124: Chapter 124 Counterattack from Desperate Circumstances

December 8, 23:58, late at night, on the 66th floor of Xingchen Tower, in the Strategic Operations Room.

Fifteen people sat around a circular conference table. The room was not lit by main lights; only cold white spotlights cast down from above the table, carving deep shadows on everyone's faces. The air was filled with the scent of strong coffee mixed with anxiety.

Su Chen sat at the head of the table, his hands crossed on the surface, his gaze slowly sweeping over everyone present.

Lin Wan sat to his right, a thick stack of loss reports spread out before her; her fingertips were white from gripping her pen tightly. Shen Nanpeng was calculating something rapidly, the clicking of the calculator keys particularly clear in the silence. Liang Zhen, that eternally calm Chief Legal Officer, was reviewing the translation of the U.S. sanctions document word by word.

Further down, Zhou Qingyu's face was livid—the three production lines for the Red Flag H9 had been halted this afternoon; Gao Mingxuan's brows were furrowed, as Xingchen Heavy Industry's overseas orders had dropped to zero overnight; Zhang Zhen, the head of Spark Power, had hands that were trembling slightly; Wu Yi was relatively calm, but there was suppressed anger deep in his eyes.

The four Academicians sat at the far end: André Dupont, Academician of the French Academy of Sciences and former Chief Optical Scientist at ASML; Robert Chen, Academician of the US National Academy of Engineering and former Vice President of Applied Materials; Zhang Mingyuan, Academician of the US National Academy of Sciences and former Chief Process Architect at Intel; James Wilson, Academician of the UK Royal Academy of Engineering and former Chief Architect at ARM. Their combined age exceeded 280 years, and they should have been enjoying their twilight years in the laboratory, yet they chose to sit here in the dead of night.

Li Weimin and Zhang Wei sat to Su Chen's left; this old man and young man were the soul of the Xinghuo Chip. Li Weimin's eyes were bloodshot, but his back was straight; Zhang Wei looked down at his own hands—those hands had designed the world's most advanced chips, but at this moment, they felt powerless.

The electronic clock on the wall jumped to 00:00.

December 9, had started.

'Everyone,' Su Chen began, his voice not loud, but every word was clearly audible, 'Four hours ago, our market value evaporated by 352 billion. Eight hours ago, seventeen global partners terminated their cooperation. Twelve hours ago, the United States announced a comprehensive blockade on Spark Group.'

He paused, letting the weight of these words press upon everyone's hearts.

'This is the darkest moment since the founding of Spark Group. But—' Su Chen leaned forward, his gaze burning like a torch, 'this is not the end.'

Everyone in the conference room looked up.

'Because we still have a trump card.' Su Chen pulled up the projection, showing the organizational structure of Spark Group on the screen, 'We have 100,000 employees, a complete industrial chain, a domestic market, and state support. Most importantly—'

He scanned the room: 'We have everyone present here, and we have hundreds of millions of ordinary people who believe in Spark Group and believe in Huaxia technology.'

Lin Wan nodded gently. Shen Nanpeng put down his calculator. Zhou Qingyu clenched his fists.

'For the next 180 days, we have one task.' Su Chen's voice became firm, 'Withstand this round of sanctions and achieve self-reliance across the entire industrial chain. Business decline will not exceed 50%, core team turnover will not exceed 20%, and the stock price will not fall below 2,000 rmb.'

He pulled up a new page: 'For this, I need full cooperation from all departments. But before we start, there is something that must be done.'

Liang Zhen stood up and placed a document in front of each person: 'Top-secret non-disclosure agreement. Please read and sign carefully.'

The cover of the document was stamped with the blood-red words 'Top Secret.' The content was concise, but the penalty clauses were extremely severe: any leak would face criminal liability.

'Signing this is because the information I am about to share relates to national strategic security.' After Su Chen waited for everyone to sign and Liang Zhen collected the documents and locked them in a safe, he continued, 'Through special channels, we have obtained a batch of key technical materials—14nm chip process, 16nm lithography machine design, and special material formulas.' (These technical materials came from the system fulfilling task rewards in advance; if the task fails, the system unbinds.)

A gasp echoed in the conference room.

'These materials are to be uniformly declared externally as the research achievements of the Xingchen Academy of Sciences.' Su Chen stared into everyone's eyes, 'Any leak is not just a violation of the non-disclosure agreement, but will also be sanctioned by Spark Group. Is that clear?'

'Clear.' The fifteen people answered in unison.

'Good.' Su Chen pulled up the plan, 'Now, let's formulate the "6-Month Survival Plan".'

Phase 1: Hemostasis (December - January)

Business Adjustment

Zhou Qingyu spoke first: 'Red Flag needs to lower prices immediately. The H9 will be reduced from 149,800 to 139,800, using a price war to grab market share. At the same time, we will launch the "Domestic Replacement" program—any owner of a joint-venture brand car who trades it in for a Red Flag will receive an additional 5,000 rmb subsidy.'

'How long can the inventory last?' Su Chen asked.

'The Changchun factory has stopped production, but the Chengdu and Xian factories can still operate. Coupled with BYD's OEM production, the monthly capacity is 15,000 vehicles. With the current inventory of 30,000 vehicles, we can last for two months.' Zhou Qingyu pulled up the data, 'But the key components...'

Zhang Zhen followed up: 'We have three domestic suppliers developing substitutes for the IGBT module in the motor controller. It will take at least three months. For these three months, we can only use inventory.'

