After the press conference of Burma Theater Commander Zhong Yifu ended, reporters from various countries immediately began to write articles and sent them back to their affiliated newspapers as soon as possible. Various newspapers published different reports according to the needs of their target audience.

The readers of *The Times* wanted to see in-depth analysis, so *The Times* published a report related to traditional Sino-Burmese historical relations. In the report, the British reporter wrote, '...In the past thousands of years, China built the Celestial Empire Tributary System. Unlike the colonial system based on economic ties and the treaty system based on common enemies, the foundation of the Celestial Empire Tributary System is cultural cognition.

As the core of the entire tributary system, China is located at the political and cultural center. The vassal states recognize the leadership of the Chinese government in culture and morality. Correspondingly, when these countries face external military invasion, the Chinese government has the obligation to send troops to help based on culture and morality.

Since the Celestial Empire Tributary System is not based on economics, vassal states have full independence in the economic field...

After the war, Burma may restore its statehood. But this only returns Burma to the norm of nearly 2,000 years of history.'

Professional knowledge comments satisfy readers' evaluation of professional knowledge, while professional emotional incitement satisfies readers' emotional needs. Newspapers targeting populism claimed that China was trying to retake its own vassal states. Newspapers targeting entertainment focused on various gossip news and mockery of unfriendly countries.

On March 12, 1926, the 208 Large Lecture Hall of the University of Berlin was packed. The lecturing professor was Karl Haushofer, Doctor of Geography, Geology, and History from the University of Munich, Professor of Geography and Military Science at the University of Munich, Visiting Professor at the University of Berlin, Geopolitics Master, and former Major General of the Bavarian Army of the German Empire.

After the end of the European War, Professor Karl Haushofer was invited to teach geopolitics at the Army College and Northeast University in the Northeast. With the rise of He Rui, Professor Karl Haushofer's fame rose, and he was considered the top master of geopolitics in Europe.

After the outbreak of the Sino-British War, Professor Karl Haushofer toured famous German universities to give lectures, and every class was extremely popular. At this time, students, teachers of the University of Berlin, and German officials interested in the Sino-British War held their breath and listened to Professor Haushofer's course.

"...The reason for the outbreak of the Sino-British War is not that China is trying to retake its sphere of influence. From a political and economic perspective, China does not need to expand its sphere of influence at this stage. But this war broke out, and we need to understand the reason for this war from a geopolitical perspective.

From a historical perspective, British expansion broke China's dominance in East Asia, causing China to lose its sovereignty. The He Rui government unified China and restored complete sovereignty domestically. However, this did not change the geopolitical threat China faced.

Britain's specific interests in China do not come from the normal economic and trade activities of British merchants in China, but from the privileges seized through war and the excess profits brought by privileges. Once the He Rui regime is recognized, no government can account to the public, so they cannot recognize the He Rui government.

But this is not a geopolitical threat. The threat at the geopolitical level lies in the fact that as the leader of the East Asian region, Britain can impose economic blockades and security threats on China through various alliances. If He Rui cannot break Britain's dominance in the Far East, other countries will think China is an unsafe country and give up recognizing China. China will be continuously isolated.

Clausewitz believed that war is the continuation of politics. In order to solve the geopolitical dilemma faced, the He Rui government can only force the British government to negotiate with the Chinese government, thereby solving the geopolitical dilemma currently faced by China.

This is the reason for the outbreak of the Sino-British War."

Hearing this, the listeners in the classroom sighed. In the past few months, the Sino-British War was the most watched major event internationally. From the beginning of the war, various news and comments occupied a considerable space in newspapers. Since the establishment of the Asian International Tribunal preparing to try the ANZAC Corps for the massacre in Burma, the military and political struggle between China and Britain had become a gimmick for many newspapers to attract readers.

The views in those newspapers were strange and varied. But listening to Professor Haushofer's course, the people in the classroom truly felt the clouds parting to see the sun. This distant yet not distant war, which seemed to have little to do with Germany but had a profound relationship, began to present a relatively clear context.

"By winning the campaign in Burma, the He Rui government can make the British government understand that if it does not negotiate peace with the He Rui government, Britain may lose India. Once India is lost, the British Empire will become an ordinary European power, and not the strongest one. Losing India or accepting China's geopolitical security needs, I think Britain will choose to ensure India.

From now on, China is trying hard to make Britain fully understand this matter. Now there is a good opportunity to serve as a judgment standard. Britain already knows very well at this time that it cannot hold Yangon with its own strength, so the Republic National Defense Force will not seize Yangon at this time but will begin to carry out aggressive propaganda. Based on my contact with Your Excellency He Rui, I think he is a very excellent master of geopolitics. He has outstanding abilities in choosing strategic goals and how to end wars."

Everyone in the classroom could understand the Sino-British War from the perspective of geopolitics but could not imagine the specific execution steps. Professor Haushofer did not expect university students to have strategic implementation capabilities, so he skipped this question. However, Professor Haushofer intuitively believed that He Rui already possessed the ability to execute great power strategies when he studied at the Japanese Army War College.

The course was not complicated. When it came to the Q&A session, the students of the University of Berlin, as Professor Haushofer expected, raised the question, "Why did the British government fail to respond earlier?"

Professor Haushofer replied, "Geopolitics is based on reality, but the British government's ability to understand reality has not reached the level of Your Excellency He Rui. So the British government focuses on shallow realistic interests, not deep geopolitical strategies. This is not a war between equals, but a war dominated and launched by a strategic master. The sense of incongruity you feel is based on the gap in strategic capabilities between the two sides. If the Manchu Qing government, the Yuan Shikai government, or the Duan Qirui government were in power now, you would see another incongruous situation. The reason for that incongruous situation is that the British government's strategic capability is far superior to the Chinese government."

Speaking of this, Professor Haushofer tapped the blackboard and wrote a sentence on it: 'An era where top geopolitical masters compete on the same field is extremely rare.'

After writing, Professor Haushofer emphasized to the students again, "Geopolitics is a discipline that studies the objective world. Anyone who wants to engage in such research must maintain an objective and rational materialist attitude. Remember not to make it utilitarian, treating geopolitics as a tool to realize personal ambitions. Once separated from the materialist perspective, all geopolitical conclusions drawn will be wrong, at least vague and ambiguous."

However, Professor Haushofer did not expect these young students to truly understand this. Among the people he had met, only He Rui could do this. Moreover, He Rui himself also possessed an advantage that others did not possess: China is a large country with a long history of civilization. As long as he seized political power in China, he would naturally become a huge force capable of influencing the world.

In today's world, countries with such endowments can be counted on two hands. Unfortunately, although Germany is a major power in Western Europe, there is still a considerable distance from such a natural great power. To bridge this gap, one can only rely on a strong leader with geopolitical vision to become the German leader.

The current German Weimar government has absolutely no possibility worth looking forward to. This was also the reason why Professor Haushofer lectured, ran magazines, and explained geopolitics to students and the general German public. If there is no hope in the upper class, one can only hope that someone who understands geopolitics will emerge from the lower-class German people to lead Germany out of the current predicament.