"Silang, if you must find another goal for yourself, then strive for the sake of the human race's journey toward the sea of stars. The reason we must create a new world order on the foundation of Chinese civilization is that the new orders other civilizations can provide are destined to be unable to support humanity's long future journey in terms of culture and systems. Imperialism, which seems so formidable now, is destined to have no future."

Although Zheng Silang was criticized by He Rui, he felt no shame. It wasn't because there were many comrades in the party sharing his views, but because the "sea of stars" pointed out by He Rui indeed ignited Zheng Silang's ideals.

Zheng Silang's ancestors were caravan guards, so he placed great importance on making friends and befriending heroes from all over. From the Earth where humans live to another planet, from the solar system where humans live to another solar system, from the galaxy where humans live to another galaxy—the mere thought of such a journey made Zheng Silang feel exceptionally happy.

Furthermore, He Rui's personal expectations for Zheng Silang made him feel warm. Whether Zheng Silang was just a young lieutenant graduated from Baoding Military Academy or the world-shaking Marshal of the Chinese National Defense Force he was now, someone was always paying attention to *Zheng Silang*, not the lieutenant or the marshal.

Zheng Silang stood up and saluted. "Chairman, to be able to follow you is the greatest honor of my life. Even if I were useless in this life, by being by your side, there are no regrets."

He Rui stood up, patted Zheng Silang on the shoulder, and turned to Li Runshi. "Chairman Li, your calligraphy is excellent, and your poetry even better. I ask for your calligraphy of a famous piece—write a copy of *Yi Qin E: Loushan Pass* for Comrade Silang."

Zheng Silang immediately followed up: "I will personally visit Chairman Li tomorrow to request his calligraphy."

Li Runshi laughed. "No time like the present. Hearing about the sea of stars has left me excited and unable to restrain myself. I shall write it now!"

With that, Li Runshi went to He Rui's desk. He Rui and Zheng Silang pushed the stacks of files to the side, cleared a space, and laid out Xuan paper. The secretary hurried to grind the ink. Li Runshi stubbed out his cigarette, closed his eyes in thought for a moment, then took up the brush and wrote with sweeping strokes:

Zheng Silang's level of poetic understanding was not high; he generally thought Tang poetry was good and the "bold and unconstrained" style of Song Ci was good. He had no intention of actively improving his own poetic attainments.

But at this moment, hearing He Rui's description of the sea of stars, his heart was filled with passion. Looking at this piece on Loushan Pass and thinking of his past battles, he found it truly excellent.

However, Zheng Silang was straightforward by nature. After praising it, he added: "Chairman Li, this poem is well written. But it feels as if it's not quite 'powerful' enough. I wonder if Chairman Li has any other even more captivating works?"

Li Runshi thought for a moment, changed the paper, and began to write: *North country scene, a hundred leagues sealed with ice, a thousand leagues of whirling snow...*

Zheng Silang had served in the Northeast for nearly ten years. Seeing this, he felt an immense sense of familiarity.

He Rui couldn't help but smile but remained silent. The secretary, on the other hand, looked on with eyes full of anticipation. But when *Qin Yuan Chun: Snow* was finally finished, the secretary's expression became very cautious.

Zheng Silang sighed from the heart: "Such is the beauty of our mountains and rivers, that has caused countless heroes to bow in homage. Pity that the Emperors of Qin and Han lacked literary grace, and the Sovereigns of Tang and Song were short on poetic soul. Even the pride of a generation, Genghis Khan, knew only how to draw his bow at the great eagles. All are past and gone! To find men of true distinction, we must look to the present age."

"Such a great poem—I cannot accept it. It should be given to the Chairman instead."

Hearing this, the secretary's nervous expression faded. There was no literary inquisition under the He Rui government, and they advocated the people's view of history. But comparing the famous emperors of history would inevitably be seen as a taboo. Li Runshi's poem was indeed superb, but in the secretary's eyes, Zheng Silang's reaction was even more praiseworthy.

He Rui couldn't help but laugh. "Haha, Silang, that's your 'imperial thinking' talking. These 'prides of a generation' were but mere humans. If the future Chinese people cannot even surpass these individuals, how can we speak of the sea of stars as our conquest? Only when you truly believe that the people are the greatest power—and that you, I, and Chairman Li are all but members of the people—can you calmly accept such a fine poem."

Zheng Silang gritted his teeth and finally said: "Then I thank Chairman Li."

Li Runshi looked at He Rui and saw him as composed as ever. This magnanimity increased Li Runshi's admiration for He Rui by another degree.

He Rui then had the secretary prepare to frame this masterpiece before inviting the two to sit down. "The current war has exceeded our previous expectations because we overestimated America's cultural depth.

"The American people are just normal humans; they cannot imagine things they haven't seen. In China, expecting a harmonious and equal lifestyle is the wisdom of Chinese civilization—it's a lifestyle we've seen. The American people have not seen such a life, so talking until our throats are sore is useless. In the past 500 years, China itself hasn't lived such a life, so we can't blame foreigners for not having seen it.

"Therefore, this war must lead to one result: fighting until the American people understand.

