When news reached the United States that Germany had begun to suffer heavy bombing, most Americans were indifferent. A few who did care found themselves feeling a touch of satisfaction.

Until now, the costs of the war had been borne primarily by Britain and the United States. Germany, as the initiator of the Second World War, had enjoyed the glory of conquering Western Europe and pummeling the Soviet Union without bearing much of the responsibility. Now that Germany was facing massive raids from China, these Americans felt that retribution, though delayed, had finally arrived.

At this time, Captain Dan had returned to Montgomery with Colonel Bourbon. During the days of the first Confederacy, Montgomery had served as the South's capital. As the Southern grandees reconvened there, the Confederate "Southern Cross" flags fluttered in the streets, and many people donned Southern military uniforms. For a moment, there was a profound sense of time-traveling back to that bygone era.

The great realignment of the Democratic and Republican parties would not happen until Ronald Reagan’s era in the 1980s. In 1945, the American South was firmly Democratic territory, while the North was the Republican stronghold. Thus, even though the current President was the Democrat Henry Wallace and the Vice President was the widow of the famous Democratic President FDR, the assembled Southern Democrats cared little for that fact.

The representatives from the Southern states quickly convened a meeting. Those who had come believed there was no longer a need to remain forcibly tethered to the Yankees. Their discussions skipped past the possibility of a successful war for independence and went straight into what kind of nation the American Confederacy of the South should be.

Unexpectedly, the representative from Florida immediately raised a question: "Are Spaniards considered white?"

To the Anglo-Saxons, the English were white, the Germans were white, and the French were likely white as well. But whether Latinos counted as white was a much more contentious issue. As for the Russians, they were seen as a people whose bloodlines had been "polluted" by the Yellow race.

That Florida could join the South was a good thing. But Florida’s mainstream language was Spanish rather than English, which already made it an outlier. While the other delegates wanted to gloss over the issue, the Florida representative was adamant about a definitive ruling, which greatly displeased the representatives of other states.

Many delegates turned their eyes toward Colonel Bourbon. They were local feudal chieftains, adept at politics in their own way, but they found themselves out of their depth when it came to such theoretical matters. Colonel Bourbon, a proper military academy graduate, was considered an intellectual. Surely, they thought, the Colonel would have an opinion.

Bourbon, knowing his own limitations, simply pushed Captain Dan forward to "take the bullet." Dan was reluctant to step into the spotlight at such a time, but seeing the serious gazes of Bourbon and the other grandees who had heard his strategic briefing earlier, he had no choice but to rise and greet the assembly.

Even with his polite demeanor, the grandees could not help but look with skepticism at this young man under thirty, his beard still relatively thin. Fortunately, Bourbon introduced him as a pupil of General Ridgway, whose intervention had saved Dan from dying in an FBI "black site" in Washington. This gave the grandees enough patience to hear the boy out.

GIVEN the opportunity, Dan went straight to the point. "If war breaks out, the foundation of this conflict will no longer be a dispute between slave states and free states. It will be a choice between the South and the North regarding the future direction of America.

"Gentlemen, the Yankees always claim the South is backward. But in terms of globalization, the South has always far surpassed the North. Our trade is primarily in agricultural products, and the one thing the world has always lacked most is food. A man can go a month or two without a radio or a television—even a year or two—and his life will continue. But a man can only go a day or two without eating before he begins to falter; after a week without food, he is essentially dead.

"Thus, in my view, while the question of who is white is certainly worth discussing, the core issue of whether Florida joins the Confederacy is about what kind of life you all wish to lead."

The Florida representatives, most of whom wore the pencil-line mustaches favored by Latinos, nodded slightly as they listened to Dan’s explanation. Not only they, but the representatives of other Southern states showed similar reactions.

Dan knew he should stop there and sat down quickly after a salute. However, the representative from Georgia spoke up: "Young man, what do you believe the ideology of the Southern Confederacy should be?"

Dan dared not answer immediately, and Colonel Bourbon tried to block the question directed at the "child." But the delegates from other states had become interested in Dan. While the polite, scholarly style of a young intellectual wasn't exactly the trend in the South, they still held considerable respect for men of culture—especially a young man who could articulate ideas that felt fresh and novel.

