"My fellow Americans, today, May 13th, the Chinese aggressors have landed in Alaska and begun an assault on our territory. Furthermore, the Chinese aggressors have attacked the Canadian territory of our ally, Great Britain.

"Hostilities already exist. It would be useless to deny that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.

"We will fight on the vast territory of North America; we will fight in the air, we will fight on the seas, until the Chinese aggressors are completely driven off the North American continent!

"With confidence in our armed forces—and with the unyielding determination of our people—we will gain the inevitable triumph—so help us God."

At 5:00 PM on May 13, 1943, Roosevelt announced the news of the Chinese landing in North America via national broadcast. Hearing this, a significant portion of the audience felt as if a heavy stone had finally been lifted from their hearts. Before this, all of America knew that China was fully capable of landing in North America. The threat of an attack on the U.S. mainland had been hanging over the heads of the American people; now that the threat had become a reality, the public actually felt a bit more at ease.

After Roosevelt's broadcast ended, the station began playing the national anthem. Many Americans stood solemnly with their hands over their hearts. Nothing unites a nation internally more than a foreign invasion. At this moment, tens of millions of Americans indeed felt themselves closely linked with their country.

Meanwhile, in the capital of China, He Rui still did not preside over the Politburo meeting. At the meeting, Li Runshi answered the questions of his comrades. "Some comrades believe that since China's war in North America has fully begun, we should directly invade the American mainland instead of fighting outside it.

"I do not agree!

"The American media will at least not dare to fabricate the fact that the U.S. military is entering Canada to fight. Therefore, for the ordinary American citizens, they are indeed going abroad to fight. This unconscious perception will make the average American feel that they still have a way out.

"Of course, comrades believe Alaska is also considered U.S. territory. This view is not entirely accurate. In the eyes of Americans, Alaska is just a region of the United States, not a state. Alaska's status is still the same as Hawaii's—it is merely controlled by the U.S.

"If we were to invade the U.S. mainland at this stage, the American public would feel their homeland was being invaded, thus uniting them. Only by letting America believe they are always fighting abroad can we gradually divide the American public. Once the American people find the losses of war unacceptable, the desire to end the war will naturally arise."

Had He Rui been present, he would surely have fully supported Li Runshi. But since He Rui was absent, the comrades of the Politburo naturally put forward different views. "Chairman Li, are we really just not going to attack the American mainland?"

This question reflected the view of the majority. If China hadn't landed in North America, that would be one thing. But since they had, China could never force a great power like the United States to surrender simply by destroying its military outside its borders.

Li Runshi had considered this long ago and replied easily: "At this stage, we are striking at the arrogant, warmongering mood of the American people. Only by completely dispelling their bellicose sentiment and making them desire peace can we strike at the American hardliners. At that stage, we can enter American territory to crush the hardliners and thoroughly end the war."

This logic was sound, but to the Politburo comrades, it sounded somewhat idealistic.

Seeing the expressions on his comrades' faces, Li Runshi's tone grew heavier. "The reason the Eight-Nation Alliance's invasion of China led to the collapse of the Qing was the 'Southeast Mutual Protection' movement. The Qing could only rely on the limited forces of the north to resist the alliance.

"Such a situation is not unique to China. As long as we deal a heavy blow to the United States, divisions will surely appear within it. At that time, the American forces seeking peace will view those stubbornly insisting on war as enemies even more dangerous than us. When that time comes, our entry into the United States to fight will align with the needs of the majority of the American public.

"Therefore, at this stage, we must insist on fighting outside U.S. borders, making the American public realize they are going abroad to die. Furthermore, since the Roosevelt administration has abandoned peace, they must insist on fighting on. If the Roosevelt government dares to abandon some states to lure us into fighting on the U.S. mainland, we can exploit the reality that the U.S. is a federal country and unite with those abandoned states.

"Thus, I believe the Roosevelt administration must continue sending troops to Canada. We can then continuously strike at the United States."

This judgment was already at the strategic level. Since it was a prediction for the future, if it were to be accepted by the Politburo comrades, Li Runshi would have to bear the political responsibility.

