At 4:00 AM local time on May 28th in Ethiopia, Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, commander of the Italian garrison, felt a violent shudder through his body. As a career soldier, he woke instantly, followed by the sound of heavy explosions nearby.

With a rapid roll, Marshal Graziani dove under a table. A succession of nearby blasts followed, making the Marshal feel the true power of the Chinese Air Force's bombardment.

Fortunately, this wave of bombing did not last long. The Chinese Air Force withdrew from the airspace after a brief strike on the Italian occupation headquarters. The Italian Air Force was not weak, and the Chinese did not want to suffer unnecessary losses, especially in a region as unfamiliar to them as Ethiopia.

The raid in the early hours of the 29th was not large in scale, but it was far from a mere probe. The World People's Liberation Army (WPLA) had decided to launch the campaign to liberate Ethiopia on the 28th. The bombing was the opening statement of the campaign—a formal declaration to the Italian invaders that their doom had arrived.

Winston Churchill's cabinet soon received the news. While the cabinet members felt the pressure, they also experienced a sense of relief, like the second shoe finally dropping. Ever since the Allied navies had been driven step-by-step out of the Indian Ocean, China had been sitting on the "second floor" of Europe, and the first shoe had landed with a resounding thud.

At this time, Germany was invading the Soviet Union, and China was pounding the Anglo-American forces in the Pacific. It wasn't that the Allies hadn't tried to counter-attack, but the two strongest combat powers in the Alliance—the United States and Germany—had not yet fully committed to this theater. Britain, for its part, had to divert vast amounts of energy to the defense of Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. The counter-attacks were primarily executed by a portion of the British and Italian armies. Due to their limited strength and inability to achieve results, even the Allied newspapers had lost interest in printing much news about these counter-offensives.

The Allied powers had all been waiting for the sound of the Chinese tenant's second shoe hitting the floor—the beginning of a Chinese offensive into the Mediterranean. That would mark the start of Europe's full entry into the war.

The Churchill cabinet did not discuss reinforcing Egypt; instead, they spoke of the recent food problems within Britain. The Home Secretary stated emotionally: "We cannot accept any more population withdrawals from the colonies to the British home islands. This is a Chinese conspiracy!"

The other cabinet members agreed. Over the past year, China, citing humanitarian reasons, had been repatriating ordinary British citizens from the areas it "liberated" back to Britain. Initially, Britain had accepted these white colonists, but with a home population of only 40 million, China had quickly sent back over a million.

These million-plus British citizens had originally lived as masters in the colonies and possessed few assets in the British home islands. Upon their return, the British government was required to provide for them. Britain was not a socialist state; its land and real estate had long since been divided among the domestic population. In their haste, the government was simply unable to provide relief and had to support these people as if they were paupers.

Having lived as lords in the colonies, these British citizens had long since developed arrogant temperaments. They could endure it for the first month or two, but once they confirmed they were destined to be nothing more than futureless paupers in workhouses in the home islands, they immediately took action, demanding the restoration of their voting rights as British citizens.

The Churchill cabinet quickly discovered this extremely dangerous trend and hurriedly ordered that voting rights not be granted to these returning citizens in any constituency. The cabinet also made an internal decision: British citizens from the colonies would no longer be sent back to the home islands.

But how could China allow the British to have their way? They used their massive transport capacity to continue the population transfer, subsequently sending back another three million. These three million people had been captured at least twice: first in India, and then on the Arabian Peninsula.

The Chinese military even escorted groups of these British citizens to the borders of French colonies and drove them directly into French territory.

The French government was truly sparing no effort or cost to undermine Britain. they packed these three million British citizens like sardines into a vast number of ships and transported them to concentration camps in the French port of Calais, where one could see the British coast on a clear day. Through constant day-and-night media propaganda, they forced the British government to hold its nose and transport these "refugees" back to Britain.

At this point, the domestic population of Britain had reached nearly 50 million. It could be said that the British home islands had never possessed so many people. Similarly, the British government had never shouldered such intense internal problems.

Before the war, Britain could obtain vast amounts of grain from its extensive colonies and release domestic population and class struggle pressures through them. Now, having lost India and the Middle East, with South Africa in peril and the East African colonies completely cut off, the British government, relying only on its few West African colonies, was utterly incapable of maintaining the pre-war standard of living. The unemployment rate was skyrocketing even under general mobilization. Large numbers of overseas British were seeking solutions through various protests and demonstrations, and the members of the Churchill cabinet felt they were on the verge of collapse.

But once a strategy fails, the government's meager strength is incapable of reversing it. The Churchill cabinet members knew this very well. Even if they didn't, the Chinese strategic analyses reprinted in the British media explained it clearly.

Britain, having lost its Indian Ocean colonies, had lost 60% of its market share. Even if British industry was concentrated in the home islands, without market purchasing power, such vast production capacity could not possibly be absorbed by the British war economy.

