Before the offensive against North America, China possessed a total of 48 aircraft carriers. Although less than eight years had passed since the keel of the first 36,000-ton carrier was laid, China had already begun constructing a new generation of second-generation carriers with a standard displacement of 64,000 tons.

These second-generation carriers were designed entirely for jet fighters, capable of carrying 84 various jet aircraft and carrier-based helicopters.

To date, China had built a total of 63 first-generation carriers. Eleven had been sunk in a series of naval battles, and eight had been delivered to the Japanese Navy. China now had 44 remaining. Of these 44, four were undergoing major overhauls, and the remaining 40 were divided into Northern and Southern Task Forces, each with 20 carriers.

The Northern Task Force was responsible for the invasion of Canada, while the Southern Task Force was tasked with completely severing U.S. shipping routes in the Panama region, ensuring that all current U.S. fleets on the West Coast could not receive supplies.

At 6:00 AM on May 13th, the reconnaissance wing of the Northern Task Force confirmed that the waters between 300 nautical miles south of Vancouver and Prince Rupert were completely free of U.S. submarines. At 7:00 AM, the Northern Fleet issued the order for an "All Deck Attack."

Sixteen of the 20 carriers were loaded entirely with jet fighters. Due to the greater weight of jet aircraft and the increased impact on the deck during takeoff, the 36,000-ton carriers only carried 30 jets each—just one-third the capacity of propeller planes.

On the planet today, the United States was not the only power capable of conducting large-scale combat training between jets and propeller planes; China had completed such training and subsequent evaluations even earlier. China's evaluation results were similar to those of the U.S.: when the number of propeller planes did not reach at least four times that of the jets, even top-performing propeller aircraft like the J-10 (Panda fighter) could not compete with a formation of jet fighters.

This model of the J-12 jet fighter had a range of 2,600 kilometers and a top speed of Mach 1.1—1.1 times the speed of sound. Taking off from a distance of 560 kilometers from Vancouver, including the low-speed flight time during takeoff, they arrived over Vancouver in just 30 minutes.

British jet fighters had already scrambled to meet the challenge, and British soldiers in the defensive positions craned their necks to watch the battle in the sky. To maximize their combat effectiveness, both the Chinese and British pilots instinctively chose to engage at altitudes above 4,000 meters. At this height, the human eye can barely see jet aircraft clearly.

While a few spots could be seen through binoculars, the extremely high speed of the jets made sustained observation difficult. Only a few British observers skilled in tracking could follow the planes' movements based on experience.

Less than five minutes into the engagement, a British jet fighter plummeted, trailing thick smoke. The Chinese Air Force had conducted extensive training specifically against the performance of British and American jets. After quickly becoming familiar with the British pilots' combat techniques, the 36 British jets that had scrambled began to be shot down at a rate of two to three per minute.

The British pilots were indeed the elite of Britain. Even facing losses that bordered on a massacre, they continued to fight. Their retreat had been cut off by the Chinese fighters; if they turned to flee, they would be pursued and subjected to continuous fire from behind.

With no escape to the front, back, left, or right, the only directions left were up or down. As long as they reached a different altitude, they might have a chance to survive. However, the British pilots' desperate efforts to spiral up or dive down failed. Compared to these British subsonic jets with top speeds around 800 km/h, the J-12's maximum speed of 1,200 km/h was 400 km/h faster. Whether in climbing or banking, the British planes were simply no match.

In simulations, Chinese pilots playing the role of British or American planes didn't even need to go at full speed, giving them more maneuverability when escaping. The planes flown by the British pilots lacked such power; they either lost speed due to excessive maneuvering or accelerated at full throttle, making their flight paths too straight.

This change indeed exceeded the experience of the Chinese pilots, to the point where the British pilots' attempts to escape were something the Chinese were quite unaccustomed to. But Britain had fewer than 600 pilots capable of flying jets. China possessed 120,000 combat pilots with actual battle experience; through rigorous screening—selecting one in ten—they had selected 12,000 jet pilots.

The British Air Force put its elite in the cockpit and trained them to fly. The Chinese Air Force selected the elite of the elite—pilots who were already highly experienced. Every single one who was promoted to a jet pilot was a talent capable of fully mastering the aircraft.

The Chinese pilots quickly understood the reasons behind the British pilots' various maneuvers and adapted to their rhythm. Before the British pilots could feel they had escaped danger, their aircraft were already locked in the Chinese pilots' sights. Under bursts of machine-gun fire, one British plane after another was hit and lost its ability to fly.

Having cleared the British jets, the Chinese Air Force then pounced on the British propeller fighters. It must be said that the firepower of the British Spitfire was very fierce—even fiercer than that of the Chinese J-11 and J-12.

Both Chinese jet models were equipped with only one machine gun and one autocannon. The British Spitfire propeller fighter was generally equipped with eight 7.7mm machine guns, or two 20mm Hispano cannons and four 7.7mm or two 12.7mm Browning machine guns.

