Homo Sapiens

On the border of Siam and Hongsawaddy.

In a stretch of low hills in the middle of the Tannantawong Mountain Range.

After continuous erosion and scouring, the mountains and rock formations here had been completely hollowed out. A wide river channel lay hidden beneath a green canopy.

Workers in exoskeletons were reinforcing the embankments on both sides under the cover of the green canopy.

Using vacation as his excuse, Wunan, who had come here again, sat in an assault boat, inspecting the man-made river channel, which was 500 to 700 meters wide and 35 to 50 meters deep.

Wu Xiongshan, the project manager for this site, began to explain to Wunan, "The Tannantawong Mountain canal hub project is now in its final stages. In fact, it's already navigable."

"The upgrades and renovations on the Mae Nam River are also nearly complete. The locks and embankments are ready for use, and the downstream channel has been widened and deepened," Wunan said, lowering his binoculars.

Then he asked, "What about the Dangweng River Dam?"

Wu Xiongshan replied, "The locks are finished. The main body of the dam, built with rapid-pour concrete, is also nearly done. We haven't installed the turbines yet, but the temporary river channel has been blocked off. It should be fully completed by the middle of next month. Two water turbines will also be installed then, but we'll have to wait until June for the remaining four."

"Does that mean the canal can be opened in March?" Wunan asked, pleasantly surprised.

"The water level isn't quite high enough yet. At most, it can only accommodate ships of the 10,000-ton class. Besides, the company is still debating whether to announce the canal's existence anytime soon," Wu Xiongshan reminded him, sounding a bit helpless.

Wunan immediately understood.

If it were just for medium-sized cargo ships of a few thousand tons, it wouldn't attract too much attention.

The problem was that the initial navigational standard for the Dangweng-Mae Nam Grand Canal was the 30,000-ton class, with the potential for future upgrades to accommodate the 50,000 to 60,000-ton class.

This would inevitably have a huge impact on the importance of the Malacca Strait.

And neither America nor Xing Island would ever tolerate the emergence of this canal.

Xing Island couldn't tolerate it because it threatened their pillar industry: port services.

America's objection stemmed from its Changi Base in the Malacca Strait, which allowed it to control the maritime chokepoint between East Asia and West Asia. Once the canal opened, the strategic importance of Malacca would decline.

Unless Hongsawaddy and Siam were willing to cede control of the canal, America would not allow it to exist.

It was just like that canal in Central America. A canal could clearly be dug within the New Granada Republic, so why didn't America invest in it?

The reason was that the uniqueness of a single canal made it easy to control. A second canal would introduce uncertainty and require America to establish another military base, increasing administrative costs.

Therefore, the New Granada Canal, the Kra Canal, and the Dangweng-Mae Nam Canal were all sources of uncertainty in America's eyes.

Wunan was well aware that for the past year, the fierce clashes between various factions and the Homo Sapiens Company within Siam had never ceased.

Clearly, many factions did not want Siam, Hongsawaddy, and Luzon to form an alliance, and they were desperately trying to sabotage the relationship between the three parties.

After all, one glance at a map was enough to understand Siam's importance.

If something were to happen to Siam, Luzon and Hongsawaddy would be geographically separated, forced to communicate solely via the Malacca Strait.

This gave America leverage over Luzon and Hongsawaddy.

Wunan was almost certain that once the Dangweng-Mae Nam Canal was announced, it would cause an enormous uproar.

"Looks like I'll have to wait a while longer to see this canal officially open."

Wu Xiongshan smiled and reassured him, "Don't worry, that day isn't too far off. We have to believe in the company's strength."

After his inspection of the Tannantawong Mountain canal hub, Wunan ended his "vacation" in the area.

「January 9, 2022.」

「The Kela Isthmus region of Siam.」

Wunan arrived near the mouth of the Kela River with his entourage. There was a submarine base here, as well as an air force base.

However, he hadn't come to inspect the military; after all, that wasn't his area of responsibility.

The purpose of Wunan's trip was to inspect the Kra Shipyard, on the north side of the Kela River's mouth.

In reality, the entire Kela Isthmus region had been completely transformed into a massive rubber plantation, and the local population had all been relocated to other areas through various channels.

Only core personnel of the Homo Sapiens Company remained here.

The Kra Shipyard was nominally a shipyard, but in practice, it was a ship-breaking yard and a ship repair facility. It also housed a small steel mill.

The steel mill's raw material was scrap steel from dismantled ships, as well as imported scrap steel.

On television, Wunan was shown to be inspecting the steel mill and shipyard, but in reality, he was there to examine another secret project hidden inside the steel mill's warehouse.

Beneath the steel warehouse, led by Wamu, the steel mill's deputy manager, Wunan took an elevator down into a subterranean space.

The underground space was brightly lit.

Wamu pointed to two tunnel entrances ahead. "Minister Wunan, this is the northern entrance to the Kra Tunnel."

Approaching the tunnels, he saw they were amply high and wide. Both were three-lane tunnels.

A third tunnel, intended for trains, was also under excavation.

Boarding an electric transport vehicle, they quickly passed through the 4.2-kilometer-long tunnel and arrived at the southern exit, across the Kela River.

"Above us is a warehouse for a rubber processing plant," Wamu said, pointing at the ceiling.

"What is the tunnel's depth from the surface?"

"It's 58 meters."

Wunan asked another question: "What about its seismic resistance?"

"It can withstand a powerful magnitude 8.5 earthquake. We've also installed reserved conduits for rapid repairs, which can be used to quickly inject repair bacteria through smaller pipes."

"And the river channel modification project?"

Wamu quickly replied, "For about 3.2 kilometers upriver from the mouth, the channel is 130 to 150 meters wide. In the initial phase, to maintain secrecy, we only deepened the channel instead of widening it."

He continued, "Beyond the 3.2-kilometer mark, I used the pretext of developing rubber plantations and the cover of the green canopy to excavate two channels between 240 and 300 meters wide."

Wunan glanced at the blueprint on the map. "How does headquarters plan to handle the final seven kilometers?"

"I'm not too sure about that. A while ago, a geological survey team came, drilled over a hundred exploratory wells over there, and then left," Wamu replied, scratching his head.

"A geological survey team?" Wunan's eyes narrowed slightly. He then waved his hand. "I understand. You all continue to perfect this transportation line."

Wamu nodded. "No problem. The road tunnels are actually already open to traffic. The railway tunnel should be completed around July."

Wunan left the Kela Isthmus with a heavy heart.

He had actually already guessed what was happening, but the matter was rather sensitive. Wunan knew that headquarters must have already considered all the possibilities.

Therefore, he simply wrote a brief report and didn't ask how the last seven kilometers of land for the Kra Canal were to be excavated.

The Homo Sapiens Company's internal strength was constantly growing. Spurred by a wealth of new materials, various projects were beginning to bear fruit one after another.

「Meanwhile.」

The situation on the South Asian Subcontinent had also reached a critical juncture.

The three Field Divisions that Tianzhu had transferred from the south, along with a large number of aircraft from its stockpile, had finally arrived at the front lines on the western entrance of the Siliguri Corridor.

The air was so thick with the smell of gunpowder that even Europe and America could sense it from thousands of miles away.