Yes, Prime Minister of Japan

They were even wearing American flags.

The staff officers could only point out again:

"According to Japanese sources, Li Xinghe's marines have betrayed him. Our plan to attack from the north and south has failed."

Chapter 807: Settling National and World Affairs (6300 words)

"Anyone who believes this is the most stupid, incompetent, brain-dead, and utterly despicable idiot in the world!"

At 6:30 a.m., in the Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting room at the Pentagon, the sound of Chief of Staff Grady cursing Li Xinghe could be heard.

"Damn it! You're trying to fool idiots!"

Chief of Staff Grady was really going to be driven crazy by Li Xinghe.

The staff officers also resolutely refused to believe Li Xinghe's bullshit lies.

In this world, anyone with normal intelligence, or even someone with mild intellectual disability like Shinjiro Koizumi, would not believe Li Xinghe's statement, "My subordinates have betrayed me."

Officials have determined that the situation in the Taiwan Strait is irreversible and have no choice but to hastily change course:

"Quickly bring back those who have already landed on the island. We don't need to worry about the illegal immigrants, but so many officers have only just arrived!"

Some people still remember America's dignity:

"Don't forget, there's also the First Army's command team on the island, along with tens of thousands of overseas Chinese, green card holders, staff, and thousands of command instructors!"

At least within the known timeline, Li Xinghe's subordinates exhibit a high degree of unity characteristic of traditional Chinese secret societies. In previous political upheavals, Japanese high-ranking officials and Americans, offering money to his subordinates, couldn't even find the door to deliver it. Language barriers were one issue, but the group's unity was an even greater problem.

You're saying that a part of such a united unit suddenly betrayed them?

Moreover, it took away three battleships, Zhenhai, Gaoli, and Badao, which demonstrated incredibly strong near-shore attack capabilities, in one go. It used 18 510mm naval guns to bombard several Taiwanese military camps and even trapped the Taiwanese president and senior officials in the small Hengshan Command Post, blocking the door and flooding it.

What do they picture?

Can the CCP grant them greater power and status than they have in Japan?

Are you kidding me?

This is a clever indirect showdown tactic.

Li Xinghe seemed to be mocking the Pentagon from across the Pacific Ocean:

“I have a secret agreement with the CCP, but I don’t want to break ties with you yet. You can decide what to do.”

What about the subordinate troops defecting? Believe it or not, that's all wishful thinking.

The question is, do you dare to break ties with me?

But there are indeed tens of thousands of American expatriates and green card holders, staff, and instructors on the island.

These individuals have connections with the CIA, FBI, DHS, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the Pentagon, the White House, and numerous Wall Street and law firms. Consider the 700 billion NT dollars that Taiwanese life insurance companies have invested in US stocks and bonds, the 2 trillion NT dollars in US bonds held by Taiwanese people, and the state of Taiwan-US relations—all of these reflect the aforementioned situation.

Chief of Staff Grady was still reeling from the shock of the bombshell news when he analyzed it:

"The only possibility, the only explanation, is that during his visit to Shanghai, he reached some kind of secret peace agreement with the CCP. Therefore, he sent a brigade of troops to demonstrate his intention to 'cooperate' and break through the defenses that the Taiwanese army had not anticipated, in order to assist the Chinese army in landing in Taiwan."

But one of the staff officers decisively refuted him:

"I think not. They probably prepared for this all along. The battleship project started last year. Our original plan was to build a few big toys for the president to play with. They took it upon themselves to modify them into amphibious assault battleships. The blueprints, plans, gun calibers, drones, and helicopters were all handled by them in private. Now, these three battleships are having such a great effect. It's clear that this was premeditated!"

This staff officer is right; in some ways, he has even given the fundamental answer.

The problem is that the Pentagon cannot believe such an explanation.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff and the General Staff cannot be trusted in this way.

Chief of Staff Grady proactively covered for Li Xinghe:

"How come I don't remember it like this? I remember it very clearly. The proposal we gave was called a heavy coastal firepower delivery ship, and they carried out a general design based on our proposal. The original blueprints were of the Yamato battleship, and the secondary modification blueprints were of the Iowa interceptor assault ship modification plan. We reviewed both of them."

No, absolutely not, we cannot admit that Li Xinghe had long ago planned a rebellion.

Otherwise, it would implicate Chief of Staff Grady himself.

This is a very big problem.

It's important to understand that during the White House battle at the end of 2028, Li Xinghe returned to Washington with several batches of wounded soldiers. Originally, he was supposed to leave after delivering the wounded, but given the turbulent circumstances at the time, no one wanted him to leave. This resulted in the G Brigade being stationed at the Boy Scout camp next to Arlington Cemetery. That was arranged by Chief of Staff Grady.

