Li Shiguang felt he could grasp the core of He Rui's question regarding "who is a real American." The United States was a nation of immigrants, not a nation-state, and there was no widely recognized "American ethnicity." If China could incite a debate within the US about "who is a real American," it would only serve to divide the country from within.

"Chairman, the US government certainly won't allow such a discussion to take place domestically," Li Shiguang sighed.

"Don't worry. As the war progresses, a discussion about who counts as an American will inevitably emerge within the US. For the current stage, there's no need to worry about Roosevelt stepping down, because the US must win battles on the field. The US has already lost 300,000 troops, and before long, their losses will be even greater." Saying this, He Rui smiled.

Seeing He Rui's smile, Li Shiguang felt that the Chairman must have an idea. Sure enough, He Rui continued, "Minister Li, do you know anything about the US military's criteria for determining if a soldier has been 'killed in action'?"

Li Shiguang thought for a moment before probing, "Does the Chairman want to approach this from that angle?"

He Rui nodded. "Yes. Since the US has extremely strict definitions for 'killed in action,' we can start there. Reply to the Americans as much as possible, and use every channel available to provide the American people with information about these so-called 'missing' persons."

Li Shiguang nodded immediately. The meeting ended quickly, and upon returning to his office, Li Shiguang convened a meeting of Foreign Ministry leadership. Due to the declaration of war, Chinese embassies in the various industrial nations had been evacuated, so the Foreign Ministry was currently flush with manpower.

After hearing Li Shiguang's requirements, a comrade from the embassy in the UK responded immediately, "Regarding propaganda targeting Britain, we have experience from the previous Sino-British War. We can recruit laborers from among the British POWs. As long as we pay those British people for their work, they'll certainly be willing to provide services."

During the previous Sino-British War, China had recruited quite a few educated British officers from the POW camps, hiring them as lecturers in the Chinese education system. Many European research departments had developed significantly during that period. The situation this time was even more optimistic, as the number of British POWs would likely exceed 700,000. Finding a few people to handle the issue would be easy.

Another person added, "Can we send a request to the Military Commission? Ask them to provide the unit designations and personnel lists of the annihilated British forces as much as possible. That way, we can better provide British citizens with news of their families."

Li Shiguang strongly approved of this approach. War was dangerous; ordinary British families naturally hoped their country would win, but if they couldn't win, they at least hoped to get news of their relatives on the battlefield. If China could provide definite information, it could significantly lower the hostility of the British public toward China. Especially for those British families who could confirm their relatives had been captured.

The British didn't treat people as human beings in their colonies and had committed countless crimes against humanity, so they were very anxious that captured British people receive humanitarian treatment.

After discussing British POWs, it was the US's turn. The former Chinese Ambassador to the US explained the US criteria for determining death in battle to the Foreign Ministry comrades.

The first condition: the soldier must die on the battlefield. That is to say, they must be killed and die on the spot while engaging the enemy. If they were heavily wounded but not yet dead, then removed from the battlefield for treatment only to die during the rescue attempt, such a case would not count as 'killed in action.'

The second condition: there must be a witness. This person must be able to prove that the dead soldier was killed by enemy fire on the battlefield. If they didn't die from being hit by a bullet, it doesn't count as KIA.

If a soldier was sitting on a vehicle, was hit by a bullet, died, and then fell off the vehicle, that also would not classify as KIA.

The third condition: witnesses are still required, but this time to prove the true identity of the dead soldier. There must be both a recognizable face and dog tags to count as KIA. Missing either one disqualifies the soldier from the KIA category.

Therefore, of the 300,000 troops the US has lost so far, about 50,000 to 70,000 are dead. But according to US KIA standards, probably fewer than 3,000 of those 50,000 to 70,000 would be certified as 'killed in action.'

The US Navy had the fewest losses, but US sailors who died in battle basically sank with their ships. There was no way to confirm they were killed directly at their posts.

The US Army hasn't had many opportunities to confront China directly; they were blown up directly. The bombing intensity of the Chinese Air Force was extremely high, and most US troops killed by bombing were wiped out along with their entire combat units. There were simply no witnesses.

Although China took quite a few photos after the battles ended, the images could only prove how many bodies there were, not how those dead American soldiers actually died.

