Chapter 92: Strategic Nuclear Deterrence
Explosion. Desolation. Charred remains.
These three elements combined to form an all-too-familiar scene.
The four segments of the Doctor, burned pitch-black by the intense heat of the missile blast, stood silently amidst the yellow sands, their clothing and hair entirely scorched away.
Their emotions were impossibly complex—time after time, it was always his segments that ended up getting bombed.
Their feelings were hard to describe, but one thing was certain: the remaining segments elsewhere had now received the memories of being struck by missiles once again—this time from four perspectives.
Resentment. Pain. Despair.
But regardless of their feelings, they had exhausted their strength and suffered grave injuries, leaving them completely incapable of further combat.
A gust of wind swept through the sands, carrying the golden grains across the wasteland. The four segments fell to the ground, rigid and unmoving.
It was unclear how much time passed before figures emerged in the shifting sands. Vigneire and Aurelie, two Oceanids familiars, arrived with a group of desert dwellers.
"Lady Vigneire, Lady Aurelie! We've found four charred figures over here. Surviving such a massive explosion, they must be Fatui Harbingers."
"Excellent! Secure them and take them back to Lady Furina!"
"Understood!"
The desert dwellers, armed with iron forks, advanced in unison, seizing the necks of the Doctor's segments. They expertly bound the incapacitated figures, tying them tightly before hauling them toward Romaritime Harbor.
With the missiles spent, the battle was effectively over.
Meanwhile, in Felina's office, the atmosphere was far from celebratory.
Gathered were notable figures from various nations:
From Mondstadt, the Anemo Archon Barbatos and Acting Grand Master Jean.
From Liyue, Zhongli, several Adepti, Ningguang, and Keqing.
From Natlan, only Mavuika, the Pyro Archon herself.
Yet despite their numbers, a heavy silence blanketed the room.
Initially, the rockets capable of striking targets from a hundred kilometers away, the autonomous combat robots, and the automatic rifles were terrifying in their own right, but still within the realm of comprehension.
For instance, Liyue's Guizhong Ballista, if enhanced by Cloud Retainer, might achieve a similar range.
As for the autonomous robots, Cloud Retainer could probably create something comparable—after all, Yaoyao's Yuegui was technically an autonomous mechanical construct.
The key difference was Fontaine's ability to mass-produce such weapons, a feat that seemed daunting but not entirely unthinkable for the Adepti.
But the missiles? They were an entirely different matter.
These weapons shattered the very fabric of their understanding. To the gathered leaders, they transcended what humans should be capable of creating.
One missile created a fireball several kilometers wide, with shockwaves reaching a radius of twenty kilometers, and winds so violent they affected an area over a hundred kilometers away.
They had personally witnessed the missile launch from Fontaine, traverse over a thousand kilometers, and obliterate a 120,000-strong Fatui army in the desert.
How could they not be shaken?
One missile—120,000 soldiers, gone.
This meant that in modern warfare, sheer numbers no longer mattered. A massive army was no longer a guarantee of victory.
Even worse, with such long-range capabilities, Fontaine didn't even need to meet its enemies on the battlefield. It could annihilate entire armies from afar.
Missiles had fundamentally transformed the nature of warfare.
And if one of these missiles were to strike a capital city, the devastation would be unimaginable. Entire cities could be reduced to rubble in an instant, with catastrophic casualties.
The thought of Fontaine possessing such a terrifying weapon, especially one that had been hidden until now, left the other nations—particularly those neighboring Fontaine—with their skin crawling.
What truly plunged them into silence was not just the terrifying weapon Fontaine had developed, but the glaring contrast between their primitive reliance on traditional melee weaponry and this cutting-edge innovation.
The gulf between their military capabilities was so vast, it felt insurmountable. This overwhelming disparity and the accompanying sense of helplessness were the real sources of their silence.
"Umm, my friend, what exactly was that weapon you used just now?"
After a long pause, Venti, leaning on his friendship with Furina, was the first to break the silence.
At his question, everyone perked up, directing their attention toward Felina.
"What we launched earlier," Felina replied with a calm smile, "was a mid-range Arkhe missile developed by Fontaine."
