10%
Network
21%
Description: The mass targeting of Chongqing is set to make it uninhabitable for a long time. Should people return to the area, though, they should find a decent residue of industrial and institutional capacity. Its position on the Yangtze is also quite useful, and makes the city worth investing in.
Description: Sichuan's considerable industrial power is hampered by its fragile environment and regional isolation. If either problem can be overcome, the other can be compensated for.
Description: Henan's good fortune is its considerable agricultural concentration, which ensures that some kind of society will eventually emerge from this region. With its strong connections to neighboring regions, this potential could also be utilized (or exploited) by other parties. Both elements are worth investing in.
Description: The ring of mountains around Hunan may insulate it from some of the worst of the fallout. While this will help it recover some of its agricultural capacity, industry and science will suffer from the dispersed nature of its population. Its only saving grace is the Xiang, which will continue to connect its inhabitants to Lake Dongting and the Yangtze River.
Description: Yunnan's central features are its relative isolation and ecological fecundity. These factors have cemented its fate as a rural backwater, both now and in the future. With a strong degree of industrial investment, however, perhaps this fate could yet be altered.
Description: As far as post-nuclear prospects go, Shaanxi's fate will be relatively mild. With the right degree of investment, it can be made into a potent base for state-building activity, as it was at the dawn of Chinese history.
Description: Future scientists will study the ruins of Beijing for an indication of how great humanity's capacity for destruction once was. Other than that, it will be of little value, not unless we pour a massive amount of funds into this doomed area.
Shanghai (1)
Environment
1%
Subsistence
5%
Industry
11%
Knowledge
10%
Network
21%
Description: The city of Shanghai is what the Americans call 'too big to fail'. And yet it will fail nevertheless, for if the bombs don't make it uninhabitable, then the rising sea level certainly will. Should we be able to bolster the city against these dangers, however, its infrastructure would be well worth saving.
Shandong (2)
Environment
9%
Subsistence
17%
Industry
11%
Knowledge
17%
Network
11%
Description: Coastal erosion is already a serious problem in Shandong province, and atomic bombardment would only add to its troubles. Even so, its mountainous regions can be made into a useful redoubt, and a regional site of recovery.
Liaoning (2)
Environment
9%
Subsistence
7%
Industry
21%
Knowledge
22%
Network
16%
Description: Liaoning's considerable industrial assets will be impossible to destroy entirely. The attempt to do so will wreck its ability to sustain a significant population, however. If its connections to nearby areas might be maintained, perhaps another province could make up for that shortfall.
Guangdong (2)
Environment
9%
Subsistence
17%
Industry
11%
Knowledge
17%
Network
21%
Description: Guangdong's proximity to the imperialist enclaves makes its fate exceedingly unpredictable. Much will also depend on our own planning, as a stronger Guangdong could overcome the southern threat and even utilize it. But this will require a degree of economic attention that is yet absent.
Gansu (3)
Environment
9%
Subsistence
10%
Industry
23%
Knowledge
20%
Network
21%
Description: Much of Gansu will escape a direct nuclear attack, given its sparse population and dearth of strategic targets. The subsequent storms of radioactive dust will wash over it just the same, eliminating most of its population base. Only the bones of civilization will remain, to be picked over by nearby settlements. If we can avoid these storms, the province will become a lot more viable.
Guizhou (3)
Environment
19%
Subsistence
20%
Industry
13%
Knowledge
10%
Network
16%
Description: Guizhou is woefully underdeveloped, which also means that there'll be little reason to bomb it. Nevertheless, without major ministry investment, it will only be able to make a minor contribution to the restoration of the socialist dictatorship.
Political Support: 40/100
Active Partnerships:
SPC Department of Energy (30%): Complete Three [Energy] Projects in 2067 (20% partnership progress estimated)
Red Guards (20%): Complete Ideological Aptitude Tests at a decent (40+) quality in the next six months (15% partnership progress estimated)
ACFTU (10%): Complete three levels of Factory Bunkers (20% partnership progress estimated)
Zhang Lifeng: Complete Auxiliary Robotics before the end of 2070
Active Projects:
Ministry University (300/750) (six months left) (funding incomplete)
Bonuses
Economies of Scale: If a construction project has multiple levels, the next level is always around 10% cheaper, and is completed about 25% faster. Bonus is cumulative.
