At this mont in the White House, President Hoover was sitting at his desk, cursing vehently.
Unfortunately, this did nothing to alleviate the dire situation that the United States was facing, even though President Hoover had already smashed several antique collectibles in his office.
Hoover had hoped to capitalize on the shortcomings of Calvin Coolidge’s administration by leading the Arican people out of the economic crisis, thereby sculpting himself as one of the greatest Presidents in Arican history.
But unexpectedly, shortly after assuming the presidency, he found himself in an unprecedented, dreadful predicant that no other Arican President had faced before.
The most difficult tis for the United States should have been during the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. But back then, the strongest enemy was Britain, and they had the help of the French.
Yet now, not only did Britain and France stand against them, but nearly 30 other countries had joined the war against the United States.
Although only a small fraction of their armies had been deployed, the combined land forces of these 30 countries exceeded 800,000—over ten tis the size of the United States Army.
What’s more, the United States Navy, which the Arican people took pride in, seed insignificant before the combined fleets of these nations.
Britain’s Royal Navy had mobilized with full force, clearly intending to crush the United States Navy and then move freely across Arican territory.
Another piece of bad news was that the United States was not at its zenith. The economic crisis had left the nation’s finances in dire straits, and it was uncertain whether they had sufficient funds to invest in the war.
More importantly, the various chaotic conflicts within the country were like ticking bombs, threatening to destroy the nation at any mont.
In the face of such severe internal and external troubles, not just President Hoover, but even if George Washington, the founder of the nation, were resurrected, he would be helpless.
"What are those Islanders doing?" President Hoover yelled, "Tell them they must uphold our alliance and join this defensive war.
Otherwise, once we extricate ourselves from this war, the Island Nation will face the full brunt of Arican retaliation."
"Mr. President, the Envoy from the Island Nation already left yesterday; I’m afraid they won’t be helping us in this war," the Foreign Minister said heavily. Stay updated via Freewebnovel
"What? How could you let the Island Nation Envoy leave?" President Hoover truly exploded in anger. Had his aim been any better, the antiques would not have hit the desk but rather the Foreign Minister beside him.
"Mr. President, could we even detain the Island Nation Envoy? Forgive my bluntness, but doing so would only give us one more enemy," the Envoy retorted with a slight irritation.
Although he was appointed by President Hoover, that did not an he had to follow the President’s orders unconditionally.
After all, they were all part of the Arican political upper echelons, each supported by capital; who was to fear whom?
Hearing the Foreign Minister’s words, President Hoover finally realized his own unseemly behavior and softened his tone, "I apologize, Thomas, I lost my composure."
"No problem, Mr. President," the Foreign Minister Thomas said with a smile, "Just the thing I wanted to tell you—I’ve recently contracted a serious illness and can no longer fulfill the duties of Foreign Minister. Please allow to resign."
Hearing this, President Hoover’s expression changed, well aware of the Foreign Minister’s intentions.
The situation the United States faced was now a dead end; staying in governnt would an only becoming Hoover’s scapegoat, bearing the infamy for eternity alongside President Hoover.
Leaving early might not shake off all the bla but at least would avoid being held responsible for the war’s failure.
After all, the Allied Army’s intentions surely went beyond rely imposing reparations on the United States; there was a high probability that they intended to carve up the country.
A governnt causing the division of the United States would surely bear eternal infamy; leaving early could actually be a way to preserve one’s political reputation.
Although understanding the Foreign Minister’s intentions, President Hoover had no solution. He surely couldn’t forcibly reject the resignation, could he?
Even if he could forcefully keep the Foreign Minister, it would only create panic among the mbers of the current United States governnt, possibly leading to self-destruction even before the enemy arrived.
In the following few days, several important ministers within the Arican Governnt tendered their resignations, and President Hoover consented to each one.
The majority of those who remained were Republican officials, that is, from Hoover’s own party.
It was not that Republican officials were prepared to advance or retreat with President Hoover. Rather, Hoover being Republican was an unalterable fact, and it was too late for the party to pull out.
Instead, they might as well give it their all to see if the unity of the United States could be preserved. Reparations were secondary; maintaining the unity of Arican territory was paramount, even if it ant paying more in reparations, compared to witnessing the fragntation of Arica during Hoover’s tenure.
If the country were to split during Hoover’s presidency, the Republican Party would likely beco the scourge of the United States, chased down by all.