Although the surge in the home population seemed to create demand, under the British social system, these people possessed no purchasing power and could only survive on relief. Far from solving Britain's domestic demand problem, they instead consumed British resources under the capitalist system, becoming a massive burden on the home islands.

Theoretically, these British people could be sent into the military. However, in reality, fewer than 25% of them were fit for service. If the British government were to conscript them, it would need to invest even greater resources. Equipping and training an army is very expensive. Furthermore, after training a million-man army, the British government could not guarantee that these soldiers wouldn't turn their guns against the government out of a desire to save their starving families...

The Churchill cabinet knew Britain had to endure and wait for a strategic opportunity. To endure, they had to delay China's progress.

Therefore, the Foreign Secretary proposed again: "Let us return Emperor Haile Selassie I to Ethiopia. Although he may no longer be under our control, at least it will prevent China from controlling the country."

Ethiopia is an ancient nation with a genuine 3,000-year history. Among the current global powers, only China and Italy can stand alongside Ethiopia in terms of historical heritage. Both Britain and France must bow to Ethiopia in matters of history, let alone Germany and the United States.

The greatest advantage of historical heritage is that a nation has its own roots. When the rest of Africa was colonized, Ethiopia held out. Even though the Ethiopian government was defeated in 1935, the nation did not perish but continued to fight the Italian invaders.

However, this resistance from the Ethiopian people naturally produced political forces that were not under British control. In the British view, it was entirely possible for China to control the local resistance forces' "Committee for Unity and Cooperation," established in the summer of 1937. The Ethiopian Committee for Unity and Cooperation had been receiving Chinese support and had selected a unified command and political leadership in the war against Italy.

Although Emperor Haile Selassie I might no longer follow British orders upon his return, at least he could regain power and prevent the Chinese from seizing the opportunity to take Ethiopia.

While a desperate move, this was the best choice the British cabinet had to date. Ultimately, the cabinet passed the Foreign Secretary's plan and began to act quickly.

Meanwhile, Marshal Cheng Ruofan, a member of the WPLA Presidium and Director of General Logistics, was preparing to add more fuel to the fire under the pot in which the British were sitting. The liberation of Ethiopia was not the only source of that heat; Marshal Cheng had decided to thoroughly dismantle the white colonial regime in South Africa and sail the Chinese fleet into the South Atlantic. He was even considering a visit to Argentina.

After nearly two years of war, Britain had lost most of its colonies and 60% of its markets. The value of the Pound Sterling had plummeted accordingly.

If Britain wanted to solve its food problem now, it had to import from overseas. The United States was not an easy partner; purchasing grain from the U.S. required hard currency—gold and silver.

If they didn't import from the U.S., they had to import from Argentina. If a Chinese fleet visited Argentina, it meant China could cut off British merchant ships traveling to and from Argentina at any time. And Britain's current naval strength was simply insufficient to defeat the Chinese Navy in the South Atlantic.

By now, Cheng Ruofan fully recognized the great power of economics. A trade route rendered inoperable had an impact on Britain greater even than the loss of a fleet. If Britain were reduced to the British Isles, even with five million troops and a hundred warships on those islands, it would be finished. The economic scale that the British Isles alone could maintain was pathetic. If China simply left the islands alone, the British would be eaten hollow by those five million soldiers and hundred ships; they would either explode internally or begin large-scale demobilization, thereby lowering their own combat capacity.

In contrast, although China's population of 700 million placed immense pressure on economic development, once China possessed the entire Asian market, a significant portion of Africa, and the Soviet market, it could maintain full production and full employment. The wealth created by industrial production was enough to sustain a high-intensity, high-烈度 global war without even entering a state of total mobilization.

Of course, Cheng Ruofan also expected the military operations in the South Atlantic to shake America's resolve. The United States had already lost the Pacific; once the Chinese Navy entered the South Atlantic, from a broad perspective, the U.S. would be fighting a two-front war, surrounded on both sides.

While the Roosevelt administration's nerves seemed very resilient, Cheng Ruofan felt that its members were also human—and elite individuals with considerable strategic vision. These men could not fail to see the danger, and the more they understood the danger, the more likely they were to become emotional.

The military organization of the WPLA fully adopted the brigade-battalion model. Besides the fact that the established Chinese units used this model, the enemies in the African liberation wars were weak, and division-sized units were too large, placing higher demands on logistics. Thus, they were discarded.

The Boers in South Africa had decided to fight on. After all, thirty-some years ago, the Boers had relied on guerrilla warfare to fight the British for several years, causing them much suffering.

On May 30th, the South African 1st Cavalry Division clashed with the 23rd Brigade of the WPLA 8th Corps. At the start of the battle, an aerial strike formation of 16 Chinese J-9 advanced trainers hammered the South African positions with bombs and machine guns.

The South African army had a large number of horses, in keeping with Boer tradition. During the Boer War, they had relied on cavalry for guerrilla tactics.