Practice Makes Perfect: For every 100 resources invested in a repeatable Construction project, its quality die gets a +1 bonus.
Lieutenant General Zhu Yuannong (Deputy Minister): 100 additional construction units
Call to Action: 200 additional mobilization units
Energized: 25% discount on [Energy] projects (bonus not included in base price)
Model Worker: 10% discount on [Labor] projects (bonus not included in base price)
Construction (1000+100)
Unless specified, all Construction projects are regionally specific. Unused resources will carry over into the next turn.
Supply Depots (+6) : If there is any certainty to an atomic exchange, it's the fact that people will be in dire need of all kinds of resources. By establishing a system of supply depots, filled to the brim with all necessary nutritional and medical goods, we can keep whoever survives this onslaught alive for just a little longer. (100, 3 months per level)
People's Weapons Caches (+12): "Under no pretext should arms and ammunition be surrendered; any attempt to disarm the workers must be frustrated, by force if necessary" These are the words of Karl Marx, an instruction of the utmost importance. While the Red Guards already represent the power of the armed proletariat, we cannot be sure that they would survive a nuclear exchange. To ensure that the post-nuclear population can be armed nevertheless, we should establish a series of freely accessible arms repositories throughout the country. (200, six months per level)
Deep Archives: In the blaze of nuclear hellfire, it is all too easy for the sources of human knowledge and culture to be lost. Thankfully, an underground library is light on maintenance, and can be placed anywhere you're willing to dig. As long as we remember where we put the books and microfiches, our descendants should be happy to receive them. (250, six months per level)
Missile Defense Installations: The simplest way of fighting nuclear missiles is to deploy even more missiles in defense. If we surround our urban and strategic centers with batteries of anti-air weapons, we can keep the enemy rockets at bay. A handful of them, at least. (900, one year per level)
Hydroelectric Hardening [Energy]: China's geography is uniquely suited to the development of hydroelectric power, and the state has made good use of this fact for the past century. Unfortunately, these massive constructions also tend to be a potent target for the enemy's nuclear arsenal. To mitigate such a catastrophe, we should reinforce our existing dams, and set some exacting construction standards for the next generation of hydroelectric infrastructure. This would also be a good opportunity to refurbish their turbines, which would deliver greater amounts of power at a lower cost in upkeep. (1000, two years)
Nuclear Intensification [Energy]: Compared to the reactionary camp, the nation of China is somewhat lacking in the field of nuclear power. Since coal is growing ever scarcer, and Siberian gas won't last forever, we had best transition to a fuel that is slightly more sustainable: uranium. While fusion power would be altogether preferable, this will have to wait until the relevant research pans out. (1200, two years)
Refurbish Urban Emergency Services: Our great cities face many perils on a day to day basis, but a nuclear event would dwarf them all. To manage the immediate crisis of such a calamity, we should outfit our brave first responders with the best equipment available. That way, they can save a few more souls before they die of acute radiation poisoning. (500, six months)
Simplified Water Treatment: Water, the giver of life. One of the five elements! Indispensable to any kind of civilization. By making our water treatment plants sufficiently 'low tech', we can ensure their operation after much of the supply system has fallen apart. This might come at the cost of some short-term efficiencies, but that's the price of survival. (600, eighteen months)
Expand Urban Shelters: This episode of atomic terror is hardly the first, and so we've already established a network of fallout shelters throughout many of our major cities. In recent years, however, many of these have been neglected, or requisitioned towards other ends. Let us renovate these underground palaces of the people, and make sure that as many as possible can survive the initial wave of destruction. (600, one year per level)
Factory Bunkers [Labor]: Our industrial capacity cannot survive without its educated workforce, and the latter would be most distressed if we paid no attention to their survival. To keep them motivated, and possibly alive, we can begin to construct discrete bunker complexes near the major industrial sites of each province, making sure to incorporate them into the ongoing emergency drill regime. Each level of investment will secure the workforce of around a dozen factories for at least a decade after their bombardment, and longer if only a portion makes it to the shelters in time. (450, 9 months per level)
