Yes, Prime Minister of Japan

They have their own 'Steel Dome' field air defense system, which they re-expose themselves. NATO fighter jets dare not fly low to get close, so they naturally can't bomb anything.

At this time, Brussels was already facing a status crisis.

"Where are the US troops? Please help them!"

von der Leyen and others repeatedly sought assistance from the United States.

The US military, on the other hand, encountered some minor problems.

Because the two commanders of the European Command and the Middle East Command were purged by Vance during the conquest of Mexico. They were now replaced by Alexius G. Grinkovich and Charles Brad Cooper II, whom Vance was more comfortable with.

The two men told Vance, "We have already transitioned to an auxiliary command and are not directly attacking the Turkish army. Besides, even if we were, it would be impossible to complete the overall operational deployment against Turkey's million military and police."

They thought Vance was overthinking things.

The current state of US overseas commands generally involves very few combat troops, relying instead on local cannon fodder. And Germany's cannon fodder is even worse than the US military's—a bunch of overweight federal couch potatoes.

The U.S. military could easily send its three remaining operational aircraft carriers to the Mediterranean to bomb Türkiye.

Then just check if Türkiye has any hidden anti-ship missiles, and that's it.

If even Yemen and Hamas can launch anti-ship missiles, surely Türkiye has some hidden in its arsenal?

Therefore, Vance was willing but unable to do anything, and could only make excuses in the face of the EU's urging.

The EU, however, has its own intelligence channels and is gradually learning why Türkiye was able to fight.

They first sold all their agricultural and industrial products to Li Xinghe at rock-bottom prices in exchange for foreign exchange. With the foreign exchange, they then went to Russia to purchase military fuel and weapons to support their war machine.

With fuel, tanks and planes could advance, harvesting gold, precious metals, various machines, and agricultural products in the occupied countries, then selling them cheaply to Li Xinghe in exchange for more foreign exchange to buy more fuel and weapons, and continuing to rob and extort from the Balkan countries.

Therefore, after discovering that the United States was unreliable, Türkiye was uncontrollable, and the face of the European Union was practically worthless, the bureaucrats in Brussels were at a loss.

They obediently began to discuss whether they could seek help from China and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

After some discussion, the EU concluded that Li Xinghe, who had interests in Ukraine, might have conflicts of interest with Turkey when Turkey attacks the Orthodox Turkic Gagauz Autonomous Region of Moldova.

Therefore, they called Li Xinghe first.

Someone nervously reminded Feng Zhonglai:

"Remember to say thank you first."

Feng Zhonglai made the call and hurriedly said:

"Thank you for answering. Is this Prime Minister Li Xinghe, Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Consortium?"

……

On the other end of the phone, Feng Zhonglai's slightly obsequious voice rang three times before Secretary-General Gao Tiaowuyue, whose English was never very good, finally reminded the other party:

"You're still sanctioning the king of the Asia-Pacific region."

Yes.

The EU also imposed some personal sanctions on Lee Sung-ha because of the democratization riots in South Korea.

Then Gao Tiao hung up the phone in May, waiting for the EU to kneel down and slap themselves in the face before saying anything more.

She jumped off the table and went back to her office.

An expanded military and security conference is being held here, bringing together defense ministers or regional leaders from multiple countries and regions, including Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Vietnam, and South Korea.

As the main speaker, Zhang Xiaoqian analyzed:

"Our world is returning to the imperialist hegemonic diplomacy of the 19th century. Globalization and anti-globalization, economic and trade cooperation and economic and trade sanctions, are two forces that are driving the integration and de-integration of regional countries respectively. In retrospect, Turkey's military's willingness to fight is also a consequence of the EU cutting off normal trade channels and imposing heavy sanctions."

With the US and EU imposing sanctions on Russia, Russia is unable to live a normal life and has begun military expansion.

They imposed sanctions on Türkiye, making it impossible for Türkiye to maintain normal industrial production, so it naturally had no choice but to begin military expansion.

It's only because East Asia has China as a steadfast and stable force that Li Xinghe could have been targeted by the West; otherwise, if the West had imposed sanctions on Li Xinghe, he probably would have had to launch a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.

Therefore, military expansion is the normal logic of human state actors.

When trade becomes unprofitable, the only option left is to use force. Therefore, a regional power's military reach extends to areas beyond which other countries cannot interfere, allowing that power to expand its military to its borders. For example, Li Xinghe's navy reached as far as Australia, and the US military couldn't do anything about it.