Ultimately, even Bourbon and the Alabama grandees could not refuse, and they allowed Dan to share his views. They only hoped the boy wouldn't say anything that would make them a laughingstock.

Dan had no choice but to pull out the content he had learned from reading He Rui’s works to fill the gap.

"Gentlemen," Dan began, "some say the cause of our failure in the last war was a lack of industry; others say it was our smaller population. Both points have merit. However, I believe our strategic disadvantage lay in our lack of allies. The North could draw on resources from all over the world to sustain the war, while the South could only dig into its own strength. After the South paid a massive price, it simply could not continue, leading to defeat.

"Therefore, this time, we too need allies. And those allies are the states—not just the Southern ones, but also some in the North, particularly those in the West.

"In this war, Roosevelt promised the American people that winning would contain Chinese expansion and build a bright future for America.

"What allowed Roosevelt’s decisions to pass? It wasn't just his silver tongue; it was the US Constitution, which mandates that external powers belong to the federal center. Once the vote in Congress is over, every state must obey the federal government’s orders regarding external affairs.

"The fault here is no longer a matter of state rights; it is a fault within the Constitution itself. We need to completely tear down this Constitution established two hundred years ago and draft a new one that fits our current era. Only then can we solve the problem at its root.

"I believe there are people in every state who desire this. Only by gaining the support of the states can we overwhelm that small clique of Northern politicians in Washington who care only for their own interests!

"Those politicians are opposed not only by the Southern states but by the Western states as well."

As he finished, Dan sat down hurriedly. If he could, he would have vanished on the spot to avoid being called upon again. The methodology behind these views was distilled from He Rui’s famous dictum: "Who are our enemies? Who are our friends? This is a question of the first importance for the revolution."

However, the politically inexperienced Dan need not have worried. What the political grandees were fighting for was the power of decision and leadership. After Dan had presented such a refreshing perspective, their instinctive reaction was to seize ownership of this line of thought. Seeing the young man remain silent, the grandees actually found him quite sensible and endearing. Had he said more, they would have certainly moved to suppress such "presumptuous" behavior.

Finally reaching a break in the proceedings, Colonel Bourbon and the Alabama grandees took Dan to a private room. As Dan’s discoverer and current mentor, Bourbon issued his orders with the solemnity one might show a close nephew.

Dan was not to return to the assembly hall for now but was to remain ready for a summons at any moment. No matter what questions followed, he was expected to provide answers as brilliant as the one he had just given.

Once Bourbon had finished his briefing, several local Alabama grandees spoke with the kindliness they might show to the nephew of an equal: "If someone asks why we needn't worry about the Chinese for the time being, how would you answer?"

Dan gave his answer immediately: "China does not wish to invade the US mainland; at most, they want Hawaii and Alaska. Furthermore, China's primary goal right now is to eliminate Germany. Germany is powerful and will not be easily destroyed. From now until Germany’s total surrender, it will take at least nine months."

The grandees of this "backwater" of Alabama certainly knew of Germany, but they didn't quite understand why it would take nine months to defeat them. However, they were now inclined to believe Dan’s words.

They looked at Colonel Bourbon, who showed no sign of disagreement. The Alabama grandees then chose to leave and hold their own small meeting.

Dan, finally left in peace, felt a sense of relief. He instinctively began to reflect on China’s campaign against Germany.

Among the major powers of the current Allies, France had turned, Italy had jumped ship, and the Spanish Republicans had retaken power with WPLA support. Britain had been defeated by force.

The nominal members of the Allies now consisted only of the United States and Germany. With President Wallace preparing for peace talks, Germany was inevitably China's next target. As a soldier, Dan truly wanted to see how long Germany could fight. But he lacked intelligence channels to find out.

Regarding sources of information, Dan felt that since returning to the US, he had become like a man walking blind—he knew nothing. Paradoxically, while in the Chinese POW camp, China had provided the most timely news to the prisoners to break their psychological defenses. This news had included both world news and Chinese news.

During his time in the camp, Dan’s favorite thing had been listening to the Chinese news. Compared to American news, the Chinese reports were rigid, cold, and devoid of human sentiment—often even avoiding emotion entirely. Yet Dan had loved them; from these reports that never lied, he could sense the cold reality and the true threads hidden beneath it.