Recycling Centers: The People's ingenuity can only take them so far in the fight against waste. We must make an active investment into the reuse of consumer commodities, preventing their inert accumulation in our urban landfills. By 'recycling' these items into new products, we can preserve our virgin materials for more strategic purposes. (400, one year)
Hermetic Metro Systems: The superiority of socialist urbanism is proven by our robust public transport systems, which facilitate the movement of the masses without the wasteful, polluting methods of the car-addled Americans. How great it would be if these systems could also prove our salvation in times of nuclear crisis! This is exactly the case with our urban metro network, which are already sufficiently buried to make for good shelters. And if we can seal them against the poisonous post-nuclear environment, they would be even better. (900, eighteen months)
Model Communes: If there is one thing that should survive a war with the imperialists, it is the People's Way of Life. In order to preserve that, we should endeavor to establish ideal, self-sufficient villages across the nation, expressing both their cultural peculiarities and the universal appeal of socialism. These model towns would require model workers to inhabit them, but those shouldn't be too hard to find. (700, one year per level, each level builds around 3-5 towns)
Korean Mining Investments [Fraternal]: Ever since its founding, the DPRK has relied on its considerable mineral wealth, and this has changed little after reunification. By investing in this sector, we can import important resources for our own industrial efforts, and learn about advanced mining procedures in the process. (800, six months per level)
Siberian Labor Colonies [Fraternal]: The Soviet justice system has perennially relied on a strategy of resettlement for its criminal element. Our Siberian client has inherited this policy, and even expanded on it as a way of dealing with its own unreliable population. These pseudo-penal settlements are a potent site for government investment, as they could each be dedicated to a different section of the light industry sector. Since the recent innovations in Russian robotics also derive from such settlements, Minister Zhang has personally encouraged us to assist our northern comrades. (500, six months per level)
Research (615)
Unused resources will carry over into the next turn.
Institute for Radiation Medicine: One of the most pressing research needs is a deeper understanding of what radiation does to the human body. If its toxic influence can be managed, even cured, then surviving the Century of Annihilation becomes a lot easier. And by dedicating an entire research institute to this mission, we can accelerate the pace at which results come our way. (700, 100 ongoing, eighteen months)
Institute for Radiation Biology: Even if the human being can learn to secure itself against radiation, the natural environment won't be so lucky. The nation's various ecosystems are sure to be overwhelmed by the mutagenic effects of nuclear fallout, and there is no telling what the results of such a process might be. To control for such manifest uncertainties, we should establish a specialized research institute, where pioneering biologists can try and bolster our precious plants and animals against the radioactive horizon. (600, 80 ongoing, eighteen months)
Shelter Longevity Research: No shelter can last forever, and our current designs don't last long at all. If any part of the Chinese people is to survive, then we need to make some important strides in the fields of hermetic sealing, atmospheric filtration, and water recycling. With the proper degree of innovation, we can turn our existing installations into true Bunkers of the People. (500, 100 ongoing, one year)
Ultra-Preservatives: In time, everything rots, including the food in our shelters. The longer we can make it last, though, the longer its inhabitants can survive. Ironically, radiation might be a good candidate for enhancing the longevity of foodstuffs, but we'll still need to experiment with it to see if there are any negative side effects. (400, 50 ongoing, one year)
Cuban Biofuels [Energy] [Fraternal]: Much of the Energy Ministry's work on ethanol fuels was derived from the work of our comrades in Cuba. It is understood that they have since made many advances in this area, although the obvious problems of international communication have kept us out of the loop. By spending some resources on a mutual scientific exchange, we can likely increase the yields of our organic fuels sector by a significant amount. (400, 60 ongoing, six months)
Crude Fusion [Energy]: The bourgeois regime has started to introduce miniaturized 'fusion cells' as a way of staving off its own energy crisis. By comparison, our own fusion programs have stagnated for the past decade or so, probably as a result of Oil Gang sabotage and underinvestment. It is time to make up for this setback and leap ahead of our capitalist counterparts, who after all are stymied by the myopic profit motive. Socialist innovation will prevail! (700, 150 ongoing, two years)
