Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 215 The Price of Choosing the Wrong Side
It's important to understand that the selection of the president in the United States is essentially the same as the hundreds of succession battles that have taken place in the Han Dynasty over thousands of years. If one chooses the wrong side, the losses suffered can be absolutely fatal.

And so it was Lao Zi that he participated in the US version of the succession struggle, and even invested nearly ten million US dollars in campaign funds for Du Lu's opponents. How could he not be resented?

It's important to know that the Duterte-Williams are not exactly magnanimous people. For example, after achieving a stunning comeback in the 1948 election and successfully winning re-election, the Duterte-Williams invariably displayed a front page of the Chicago Tribune from the previous day at the subsequent press conference, which prominently featured the headline "Dewey defeats the Duterte-Williams."

Such a move would naturally severely damage the newspaper's reputation, making its publications no longer trustworthy.

The reason why the newspaper did this was mainly because Du and his allies reversed the election in the 1948 presidential election, defeating Dewey, who was widely predicted to win, creating a historic election reversal that caught the media and analysts off guard.

The 1948 US presidential election was truly dramatic. The Chicago Tribune had already printed the headline that Dewey had defeated the Trumps, but the final result was astonishing.

Du Lumen, this American political scientist became the thirty-third President of the United States after succeeding the deceased Deputy President Ross.

Despite not being favored by outsiders in his re-election campaign in 1948, especially given his peasant background, Du and his supporters staged a last-minute comeback, defeating the great philosopher John Dewey.

This event left a deep mark on later Mexican history. William Manchester wrote in "The Glory and the Dream": "For Mexicans over forty years old, there are four particularly prominent events in their memory."

The Pork Harbour Incident, the death of Vice President Law Sik, the 1948 general election, and the assassination of Kenneth Maguire. These events seem etched deep in people's memories, indelible no matter how time passes.

Indeed, in terms of surprise and drama, the 1948 US presidential election was undoubtedly the most dramatic reversal in US election history.

Even before the election began, the media and various analyses had already widely predicted that Dewey would achieve an overwhelming victory.

However, historical turning points often occur unexpectedly. The successful re-election of Du Lu and his ilk not only defied external predictions but also sparked a sweeping transformation on the political stage.

After World War II, the Turks worked to push for new legislation aimed at improving the nation’s health insurance and education systems, while also regulating corporate wages and profits to promote economic recovery in the postwar society.

However, despite passing proposals to improve social welfare and economic regulation, the Duterte administration faced strong opposition from the business community and the media, resulting in significant political challenges and a public image crisis during its term.

The announcement of these proposals, however, was met with strong opposition from business leaders. They argued that, with the war now over, the government should not excessively restrict private development.

Despite repeated emphasis from the Durbughs that their proposals aimed to protect the public good, they ultimately failed to gain widespread support in the United States. During this period, newspapers and magazines were filled with satirical cartoons and short articles about the Durbughs. Reports indicated that the Durbughs favored wearing brightly colored floral shirts on vacation, which was seen as a lack of presidential dignity. Even at his daughter's concert, criticism of her performance by music critics angered the Durbughs, leading to a public argument.

These seemingly insignificant matters have severely damaged the image of Trudeau and his ilk as heads of state, further eroding public support. Opinion polls show that only 30% of voters consider Trudeau and his ilk to be competent presidents.

Dewey's campaign is in full swing, and his campaign slogan, "Welcome Dewey, our next president," is quite impressive.

Through a meticulously planned nationwide speaking tour, Du Lu and his ilk successfully won public support. Their aggressive political rhetoric and incisive campaign strategies ultimately secured their victory in the election.

Even facing difficulties, the DuLu team still chose to garner support through a series of speeches. In this election, they not only meticulously planned their speech content but also strategically chose the timing of their presentations. Their speeches were captivating and moving, which was key to their ultimate victory.

It's worth noting that from September 5th to November 2nd, the Du Lu group embarked on a three-month nationwide speaking tour, covering 32,000 miles and delivering as many as 250 speeches.

His speeches often used terms like "not open," "not transparent," and "secret," accusing the parliament and the party-controlled assembly hall of being opaque to the public and pursuing private interests. Such remarks resonated with many farmers and other groups in the country.

Meanwhile, Dewey preferred to describe the magnificent scenery of the Rocky Mountains and talk about the tranquility of the countryside; his speeches, however eloquent, were relatively dull.

Therefore, as the speeches of the DuRites became more and more attractive to the audience, Dewey's audience gradually decreased.

Meanwhile, in the summer of 1948, as the fate of the Soviet Union on the mainland became clearer, the Soviet Union sought military aid from the United States, which brought about a turning point in its decision to support the Dutov faction. After being re-elected, the Dutov faction reduced aid to China and focused its main efforts on winning the war in Berlin, which ultimately led to the further development of the civil war.

In order to seek military aid, the old man bet on the future US presidential election, and even secretly sent Chen Lifu to the US to provide funding for Dewey's campaign.

Although US law prohibits presidential candidates from accepting foreign donations, Dewey accepted the funding due to a lack of funds.

Shortly after Duterte's re-election, Song Meiling visited the United States at the end of November and requested that Duterte provide another 3 billion US dollars in military aid, but this was rejected.

Furthermore, on August 5th of the following year, the Du Lu regime completely suspended economic and military aid to the Huaguo Kingdom and severely criticized Lao Ziqi's leadership and incompetence in governing the country.

Even in 1950, Du Lu and his ilk stated that they would not assist in or interfere with any matters involving raising the wrist.

Therefore, if it weren't for the outbreak of the Korean War, the withdrawal of the arm would not have been a problem.

All of this was caused by Lao Zi's wrong choice of sides in the succession struggle. Imagine, at that time, Du Lu and his supporters were already the weaker party. Therefore, if Lao Zi had chosen to provide financial assistance to Du Lu and his supporters at that time, it would have been like sending charcoal in snowy weather.

With this sentiment in place, it's inevitable that they'll ask for military aid to China, especially if the 3 billion US dollar aid plan had actually come to fruition.

So for Lao Ji, while he might not be able to turn the tide, he can at least catch his breath. At the very least, his food problem can be properly solved.

Keep in mind that three billion US dollars was no small sum at that time!
After all, the price of a B-24 bomber is only 290,000 US dollars per aircraft.

Three billion US dollars could buy tens of thousands of B-24 bombers. If the old man really had that many bombers, what position couldn't he bomb flat?
Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs." The reason for retreating to a single island is the price of choosing the wrong side.

(End of this chapter)