"This is not something we can solve through mere compassion. Human power has its limits; we are not the kind of powerful beings who can create a world with just a word."

Zheng Silang replied: "Since the Chairman has made his judgment, I can only continue with a sense of helplessness, hoping the American people will wake up sooner."

Even Zheng Silang, a soldier, could eventually understand the inevitable tragedy caused by the culture of the American nation, but the American people could not. Because plunder and savage competition indeed aligned with the objective conditions of America's past century. And the American people were still moving on the inertia of that mindset.

The American troops stationed on the U.S.-Canada border, hearing the rumbling of artillery, felt an itch to join the fight. Although the GIs were not strategists, they had their own understanding of the war. They believed that only by driving China out of North America could they ensure America's safety and the continuation of their past way of life.

From a realistic perspective, if the U.S. military could achieve its military objectives, those goals could indeed be realized.

The Chinese troops who landed on the North American continent also understood clearly that they had crossed the vast Pacific for the purpose of winning this war. Both sides had a clear understanding of the war and were prepared to give everything to win.

On May 18th, the first roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) pier, designed with ramps for berthing and loading operations, was finally completed. Ro-Ro ships were equipped with drawbridges that could tilt up and down, and some could swing left and right. By connecting these drawbridges to the pier ramps, cargo vehicles could drive on and off between the pier and the ship for loading and unloading.

Combined with long floating jetties, the Ro-Ro pier could facilitate extremely rapid loading and unloading. The Chinese National Defense Force had fully implemented mechanization and motorization, so the cargo on the Ro-Ro ships consisted mainly of various vehicles. Tanks, armored personnel carriers, and trucks moved somewhat shakily over the passage formed by the drawbridges and floating jetties, but the Chinese soldiers applied their training, driving the vehicles onto North American soil slowly but steadily.

Once the vehicles reached the shore and gathered at the assembly points, the personnel and equipment were immediately loaded onto trucks. After forming up, the units sped toward the front lines.

In the sky, the carrier task forces currently bore the operational burden. Chinese National Defense Force engineers applied the experience accumulated in war to construct simple runways at the fastest possible speed.

Meanwhile, specialized vessels commissioned by the Chinese Navy arrived at the captured Prince Rupert carrying a large number of J-11 fighters. Prince Rupert is located several hundred kilometers north of Vancouver. Looking at a flat world map, there's nothing special about this port. In reality, based on actual shipping distance, Prince Rupert is closer to Asia than Vancouver.

Of course, the closest distance would be departing from a Soviet port to reach North America. But the CPSU Central Committee was filled with terror regarding China's expedition to North America. Viewing the Sino-American war from the Soviet perspective, the USSR certainly hoped the U.S. would win. If the U.S. failed, it meant the Soviet Union would share a border over 10,000 kilometers long with the world's sole hegemon, China. This was a nightmare for any pragmatist strategist.

Furthermore, internal discussions within the CPSU showed that most members of the Central Committee were unwilling to believe China would truly maintain a long-term peaceful policy, let alone that China was attempting to maintain a peaceful new world order.

Even more bizarrely, those CPSU members who truly believed China would maintain a peaceful world order were mostly even more opposed to China defeating the United States. Because if the world truly became peaceful, China, as the hegemon, would earn profits far exceeding those of other nations. If the Soviet Union wanted to gain greater profits, it would be bound by the peace policy and rendered helpless.

The peace policy created by this Chinese hegemon was undoubtedly a shackle for the Soviet Union. For the sake of Soviet interests—following the Russian tradition of spheres of influence and strategic buffers—Britain could be the world hegemon, or even the United States, but China absolutely must not.

At this stage, however, the CPSU was powerless against China. So when the Soviet Union received China's inquiry as to whether the USSR could provide intelligence on the British cabinet, the CPSU Politburo analyzed the situation and decided the Soviet Union could not provide port assistance to China at this time. Simultaneously, they would leak China's request to the Roosevelt administration.

In the Soviet view, this warning should alert the Roosevelt government. But the Politburo hadn't expected that once the core members of the Roosevelt cabinet received this intelligence, they would all feel discouraged.

Secretary of State Hull even stated somewhat excitedly during a meeting of the inner cabinet: "Mr. President, we should perhaps consider holding talks with China."

Roosevelt did not answer immediately. With his strategic ability, he had already judged from the intelligence provided by the Soviet Union that the He Rui government had identified the American strategy of seizing Canada. Far from being afraid, the He Rui government was prepared to fully exploit America's annexation of Canada to advance its strategy for North America.

Regarding the idea that the He Rui government did not intend to destroy the United States, Roosevelt believed they were actually prepared for peace talks. But once the He Rui government saw through the Roosevelt administration's cards, Roosevelt lost many means of strategic deception and much bargaining space. The He Rui government could use this leverage to trade with the Roosevelt administration.

The reason Secretary Hull made the proposal so excitedly was that he understood this and hoped to cut their losses. And Hull wasn't the only one; other inner cabinet members surely saw it too.

