The pages turned; Lu Yueying read He Rui's letter repeatedly several times but did not see any content regarding personal feelings. In the letter, He Rui only explained the questions raised in Lu Yueying's letter, with absolutely no content beyond that.

Lu Yueying felt disappointed in her heart, but didn't know what she was disappointed about. Putting down the letter, Lu Yueying saw the torn seal and suddenly remembered her parents; she couldn't help but leave the study. The Lu couple were sitting in the living room talking in low voices. Seeing their daughter come out, they both stopped talking. Lu Yueying said angrily, "Don't read my letters privately in the future!"

Lu Chongming's expression became serious. He was about to reprimand his daughter for being so rude when he heard his wife beside him sigh softly. Lu Chongming looked at his wife and saw she wasn't angry; there was even sympathy in her expression. This reminded Lu Chongming of what his wife said just now, 'I don't want Yuanyuan involved in these things; let it end here.'

Thinking of these words, Lu Chongming softened his heart and said, "This matter was our fault; there won't be a next time."

Lu Yueying knew her father was usually strict, so she came out angrily intending to quarrel with him. Unexpectedly, her father admitted his mistake, leaving Lu Yueying unable to flare up.

However, Mrs. Lu spoke up, "Our family suddenly received a letter from the Central General Office; of course we had to look. You didn't tell us before about writing to Chairman He. Why didn't you tell us about this?"

"I... I..." Lu Yueying hadn't expected her mother to be so tough this time and didn't know how to answer for a moment.

Before Lu Yueying could think of how to refute her mother, she heard Mrs. Lu say seriously, "Yuanyuan, only your father and I in this world truly care about you as a person. Don't think we want to reprimand you; we indeed saw things you didn't see..."

"What does this have to do with you opening my letter!" Lu Yueying squeezed out a rebuttal she herself felt guilty about.

Mrs. Lu sneered, "I'll tell you why! You wrote to a man who killed millions, and this man who killed millions replied to you. How can you make your father and me feel at ease?"

Lu Yueying only felt a burst of anger rise up, but a moment later, a chill rushed straight from her spine to the top of her head. The initial anger was because Lu Yueying felt her mother was too harsh on the hero who saved China, while the chill was because Lu Yueying had to admit her mother was right.

On He Rui's journey, hundreds of thousands of soldiers sacrificed their lives for him. These hundreds of thousands of soldiers' lives piled up the corpses of millions of enemies. He Rui walked to today's position stepping on these millions of corpses of both enemies and friends. If He Rui wanted to continue moving forward, more lives would pile up under his feet.

Just as her mother said, she was corresponding with such a person. He Rui was a hero, a savior, and could even be called light. Where there is light, there must be shadow; covered by the shadow of light were millions of deaths. Even if Lu Yueying didn't think He Rui was a cruel person, let alone a person who took pleasure in killing, contacting such a person was inherently extremely dangerous. A light touch of He Rui's fingertip could shatter the Lu family into pieces. This was a fact Lu Yueying could understand before but had never thought about.

Lu Yueying wanted to turn around and leave, but couldn't do it. Finally, Lu Yueying bowed her head to her mother and answered, "I know." After speaking, she turned and returned to the study.

Lu Chongming sighed. He originally respected his wife very much, but he didn't expect his wife's view of worldly affairs to be so profound. "Madam, saying this to Yuanyuan, will it hurt her heart?"

Mrs. Lu shook her head slightly. "A grown daughter cannot be kept at home! Yuanyuan has Chairman He in her heart; what can we do? Chairman He is not a cruel person. I said this only because I am worried."

Hearing this, Lu Chongming felt a strong sense of powerlessness. If He Rui really wanted to marry Lu Yueying, Lu Chongming had absolutely no way. Even if He Rui forcibly possessed Lu Yueying, with He Rui's current prestige and status, others would say Lu Chongming was wrong. Because Mrs. Lu was right; it was Lu Yueying who had thoughts about He Rui and took the initiative to write to him. For subsequent matters, the Lu family had no room to maneuver. What the result of this matter would be had little to do with whether He Rui's nature was kind or not. Many people wouldn't miss the opportunity to fuel the flames.

Mrs. Lu felt at this time whether she had gone too far. She personally didn't mean to demean He Rui's achievements; to liberate China, so many people had to die. Mrs. Lu worried her daughter would misunderstand these words. With Lu Yueying's character, she might dare to write a letter to probe He Rui. If the Lu couple opened He Rui's letter to Lu Yueying, the Central General Office would inevitably read letters written to He Rui by various parties. If such a thing happened, the Lu family might really be in big trouble.