The story that followed was quite complicated. Over several nights, Li Xinghe fought against various armed groups and, incidentally, made several emergency calls to the White House, rescuing the incompetent and muddle-headed Trump and successfully persuading him to withdraw from the 2028 election.

At least at that time, the entire United States was grateful to Li Xinghe. So when Li Xinghe later rescued Trump from Mar-a-Lago, Americans didn't think much of it; it was a predetermined plot. The Los Angeles death run, the 2028 Washington election night, and Vance's house arrest of Trump in 2029—the number of times Li Xinghe rescued Trump is enough for Trump to marry all three of his granddaughters to him.

That 84-year-old man has managed to stay this long; Li Xinghe is even more considerate than his son.

However, regardless of the circumstances, Chief of Staff Grady has had close cooperation with Li Xinghe on numerous occasions and has been entangled in the Trump affair. If this were to backfire and be attributed to him, the problem would be extremely serious. At best, he would be forced to retire and change careers; at worst, he would end up in jail.

The chief of staff is in jail, but Li Xinghe is able to get away with it.

The biggest difference between the US military's General Staff and the Taiwanese military's General Staff is that in the US military's operational system, the generals of each command have greater authority. The Joint Chiefs of Staff, as the highest staff body, does not have absolute power. In the Indo-Pacific theater, Commander Paparo has the final say, but since the US forces stationed in Japan and South Korea are independent entities, he has not interfered much in their affairs previously.

So Li Xinghe was essentially the US commander in Japan, free to do whatever he wanted. From then until now, Li Xinghe has always been seen as a local tyrant within the American system, a consequence of the independence of the outer regions.

This characteristic of regional strongholds is an inevitable result of the US military's global presence.

Japan's situation is rather peculiar; they never assign full responsibility to anyone, resulting in a complex web of departments and a lack of a primary military leader. Ultimately, after Li Xinghe became the top leader, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces began to function more smoothly.

After some back and forth, Chief of Staff Grady finally went to the White House with questions and some conclusions.

During the all-night approval process, Vance wearily asked them:

What do you think his purpose is?

The various analyses from White House officials:

"It's definitely not about breaking with the CCP. He just got the CCP's aircraft carrier, and he's probably ecstatic right now."

White House advisors have similar considerations to those of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:

"We suspect they might be using the island's expatriates and the First Army that just landed in Tainan as leverage. If we offer them some benefits, like forgiving the $3000 billion debt, or not demanding those three... no, those three aircraft carrier battleships that are probably impossible to get back, or even more benefits, they might be willing to help evacuate these officers from the Taiwan battlefield..."

Vance could only lament:

"Damn it... why July of all months? Why the 7th of all days?"

Just wait two more months, until the US military sends more illegal immigrants and Filipino cannon fodder to Taiwan, until they complete their basic military training and beachhead defense operations, until more secret weapons flow into the pro-independence government in Taiwan, until they completely control the original Kuomintang army...

If we can withstand China's unified offensive by September, it will be possible. This is the result of multiple discussions and assessments by the White House and the Pentagon.

Unfortunately, the war began in July.

The two-month time difference shattered all these plans.

Therefore, Vance was even more pained by Li Xinghe's shamelessness after turning against him:

"That bastard. He first took money from the CCP, then went to steal Taiwan's population; next, he took money from the Federal Reserve and seized Taiwan's life insurance and semiconductor industries; now he's taken advantage of both China and Taiwan, ordering his soldiers to use our ships to attack the Taiwanese military, raising his own flag in Keelung Harbor, and he even has the nerve to straddle both sides and come back to ask us for money!"

I've never seen such a shameless person in my life.

From the White House's perspective, Li Xinghe's tactics and core principles remain unchanged.

All I want is money, money, money, money.

The falling out with Vance was due to the trillion-dollar US Treasury bond; protecting Taiwan was due to the shipbuilding orders given by the US; attacking Taiwan was due to the money given by the CCP; deceiving the Taiwanese military was because the Federal Reserve had already received the money; and returning to the White House to continue cultivating relations was because they could ask for another sum of money to maintain a strategic balance.

I'll help whoever pays me.

The White House is filled with doubts:

"So what was his purpose in telling us this?"

The advisors each gave their own answers:

"Does he want the USS Eisenhower? Or... is he using Japan's aircraft carrier repair capabilities to blackmail us into raising the price of military services?"

"I don't understand. Maybe... they want zero tariffs so they can dump those flimsy Japanese cars?"

