Yes, Prime Minister of Japan

However, from Biden to Trump, the US national debt rapidly went from barely manageable to a ticking time bomb that could destroy the United States due to high interest rates.

During the conversation, Li Xinghe jokingly said:

"This is a classic example of capitalism killing itself. Making them earn less is more painful than killing them."

At this point, the whole world knew the outcome.

Europe will collapse first.

Why did Europe collapse first?

The answer is very simple: only Europe maintains an extremely high proportion of fiscal spending.

In developed European countries, government spending typically reaches 50% of GDP. For example, France's GDP is 3 trillion euros, but its government spending reaches a staggering 1.5 trillion euros. Even more ironically, despite this massive expenditure, French society remains completely dissatisfied, with many complaining about excessively high taxes and insufficient personal benefits. The French government, already economically strapped, simply cannot find the funds to sustain this massive deficit.

In other words, European countries are among the first regions to be unable to maintain their government finances in the process of irreversible decline.

Compared to European countries, the government spending of the United States, China, and Japan is not so extravagant, generally remaining at around 20% of GDP, which is only about 40% of the level of high-spending European countries.

However, the US fiscal spending differs from that of other countries. Due to the dollar's status as a global reserve currency, a large portion of the costs are actually distributed among other countries, thus distorting the US data. Therefore, China's fiscal spending ratio is indeed not high.

In response to this high expenditure, Shui Jing Tianping jokingly commented:

"But I always hear that European societies are stable and have high welfare benefits, etc."

This is pure sarcasm and cynicism.

It can only be said that those who hold a rosy view of Europe and America call them "high-spending, high-welfare countries," but now they seem more like "highly corrupt, high-loophole countries." When social security, military spending, and other fiscal expenditures all have to pass through the hands of government officials like Smith, the fiscal loopholes become so numerous that they can induce trypophobia.

No amount of money can support its people, and they can spend it all no matter how much money they have.

Li Xinghe said with a smile:

"Europeans are supported by the Third World countries around the world and enjoy the strategic protection provided by the United States. They spend money excessively and create the so-called 'welfare society'. Now, when Britain and France lose their colonies and Germany's industry reaches 404, they can no longer afford to support their own countries."

In other words, regardless of whether Li Xinghe was spurring them on or not, Europe's fiscal spending would be unsustainable even if they withdrew their support. Because they were spending far too much.

After jokingly making fun of the world, Li Xinghe, as a 'vice-level' leader, still has some things to do.

After visiting the child, he met up with Li Daiyao in the afternoon and boarded a plane in the evening.

Li Xinghe is going to Shanghai again this time.

This year's interim summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will be held in Shanghai. Li Xinghe, as the monarchical head of the Asia-Pacific alliance, will represent several countries in signing cooperation agreements with China.

Of course, international observers who are clear about the nature of the SCO have issued warnings, believing that "Li Xinghe has begun formal military cooperation contacts with China" and that "the excessive moral accusations from Europe and the United States will cost them their last Eastern ally."

'This is no ordinary little devil; we must strike hard!'

But no one could stop Li Xinghe from appearing in Shanghai, so despite the warnings issued by international observers, they could not stop him.

On a February evening, Shanghai netizens watched with bated breath as Li Xinghe's private jet landed in Shanghai and he boarded a car to go to the Peace Hotel.

"My fellow Shanghainese, I, Lao Li, am back! Hahaha!"

As one of the most abstract East Asian leaders, Li Xinghe deliberately held a cup of Mixue Ice Cream in his hand when he got out of the car, and even shook it in the direction of the Oriental Pearl Tower.

Those who don't understand the meme might think he's deliberately trying to be friendly, but those who do understand it immediately realize he's just having a great time playing with abstract regional references.

Compared to those who constantly proclaim "I love China," it seems that those who start using abstract regional memes as soon as they return to China are the true Chinese.

But the problem is, this is the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) conference.

Even Li Daiyao couldn't help but complain about him:

"Please, this is a big meeting, be serious. Damn it."

Netizens also left comments:

"A person who slacks off during a major meeting does not deserve to be called a Shandong native."

"Please, do something more elegant."

the next day.