Though her expression was warm and composed, everyone in the room caught the key word: mid-range.
"Mid-range?"
Marvica furrowed her brows. "Are you implying there are short-range and long-range versions as well?"
"That's correct," Felina replied with a slight nod. "Short-range missiles have a range of 300 to 1,000 kilometers, mid-range missiles span 1,000 to 8,000 kilometers. As for long-range..."
She trailed off, choosing not to finish her sentence, her silent smile implying far more than words.
The shock on their faces deepened.
A range of 1,000 to 8,000 kilometers—what kind of game-changing power was this?
If Felina so wished, a single mid-range missile could reach Mondstadt or Natlan from Fontaine's capital without difficulty.
And if this terrifying range was merely "mid-range," how far could long-range missiles reach?
At this point, everyone began to grasp the underlying purpose behind Felina's invitation.
It wasn't just about selling weaponry. Inviting them to witness this spectacle was a deliberate show of strength, a clear demonstration of Fontaine's military might.
Put plainly, Felina intended to showcase her weapons while simultaneously intimidating the other nations.
"Lady Furina, may I ask," Zhongli interjected, "how many of these missiles does Fontaine possess?"
Felina responded, "The destructive power of short-range, mid-range, and long-range missiles is the same; the difference lies only in their range."
"As for the missiles we used to strike the Fatui earlier, I don't have too many of them—just over 300."
At first, hearing that Fontaine didn't have many of these weapons brought some relief.
But the moment "300" left her lips, every person present felt their hearts seize with tension.
"Wait, what?"
"Three hundred is 'not many'?"
Every foreign god and leader present inwardly cursed. Three hundred missiles divided among the six other nations would mean over fifty per country.
Fifty missiles per nation—enough to completely annihilate any country outside of Fontaine.
This was strategic deterrence in its purest form.
At that moment, the room collectively began to pity Snezhnaya and its Tsaritsa.
They had provoked Fontaine, given it the justification to go to war, and handed it a golden opportunity to flex its power on a global stage.
The fate awaiting Snezhnaya and its ruler now seemed almost inevitable.
...
The representatives from various nations present were indeed correct in their assumptions: Felina had intentionally showcased her military strength—this was strategic deterrence.
By demonstrating Fontaine's immense power, she aimed to intimidate other nations. Though she had no intentions of targeting countries outside of Snezhnaya, such displays of force were necessary. Appropriate demonstrations of military prowess could preemptively eliminate many potential troubles for Fontaine.
Furthermore, she had not lied about the missile count. The type of missile used earlier did indeed number just over three hundred. However, while Fontaine's total inventory of short-range, mid-range, and long-range missiles exceeded 20,000, not all of them were of such devastating power.
Just as missiles on Earth are categorized into conventional warheads and nuclear warheads, Fontaine's missiles were similarly classified. The terms "short-range," "mid-range," and "long-range" merely referred to the strike distance and not the actual destructive capacity of the missile itself.
The power of a missile ultimately depended on its warhead. For example, conventional Earth missiles typically had enough power to destroy a single building. These were often used for precision strikes on enemy fuel depots, airfields, power plants, or command centers. Only missiles equipped with nuclear warheads could achieve city-destroying devastation.
Fontaine's missiles operated similarly. As previously mentioned, their lethality stemmed from the explosive reactions of the Arkhe element contained within the warheads. The more concentrated the Arkhe element, the greater the explosive yield.
However, the Arkhe element was highly unstable. Specialized containment was required to suppress the energy and ensure controlled detonation only at the intended target. While Fontaine had a stockpile of 20,000 missiles, the majority were conventional types, capable of demolishing a single skyscraper.
These conventional warheads were already within the manufacturing capabilities of Fontaine's Academy of Science. In contrast, the devastating high-yield warheads required Felina herself to utilize her authority of Arkhe manipulation [Arkhe Control] to compress massive amounts of energy into an extremely small space, enabling their integration into missiles.
Because these high-yield missiles relied on Felina's direct involvement, their numbers were limited—just over three hundred.
Of course, while Felina considered three hundred to be "few," the other attendees were deeply alarmed by the figure.
