Professor Karl Haushofer, Germany's recognized master of geopolitics, proposed an adjustment to geopolitical concepts to Hitler. Hitler, Goering, and other Nazi Party cadres looked at Professor Karl quietly, waiting for this master to express his views.

"My Führer. Do you think the Third Reich will be the leader of the future world order, or a collaborator in the future order? More bluntly, do you think the European continent will be the center of the world in the future, or the frontier of the world?" Professor Karl spoke very frankly, without dragging his feet.

"Of course I think Europe is the center of the world," Hitler answered very crisply, but great unhappiness arose in his heart.

Professor Karl saw Hitler's unhappiness and also saw the surprise in the expressions of Goering and Goebbels. Professor Karl threw out the data directly. "My Führer, the total value of industrial and agricultural production in the United States is about the same as that of the entire Europe. China's total value of industrial and agricultural production is even slightly higher than that of the United States. If one considers the North Atlantic rim as one of the most important economic centers in the world, this is a very correct judgment. But the European continent itself has no advantage in either population or economy on a global scale. These realistic data cannot prove the judgment that the European continent will be the center of the world in the future."

Goebbels' eyes became brighter. He instinctively had objections to the conclusion proposed by Professor Karl. Suppressing the urge to argue with Professor Karl, Goebbels looked at Hitler. He saw that the unhappiness in Hitler's expression had disappeared, and he was thinking seriously about something.

At this time, Goering asked, "Mr. President [of the Academy], Europe is so powerful; it must be the center of the future world."

At this time, Professor Karl was the President of the German Academy of Sciences. He retorted immediately, "Europe dominating the world is only a matter of the past 200 years. In the past 2,000 years, Europe's industrial and agricultural production has never exceeded China's, or even India's. If the world is unchanging, Asia with China and India as the core should still be the most powerful region in the world. North America would still be a barbaric and poor region."

Goering was speechless for a moment. He was responsible for the German economy. Although specific work was left to experts, Goering still gained insights far beyond ordinary people in economics. Let alone the changes in 2,000 years, even in the 200 years of Europe's rise, Germany was also a latecomer. If the world hadn't changed, Germany should continue to be a country with an industrial level far behind Britain.

Unlike Goering, Hitler's thinking had completely jumped out of Germany or Europe. He was seriously considering Professor Karl's judgment on Europe's future. Just thinking that Europe was no longer the center of the world made Hitler's mood very chaotic. In Hitler's view, Europe was the center of the world, and this world center had continental hegemony and maritime hegemony. Germany had now seized continental hegemony, and Britain held maritime hegemony. Hitler could accept such a division of power.

But once Europe was no longer the center of the world, the strategic interests represented by Europe's continental hegemony and maritime hegemony would shrink greatly. As Professor Karl said, Europe must submit to the new world order formulated by non-European countries in the future.

After pondering for a long time, Hitler asked, "Professor, who do you think can win between the world orders proposed by the United States and China?"

Professor Karl had long organized the German Academy of Sciences to analyze this issue. Although he was somewhat helpless, he told the truth: "I think China has a greater chance of winning."

Hitler asked more frankly, "Do you think the white world will lose the war?"

"My Führer, this is why I think the Soviet Union's attitude is crucial." Professor Karl stated his view while slowing down his speech. "The current Germany cannot completely defeat the Soviet Union. Once the Soviet Union suffers major losses and faces the danger of losing the entire western region, the Soviet Union is very likely to seek China's help. This means the Soviet Union joins China's camp. This means that in terms of total economic volume, the China camp exceeds the European and American camp. The population of the China camp is at an absolute advantage compared to Europe. To what extent are Europe and America prepared to fight? Fight until the last man is dead? With a 1:1 exchange ratio, the China camp can fully withstand such losses."

Before Hitler could speak, Goebbels was already a bit angry. He said sternly, "Professor, there may be a problem with your stance."

