George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 320

George W. Bush’s Great America – Episode 319 (320/377)

< Episode 319 >

The full-scale Chinese civil war erupted in the Taiwan Strait. While feigning attempts to appease and negotiate, the Communist Party, subtly revealing its ambition to invade the mainland, dispatched a fleet to the Taiwan Strait to directly pressure Taiwan.

The problem was that the Guangzhou warlords, whose position was increasingly precarious and who were becoming more and more anxious, reacted more aggressively than the Communist Party had anticipated.

The Nanjing warlords, ostensibly allies, were, unlike the other warlords, gradually increasing their power under the influence of the Jinan warlords. They were growing increasingly skeptical of a divided China, and Guangzhou was trying hard to appease them because they didn’t like that.

And that sentiment, at some point, spread throughout China like a contagious disease. Unlike in the past, internet communication and wireless phones were well-developed, and the internet was playing a role in spreading truth or falsehood beyond China to the rest of the world without any filters.

And of course, this was a collaboration between the Communist Party and the United States. Breaking the opponent’s will to fight was a basic strategy. Not just making them shout, ‘I can’t live like this anymore!’ but ‘I can’t do this anymore.’

At some point, the only ones shouting for desperate resistance were the officers of the Guangzhou warlords who had received kickbacks from the warlord leadership.

In any case, the warlords mobilized all their air power in the Taiwan Strait, and the sight was truly spectacular. Each air force and navy entered a state of confrontation, and the sight of fighter planes circling over the fleet was like eagles preying on their prey.

The full-scale battle began when a J-11 [Chinese fighter jet] belonging to the Guangzhou warlords fired a warning shot under the pretext of defense and, unfortunately, struck a Type 52 destroyer [Chinese guided missile destroyer] belonging to the Communist Party.

To be precise, the J-11 fired a warning burst at the fleet using its machine gun, and the fleet took this as a serious threat and returned fire. The J-11 was subjected to concentrated fire from anti-aircraft guns and surface-to-air missiles from the fleet, and in order to avoid this, it repeated violent maneuvers, causing the engine to fail and stall.

The pilot experienced G-LOC [G-force induced loss of consciousness], a state of passing out beyond blackout, and eventually the J-11, which had lost both its engine and its pilot, plunged into the sea. But the problem was that it crashed into a destroyer. And the place where it crashed was not ideal.

The problem was that it crashed into the bridge. In addition, the fire from the aviation fuel spread uncontrollably, and although the ship didn’t immediately sink, it was no longer able to participate in the battle.

That’s right. In reality, it was a perfect storm of coincidence and misfortune.

“The rebels have launched a suicide attack! All fleets, return fire! Now that the war has begun, defeat is absolutely unacceptable!”

“Never let his sacrifice be in vain! Let’s show those damn guys what justice is today!”

However, the Communist Party interpreted it as a suicide attack, and the air force squadron, whose mission had been lukewarm from the beginning, must have seen it as a desperate act of determination at the last moment.

With that, even though combat orders had not been issued from above, they engaged in combat based on their own judgment. Moreover, even if orders hadn’t been issued, it couldn’t be said that this wasn’t a combat situation.

After exchanging fire, one fighter plane and one destroyer were lost. If this isn’t a battle, what is it? Moreover, after firing missiles and machine guns at each other, they suffered enormous losses and damage, so what do you call this if it’s not wartime?

In any case, regardless of the will of the dead, the battle began according to their own circumstances and desires, and both the warlords and the Communist Party responded calmly as if they had fully expected this situation, while at the same time falling into a state of panic.

What was important was not the result of the battle, but the fact that the battle had taken place. It destroyed the balance that had been maintained, albeit precariously, despite the imbalance in power, and raised the tension between the warlords and neighboring countries to the maximum.

Even as soldiers were risking their lives at sea, exchanging missiles, infighting began within the Communist Party. To be precise, infighting began because the war had begun.

The main point was that a moderate response was impossible from the beginning. And it actually worked well for them. In the first place, with the country divided and the warlords, that is, the rebels, outnumbering the People’s Liberation Army, what kind of moderate response through diplomatic solutions are you talking about?

Of course, if it were peacetime, they would be right. The point was that they had given them time to build up their strength, which is why they were able to launch such a proper counterattack. The fact that they had shown mercy to the rebels was a problem in itself, and the opposing faction’s main argument was that current Chairman Li Keqiang should step down from his position for abandoning his duties and responsibilities.

“Nonsense! Who decided that!”

The composition of the current Communist Party was completely mixed up. Well, thanks to the ?? incident, it was already as tangled as a ball of yarn that a cat had been playing with, but now even the slightest boundaries had collapsed.

Those who could be the center of gravity for factions had either fled overseas or had been dead for a long time. In addition, there were those who were unable to attend because they were involved with the rebels in various ways, or those who were suspected of being spies and were caught and confined to their homes.