Fengshui Innovation Offensive [Energy]: The Chinese people are no strangers to the power of wind and water. Instead of relying on the old superstitions of geomancy, however, we can use the latest methods of modern engineering to build massive dams and wind parks. At the same time, we are also growing more interested in the potential of solar energy, since the sun shines as truly as the teachings of the Great Helmsman. In general, this project would take all the pilot programs suppressed by the erstwhile Oil Gang, and make sure they reach a state of maximum efficiency. (600, 120 ongoing, eighteen months)
Auxiliary Robotics Applications: As part of backing us on the State Council Commission, Minister Zhang Lifeng wants us to work on his pet robotics project. Although Minister Ren hates the idea, the deployment of android assistants could lessen the burden on our personnel, to say nothing of the economy as a whole. Let's start by iterating on the established designs, and see how they might be specialized. (400, 120 ongoing, eighteen months)
Korean Electronics Investments [Fraternal]: When the southern parts of Korea were finally liberated, the Democratic People's Republic inherited a deeply capitalist infrastructure, reflecting a society that was ruled by a handful of corporate oligarchs. While the oligarchs and their companies have since been liquidated, the new people's dictatorship has lacked the means to properly operate the acquired research departments. By funding these in their stead, we can build up a strong degree of technological expertise by proxy, a development which will surely improve our own efforts in the field of advanced electronics. (400, 80 ongoing, eighteen months)
Siberian Oil Exploration [Energy] [Fraternal]: While the Party would never admit it, our recent intervention in the Soviet succession crisis was at least partly motivated by the USSR's abundant petrochemical resources. However, despite the ensconcement of our legitimist allies in oil-rich Siberia, the subsequent increase in fossil fuel supply has still proven insufficient to our needs. We must therefore sponsor an aggressive program of oil and gas exploration in the region, including a focus on more unconventional or marginal deposits. The only alternative is a further deepening of our energy crisis. (300, 50 ongoing, one year)
Mobilization (500+200)
Unused resources will carry over into the next turn.
Shock Labor Battalions [Labor]: Despite our adherence to a policy of full employment, there are always at least a few million 'inactive' workers among our ranks. They can be graduates who have yet to be assigned, farmers who aren't sowing or reaping, or industrial workers whose enterprise has been liquidated for underperformance. Whoever they are, their labor can and should be utilized. By deploying them towards a construction project affiliated with our ministry, we can make its completion go that much faster. (100, discounts the cost of a single construction project by a quarter, or its construction time by half. Can be taken up to four times)
Move Industry to the Interior [Labor]: As in the original Third Front Campaign, the best way to keep our industrial base from being bombed is to move it. While physical distance from our enemy makes less of a difference than it used to back then, it will still be harder to bomb our factories if they are sufficiently spread out. (300, specify regions)
Ideological Aptitude Tests: In hindsight, it might not have been the best call to give the Red Guards full control over the People's Weapons Caches. Even their conservative elements have come to realize this, and are now moving to install even the slightest safeguards into the popular militia mobilization process. Their current proposal would create a basic exam to measure the political correctness of the masses, and see if they are fit to take up arms on behalf of the People's Democratic Dictatorship. (400)
Every Park A Farm: Feeding the urban population will get harder as the present energy crisis deepens. To make up for it, we should encourage the proletariat to take to the local soil, and turn every bit of empty urban space into a food garden. Since many of them have a peasant background, and seeds can be made available from the reserves, this should be an easy campaign. (500)
Backyard Generators [Energy]: During the Great Leap Forward, the peasant masses of China were asked to make their own contributions to the industrialization effort, with many People's Communes constructing their own backyard steel furnaces. While the results of this initiative were mixed at best, we can still learn from its spirit of popular inventiveness. In this instance, to make up for the energy shortages in the countryside, we can ask the people to construct their own wind turbines and solar thermal devices. This will allay at least some of our rural troubles, even if the obvious lack of labor, material, and expertise gets in the way of a full recovery. (500)
Latin American Solidarity Fund [Fraternal]: The fraternal peoples of Cuba and Nicaragua live under constant threat of American invasion, and are materially dependent on the meager flow of resources we can afford to send them. To bolster these outposts of socialism, and take some stress off the state budget, we can encourage the people to donate some of their own funds and possessions to a dedicated donation reserve, which will be sent out across the Pacific whenever the requisite ships are available. (600)