Officials and candidates from the Republican Party were destined to be unwelco. Without the support of the people, a political party already loses its foundation.
In full response by the Republican Party, the Arican Governnt developed nurous strategies, which included the mass construction of submarines, attempting to block the news as much as possible, erecting a large number of turrets along the coastline, rapidly expanding the size of the army, putting the navy on war alert, and military factories producing weapons and equipnt at full capacity.
On June 28, the Arican Governnt launched a nationwide conscription. The scale of this conscription was even larger than during World War I, with the goal of recruiting at least 2 million soldiers.
Almost at the sa ti, major civilian military factories also received orders from the military. Various military supplies were being produced frantically, as the entire nation had entered a state of war.
In addition, the United States had strengthened patrols along its borders with Canada and xico. Aside from the possibility of the Allied Army landing on the Arican coastline, they could also land in the United States’ neighbors, Canada and xico, and directly enter the United States by land.
Compared to an amphibious assault, this type of land warfare was what the current United States feared most.
The Arican people were already regretting not thoroughly unifying North Arica, as now the remaining northern and southern neighbors had beco the greatest threats.
But whether it was Canada or xico, the United States could not eliminate them in a short ti and could only continue to strengthen border defense forces, praying that the enemy would not attack by land in the short term.
On June 29, 1928, nearly 30 countries led by Britain, France, and Australia formally declared war on the United States and imdiately expelled Arican envoys from these countries.
Almost at the sa ti, the United States also declared war on these countries, expressing its resolute stance.
Even before the declaration of war, that is, after the end of the spoils conference, the armies of Britain, France, and Australia had already been mobilizing.
Everyone knew that attacking the United States by land was the simplest, and the direction of the three nations’ troop movents was Canada, intending to eradicate the United States from north to south.
The good news was, at the subsequent World Alliance eting, xico decisively joined the combat column against the United States.
This allowed the Allied Army to achieve a situation of encircling the United States from the north and south, increasing the land pressure on the United States.
The previously celebrated geographical advantage had now beco a disadvantage that restricted the United States.
If faced with a pincer attack from north and south, the Arican army beca trapped with no place to escape. The navy, with its superior Allied Army, could also easily block the East and West Coasts, making the country like a turtle caught in a jar, with no possibility of receiving aid from other nations.
Of course, now the United States had to make a difficult choice, and that was whether to gather the navy together.
After the outbreak of war, the Panama Canal, vital to Arican life, was definitely impossible to hold onto.
The Panama Canal was too far from the United States, which could not possibly use a large number of ground forces to protect it.
This also ant that after the outbreak of war the communication routes between the East and West Coasts of the United States would be blocked.
After losing the Panama Canal, the United States Pacific Fleet and Atlantic Fleet would be stuck fighting separately.
The navy was already at a disadvantage, and if it were divided into two parts, there would be no hope of victory.
The Allied Army only needed to hold off either the Atlantic or Pacific fleet and use the main force to surround the other fleet, easily defeating the entire United States Navy by dividing and conquering.
But the United States didn’t have a good solution. Gathering the Atlantic and Pacific fleets could indeed strengthen the power of a single fleet, but at the cost of significantly weakening the defense power of the other ocean.
If the defense were focused on the Atlantic, there would be formidable enemies like Australasia in the Pacific. But if the defense were all in the Pacific, the European Union Army in the Atlantic could easily breakthrough Washington.
How to deploy the navy had beco the biggest dilemma because any decision seed wrong, and no strategy appeared to give the navy an advantage.
When the navy was at a disadvantage, the actual situation for the United States beca one of being attacked from all sides, and the outco of this war was already predetermined before it even started.
Without the ability to hold onto the Panama Canal, any action taken by the Aricans was futile, rely delaying the inevitable end of the war.
But for the current Allied Army, ti was the least of their concerns. After all, defeating the United States would bring plenty of money and a large population to exploit; they were not in a hurry to spend quickly.
While it appeared that Panama was still under Arican control, its defense forces could not even withstand the army of Central Arican countries, let alone the Allied Army.
As expected.
Under the signal from Britain, France, and Australia, nearly fifty thousand soldiers of the Central Arican countries assembled an army and marched toward the Panama Canal with clear intent.
On July 1st, 1928, the flas of war were finally ignited near the Panama Canal.
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