Comparatively speaking, the US Army Air Forces seemed much better off; at least US fighter planes were indeed shot down by China. But as it happened, the US Army Air Forces were the hardest to certify as KIA. Because the US Army Air Forces had been suffering miserable defeats up to this point, the US pilots rescued by China were all alive. Even if they died after being rescued, according to US standards, they certainly weren't KIA.

As for the US pilots who smashed into the ground with their planes or crashed into the sea leaving no remains, according to US standards, it was impossible to certify them as KIA.

After a round of discussion, the Chinese diplomatic staff quickly found an angle they could exploit. Wang Enzuo, the Consul in San Francisco, proposed his own view: "I think we can open a special column in our broadcasts to the US to publicize these situations to the US military."

The comrades in the Foreign Ministry had never regarded themselves as a weak nation over these years, nor did they believe China had to uphold the Versailles World Order, so their mindset was very calm. Hearing such a suggestion, they expressed their approval one after another. Some comrades, their sense of humor ignited, casually came up with a bit: "May I ask the American officers and soldiers, did you study the pension regulations before setting out? Can you be sure you'll be classified as 'killed in action' after you die? Do you know that if you are classified as 'missing,' your families will never receive a single cent in pension money?"

Hearing this in the conference room, some people couldn't help but laugh out loud. Li Shiguang could only keep a straight face. Before he could criticize this unserious remark, he heard someone continue, "American officers and soldiers, if you understood the US pension system, would you still dare to say you are real Americans?"

Li Shiguang paused. Influencing the US military's will to fight by making Americans discuss "who is a real American" was He Rui's idea. But if they approached it from the angle of US military pensions, it really could make American officers and soldiers think about who the real Americans were. Since the US was a nation of immigrants, a "real American," at the very least, should be someone whose family could receive a pension after they died heroically for America. If US officers and soldiers died for nothing, then those dead people might not necessarily be considered real Americans.

While he was thinking, the former Ambassador to the US spoke up, "Based on my understanding, the American people do not understand the US military pension system."

As soon as the meeting ended, Li Shiguang immediately wrote a simple request and went to the Intelligence Bureau. Official channels between China and the US had been cut off; the channels currently capable of disseminating propaganda within the US were all in the hands of the Intelligence Bureau. Meeting the Director of Intelligence, Li Shiguang handed over the plan. The Director read the brief content, thought for a moment, and asked, "Minister Li, is this a suggestion or an order?"

Li Shiguang briefly recounted his discussion with He Rui. The Director of Intelligence revealed a knowing look. He put away the document. "Minister Li, if we take action, we will notify you."

For the Intelligence Bureau, carrying out an operation with such a clear objective wasn't difficult. There were quite a few Americans in the US actively seeking cooperation with China, but the Chinese Intelligence Bureau wasn't prepared to trust these people. Nor were they prepared to use them for real espionage work. The reason was simple: China didn't have that kind of capability at this stage.

Publicizing the content of US pension laws in American newspapers, however, was a very easy thing to operationalize. The pension laws of every industrial nation were public statutes; there were no secrets involved. Even if someone did this, it would be hard for it to be genuinely attributed to a foreign intelligence agency. With the US military suffering such heavy losses right now, many families of these troops would certainly seek pensions out of self-interest. Perhaps someone in the US was already doing this.

After making the decision, the Intelligence Bureau immediately sent out telegrams. That evening, some Americans who owned Chinese radios tuned in to a special frequency. Early the next morning, several World War I veterans arrived at the American Legion. One of them, a lieutenant named Thompson, said with a gloomy face, "I think we should contact the newspapers and publish the pension details. At the same time, we'd better prepare to fight for pensions for the boys serving now. When it comes to pensions, Roosevelt and Hoover are birds of a feather—old dogs who can't learn new tricks!"

At the mention of Hoover, the veterans in the Legion all changed their expressions. During the Great Depression, veterans demanding their bonus pay had suffered countless miseries. In this great war, Roosevelt's pension plan hadn't included provisions for deferred payment. But after Roosevelt took office, veterans had petitioned his administration for early payment, only to be firmly rejected. This left American veterans with zero trust in the Roosevelt administration.