'Three months...' Su Chen mused, 'Okay, I'll give you three months. During this period, Red Flag will reduce production to maintain prices, but will not stop production.'

Supply Chain Reconstruction

Wu Yi stood up, the material scientist's voice always calm: 'Photoresist, silicon wafers, special gases. Three hard nuts to crack, I will lead the team to tackle them.'

He pulled up the technical roadmap: 'The core component of Japan JSR's photoresist is polyimide. We have an alternative plan, but the resolution is 30% worse. We need to improve the formula, target: reach 80% of JSR's performance within 90 days.'

'Silicon wafers are more troublesome.' Academician Robert Chen spoke up; this Chinese-American had just returned to the country four months ago, 'Shin-Etsu Chemical's 300mm silicon wafers have a purity reaching 11 nines (99.999999999%). The best domestic one, Shanghai Silicon, is 10 nines. Missing one nine, the chip yield drops by 15%.'

'Then let's achieve 11 nines.' Li Weimin said suddenly, the old man's voice hoarse but firm, 'I know a few old guys at the CAS Institute of Semiconductors who have been studying high-purity silicon for thirty years. Dig them over, at all costs.'

Su Chen nodded: 'Wu Yi, Academician Robert, Old Li, relevant special material technical data will be provided to the Xingchen Academy of Sciences later. You are responsible for technical implementation, verification, and testing. Give people if needed, give money if needed.'

Financial Guarantee

Shen Nanpeng pulled up the cash flow statement: 'The good news is: we have money. Spark Group has 270 billion in book cash flow, Xingchen Group has 160 billion, totaling 430 billion. Based on the worst-case scenario, it can support us for two years.'

He paused: 'The bad news is: this money cannot be spent recklessly. I suggest: suspend all non-core investments, and postpone the 100 billion merger fund. But artificial intelligence and robotics research must continue—that is the future.'

'Agreed.' Su Chen said, 'In addition, launch the "100 Billion Cash Flow Defense Battle". Mr. Shen, you are responsible for fund allocation, ensuring every penny is spent where it counts.'

Phase 2: Hematopoiesis (January - March)

Market Pivot

Gao Mingxuan pulled up the world map: 'The European and American markets are gone, but we still have the "Belt and Road".' He pointed to Russia, Iran, and the five Central Asian countries, 'These countries are not affected by US sanctions and are in urgent need of industrialization. Xingchen Heavy Industry's machine tools, Red Flag's cars, and Spark Group's electronic equipment have a market there.'

'But what about settlement?' Liang Zhen asked, 'The USD channel has been cut off.'

'Use rmb.' Shen Nanpeng said, 'Huaxia has local currency settlement agreements with Russia and Iran. We can also promote "oil-for-equipment"—swap Red Flag cars for Iranian oil, and then convert it into rmb through state-owned enterprises.'

Su Chen nodded: 'Feasible. Mr. Gao, you are responsible for developing these markets. Remember: in the beginning, we can have small profits or even break even; the goal is to gain a foothold.'

Technical Breakthrough

Li Weimin and Zhang Wei stood up at the same time.

'14nm technology.' Li Weimin said, his eyes glowing, 'The factory, equipment, and team are all ready-made, only technology is missing. Now that we have the technology, I will set a military order: before March 8, complete digestion and absorption, and produce samples.'

Zhang Wei added: 'We need to concentrate all chip engineers, three shifts. In addition, we need the material cooperation of Wu Yi's team—14nm has higher requirements for material purity.'

'Granted.' Su Chen said one word.

André Dupont spoke next, the French expert's English heavily accented: 'Lithography machine. 16nm immersion, we have never done it. But with the technical data...' His eyes also lit up, 'It's like having a treasure map. I need a team, I need precision machining equipment, I need time.'

'Whatever you need, you'll get.' Su Chen said, 'Academician Dupont, Academician Robert, Academician Zhang, Academician James, this task is handed to you four. Establish the "Lithography Machine Special Task Force" and report directly to me.'

Phase 3: Counterattack (March - June)

Product Launch

Lin Wan pulled up the schedule: 'March 8, hold the "All-Domestic Product Launch Conference". Release three things: 14nm chip, 16nm lithography machine prototype, and the new Red Flag H7 car.'

'Too rushed.' Zhou Qingyu frowned, 'The H7 is still in the design phase.'

'Then speed it up.' Su Chen said, 'Use the 14nm chip for the vehicle system, use domestic materials for the body. This car doesn't need to be perfect; what it needs is symbolic significance—a fully localized luxury car.'

Capital Market Stabilization

Chen Peng, CEO of Spark Capital, had been silent all day, but spoke up now: 'The stock price is key. Retail investors' confidence comes from the stock price, employees' option value depends on the stock price, and banks' credit lines also depend on the stock price. It must be stabilized.'

He proposed a plan: 'Use the funds from the reduction in holdings to buy back shares. Use 100 billion out of the 150 billion from the reduction to buy back shares. At the same time, control the release rhythm of good news—release one major piece of news every month to maintain the heat.'

'But we cannot manipulate the stock price.' Liang Zhen warned.

'It's not manipulation, it's value management.' Chen Peng said, 'We are releasing real progress, just choosing the release time. This is legal and compliant.'

Su Chen thought for a moment: 'Okay. But the bottom line is: never falsify, never mislead. We want to win, but we must win cleanly.'