At this time, Mrs. Lu could only pray that her daughter was just an ordinary girl. Girls are emotional; they make judgments based on liking or disliking. If Lu Yueying disliked He Rui after being stimulated, she naturally wouldn't write to He Rui again. He Rui was very busy; as long as this matter stopped here, there shouldn't be a follow-up. If Lu Yueying was safe, the Lu family would be safe.

If He Rui knew Mrs. Lu's thoughts at this time, he would probably give Mrs. Lu a thumbs up. Although He Rui didn't know Mrs. Lu's thoughts, he was talking with his outstanding generals for the next war.

The transfer order for Zhong Yifu had been issued, so Zhong Yifu flew from Upper Burma to Tianjin. Upon seeing He Rui, Zhong Yifu didn't mention why he was recalled but asked He Rui, "Chairman, I heard you met Wang Dongliu?"

"You know him?" He Rui was not surprised.

Zhong Yifu told He Rui about Wang Dongliu effectively solving the problem of aircraft engine life during the Sino-British War. After praising Wang Dongliu highly, Zhong Yifu probed, "Did the Chairman provide the latest design ideas to the Aircraft Manufacturing Bureau?"

He Rui laughed, "If I indeed provided them, what aspect of ideas do you hope for?"

"Range, safe and stable long range." Zhong Yifu answered very simply. "The range of aircraft is too short now. Has the Chairman read the report on Britain deploying new aircraft at the border?"

He Rui nodded. This report was indeed one of the motivations for He Rui to ask the Aircraft Design Bureau to provide three of the best young engineers. The British aircraft manufacturing industry was not developing poorly, and Chinese fighters didn't have any black technology; the cantilever low-wing was originally a design idea conforming to aerodynamics. The British could easily understand the principles just by looking at the appearance.

In 1926, the British army stationed in India explicitly stated, 'The Chinese have occupied the sky', so the British Ministry of Defense also issued a tender for cantilever low-wing aircraft. In 1927, British engineers produced such aircraft, with speeds reaching 500 kilometers per hour.

Seeing that the air force race had already begun, He Rui certainly wouldn't let China's precious resources be invested in old technologies like reciprocating engines, so he proposed the ideas of two-spool and three-spool jet engines, as well as turboprop engines, on the basis of jet engines.

In He Rui's vision, models similar to the A-29 trainer should come out around '30. So Zhong Yifu's idea was correct.

But He Rui asked, "Why do you think range is very important?"

Zhong Yifu answered decisively, "Because I read the report. The United States flew across the Atlantic the day before yesterday!"

Charles Augustus Lindbergh was born on February 4, 1902, a Swedish-American pilot born in Detroit, Michigan, a descendant of Swedish immigrants.

In 1924, he began training as a US Air Force pilot with the US Army Air Service. From May 20 to 21, 1927 (historical date), Lindbergh flew his single-engine plane, the Spirit of St. Louis (Model: Ryan NYP-1), from New York City to Paris, crossing the Atlantic Ocean without landing in between, taking a total of 33.5 hours.

This time, Charles Augustus Lindbergh successfully crossed the Atlantic on March 20 (timeline adjustment), which made the reliability of American aircraft and the skills of American pilots highly praised. Zhong Yifu, having gone through wars these years, had long lost unjustified awe of Europe and America. He felt that with He Rui's sensitivity to technology, he would definitely not turn a blind eye to this matter.

He Rui felt Zhong Yifu indeed had his own considerations on strategy, so he asked, "Why do you care about this matter?"

Zhong Yifu sat up straight naturally. "Chairman, the form of future war has changed. I think in future wars, tanks, airplanes, and infantry infiltration tactics will be the elements deciding the war. When we formulate future strategies, we should use these equipment and tactics as the basis for realizing the strategy."

He Rui liked Zhong Yifu's judgment very much. "What should the future strategy look like?"

Zhong Yifu became excited. He had been considering future strategies and conducting a lot of deduction work during this period. Hearing He Rui ask, he knew his chance had come. "Chairman, I admire Marshal Foch of France's judgment very much. The Versailles Treaty is not peace, but a 20-year armistice..."

In Zhong Yifu's view, although the Treaty of Versailles limited the size and weaponry of the German army, it did not completely destroy Germany's industrial capacity and scientific research capabilities. And the "Treaty of Versailles" directly caused Germany to lose one-eighth of its territory and one-tenth of its population; strong revanchism was bound to spread throughout Germany. Once Germany got the chance, it would inevitably seek revenge.