The more he understood the Chinese news and accepted the methodology of historical materialism, the more he felt himself growing. Yet at the time, the thought that he was growing within a POW camp had been quite distressing.

Still, thinking of the pain Germany was now facing, the finally-released Dan couldn't help but feel a touch of Schadenfreude.

Had the German people known of Dan’s current joy, they would likely have wanted to drag him out and shoot him. The first wave of the Chinese Thousand-Bomber Raid had dealt Germany immense losses.

The city of Bremen was in ruins, and twelve other German cities along the flight paths between Britain and Italy had been heavily struck. Not since 1937 had Germany felt the threat of invasion—until now, eight years later.

As bombs fell from the sky, killing loved ones, destroying homes and factories, and leaving the streets in unrecognizable chaos, the anger and terror of the German people rose to unprecedented levels.

In the aftermath of such a catastrophe, the first people to appear before the German populace were the organizers of the Nazi Party. Gestapo officers in black leather coats, shooting criminals on the spot, and members of the Hitler Youth began tallying losses and organizing the survivors to receive food at aid stations.

These people gave the survivors confidence. Such is human nature: as long as there is organization, there is hope. The man currently in charge of this effort was Reinhard Heydrich. Formerly the Governor-General of Poland, he had returned to Berlin after the signing of the Soviet-German Armistice to once again head the Reich's legal system.

After China eliminated Britain, Heydrich was appointed Deputy Leader of the Nazi Party and head of the SS. Himmler, the "chicken farmer," had long been a pawn in Heydrich’s hands. At this time, Himmler was much as he had been before Heydrich went to Czechia and Poland—a man immersed in his own world of ideology. Heydrich quickly sidelined him once again, seizing actual power.

It must be said that Heydrich’s political maneuvering was indeed effective. His rapid seizure of power was also due to the fact that the younger and middle-ranking cadres of the Party and SS, facing the threat of defeat, were deeply disappointed in Himmler and had actively shifted their loyalty.

Heydrich harbored no illusions; he realized that defeat was likely inevitable. But he intended to fight on. Surrender was an insult to him, and he believed that as long as order could be maintained in Germany, even if the Third Reich fell, there would still be immense room for Nazi members in the future Germany.

The Nazi Party had come from the people, born in response to their cries. If it abandoned the people, it would dissolve and cease to exist.

Thus, Heydrich directed all his energy toward maintaining domestic order under the war. As for the conduct of the war itself, he not only refrained from interfering but also kept his subordinates from doing so. Even if Heydrich considered the Wehrmacht generals to be "soft," he acknowledged they possessed true professional skill.

Heydrich chose not to actively interfere with the Wehrmacht, and the military was initially happy to be left alone to mind its own business. But such an arrangement is impossible in the operation of a state—especially one as fully mobilized for war as Germany. The allocation of resources is the most critical part of state governance. Heydrich was not only responsible for disaster relief but was also forming the *Volkssturm*, which naturally siphoned off resources that had previously belonged to the Wehrmacht.

Three days after the first Thousand-Bomber Raid, Acting Chief of Staff von Manstein appeared in Heydrich’s office. Manstein had originally intended to invite Heydrich to his own quarters, but Heydrich had declined, citing his busy schedule. Manstein was forced to come in person.

Any other general would have been more aloof after becoming Acting Chief of Staff. But Manstein, though from a noble family, was a true "muddy-legs" frontline officer at heart. Faced with the crisis of Germany’s destruction, he chose to express an attitude of open and honest cooperation toward Heydrich.

Manstein was a man of respectable appearance, and Heydrich was widely acknowledged as the "handsome man" of the military. The only reason Heydrich had been unable to stay in the Navy was that his superior’s daughter had fallen for him and, after being rejected, had turned her love to hate and engineered his forced resignation.

Manstein had always been dismissive of such petty matters. Thus, he did not use this as a starting point. He asked bluntly: "Mr. Governor-General, do you believe that total mobilization can save Germany?"

"Total mobilization can ensure the enemy suffers unprecedented losses," Heydrich replied coldly.

From the very start, the conversation between the two men crackled with sparks of friction.