Before the meeting, Li Xinghe specifically sent someone to warn India:

"A warning to the Indian National Congress: if India dares to provoke trouble at this time, we will have to consider turning India into a geographical term."

Many people are unaware that the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has always been a regional cooperative group with military alliance characteristics. From the very beginning, the SCO signed numerous military cooperation projects under the guise of 'counter-terrorism'.

In particular, China and the five Central Asian countries. During the large-scale political unrest in Central Asia in the early 2020s, both Russia and China participated in maintaining political stability.

So during the few days of the meeting in Shanghai, Li Xinghe led a large number of countries from the Asia-Pacific Consortium to sign a series of military cooperation projects with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

After signing the secret military agreement with Li Xinghe, Old Wang, who had come to talk with Li Xinghe, asked Li Xinghe:

"We must publicly and clearly state our..."

Li Xinghe smiled and declined.

"No, we shouldn't. If we do that, Europe and America will only unite. They'll think the world has become bipolar and they have no choice but to band together for warmth. On the surface, we should continue to uphold the open and peaceful nature of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation."

In reality, China and the Asia-Pacific Consortium have an even closer military cooperation relationship than a military alliance, and China has directly sent its elite troops to the front lines as a rebranded consortium force.

As everyone became aware of the approaching flames of war, the Chinese Navy established closer ties with the Allied Navy.

Everyone is on high alert.

"Full-speed combat readiness patrol!"

Eleven aircraft carriers have spread out across the Pacific Ocean, covering a vast area from the western Pacific to South America.

There are also six robust and durable aviation battleships capable of high-intensity combat readiness patrols, currently conducting combat readiness patrols in a vast sea area stretching from the Mediterranean in the west to Antarctica in the south, from Samoa in the east to Alaska in the north, with their respective amphibious offensive and defensive fleets.

At this point, the ratio of the two sides' current combat strength is 11+6:3.

......

Washington.

As Li Xinghe led a group of his underlings to Shanghai to play Mixue Ice Cream and Connect-the-Dots, the White House was practically exploding.

"No, we must not let him steal our victory!"

Representatives from the financial sector, such as Rutnick, and NATO ambassadorial representative Matthew Whittaker from the cultural sector, strongly demanded a brutal crackdown on Japan, using every means except nuclear weapons, to force Japan to stop its usurpation of the US financial system and to stop its rapprochement with China.

In other words, the time has come when we have no choice but to take action and wage war.

If no action is taken soon, Li Xinghe will seize the United States' financial hegemony.

The civil servants urged Vance to:

"He only has three dilapidated aircraft carriers now! If he has another year, he will have a replaceable carrier strike group of six!"

“His shipyard is under construction every day; he has ample industrial strength.”

"It's obvious that if we don't act now, something bad will happen next year!"

Even the Pentagon agrees with this point.

From the perspective of the Pentagon's general staff, it was unlikely that Li Xinghe and China could quickly complete their alliance plan. Moreover, someone as despicable as Li Xinghe would be difficult to trust.

Of his six aircraft carriers, three large carriers are undergoing their fifth round of sea trials. The remaining three are the nearly 60-year-old Nimitz, the Japan (a ship pieced together from Li Xinghe's body parts by the Chinese), and the Shinano (a medium-sized aircraft carrier built by Japan itself).

Therefore, if we exclude the influence of China's aircraft carriers and remove those fancy but useless air battleships, Li Xinghe's main force in ruling the Western Pacific was actually just three cobbled-together dilapidated aircraft carriers.

Indeed, this year is the best time to bring down Li Xinghe. In another year, the United States will not even be able to control Li Xinghe.

But the Pentagon's staff also believes:

"As for our side, of the 10 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers we currently have, only three can be deployed rapidly. Furthermore, we can quickly prepare two more carriers within three months..."

Towards the end, the Pentagon was actually losing confidence. They claimed a rapid three-month preparation period, but in reality, no one was truly certain.

Given the current efficiency of American shipyards, it's hard to imagine repairing two ships in just three months.

Therefore, it is possible to defeat Li Xinghe this year, but it is unlikely.