"...Chairman, once Germany rearms, war will break out. At that time, the European situation will change completely. I think the United States will join the British and French camp again, and we have no reason to join the British and French camp. Our war with the Anglo-French-American bloc is inevitable. Now looking at the Chairman's efforts to facilitate the Japanese revolution, the purpose is to use the Japanese Navy. The future war is likely to be a war of Germany, the Soviet Union, and the East Asian bloc against the Anglo-French-American bloc."

After speaking, Zhong Yifu looked at He Rui, hoping to see some clues from He Rui's expression. But Zhong Yifu saw nothing; He Rui even yawned, his expression unchanged. This disappointed Zhong Yifu somewhat, but Zhong Yifu also knew He Rui definitely cared about future strategy very much. Even if Zhong Yifu's strategy didn't fit He Rui's mind, He Rui definitely valued future strategy very much.

Just as Zhong Yifu's heart was churning a bit, he heard He Rui say, "I think your judgment of the European situation is correct."

Zhong Yifu was happy and asked, "Then where is my judgment of the world situation incorrect?"

"I think your judgment of the world situation is also correct," He Rui answered.

Zhong Yifu felt a chill in his heart. If his judgments in both aspects were correct, it meant He Rui really didn't agree with Zhong Yifu's grand strategy. As for where He Rui disagreed, Zhong Yifu couldn't judge now.

Zhong Yifu wanted to ask directly but didn't ask. Doing so would be equivalent to letting He Rui help Zhong Yifu cheat, right? Zhong Yifu could accept his mistakes, but he wouldn't solve his problems in this way.

Finally, Zhong Yifu stood up and said, "Chairman, please let me go back and think again."

He Rui let Zhong Yifu go back first. Hu Xiushan came in quickly under the secretary's guidance. He Rui first told Hu Xiushan about Zhong Yifu's ideas, then asked, "Xiushan, what do you think?"

During the narration, He Rui kept watching Hu Xiushan and saw Hu Xiushan's eyes becoming brighter, presumably having some thoughts. Hearing He Rui's question, Hu Xiushan pondered for a moment before speaking, "Chairman, I think Commander Zhong's view is completely correct. But I wouldn't build a strategy with such thinking."

"What do you think?"

"I want to ask the Chairman, are the key points to winning the next war industrial capacity, technological level, and industrial population?"

"Why do you think so?" He Rui laughed.

"Because the Chairman talked about the form of the next war and the form of the war after the next. I thought for a long time before determining that these three are the basis for winning the next war. From China's perspective, our war purpose is to rapidly advance China's industrialization level. This requires not only completing China's domestic industrialization but also constructing a world environment that allows China to fully industrialize. When building the future world order, we must adopt a more advanced civilization, not the order based on the current civilization level of Europe and America. Therefore, I think China's strategy should be to liberate the oppressed people of Asia and Africa and bring them into a new era of industrialization. Based on such a strategy, our enemy is all colonialism.

Commander Zhong's judgment of the future of Europe and America is very precise. We can use European contradictions to reduce the difficulty of achieving our strategic goals. At the same time, we must also consider that when our strategy advances to a certain extent, we will face a joint attack from a group of European and American countries, including the United States."

He Rui finally felt relieved. Zhong Yifu's strategic consideration was excellent; the only problem was that Zhong Yifu's thinking still entered the hegemony mode, replacing European and American hegemony with Chinese hegemony. Not to say his consideration was wrong; after China defeated Europe and America and dominated the world, of course, it could implement China's world order.

But this strategy was too difficult and the cost too high. Hu Xiushan's strategy avoided these unnecessary strategic costs. The oppressed people knew very well what kind of oppression they suffered; they didn't fail to resist, but kept resisting. It was just the lack of a correct revolutionary path and external conditions that made heroic resistances fail again and again.

If China provided the correct revolutionary path and external conditions, colonialism would suffer an unprecedented blow. In He Rui's assessment, such effective resistance could reduce China's burden by at least 30%. Reducing the burden by 30% meant China's probability of winning increased by two or even three times.

He Rui didn't want to play with revolution, but He Rui was a strategist. If he wanted to win, he had to bring out the cold calculations of realism in politics.

Hu Xiushan looked at He Rui's expression, unable to figure out for a moment whether He Rui agreed with this strategic line of thought. After a good while, he saw He Rui speak, "Comrade Xiushan, you are the next Chief of General Staff."

Hu Xiushan only felt a big stone drop back into his stomach. He immediately stood up and saluted He Rui, "I will resolutely complete the mission!"