In today's world, most countries are insignificant and not essential supporting elements. They existed independently during the US-Soviet rivalry and may also disappear in the process of building a new order in the 21st century.

Zhang Xiaoqian then analyzed Türkiye's war strategy:

"At the same time, we analyzed Turkey's operational model. Their troops are never more than 100 kilometers away from their own territory, and can rely on Turkey's basic industry for supplies. As you can see, this is a map of the border roads of various countries. Turkish truck drivers can reach their supply destinations within 2 hours."

In other words, the Turkish army has not left its supply center so far, so it is fighting relatively smoothly.

Zhang Xiaoqian continued:

"Moreover, Turkey had already completed its military mobilization in advance to suppress the Istanbul unrest. On the contrary, the Balkan countries, due to the large-scale exodus of young people and poor economic conditions, were attacked before they could mobilize. It can be said that they were prepared to fight the unprepared. Therefore, I don't think the Turkish army is that strong. At most, they are an old Cold War-style, Israeli-style army."

But the other Balkan countries are weakening even more, having been drained dry by the EU.

During the discussion, Takajo Satsuki also received several pieces of classified information.

She leaned down and whispered in Li Xinghe's ear:

"The Romanian army has retreated across the board and is holding its ground in the Carpathian Mountains. The Turkish army has occupied the Wallachia region and moved north into the Moldavia region of Romania. It is already bordering us in Izmir, Odessa Oblast."

This brings us to the issue of the distribution of interests between Türkiye and Li Xinghe.

Then, Takajo Satsuki said:

"Serbia declared war on Kosovo, citing the need to reclaim lost territory."

Whether Vucic is a Greater Serbian nationalist remains to be seen, but Serbia certainly needs this shot in the arm to consolidate his party's rule. As soon as the news of Serbia's declaration of war broke out, gunfire erupted on the Kosovo border; the Serbs were going to Kosovo to demonstrate their old tricks from the Balkan wars.

Li Xinghe, with his legs crossed, sighed:

"Interesting."

The Balkans are the real sensitive spot in the world; poke it and so many toads will spring up.

Li Xinghe asked:

How many people are there at the European Command now?

Zhang Xiaoqian replied:

“他们已经组织了400辆99A主战坦克、300辆T72M主战坦克，合并成一个西南装甲集群。同时我们还向欧洲司令部配发了信息指挥车、相控阵雷达站与北斗卫星的军事协助。预警机有1架，歼10C大概到位40架，旧F15C改陆续到位了100架。”

Li Xinghe began to think.

Given Türkiye's expansionist model, if the fighting continues for a few more months, it will lose its ability to expand, its logistics will be cut off, and its economy will collapse.

Therefore, he instructed Gao Tiao in May:

"Eliminating the Turkish army is almost enough. We're now preparing to negotiate with the EU on the terms of profit sharing. We want to divide spheres of influence; we want the entire Balkans, Türkiye, and Syria."

Chapter 998: I'll Kneel Down and Beg You for a Favor, Suffering for the Sake of Suffering (4000 words)

Summer of 2032.

While Tokyo news outlets were constantly reporting on the birth of Hanae Kanoichi's second child (actually her first), the ever-changing international situation kept Japanese and South Koreans on their toes. They discussed the situation in Europe and, whenever they had a spare moment, joined in discussions with Chinese netizens who were active in political commentary.

At the airport, Li Xinghe didn't even have time to look at his newborn child; instead, he was seeing Gao Tiaowu off.

In May, she clung pitifully to Li Xinghe's leg:

Are you really not going?

Li Xinghe shook his head upon hearing this:

"Haha, I'm not going. I hate those idiots. Their brains make you feel like they might be normal, but it's also hard to say they are. So don't take it too seriously, just go to Brussels and make an appearance."

Li Xinghe certainly wouldn't be idle enough to risk his life in Europe. But for Gaozhao Wuyue, as the secretary-general to the Japanese prime minister, it was necessary to go to Europe to build up her reputation and establish a foothold for her succession.

Therefore, May Takajo, representing the entire Asia-Pacific Consortium, traveled by plane to Brussels.

The resilient little bean didn't need to rest; upon arriving in Brussels, it immediately held diplomatic talks with the EU's external affairs department.

As her equal in status, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, a blonde woman with somewhat fierce eyes, sat in front of Takajo Satsuki.