Emperor Vance, on the other hand, was in a state of confusion:

"Wait a minute, how come he has so many aircraft carriers? Don't we have 10 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers?"

Yes, but they're all stuck in the port waiting for repairs.

In the United States, it is common for civilian officials to advocate for war while military officials advocate for peace.

The financial tycoons behind Vance were eager to curb Li Xinghe's financial rise, while the Pentagon, which was actually in charge of the operation, was extremely unwilling.

Anyone with a brain can see that going up against Li Xinghe now is tantamount to suicide. The US only has ten old, weak, and incomplete nuclear-powered aircraft carriers; they should strengthen cooperation with Li Xinghe and have him help repair or even build them – that's the right thing to do.

Many civil officials proposed outlandish battle tactics:

"What if we launch a surprise attack on Tokyo?"

Vance's eyes widened.

It's not that we haven't fought before, it's that we've never fought before.

This sentence may seem like a bunch of nonsense, but the first part means "fought" and the second part means "lost".

The intense pressure from the financial sector and the relentless hostility from the civilian government have pushed Washington to its breaking point.

The Pentagon racked its brains and came up with a sudden, ingenious suggestion:

"What if... we launch a surprise attack on the former American Samoan territory? It's currently under Li Xinghe's control, and there are only tens of thousands of people on the island. We can declare to the world that we have achieved a great victory in the 21st century in recovering American territory, and this will be the beginning of Li Xinghe's complete defeat."

The Pentagon officers are very realistic.

Please, stop thinking about starting a war, okay? You bunch of stupid civil servants!

Chapter 1020 Tiger Tiger Tiger! (4500 words)

Samoa recapture plan.

After days and nights of planning, the Pentagon finally presented Vance with their planned war operation.

Chief of Staff Christopher Grady explained to Vance:

"We call it 'Operation Mole'."

In the Pentagon's plan, they hoped that such a recapture operation would not anger Li Xinghe, and that it would be best if both sides could trade blows and avoid a full-scale war. If they weren't truly unable to tell Li Xinghe, the Pentagon would have loved to call him and remind him, 'Don't start a war.'

"This plan uses three aircraft carriers, forming three carrier strike groups and one amphibious landing fleet, to quickly enter and exit American Samoa."

The Pentagon made this arrangement.

Although the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command has several large aircraft carriers, it can currently only deploy a mere three ships from around the world:

USS John F. Kennedy, USS Eisenhower, USS Carl Vinson.

Among them are the USS Kennedy, which was under construction for nearly 20 years before entering service and suffered two head injuries after entering service; the USS Eisenhower, which is so old that it is almost unable to function; and the USS Carl Vinson, which is in relatively good condition and can be considered a relatively new Nimitz-class vessel.

Those who know, know that this is America's strongest three-carrier strike group going out to beat people up.

If you didn't know better, you'd think the USS Kennedy and USS Carl Vinson, father and son, were sending the old USS Eisenhower to a retirement home.

And this plan is very much in line with its name.

Mole.

Once the order to attack was given, the three U.S. carrier strike groups stealthily roamed the Pacific Ocean. They operated at night and hid outside busy waterways, encircling American Samoa from different directions according to the Pentagon's plan.

Several days later, in the early morning, the amphibious assault ship USS America, carrying a Marine battalion, stormed into Pago Pago Bay.

The locals naturally offered little resistance.

In reality, only half of the Australian battalion was on duty here, and they had no will to fight and surrendered immediately.

After unsurprisingly occupying American Samoa, the three US carrier strike groups immediately launched their catapults and fled the battlefield. They feared being overwhelmed by Li Xinghe's counterattack.

After maneuvering in the nearby waters for a day, the three carrier strike groups discovered:

"Huh? There are no enemies."

After that, they received orders to return home.

What no one told them was that the Pentagon had prepared a more complex operational scenario for this expedition.

In the second phase of Operation Mole, the Pentagon laid down its real main force.

When Chief of Staff Grady explained to Vance, he specifically mentioned:

"Aircraft carriers, I'm sorry, the main problem our nuclear-powered aircraft carriers face is that our fighter jets flying in the sky lack better long-range supersonic strike missiles."