Roosevelt thought of the dismissed Marshall, who had seen this even earlier and unseasonably advocated for compromise with China. Roosevelt didn't regret discarding Marshall, as he had to consider himself as well. If Roosevelt were to compromise with China now, he would rather take his own life.

Looking at the anxious expressions of the inner cabinet members, Roosevelt issued an order to Hull: "Hull, you must immediately determine what decision Britain is actually prepared to make!"

On May 21st, a piece of news was delivered through the Chinese foreign service's intelligence sources. After reading the report, Li Shiguang gave a bitter laugh at the channel for this news. This message was passed on May 20th from a Scottish individual in the British Foreign Office to a pro-China French individual in the French Embassy in Britain.

Afterward, the Frenchman sent the news back to Paris, which then passed through Paris to Hungary. From the secret channel between Hungary and China, it reached China.

At this stage, France was quite divided internally. Most French people hoped to rebuild the pre-war relationship between China and France. Most French people also opposed China's cause of colonial liberation.

Hungary, however, held a different attitude. Regardless, Hungary was fully qualified to say that it shared distant blood ties with China. Therefore, although Hungary had joined the Nazi bloc, most people in the country did not oppose China defeating other European powers. The Hungarians believed their blood ties with China would lead to China's full support for Hungary after its victory.

After World War I, Hungary had been stripped of vast territories and population by the Entente. Hungary's joining the Nazi bloc was due not only to its lack of strength to resist but also to its expectation of defeating Romania—which had taken a large portion of Hungarian land after the war—and reclaiming the Carpathian Mountains.

As it turned out, Nazi Germany, for its own interests, made both Hungary and Romania members of its bloc, preventing Hungary from realizing its ideals.

China's firm opposition to Nazism gave Hungary an opportunity. As long as Hungary could cling to the "thigh" of the victorious China, it could settle scores with the Nazi state of Romania. At that time, as an ally of China, Hungary could obtain what neither the Entente nor Nazi Germany could provide.

With such intentions, there was a powerful pro-China faction in Hungary. As China grew increasingly powerful, the influence of this faction grew daily. Hungary was more than willing to serve as an intelligence transit point.

As China's Foreign Minister, Li Shiguang was very clear about Hungary's thoughts. This approach was actually nothing to mock; a small, weak nation in the current world order must rely on a great power to survive. Such things had happened for centuries during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods in China over 2,000 years ago. Confucius's denunciation that "there were no righteous wars in the Spring and Autumn period" was not the old man's cynicism; he was simply pointing out the reality of that era with deep sorrow.

Churchill's cabinet had delivered its bottom line to the Roosevelt government on May 20th. The British cabinet expected its ally, the United States, to exert its proper influence in North America, but it could not accept the U.S. demand to enter all of Canada. At the very least, Britain would only request the U.S. enter Western Canada—the region west of the Great Lakes—under certain conditions.

In Li Shiguang's view, this news was indeed the maximum concession Churchill's cabinet could make. Britain also had its bottom line: it could not sell out British interests and let the U.S. use them to trade with China.

Although Britain was no longer in China's sights, a "broken ship still has three catties of nails." If Britain refused to proactively sell out its national interests, the United States could do nothing about it for now. Canada, after all, was a colony with 12 million people; the United States, with its 110 million people, could use military force to defeat Canada but couldn't simply swallow it.

Li Shiguang was not at ease because of the "dog-eat-dog" business of imperialism; he saw another possibility. The United States might, in its desperation, launch a fierce offensive against China.

Just as Li Shiguang made this judgment, new information was placed before him. After reading the two-sentence message, he gave a sigh. The Roosevelt government, at the invitation of the British government and the Canadian colonial authorities, had dispatched troops into Western Canada to fight on May 22nd.

Li Shiguang closed his eyes; the scenario he didn't want to see had appeared. Neither China nor the U.S. likely wanted to fight a war for the sake of war, but their diametrically opposed strategic goals had brought the conflict to this point. It was perhaps inevitable, but it was indeed a great tragedy.

Beginning at 1:11 PM local time on May 22nd, the Anglo-American air forces and the Chinese Naval Aviation fought the largest jet fighter battle in human history to date in the Vancouver region.

One hundred and forty-five British jet fighters and 594 American jet fighters clashed with 400 Chinese jet fighters in five hours of fierce combat. In the end, a total of 48 British fighters were damaged or downed, 28 of which were shot down. The United States had 271 fighters damaged or downed, 61 of which were shot down.

The Chinese Air Force had 57 fighters shot down and 107 damaged.

In the post-battle summary, the Chinese Air Force concluded that the American air combat command system had improved greatly over the past six months, allowing the U.S. military to exert even greater combat power when they possessed numerical superiority.

Although this possibility had always been considered by China, when the reality finally appeared, the Chinese North American Expeditionary Force indeed felt significant pressure.

Furthermore, the U.S. military had not only deployed its air force; under air cover, the U.S. Army crossed the border in waves and launched an offensive against the Chinese landing units.

After overnight discussions, the Chinese North American Expeditionary Force requested the CMC: "We hope to receive more ballistic missiles as soon as possible to destroy the U.S. military's logistical and transportation lines."