Therefore, if you were to forcibly divide them, most of those who were originally members of the Communist Youth League became bodyguards, and the rest became anti-Li Keqiang. In short, they were divided into those who recognized Li Keqiang as chairman and those who did not.

The opposition tried to bring Li Keqiang down by any means, and the bodyguards protected Li Keqiang. At every meeting, the main discussion always ended with the topic of ‘The chairman is wrong,’ and the Communist Party’s losses were blamed on Li Keqiang.

Would Li Keqiang be the kind of person to step down? He was originally a person who was more skilled at using his head than anyone else. He survived all kinds of political storms and finally reached the position of being second only to one person, where no one could rule over Li Keqiang.

If Li Keqiang wanted to, he could send them all to the Ministry of Public Security.

‘But a large-scale purge is impossible.’

It was because it was wartime. If it were peacetime, he would have liked to catch those morons who didn’t know their place and rebelled so fiercely and purge them all.

‘Well, if it were peacetime, I would have chosen to turn their hearts around.’

The fewer enemies, the better, and the more allies, the better. That was the valuable principle that had supported Li Keqiang until now and brought him to this position.

‘But now is an emergency. Even one person’s help is needed.’

Li Keqiang thought that the opposition was a bunch of morons who were opposing the only person who could save the ruined China, but on the other hand, it was also true that their abilities were outstanding.

That’s why Li Keqiang couldn’t move rashly. It was enough to show results, no matter how much they slandered him. So where should he get those results?

The answer was already decided. Wasn’t there a deal with George W. Bush that he had secured while enduring humiliation?

Li Keqiang turned his eyes to Jinan.

***

Currently, the busiest organization in the world was, of course, the Communist Party of China, which had entered wartime. And next was the White House in the United States, which had intervened in the civil war. To be precise, it was the Pentagon, but in the end, all approvals were the responsibility of President Bush, so it was not entirely wrong to say that the White House was the busiest.

“The Communist Party has entered a state of war with the rebels in Guangzhou. In other words, it’s only a matter of time before they clash with the Jinan warlords.”

“That’s right. All operations are going according to plan. The problem is how long we can sustain the fight in that Chinese land.”

“It’s closer to a pretense than a real fight.”

Of course, if resistance was necessary, they would do it, but shouldn’t they avoid direct combat as much as possible? The US military had become a kind of deterrent in Chinese territory. But that deterrent was, after all, only for the sake of the operation.

Congress did not largely oppose Bush’s idea, but raised the problem that there was nothing to gain and only expenses. Therefore, they emphasized that at least Taiwan should be independent and placed firmly under the influence of the United States.

Furthermore, the goal was to guarantee Hong Kong’s independence, establish a pro-American regime, and bring it under its sphere of influence. The UK had already guaranteed Hong Kong’s independence to some extent, but the problem was that the UK had recently been reluctant to project power or issue statements externally.

They were expressing regret for the oppression of Hong Kong but otherwise leaving it alone. The main reason was that they didn’t want to be dragged into war anymore after the last war in western Iraq, but the fact that the United States was already involved was a big factor.

And within the UK, voices were rising that they should withdraw from the useless EU, and the Tony Blair regime was desperately blocking it. It had only been a few days since the EU withdrawal demonstrations had taken place.

The main participants in the EU withdrawal demonstrations were usually the parents’ generation who had lost their husbands and sons in Iraq. And it was the older generation who had been unhappy with the EU from the beginning.

“Anyway, Hong Kong. Even if we forcibly take it, it won’t be as valuable as it used to be.”

Moreover, they were not incorporating it into their own territory, but only exerting influence. Of course, it would be easier later, but that much ease would require that much cost right away. Perhaps this demand would force them to fight to the death with China.

“If we’re just going to exert that kind of influence and establish a pro-American regime, it’s okay, but if we’re going to take complete control, it will require a lot of effort and resources. Let’s put Hong Kong on hold for the time being.”

Bush, who had been acting cautiously to prevent nuclear war leaks, thought that Congress’s words made sense. After the urgent fire was extinguished due to the secret agreement with Li Keqiang, he also thought that he had acted too unilaterally.

“But they haven’t leaked the nukes yet. If our information and satellites are correct.”

“That’s what we were preparing for. The CIA moved urgently, but their skills are as reliable as the budget they were given. Moreover, the warlords are not yet in such dire straits. They will probably use it when they think there is no hope of selling or using it.”

“Maybe not, surprisingly.”

It cannot be emphasized enough, but humans were not very rational creatures. Rather, they were closer to emotional creatures. They were a chaotic variable that could do anything at any time.

“Mr. President, the Communist Party is moving troops to surprise the Jinan warlords.”

And Li Keqiang was also a human.