When eight 7.7mm machine guns fired continuously, the flames from the muzzles were incessant, appearing extremely formidable. And the fighter itself was indeed impressive. A single machine gun on a Chinese J-12 could not compare in terms of raw firepower.

Yet that single machine gun hit almost every time. Moreover, the Chinese J-12s flew so fast that they could easily avoid the Spitfire's firing zones, attacking from above or behind, sending the British Spitfires plummeting like roosters on fire.

One really couldn't blame the British pilots for not trying. The Chinese Air Force's fire control systems had been continuously upgraded for over a year. Equipment for automatic measurement of weather, humidity, and wind speed, as well as airspeed indicators, used computers to determine the flight speed of bullets at different positions.

Radar ranging equipment determined the distance between the British and Chinese aircraft, allowing for the calculation of firing time. Laser gyroscopes could determine the flight angle.

By integrating these data points, all the pilot needed to do was keep the British plane within the firing frame. The aircraft's fire control system would adjust for fine details, greatly increasing shooting accuracy.

Jet fighters had no propellers, meaning there was no obstruction in front of the gun ports and no need for mechanical synchronizers to prevent bullets from hitting propeller blades. Chinese pilots could fire however they pleased.

This Chinese fire control system was the result of engineering design and massive calculations, with custom chips responsible for each system. A dozen system architects, hundreds of senior engineers, thousands of intermediate engineers, and tens of thousands of various other engineers worked together on the same project, aided by thousands of computers.

Compared to China's investment, the amount of technology and effective R&D time spent on an average British fighter was less than 1% of China's. The British Air Force didn't lose because of pilot ability; they had lost thoroughly before the engagement even began.

The British Air Force resisted heroically, but once the massive gap in technical strength became reality, such heroic resistance only appeared tragic.

In less than an hour, Britain lost 300 fighters. Upon hearing the news, the Air Force Commander of the Vancouver Theater almost wept as he shouted to the Defense Commander: "Commander, please invite U.S. reinforcements immediately!"

During the campaign in Western Europe, a French Lieutenant General had cried out as German panzer units surged forward: "France is defeated!"

At that time, British officers had mocked the cowardice of the French general. Now, when the British army found itself completely disadvantaged in direct combat, unable to reverse the situation, they wept no more like gentlemen than the French general had.

The Vancouver Defense Commander was currently in a state bordering on delirium. After Douglas MacArthur returned to Washington, he proposed the concept of "Human Wave Tactics." This concept had gained immense acceptance not only in the United States but also throughout the Allied nations.

The few British officers who knew that "Human Wave Tactics" was nonsense kept their thoughts to themselves. The remaining British officers, even through self-hypnosis, tried to convince themselves that China won only by exhausting British ammunition through suicidal charges.

This view was indeed very deceptive. Because China did adopt a very traditional military logic: fighting with superior numbers. Within permissible limits, the Asian coalition led by China would always assemble forces exceeding those of the Anglo-American coalition to launch attacks, maintaining extremely high intensity throughout the battle to deplete the Anglo-American forces as quickly as possible.

To those mediocre British officers, "Human Wave Tactics" made perfect sense. And as long as the British people thought of China's population of nearly 700 million, they naturally believed in the human wave.

Thus, the Vancouver Defense Commander had truly prepared a vast force, especially a large air force, intending to deal a heavy blow to the first wave of Chinese invaders, who would surely be far fewer in number than the British forces.

Now, fewer than 60 Chinese fighters had shot down 300 British fighters in less than an hour. This was no human wave; this was "riding alone for a thousand miles"! China was slaughtering with a combat power that far exceeded British imagination.

The cries of the Air Force Commander finally woke the Defense Commander from his delirium. But the Defense Commander did not call for the Americans. His facial muscles contorted as he barked: "Send all the air units up! We must take out the Chinese Air Force!"

Military orders are like mountains; the Air Force Commander had to accept the Defense Commander's order. Even so, he still tried to persuade him: "Should we request assistance from the U.S. military?"

"Execute my order immediately!" the Defense Commander shouted. So-called U.S. assistance did exist, but it included Army assistance. Once the Americans were invited into Vancouver, it would be impossible to drive out those American rebels who had coveted Canada for a century.

Seeing that the Defense Commander would not be moved, the Air Force Commander picked up the phone and issued the order. The British military was a modern force, after all, and they took the formulation of operational plans seriously. At the very least, when they drew up the plans, they had considered the possibility of the first wave of the British Air Force being wiped out and had made corresponding arrangements.

Two hours later, another 300 fighters arrived in Vancouver. By then, the first wave of Chinese attackers had already returned. The British quickly took control of the skies and nervously made further preparations.

The Chinese Air Force did not launch a second wave immediately. The pilots from the first wave requested to exchange information with the subsequent units.

To minimize combat losses, the overall commander of the carrier task force agreed to the suggestion.