The reason He Rui's status was extremely stable was that he had stood his ground under pressure in one strategic judgment after another, executing the strategies he firmly advocated. Those strategic judgments were not initially fully accepted by the comrades, but what happened later was exactly as He Rui had described beforehand. As He Rui's strategies were proven scientific and realistic, his prestige was built alongside his logic and methodology.

Li Runshi did not lack ability, but he lacked the opportunity to prove his logic and methodology. He Rui's absence from the Politburo meetings was specifically intended to give Li Runshi that opportunity.

If Li Runshi's judgment was correct, he would attain a status equal to He Rui's. If he was wrong, he would have to pay a political price.

The reason transitions in leadership often face problems—besides the logic and methodology of the two generations of leaders being vastly different—is that the successor often fails to first pass such a rigorous political test, gaining status through institutional regulations instead. This is frequently why successors cannot smoothly take over power.

Seeing that Li Runshi was prepared to take responsibility, the Politburo members stopped offering different opinions. Now that He Rui's health was out of danger, it meant that even if Li Runshi made a wrong judgment, He Rui could still provide a safety net.

Currently, He Rui was already setting Li Runshi up to succeed him. If it were a matter of struggle, everyone felt they couldn't change He Rui's mind. If Li Runshi failed on his own, even He Rui wouldn't be able to protect him. Then everyone could compete for the position again.

Seeing his comrades decide to wait and see, Li Runshi felt a bit more relaxed. Although he knew what they were thinking, he didn't care. That was his personality; what he loved and strove for was the opportunity to do real work. As long as he could do that, it was enough.

Furthermore, Li Runshi had carefully analyzed the situation and was convinced his approach was correct. To strike a great power like the United States, one had to act like peeling an onion—peeling away the layers of the seemingly unified enemy one by one, letting America's internal cohesion fall apart. If one used the method for dealing with a small or medium-sized country and took a single massive bite, it would undoubtedly trigger the collective resistance of all levels of American society.

Roosevelt did not see the United States as an onion, but his inner logic was the same as Li Runshi's: he hoped China would stand on the opposite side of the entire American public. Therefore, while Roosevelt intensified war preparations, he did not act immediately. Instead, he pressured the British cabinet, demanding that Churchill's cabinet proactively invite the United States to enter Canada to fight.

The mobilization figures for Canada were already on Roosevelt's desk. With a national population of nearly 12 million, Britain had already mobilized 30% of Canadians into the military. The entire country had entered a state of total mobilization, with all adult Canadian men and women assigned work. Churchill's cabinet had also sent 400,000 troops from the British home islands to Canada to participate in its defense.

Roosevelt believed these 4 million British and Canadian troops could hold out for a while. Since he intended to effectively control Canada, the more Canadian troops died before the U.S. military entered, the better. Only in this way could the difficulty of the U.S. annexing Canada be reduced.

The thinking of the Chinese and American high commands was so consistent that the British army immediately became the sacrificial lamb. On May 14th, the Chinese Air Force once again entered the skies over Vancouver and Prince Rupert. Jet fighters from 18 aircraft carriers participated in the air battle. The various carriers had shared combat insights, so on the 14th, compared to the 13th, the number of sorties reached seven waves.

Aside from the first two waves, the subsequent five waves of aircraft were all loaded with bombs, relentlessly pounding the British positions. Under such bombardment, the British anti-aircraft positions were fully exposed and subjected to heavy bombing by the Chinese J-9 advanced trainer fleet.

On the afternoon of May 14th, the British Foreign Secretary met with the U.S. Ambassador to Britain, and the British Ambassador to the U.S. also sought a meeting with Secretary of State Hull. They consulted on inviting U.S. troops into British territory.

Both sides were "Anglo-Saxon old foxes." Secretary Hull and the U.S. Ambassador to Britain were quite polite and calm when facing the solemn and emotional British diplomatic personnel. The American side was certain that the British proposal to have U.S. troops fight in Vancouver was entirely an attempt to use the United States.

China was America's current enemy, while Britain had been America's greatest threat for the past hundred-plus years. The United States currently had opportunities to exit the war; even as China pressed forward step by step and even as both sides fought bloodily, China maintained a very precise diplomatic bottom line. As long as the U.S. chose to exit the war, it could immediately reach a ceasefire with China.

Even as the war continued, as long as the Chinese military did as they declared—dealing a heavy blow to Britain without proactively invading the U.S. mainland—the United States could still exit the war at any time.