Vietnamese Militia Exchange [Fraternal]: The Vietnamese struggle against imperialism has been almost as formidable as our own. It was only a few decades ago that they managed to expel the last vestiges of the southern comprador regime from their territory, and their recovery has been complicated by constant American sabotage. In the process, though, Vietnam's popular defense forces have learned many lessons in the fields of insurgency, counter-insurgence, and general preparedness. By exchanging some of their finest officers with our own, we can dialectically synthesize our collective insights, and so deepen the bonds of socialist fraternity. (300)
Politics (3)
Request More Funding: If the budgeted resources prove insufficient, we can always ask for more. Any disruption to the existing plan would be bothersome, but with a bit of political wrangling, some discretionary funds could be made available. (DC 40) (Moderate Political Cost)
Transfer Resources between Departments: The current departments are quite specialized, meaning that any transfer of resources between them could prove difficult and inefficient. Still, if there is a pressing need for such funds in one particular area, we may have to attempt it nevertheless. (DC 30)
Industrial Decentralization Policy: Our efforts will inevitably involve a lot of industrial relocation. To make this work a little easier, we could be proactive in preventing the further concentration of our strategic industries. While it would take a lot of influence to shift the policy of the State Planning Commission, this change must be instituted sooner rather than later. (DC 80) (Major Political Cost)
Requisition Construction Factories: The more factories at our disposal, the more projects we'll be able to complete. The other ministries might not enjoy our appropriations, but then again, they are not working towards the Survival of Socialism For All Time. With the right maneuvers, all they'll be able to do is grumble about it. (DC 50) (Moderate Political Cost)
Requisition Laboratories: Our academicians are a strategic resource all their own, and are constantly competed over by the nation's various research institutes. If we want to acquire more of them ourselves, then we need the requisite laboratories to house them. Luckily, through the use of our political influence, we can appropriate these from the other ministries. Our research is more important, after all. (DC 50) (Minor Political Cost)
Expand Our Coordinating Capacity: Our partnerships with the other ministries and party organizations are vital to pursuing our projects, both in the resources they afford us and in the research they give us access. It may therefore be worth it to expand the amount of joint projects we are committed to, even if this will require us to expand our bureaucratic throughput as well. (Automatic)
Add A Priority Province: Our ministry lacks the resources to attend to every part of the country, leading to the selection of several 'priority provinces'. If our funding improves, however, we can consider adding more areas for investment. This will probably produce considerable competition among local officials, which itself could be a path to further resources. Such is the unfortunate reality of party-state politics. (Automatic)
Set a Ministerial Labor Standard: As a government ministry, it is our prerogative to oversee the labor relations within our departments and workplaces. While we still need to abide by the center's own edicts, there is a degree of leeway in how we distribute bonuses and direct the cadres. Much of this policy setting is admittedly a question of norms rather than laws, but if the trunk of the tree sets a good example, then surely the branches will follow. (Quality die determines policy extent)
Educate the Cadres: It has come to your attention that the lower ranks of party members do not fully comprehend the dangers of a nuclear exchange. Many of them still think that such a conflict would be no more intense than a conventional total war, an attitude which could cause them to support various unwise policies. A degree of reeducation is therefore advisable; even if this might increase the risk of panic and disorder, the results of an overly confrontational stance could be far worse. (DC 70) (Risk of Political Support Loss)
Albanian Expedition [Fraternal]: When the EC and UAR had their atomic exchange, one nation stood firm amidst the chaos. No, not Yugoslavia, that hive of rightist revisionism. Rather, it was Albania, still guided by the forthright principles of Enver Hoxha Thought. Since then, however, we have heard frightfully little from this bastion of European socialism; even their ambassador has lost all contact with her country of origin. If we encourage the PLA to organize an expedition to Albania, we can learn more about its present troubles, and about how the nation has managed its proximity to an atomic exclusion zone. (DC 60)