As the room fell into silence, Felina knew her demonstration of strategic deterrence had succeeded.
She smiled warmly. "No need for such grim expressions, everyone. I assure you, I am a strong advocate for peace."
"I promise that as long as no other nation initiates war against Fontaine, Fontaine will not engage in war or violate the sovereignty of any other nation or region."
"I understand you have many questions, but now is not the time for such discussions."
Felina stood. "Once I have resolved the matter with Snezhnaya, we can sit down and discuss business in earnest."
Back on the high platform, the four captured segments of the Doctor were brought forth.
Felina cast her gaze upon the charred remains of the Doctor's segments.
For someone like the Doctor, who had committed heinous acts such as kidnapping children for human experimentation and other unspeakable crimes, Felina felt no admiration or sympathy.
Before the eyes of countless citizens, she publicly announced the Doctor's myriad sins and revealed detailed information about his segments.
Felina then publicly executed the four captured segments of the Doctor and officially announced Fontaine's counterattack against Snezhnaya.
Yes, the war between Fontaine and Snezhnaya was far from over.
The previous battles had been defensive wars—Snezhnaya initiated the attacks, forcing Fontaine to defend itself. But now that the defense was over, it was time for retaliation.
Snezhnaya had sent troops to attack Fontaine. Therefore, they should have been prepared for the possibility of failure and the inevitable counterblow.
Initially, Felina had considered granting Snezhnaya a few days to evacuate its civilians. This was why she had ordered the Doctor's segments to be captured instead of killed outright. Her intention was to exploit the unique connection between the segments, using the captured ones to send a warning to those in Snezhnaya, urging them to evacuate their civilians.
But upon further reflection, Felina abandoned this plan.
Wars between nations are not a game.
This attack by the Fatui was aimed at invading Fontaine with a massive army, slaughtering countless Fontaine citizens, and using their lives to coerce her into surrendering the Gnosis.
Why should she show mercy to Snezhnaya when Snezhnaya had never shown any to Fontaine?
And are the citizens of a nation that initiates war entirely innocent?
Take, for instance, the Axis powers during World War II. To support the war effort, their entire societies mobilized, providing funds, supplies, and soldiers. Enlistment was glorified. There were even extreme cases where women volunteered to "comfort" soldiers on the frontlines, considering it an honor, and newlywed wives committed suicide to inspire their husbands to fight without hesitation.
Though Snezhnaya wasn't that extreme, no war could ever be waged without the support of its people.
Felina herself had needed to rally national support to justify declaring war on Snezhnaya. Similarly, Snezhnaya required the backing of its citizens to sustain its military campaigns. Every bullet fired in war is paid for by taxpayers.
To wage a war without the people's support is to misuse their wealth for unjust causes.
Thus, Snezhnaya's citizens were not entirely innocent.
However, while not innocent, they didn't deserve total annihilation either.
Felina was no tyrant, but a strong show of force was necessary.
Retribution was necessary. If Fontaine let this incident go unpunished, it would be harder to find a justifiable reason to retaliate against Snezhnaya in the future.
If Fontaine did not retaliate decisively, Snezhnaya might assume that Fontaine's missiles were incapable of reaching them and would feel emboldened to strike again.
And if she allowed the evacuation of civilians before launching the counterattack, Snezhnaya's people would not learn their lesson because they wouldn't feel the pain of loss.
Excessive forgiveness is not true forgiveness—it is indulgence.
Only when missiles rain down on their heads, only when the fire of explosions lights up Snezhnaya's skies, only when the shockwaves of detonations turn their land upside down will they understand the cost.
Only by enduring loss, only by experiencing pain, will they bow their heads.
When they truly see the power of Fontaine's missiles, when they are utterly devastated, Snezhnaya's people will comprehend the price of provoking Fontaine. They will fear the consequences and question any future aggression toward Fontaine.
If their suffering is great enough, even if the Tsaritsa declares another attack on Fontaine, the people of Snezhnaya, burned and battered by the memories of destruction, will resist her decisions.
Strike once with overwhelming force, to avoid a hundred future punches.
No one loves war. But sometimes, only war can secure lasting peace for Fontaine.
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