Soldiers could hunker down in trenches to avoid air strikes, but horses had nowhere to hide. Panicked by the noise, the horses began to flee in all directions. In less than an hour, the 1st Cavalry Division lost half its horses. Among the remaining cavalry, about one-tenth saw things going poorly and used "chasing the horses" as an excuse to temporarily leave the field.

At this point, over 2,000 men of the WPLA 23rd Brigade began their assault. Due to its small size, the brigade completed its logistical resupply with only 50 trucks.

With continuous air support and 80mm mortars pounding key points on the South African line, the WPLA units, while not having fully mastered the essence of squad and platoon tactics, at least put up a proper showing. The machine gunners of the 1st Cavalry Division, facing an infantry assault that seemed to be everywhere yet sparse, could only fire by feel.

As soon as a fire point was exposed, it was struck by squad-level 60mm mortars. Even if their accuracy wasn't great, several shells landing together provided enough lethality.

Seeing the situation turning unfavorable, the 1st Cavalry Division launched a decisive counter-charge, attempting to drive the WPLA from the front of their positions.

The first wave of the charge was initiated by pure infantry. As these white troops approached, they were first subjected to bursts of assault rifle fire, suffering significant losses. When the whites reached the WPLA officers and soldiers, who rose to meet them with fixed bayonets, they were stunned to see that among the troops were many whites—and many blacks.

That whites had "betrayed" whites was a fact that deeply saddened the Boers. And that blacks dared to charge toward their "white masters" with bayonets was an insult to them.

Letting out a cry from the depths of their souls, the Boers rushed at the WPLA soldiers. Bayonet combat is exceptionally cruel, as there is no such thing as a duel of hundreds of rounds. While there were sounds of clashing steel, there were more sounds of bayonets entering flesh and the screams of the wounded.

Squad and platoon tactics rely heavily on three-man combat teams, and bayonet fighting depends even more on coordination. In this first round of clashing, the Boers suffered much more. Especially when images of black soldiers' bayonets piercing Boer bodies appeared on the battlefield, the shock to the colonial troops was immense.

While black soldiers had participated in the wars erupting in Europe, their overall proportion was limited. Furthermore, blacks were an absolute minority in the European home islands, so whites weren't particularly worried.

But on the African continent, and especially in the southernmost reaches like South Africa, whites were the absolute minority. When whites were cleanly and efficiently killed on the battlefield by black soldiers, it triggered the greatest fear in the hearts of the white troops. If this situation became widespread, all whites would face only death, with no other possibility.

Stimulated by fear, the white soldiers in the 1st Cavalry Division's front ranks launched a fierce offensive. Based on their century of experience, they believed they had to completely crush the blacks' courage to resist in order to maintain white superiority.

The Boers shouted and cursed, charging the black soldiers with their weapons. But war would not be changed by such disorganized charges. The officers among the black soldiers had received over two years of training, and the soldiers at least six months.

In a theater like the Soviet-German front, which demanded high levels of skill and tactics, six months of training was far from enough to produce elite units. But the level of warfare in South Africa was at most that of the Franco-Prussian War; six months was enough for brave black soldiers to master shooting and bayonet techniques.

The Boer charge not only failed to terrify the black soldiers but allowed them to fully demonstrate their combat ability. They quickly used three-man team coordination to kill the Boers before them, then continued to use squad tactics to inflict casualties on the hot-headed white colonizers.

At this time, a new wave of Chinese fighters arrived, laden with ammunition. Facing Boers who lacked anti-aircraft weapons, the Chinese propeller fighters took advantage of their slow stall speeds to conduct thorough "ammunition carpet-bombing," pinning the white colonial troops in their fortifications.

When the aircraft finally pulled up and ceased their attack, the soldiers of the WPLA 23rd Brigade had already stormed into the trenches, beginning a fierce close-quarters battle.

Gunfire, screams, shouts, and curses rang out incessantly. Relying on the firepower advantage of assault rifles and advanced squad tactics, the 23rd Brigade soon carved through the white army's lines, infiltrating their positions and attacking from all angles.

In this battle, the Boers had followed tradition and used a large number of blacks in logistics. when the black soldiers of the WPLA broke through the lines and appeared before the stunned black auxiliary units, the auxiliaries were at a loss, not even attempting to attack.

For the South African blacks, this was also the first time in their lives they had seen a black army slaughtering the white masters. A black army that even the white masters couldn't defeat left the auxiliaries with a deep sense of confusion and shock—so intense that they had no impulse to resist.

At this moment, skin color served as a powerful friend-or-foe identification. The black soldiers of the WPLA shouted in the local tongue: "Brothers, you are liberated! When we've killed all the whites, their things will be ours, and we will share it all with you!"

With these simple, direct words, filled with a primal sincerity, even those blacks who might have wanted to fight felt it necessary to wait and see. Especially those who had suffered cruel lashings were even eager to join the divine-looking black soldiers before them in seeking revenge.

Thus, the South African 1st Cavalry Division lost all its combat effectiveness. 州。