China had conducted many simulations, so their data was very complete. As soon as the first wave of pilots landed, they immediately relayed the details to the units. Encrypted computer telegrams were immediately sent between the various carriers.

In the past, a 500-kilometer flight and landing took an hour; now it took only half an hour. The round trip saved an hour. Therefore, although the second wave of attacks was three hours later than planned, to the British, who were used to a slower pace, it didn't feel like a particularly long wait.

For the second wave, China deployed fighters from 15 carriers, with each carrier sending one four-plane formation. These 60 pilots were those who had performed exceptionally well in air combat training against the British and were best at adjusting their combat rhythm.

Despite departing three hours late and forming up in the air, the formations arrived over Vancouver at 11:48 AM. This time, the battle took only 48 minutes to deal with 300 British fighters.

Based on China's understanding of British strength, at 12:30 PM—taking off 30 minutes earlier than the jets—J-9 advanced trainers loaded with bombs arrived near Vancouver and began bombing British defensive positions.

Simultaneously, Chinese Naval Aviation began its attack on Prince Rupert. As the second wave of fighter formations returned, the Chinese carrier task force again summarized the combat information. The third wave of fighters, arriving in the combat airspace, performed even better.

By 4:00 PM, the British Air Force had lost 780 fighters. Although Britain had deployed 3,000 fighters in Western Canada, by the time these planes were sent to Canada, only one wing of fighters remained in the British home islands.

Because the British Air Force had a rigid hierarchy, its total number to date was only 32,000 fighters with assigned pilots. However, these units had been exhausted in the wars in Southeast Asia, India, Australia, and New Zealand.

Excluding the 3,000 pilots sent to Canada with their planes, there were only 1,085 pilots left. Moreover, because Britain was preparing to shift entirely to jet production, there was only one wing of fighters left at home.

But a single wing of fighters meant the British Air Force only possessed a certain coastal patrol capability and no actual combat capacity. Britain had truly exhausted all its strength for this defense.

Losing a quarter of its fighters in a single day terrified the British cabinet. At such a rate of consumption, Britain could only hold the skies over Canada for two days. This wasn't to say the British cabinet believed all fighters would be gone in two days, but that Britain had to reserve at least 500 fighters to guard against a U.S. invasion.

Churchill was filled with despair. Because his heart was pounding so violently, he felt his face trembling. The cabinet members also looked pained, but no one spoke. In this silence, Churchill voiced his opinion: "Invite the United States to send troops into Western Canada."

None of the cabinet members spoke, for they didn't want to bear the guilt of "inviting the wolf into the house." During World War I, when the United States sent a massive army to Britain and the U.S. mainland, Britain had absolute confidence in facing the American troops. With British combat power, even if those few Americans had launched an attack on British soil, the British army could easily have crushed several hundred thousand U.S. troops.

The Britain of today was no longer the Empire on which the sun never set. Allowing the U.S. military into Canada was tantamount to letting the United States annex Canada.

Churchill did not hesitate; he emphasized once more: "The U.S. military can enter Western Canada, but they cannot enter the Great Lakes region."

A large section of the border between the U.S. and Canada was formed by the Great Lakes, and the region of Canada north of the Lakes was its heartland. Churchill had no intention of selling out all of Canada.

Finally, some members of the British cabinet began to voice their support.

Meanwhile, in Washington, the Roosevelt cabinet had already received news of Chinese troops landing in Alaska. In May, the snow in Alaska had not yet fully melted. In this vast mountainous region, fewer than 300,000 white Americans lived.

In this land of extreme cold, the Roosevelt government had not made significant military investments. Aside from arming the locals, the U.S. federal government had only placed one infantry corps in Alaska for defense.

In fact, the Joint Chiefs of Staff had issued a report phrased very subtly. To someone without military knowledge, it would be impossible to understand what the rambling report was actually saying.

The members of the Roosevelt cabinet, however, understood it perfectly. The Joint Chiefs believed that Alaska had no defensive value and that sending even one corps was too much. It would be best for the locals to take the weapons and ammunition provided by the federal government to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Chinese, thereby tying down the Chinese army and covering the retreat of that federal force, which actually had only 12,000 men.

Faced with such a reasonable judgment, the Roosevelt cabinet naturally chose to support it with a tacit understanding.

The cabinet members had also prepared a speech for after the fall of Alaska. Thus, at 5:00 PM, Roosevelt addressed the nation via a national broadcast.

The American people had long heard that war might break out in North America. So when the announcers began broadcasting every 15 minutes, two hours in advance, that the President would give a national address at 5:00 PM, the news spread rapidly to all areas reached by radio.

The American public waited nervously for Roosevelt to deliver what was bound to be shocking news. At factory speakers, public broadcast points on the streets, taverns, and even hotel lobbies—wherever there was a radio, large crowds began to gather.

As the time approached 5:00 PM, the number of people grew larger and larger, until they seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see.