Professor Karl was fearless. "Mr. Minister, academic research only considers reality. Judging from the performance so far, China's military technology is not behind Europe and America, and even has advantages in some fields. Since Europe and America cannot use the generational difference in military equipment to crush the opponent, the issue of exchange ratio must be considered."

Hitler didn't want to listen to such meaningless discussion. Before Goebbels could continue to say anything, Hitler asked, "Professor, what do you think is the geopolitical view that needs to be changed regarding the war with the Soviet Union?"

"Recognize the fact that Europe is no longer the center of the world. Based on this fact, determine Germany's new strategic positioning on the European continent. If Germany is defined as the protector of European civilization, Germany needs to shoulder greater responsibilities. At the meeting of Allied heads of state, Germany must explain its philosophy to other countries. That is, what exactly is the positioning of Europe and America in the future world. If the entire Europe and America believe that a new world order should be established, Germany can determine its attitude towards the Soviet Union on the basis of this new order."

After listening to the Professor's account, Hitler thought for a moment and asked, "You mean that Germany's attitude towards the Soviet Union must conform to the interests of the entire European and American new order?"

"Yes, My Führer. This is my view," Professor Karl answered sincerely.

Hitler didn't want to continue the discussion after getting a clear answer. After sending these people away, Hitler stood up alone, walking back and forth in the Chancellery office with his hands behind his back. Professor Karl's judgment on Europe and America seemed too pessimistic to Hitler, but Hitler found that he unconsciously tended to accept part of the Professor's view.

Because in these years, the psychological pressure caused by He Rui on Hitler had become greater and greater. Hitler had a very high opinion of himself, but every step of Hitler's actions was anticipated by He Rui, and He Rui also proposed tit-for-tat countermeasures. If Britain and France had done as He Rui suggested, Hitler would probably have failed in 1939.

Hitler just didn't want to accept Professor Karl's suggestion now because Hitler couldn't accept that Germany could only become a follower of the world order formulated by others. But Professor Karl's analysis was not wrong; Germany's current strength was not enough to support Germany in formulating a new world order.

Hitler walked like this for a long time before he had to sit back in his chair due to exhaustion. At this time, Hitler still hadn't come up with a solution. In the end, he could only decide temporarily to wait and see the situation at the meeting of Allied heads of state.

When Hitler began to look at problems from a higher strategic level, Roosevelt, who already had a higher strategic level than Hitler, had already made a decision: a great victory must be won before the meeting of Allied heads of state.

With the rise of He Rui in these years, the influence of Chinese culture in the world had surged. *The Art of War* by Sun Tzu was already highly evaluated by American academic circles, and the current evaluation was rising even higher. At recent US strategic meetings, a passage from Sun Tzu was mentioned many times.

Sun Tzu said: "The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy. To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself. Thus the good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat, but cannot make certain of defeating the enemy. Hence the saying: One may know how to conquer without being able to do it.

"Security against defeat implies defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive. Standing on the defensive indicates insufficient strength; attacking, a superabundance of strength. The general who is skilled in defense hides in the most secret recesses of the earth; he who is skilled in attack flashes forth from the topmost heights of heaven. Thus on the one hand we have ability to protect ourselves; on the other, a victory that is complete."

According to the understanding of the US high-level officials, once the Asian Alliance occupied various islands in the Pacific and liberated India, it could build a complete defense system. As Sun Tzu said, enter the stage of "invincibility." If Europe and America wanted to break the defense system built by China, they had to take the initiative to attack.

To date, Europe and America had been defeated repeatedly within the Asian defense circle built by China, while China had won victory after victory. If the situation remained like this, Europe and America could not prove that they could defeat China. So a big victory must be fought at this stage.

The strategic purpose of fighting such a big victory was not how many Chinese troops were eliminated, but to prove to European countries that China was not invincible. As long as China could be defeated, Europe and America would have the motivation to continue fighting. The United States, winning such a victory, would possess dominance in Europe and America.