She got straight to the point and gave orders to Takajo Satsuki:

"We hope that China... I mean the Asia-Pacific region, will stop supporting Türkiye."

Although Gao Tiaowuyue knew perfectly well that Li Xinghe had secretly sold a batch of sensitive weapons to Turkey, she pretended not to know. Those weapons were all unearthed from American military warehouses; she didn't believe the EU could find any evidence.

She countered with:

Where did we support Turkey?

I thought the EU had caught the coalition forces red-handed, but instead, this blonde woman took it for granted and accused the coalition forces:

“Maintaining normal trade and international settlements is a way of supporting Turkey, given that the EU has already imposed sanctions on it.”

From the EU's perspective, the fact that the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), China, and Russia did not join the EU in imposing sanctions on Turkey is astonishing. Good grief, are these three deliberately stirring up trouble? Therefore, by not joining us in imposing sanctions, they are essentially supporting Türkiye.

This follows the same logic as when China was promoting its support for Russia during the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

If someone doesn't follow our lead, then they're opposing us.

Gaojiao Wuyue was truly baffled.

Are you begging me, or am I begging you?

You EU members were begging us to come and talk, and now you're trying to undermine me?

Anyone who didn't know better would think he was summoning a servant and giving him a scolding.

At this moment, Gao Tiao Wuyue truly understood why Li Xinghe said, "Don't worry too much, just show your face," and "They're not crazy."

The EU's external affairs department, which is both quite ordinary and very confident, told May Takajo:

"Our biggest concession is recognizing that Ukraine's interests lie with the Asia-Pacific region. Believe me, this is the biggest decision the EU has reached with the unanimous agreement of the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the European Council, and the European Parliament."

Upon hearing this, the coalition forces were completely stunned.

"What do you mean by 'the biggest concession is recognizing that Ukraine's interests belong to us'?"

Gao Tiao was stunned, still thinking that life in Europe was a year ago. The natural resource revenue from Ukraine had been transferred to Li Xinghe by the Americans three years ago, and Li Xinghe had already sent people to Ukraine last year to buy grain and sell it for money.

You said this year that you acknowledge that Ukraine's interests belong to us?

Did the EU travel through time, or did time lower the EU's IQ?

You're using the territory I already control, and the portion of the interests that the US has acknowledged being transferred, to acknowledge us?

Why don't you admit that the toilet seat in my bathroom is mine?

After only a dozen minutes of chatting, Gao Tiao Wuyue was about to throw up.

She exchanged a glance with the deputy envoy, and then directly issued their ultimatum:

"Then I will also tell the EU that if the EU wants the Asia-Pacific Consortium to send troops south to contain Turkey, we demand that the EU recognize the area from the Balkans, Turkey to Syria as the Asia-Pacific Consortium's sphere of influence. At the same time, the UK's military base in Cyprus must be transferred to us."

Upon hearing this, the European External Action Service was stunned. (The rest of the text appears to be gibberish and unrelated.)

From the perspective of EU members, is this... is this a solution that even a human could conceive of?

Do you know who you're communicating with?

We are the European Union, after all.

As the saying goes, "Europeans always believe they have the key to victory," and therefore close their eyes and refuse to let go of anything.

Although the EU negotiators remained silent, May Takajo already understood what they wanted to say, so she preemptively launched a counterattack:

Do you even have the right to make demands?

"Go eat shit, you idiots! Let's go!"

While the Europeans still wanted to maintain their composure, Takajo Mayu wasn't going to tolerate them. She directly withdrew her diplomatic corps and military attachés from various coalition countries.

"Damn it!" Gao Tiao Wuyue was so angry that she wanted to take out her phone and use the Asia-Pacific Consortium Secretary General's account to rant about how Europeans were all idiots, but considering her political image, she held back.

It wasn't until she boarded the plane and went to complain to Yukimi that she received a reply from Higashikawa Yukimi:

"You were talking to the European External Action Service. Although they are responsible for implementing the European Commission's foreign policy directives, the Minister of External Action is Kaya Karas, the former Prime Minister of Armenia who is extremely anti-China and anti-Russian. She probably interfered during the negotiations."

Hearing this, Takajo Satsuki became even angrier.

It's still the internal strife within the EU that's making people sick.

Can a foreign affairs department really overturn the European Commission's overall decisions and act recklessly according to its own whims?

Yes, that's how we in the EU are.