Chief of Staff Grady, seeing that the fire hadn't spread to him, hurriedly suggested:

"No matter what, we must maintain the dignity of the Taiwan Strait."

This "decency" means that American expatriates, government agencies stationed in Taiwan, and the troops they send out must maintain a semblance of dignity on the surface.

Regardless of the core issues, we cannot allow the United States to lose face in Taiwan.

At this point, everyone shared a common sentiment:

"In a sense, Li Xinghe, this little devil, has indeed lived up to our expectations."

Yes, Li Xinghe has always been a devil. He will fulfill the wishes of those who make them, but not in the way they expect. For example, the Pentagon's ultimate goal with Li Xinghe has always been to have him act as a shield to cover the withdrawal of US troops from the First Island Chain.

The US military has indeed withdrawn from the First Island Chain, but not in the way the US expected.

……

Late at night on September 7.

Despite not having had a break for over twenty hours, the team was still full of energy and holding a meeting at the Presidential Office Building in Taipei.

Hayashi Yuko received a message from Tokyo:

"The Americans have delivered their offer. This time, the White House is willing to impose zero tariffs on Japanese cars in exchange for your continued neutrality on the Taiwan Strait issue and your assistance to the Taiwanese government and its citizens in Taiwan in evacuating."

This made Li Xinghe smile broadly:

"That's right, our original goal was just to delay the Americans' movements, hahaha."

Li Xinghe lied to the United States because he was afraid that the US military would leave and he wouldn't be able to achieve the desired results.

At this time, the South Korean Samsung transport fleet, which had transited through Tokyo, unloaded the main combat forces of the Combined Armored Division at Keelung Port. Combined with the Marine Corps assault brigade, they aimed to use the combined strength of a mechanized division and an infantry division to deliver a heavy blow and turn the three infantry divisions of the reorganized First Army into a pulp.

The armored division had already been mobilized as early as July 1st, and is now ready to join the battle.

Lin Youzi asked:

"So, should we accept it?"

Li Xinghe sneered and waved his hand:

“Accept. In the name of this document, begin confiscating American assets in Taipei and throughout Taiwan. Leave no scum behind. We can offer a discount, maybe 2%.”

In short, the goal is to eradicate American influence completely.

Those like Hsiao Bi-khim who secretly hold American citizenship were stripped of their entire fortune.

Apart from Lin Youzi, all the officers here are of Chinese descent.

Zhang Xiaoqian said:

"According to intelligence, the newly reorganized units of the First Army are not as strong as our Eighth Army and G Brigade. Only the officers are real American officers; most of the soldiers are useless convicts and Filipinos temporarily recruited."

Over the communication channel, the voices of He Yang, Xu Baofeng, and others, filled with envy, could be heard:

"With so many enemies, is there enough meat to go around? I'm afraid our allies won't be happy. When the 91st Brigade landed in Taoyuan, they even got a piece of the pie, along with the remnants of a corps headquarters and two armored brigades. When the 14th Brigade landed in Nanliao, Hsinchu, it was practically just a beachhead brigade on the front line, and it collapsed without much fighting. Now the 91st and 14th Brigades are going to fight tooth and nail to see who will be the 'Number One Heroic Regiment of Taiwan' that landed in Taiwan."

Li Xinghe clapped his hands:

"Forget about whether there's enough to go around. You all go and handle the military matters. Prepare your troops and march south to wipe them out!"

All the generals answered in unison:

"Yes!"

Lin Youzi asked curiously:

"how about you?"

Li Xinghe sighed and patted his pocket:

"I have a lot to do, and I need to focus my energy on diplomacy and politics."

"I'm going to Okinawa to lay low for a while and announce to the outside world that after receiving the quote from the Americans, I had a fight with the CCP's special envoy over the unequal distribution of power."

The provisional provincial committee, which had not yet set off for Taiwan, was suddenly burdened with a huge accusation.

At this time, a massive national mobilization is underway in the country.

Hundreds of cities across the country with local Taiwan Affairs Offices organized the liaison personnel they could find in each locality, mobilizing them to cross the sea to Taiwan, the sole purpose of this department's existence.

Tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of governing personnel have been mobilized, emerging from small units in provinces, cities, and counties. It's unclear how many were hastily put into service, or how many young, promising talents were placed among them. The forces truly responsible for governing Taiwan are being mobilized, striving to establish a reserve department covering the military, government, civil affairs, public security, and judicial system within days, to fully complete the takeover.

Then, Li Xinghe hastily left Taipei and went to Okinawa via Keelung.

A few hours later, Li Xinghe actually ran into Lao Wang in Ryukyu.

The key element is that one of the reasons Lao Wang went to Ryukyu was to stake out Li Xinghe.