The veterans all agreed with this view and quickly compiled the US military pension standards. The current US death gratuity wasn't low, but the veterans were well aware of the military's twists and turns. To pay less money, the Veterans Administration wouldn't admit to that many deaths in action. Most US troops would be classified as missing rather than KIA. For missing troops, the Veterans Administration wouldn't even write a letter of condolence. After all, during wartime, the Veterans Administration couldn't conduct on-site investigations.

Thinking of these high-and-mighty masters eating the bread of idleness, the American veterans were furious. Soon, letters to military families were written amidst this angry mood. The veterans each determined the states they were responsible for and began asking around about the designations of those annihilated US units.

It wasn't just the American Legion taking action; the various American insurance companies providing war risk insurance were also busy at this time. They were facing enormous pressure, especially regarding the thousands of US Army Air Forces personnel who had supported the British in Southeast Asia before the US declared war on China. They hadn't been officially participating in the war, so the Philippines Command had these troops take out policies with private insurance companies.

The insurance companies had just received a large amount of premiums and hadn't had time to be happy for a few days before claims requests flew in like snowflakes. The insurance companies soon discovered that if they paid out all these claims, even if they didn't go bankrupt, they would be severely crippled. Some insurance companies were already preparing to file for bankruptcy but were strictly forbidden by the relevant regulatory agencies. Judging by the US government's attitude, they really intended to let the insurance companies die.

These American insurance companies could only try every possible method to solve the problem. At this stage, the legal experts hired by a group of insurance companies who felt they had been cheated were close to a conclusion. Interested parties across the US were watching to see what result would emerge from the legal experts' seminar currently being held by the Morgan financial group in New York.

In the Morgan building, the legal experts looked very depressed. They had discussed their way to a result, concluding that part of the responsibility for the US military deaths lay with the Philippines Command. However, the legal experts knew very well that while they could certainly say this, such a view would very likely be rejected by the courts. Because the legal experts could only use civil law, and civil law had no jurisdiction over the Army.

Through mock trials, the legal experts found that their most likely outcome was forcing the Philippines Command to admit that the US troops who participated in the Battle of Singapore should enjoy the rights of US military war casualties, but they had no way to negate the legality of the insurance companies' coverage. This result was not what they had hoped for.

And the legal experts didn't know that at this moment, the head of the Morgan financial group had been summoned to Washington by Roosevelt. Roosevelt opened by asking, "Mr. Morgan, do you have anything to explain to me?"

Mr. Morgan was speechless for a moment. Over these years, Roosevelt had suppressed the American tycoons. The reason the tycoons were acting up now was entirely because they weren't optimistic about the course of the war ahead. The war had only been going on for two months, and the US military had already lost 300,000 men. According to Chinese war reports, over 50,000 US troops had been killed. Using the lower pension standard of $2,000 per person, 50,000 deaths would require $100 million in pensions.

If the war continued like this and US deaths exceeded a million, they would have to provide $10 billion in pensions. The total value of US industrial and agricultural output was less than $200 billion. This pension sum might look like only $10 billion, but it was hard expenditure. The total US tax revenue for 1941 was just over $20 billion. It was equivalent to spending half the tax revenue.

Although he harbored such suspicions, Roosevelt was a three-term president and commanded considerable authority. Moreover, Roosevelt's decision to enter the war was for America's future, and the Morgan group had fully supported it before. Faced with Roosevelt's interrogation, Morgan wanted to say something, but couldn't get anything out.

Roosevelt stared at Morgan. Seeing the expression of this financial magnate change, moving roughly in the direction of submission, his mood improved slightly. With the war having reached this point, Roosevelt was also under tremendous pressure. Especially after the Army General Staff and Navy General Staff had reviewed the war, Roosevelt hadn't expected that both the Chinese and American militaries had followed the same technological path. Identical electronic technology paths had directly pushed the war situation into a stalemate; China and the US would engage in a brutal war of attrition in the future. Roosevelt didn't want to fight a war of attrition, but with the war already started, he had no other choice. At this stage, Roosevelt could only ensure the American people possessed the psychological capacity to endure tragic losses.

Discussions targeting the massive number of war dead were unfavorable to the US. Even if there were discussions, they had to be suppressed until later, waiting until the American people became accustomed to such losses. So the Morgan group's behavior was undoubtedly a threat, and they had to be beaten down hard!