Even though some among the American elite already believed the decision to continue the war was foolish, China had left an opening, so the American elite still felt the war could go on. In case China suffered a catastrophic defeat, the United States could end the war honorably.

Because of this, the United States could even choose to cease fire, yet there was no reason to let Britain off the hook. Even though the British wording was ingenious, the American side merely stated, "The United States stands ready at all times to assist Britain."

This was a very "Anglo-Saxon" statement. The Americans were politely saying the price Britain was offering was not yet satisfactory to the United States.

On May 15th, China's heavy bombers finally made their appearance. This included the experimental H-7s, which joined the bombing. These bombers carried a large number of thermobaric bombs (FAE), which they dropped on confirmed British positions.

With the widespread lethality of the thermobaric bombs, the positions on the Canadian west coast instantly became oxygen-depleted hells. The Chinese military had long ago confirmed the power of thermobaric weapons through actual combat. After a wave of "plowing" bombardment, a large number of transport planes appeared over the scorched positions.

The transport doors opened, and the green indicator lights all lit up. Wearing their packs and having checked their equipment, the paratroopers donned their goggles and filed to the hatch. Hooking their static lines to the anchor cable, a paratrooper squad leader shouted: "Jump!" and was the first to leap into the air.

As they cleared the aircraft, the drogue chutes opened first. Once the paratroopers were at a certain distance from the plane, with the assistance of the drogue's tension, the main chutes opened. One white cloud-like parachute after another unfurled, descending toward the silent landing zones.

At this time, on the sea a dozen kilometers away, Chinese landing ships carved long white wakes as they sped toward the Canadian west coast.

Once the paratroopers hit the ground, they gathered quickly and advanced toward the coast, following the unique ground patterns created by the thermobaric shockwaves.

Two hours later, the Chinese landing ships successfully docked with the coordination of the paratroopers on shore. When the ship hatches opened, wheeled infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) were the first to cross the shore and drive onto the land.

Until this moment, aside from the Chinese military, no enemies had appeared on the coast. The Chinese military had struck the British with a heavy hand, showing no intention of allowing any British units near the landing site to survive and obstruct the landing.

After the first wave of medium equipment came ashore, most of the landing forces immediately began expanding the beachhead, advancing in three directions: north, east, and south.

The Rocky Mountains rose along the North American west coast, with much rugged terrain and few plains. The Chinese wheeled IFVs moved quite smoothly through this geography. When encountering fortified British positions, the Chinese infantry would leave a unit to tie down the position and call for J-9 advanced trainers to conduct bombing. The rest of the troops would proceed on foot through the mountains.

If they encountered broken British positions, they would simply unload 80mm mortars from the IFVs and commence shelling.

At 4:21 PM, the Chinese troops who had broken through the shattered British lines reached a highway. The roar of engines could be heard across the mountain peaks. The Chinese infantry immediately took up positions beside the road, and soon a column of British Matilda infantry tanks appeared in their sight.

The British military classified tanks as infantry tanks, cruiser tanks, and light tanks. The requirements for infantry tanks were: strong armor protection; a relatively low speed to allow infantry charging on foot to keep up; and not requiring strong offensive power—a machine gun alone was considered sufficient. These requirements were indeed not high, but the cost restrictions were also very strict, with the cost of a full vehicle being only 6,000 pounds.

The Matilda's armor was very thick, sufficient to handle 50mm anti-tank guns. However, its firepower consisted only of a machine gun and a 2-pounder (40mm) gun. Its top speed was 28 kilometers per hour. This speed, armor, and gun perfectly fit the definition of an infantry tank.

At this time, the cannons on the Chinese IFVs were only 40mm and could not penetrate the Matilda's armor at all. After a brief exchange of fire, the Chinese IFVs realized they couldn't destroy the enemy; their three pairs of wheels turned, and they retreated rapidly.

The British tank units were positioned in the rear, having absorbed many lessons from the war. Knowing the power of the Chinese Air Force, they had placed the tanks and a significant amount of infantry in the rear, waiting for the Chinese infantry to land before launching a counter-charge.

Seeing the Chinese IFVs flee, the British troops, relying on the Matilda's thick armor, pursued them. Although the British knew there were Chinese infantry on both sides of the road, Britain also had paratroopers and was extremely proficient in landing operations.