The US Navy believed that the US military had the ability to obtain a great victory near the Mariana Islands. Although Roosevelt was still working, as soon as the latest war report was sent to the White House, he would immediately put down other work and read the war situation first.

These reports showed that under the full search of 6 US aircraft carrier battle groups, the movements of the Chinese aircraft carrier formation had been discovered. The US Pacific Fleet in Hawaii sent another 6 aircraft carrier battle groups to move towards the Mariana Islands, ready to coordinate with the US fleet attacking the Mariana Islands at any time.

Both China and the United States were equipped with the most advanced electronic equipment in the world at this time, and neither country could be said to have a particularly long history in the navy. Therefore, China and the United States relied more on technical equipment in the naval field and were not very persistent about so-called experience. So when Coalition Navy Commander Yamamoto Isoroku received the report from the Naval Intelligence Analysis Department about the appearance of a new US fleet, he didn't quite believe it.

But Yamamoto himself had no choice, because 6 aircraft carrier battle groups had already entered the east of the US aircraft carrier formation commanded by Vice Admiral Nimitz. At this distance, the Coalition's land-based aviation could not provide support, and they had to rely entirely on the Navy's own combat capabilities. Seeing that if the attack was launched according to the plan, the Coalition might be attacked by two US forces from front and back, Yamamoto dared not make a decision immediately and could only send a telegram to He Rui.

After the telegram was sent, Yamamoto's heart was in turmoil. He certainly hoped to fight a big battle, but he didn't want to lose. The current situation was like an arrow on the string that had to be released. In order not to let the US military discover that they might be outflanked, the Coalition really only dispatched 6 aircraft carrier battle groups. It was too late to transfer a new fleet for assistance urgently now.

"Report Commander, telegram."

Hearing the adjutant's voice, Yamamoto, sitting upright in the command room with a straight face, stood up immediately. He wanted to take the telegram and read it himself, but seeing all the naval generals looking over, he sat back in his seat and asked, "Whose telegram?"

"It's a secret telegram from Commander Yamaguchi," the adjutant replied.

Yamamoto had also sent a copy of the latest intelligence to Japan according to the Coalition organization regulations. Since it was a telegram from Japanese Navy Commander Yamaguchi Tamon, Yamamoto could read the content of the telegram first himself. Yamamoto's telegram was not long; there was only one core idea. The Chinese grand fleet already dispatched would launch an attack on the US fleet coming for reinforcements, and Yamaguchi Tamon would immediately lead the Japanese fleet to launch an attack on Midway Island.

This plan was full of Yamaguchi's style, which was to fight big if fighting at all. Looking at it on paper, this plan also had considerable merit. Since US aircraft carriers came for reinforcements, they must have drawn troops from Hawaii. With insufficient troops in Hawaii, the Japanese Navy could capture Midway more easily.

The strategic value of the Mariana Islands was indeed high, but the strategic value of Midway was not low either. As long as it was certain to take Midway, and as long as the naval battle in the Mariana area was not lost, the Sino-Japanese Coalition would achieve a great victory at the campaign level.

But all this was paper consideration; there could be many problems encountered in specific combat aspects. It was also possible that the Japanese fleet failed to take Midway, and the Mariana naval battle resulted in defeat. At that time, the Coalition would suffer a total defeat.

Just then, the adjutant ran in again to report, "Report Commander, a telegram from Chairman He Rui of the Supreme Command."

Hearing that He Rui finally issued an order, the generals held their breath and looked at the adjutant.

Yamamoto ordered loudly, "Read."

"Yes!" the adjutant responded, holding up the telegram at the same time, and read aloud: "Continue to execute the previous combat plan, and maintain a defensive attitude towards the direction of the approaching US fleet."

Since He Rui gave the order, Yamamoto hesitated no more and ordered immediately, "Execute the order immediately!"