World War: Battleship Arms Dealers

"These are reports we've collected from observers in some neutral countries, including records from Swiss and Swedish Red Cross personnel. Yes, there were civilian deaths and property damage, but on a much smaller scale than the figures the British have claimed. More importantly, the French army also practiced scorched earth during their retreat, and the Russian army engaged in far more serious looting on the Eastern Front—but these rarely appeared in British and American newspapers."

Wilson picked up a document and quickly glanced at it. His brow furrowed deeper and deeper.

Lansing attempted to retort: ​​"But this does not negate the fact that the Germans used poison gas, which violated the Hague Convention!"

"As far as we know, both Britain and France have records of producing and using poison gas," Wang Wenwu calmly replied. "Last April, the French army used chlorine gas for the first time in Ypres. It was only because the wind changed direction and the gas drifted back to their own positions that this was concealed."

He looked at Wilson: "Mr. President, I am not defending either side's actions. War is inherently immoral; it can make people do things they wouldn't normally do. What I mean is, if we get bogged down in questions like 'who violated international law first' or 'whose methods were more brutal,' we'll get into endless wrangling and forget the really important issues."

"What are the really important questions?" Wilson put down the documents and put his glasses back on.

Chen Feng took back the reins: "The really important questions are: How will this war end? What will the world be like after it ends? What role does Miraika want to play in that world? And—most importantly, what kind of ending best serves Miraika's interests?"

He paused, leaving the question hanging in the air.

"Let me put it more bluntly. Mr. President, what do you think would happen if Mirika entered the war and helped Britain and France completely defeat Germany? Germany would be dismembered, burdened with astronomical reparations, and plunged into utter poverty and chaos. Then, ten or twenty years later, an angry, vengeful Germany would rise again, and the next war would be even more brutal."

"This is the worst-case scenario," Lansing said.

"But this is a very likely scenario," Chen Feng said, looking directly at Wilson. "Because history has already proven that Germany's harsh reparations to France in 1871 sowed the seeds of today's war. If the victorious powers were to impose even harsher demands on Germany this time, then the next war would already be brewing."

Wilson's fingers stopped tapping. He leaned back in his chair, lost in thought.

The room was silent for a full minute.

A bird was chirping in the treetops outside the window, its voice faint and distant through the thick glass.

Finally, Wilson broke the silence: "Mr. Chen, you have painted a pessimistic picture of the future. But if we do not stop Germany, and if they win the war, wouldn't Europe be even worse off under the militaristic rule of the Kaiser?"

The question has returned to its starting point, but the tone is different now—it's no longer a moral declaration, but a genuine confusion and search for answers.

Chen Feng knew that the critical moment had arrived.

"Mr. President, let's conduct a thought experiment." He placed his hands on the table. "Suppose that Germany did indeed win the war and control Western Europe. Then what? They would need to rebuild the war-ravaged regions, deal with internal conflicts and exhaustion, and assimilate the newly occupied territories. This process would take at least ten years, or even longer."

"What will happen in the world in this decade?" he continued. "British colonies may begin to falter—independence movements are already brewing in India, Egypt, and South Africa. The French colonial empire will collapse even faster. A huge power vacuum will emerge in the global colonial system."

Wilson's eyes lit up; he had grasped something.

"And on the other side of the ocean," Chen Feng's voice grew stronger, "Melica will become a safe haven for global capital, and New York will completely replace London as the international financial center. Melica's industries can be exported worldwide without competition from Europe. Melica's values—democracy, freedom, and capitalism—will become the model for postwar world reconstruction, because only Melica has the power to promote them."

He looked at Lansing: "The Secretary of State is an economist by training, so he should know better than I do what a European war, if it is moderately prolonged but not expanded, would mean for Merica. It would mean a continued influx of European capital and talent, it would mean Merica products monopolizing the global market, it would mean Merica completely transforming from a debtor nation into a creditor nation, it would mean... the twentieth century becoming the true Merica century."

Lansing's Adam's apple bobbed. He did not refute.

Chen Feng turned to Wilson: "And now, some people want the United States to abandon this bright future and plunge into a bloody war. To sacrifice the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people, spend hundreds of billions of dollars in military expenditures, and incur the generational hatred of the German people—for what? To save that declining British Empire? To maintain a colonial system doomed to collapse?"

His words struck the table like a hammer blow.

"Mr. President, the United States doesn't need war to win the world. Time is on the United States' side. Europe is self-destructing, while the United States is steadily growing stronger. Why interrupt this process? Why use the blood of the young people of the United States to nourish the withered trees of Europe's old empires?"

Wilson took off his glasses and rubbed his temples. This gesture betrayed his exhaustion and struggle.

"Mr. Chen, what you said... is very convincing. But you've overlooked a crucial issue: political reality. The people of Melaka saw Zimmerman's telegram, saw the sinking of merchant ships, and saw reports of atrocities coming from Europe. They are demanding that the government take action, and the pressure on Congress is mounting. As the elected president, I cannot ignore this."

"Public sentiment can be guided," Wang Wenwu said softly. "Mr. President, if you show the people another path—a path where the United States can lead the world without sacrificing its life—if they understand the cost of going to war, perhaps their thoughts will change."

"The price?" Wilson smiled wryly. "They've already seen the price. Every month there are reports of Merica merchant ships being sunk."

"So we need more comprehensive information," Chen Feng continued. "Not the propaganda filtered by the British, but real, complete information. What is the true cost of war? What is the cost for a family to lose a son? What is the cost of a nation burdened with debt? If the people of the Meika knew that the Britain they helped save might not even be able to pay the interest after the war, would they still be so enthusiastic?"

Lansing shook his head: "That's too cynical."