In the eyes of the British commander, the fact that China could send wheeled IFVs onto the shore had already exhausted the transport capacity of the Chinese landing ships. The Chinese infantry now possessed only light weapons and had no heavy firepower that could threaten the Matilda tanks. Therefore, the British commander ordered some infantry to counter-attack the positions held by the Chinese, while the tank unit pursued down the road.

The British were facing the Chinese 472nd Airborne Brigade. This brigade came from the 55th Division, which had fought in the war against Japan in Northeast China. That division had once fought all the way from the Yalu River to Seoul and was one of China's earliest motorized units.

Over the years, Chinese military equipment had made rapid progress, but they had never lost the essence of China's elite mountain infantry. On the road, the British tanks chased the retreating Chinese IFVs; before them, British infantry were cautiously approaching. Through their radios, the company, platoon, and squad leaders were all informed by scouts that the British infantry were attempting to flank the Chinese units.

From the looks of it, the Chinese units on both sides of the road were falling into an encirclement and were being subjected to an even more comprehensive surround.

But the units were not nervous. The infantry used Type 81 assault rifles to spray the British in front, suppressing their fire. Anti-tank specialists hoisted RPG-7s, waiting for the squad leader's command. Upon receiving the report, the squad leaders immediately used their radios to inform the platoon leaders that they were ready.

The platoon leader did not issue the order immediately; he waited for the scouts' report. Soon, a scout reported: "The last vehicle of the British tank column has arrived."

The platoon leader immediately ordered: "2nd Squad, destroy the last vehicle first." Then he turned the dial on his headset and said: "Is that 1st Squad?"

"Yes, this is 1st Squad," a very energetic voice came through the headset.

"1st Squad, destroy the leading tank as much as possible. Then, it's free fire!"

"Understood!" came the excited voice of the 1st Squad leader.

A moment later, the infantry of 1st and 2nd Squads began spraying with their assault rifles. In the moment the British infantry were suppressed, the anti-tank specialists of both squads stood up, aimed at the identified British tanks, and fired rapidly. The moment they fired, they dropped back down, not even looking for the result.

the RPG-7 rounds did not fly particularly fast; the finned projectiles did not rely on kinetic energy to destroy a tank. The shooters were well-trained, and both RPG-7 rounds hit the British tanks. The rounds were equipped with shaped-charge warheads creating a metal jet.

A metal jet, also known as a HEAT (High-Explosive Anti-Tank) warhead, has a symmetrical concave cavity at the front of the explosive charge, lined with a metal liner. When the warhead detonates, the detonation wave from around the cavity converges toward the center, causing the metal liner to collapse rapidly toward the axis, forming a high-speed metal jet that moves forward. The speed at the front of the jet can reach over 8,000 meters per second.

Under such a high-speed metal jet, even the armor of a Type 59 tank couldn't hold. Let alone the British Matilda. The jets fired by the two RPG-7 warheads cut through the Matilda's armor like a knife through bean curd, instantly punching dozens of holes of various sizes into two of the three tank crew members inside.

The two Matildas shuddered and then stopped. The surrounding British infantry had no idea what had happened, merely thinking the crews had spotted something and stopped.

And at this time, the Chinese infantry were spraying with what the British thought were "submachine guns," so the British infantry were temporarily seeking cover. In this time, the anti-tank specialists, as if at target practice, began picking off the British tanks one by one.

Finally, the shells on one British tank's ammunition rack were hit, causing a secondary explosion. The violent explosion inside the tank finally made the British infantry realize something was wrong.

But by then, most of the British tank column had been annihilated. The Chinese infantry operated their prepared 60mm mortars and began shelling the British infantry.

The British force, which just minutes ago possessed the advantage in preparation and firepower, was instantly at a disadvantage. Although the number of British troops still exceeded that of the Chinese, being completely outmatched, they could only take a passive beating.

And the Chinese infantry further ahead had already destroyed the remaining three leading British tanks. The IFVs that had been fleeing rapidly now surged back at even greater speed. At this point, the Chinese military's equipment and firepower completely overwhelmed the British. The British force collapsed instantly, fleeing in all directions under the assault of a Chinese force only one-fourth their size.