Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 607 Taking a Step Back

The outrage sparked across Europe also spread rapidly within the United States. The US government was shocked by the findings; they never imagined that the flu could be linked to a chemical plant leak, and that this connection would be so readily believed by the public in Europe.

It's important to know that in the US government's own investigation into the cause of the flu outbreak, there was no evidence pointing to the flu being man-made.

How did the flu become linked to the chemical plant leak after the international coalition's investigation?

Perhaps the person most puzzled by this was US President Wilson. President Wilson at the time demanded that the US government thoroughly investigate the cause of the flu outbreak, leaving no stone unturned.

The government's report to President Wilson contained no information about a chemical plant leak, which is why President Wilson concluded that the flu was simply an accident.

Now that the international coalition's investigation team has produced evidence of a chemical plant leak, and that this evidence points directly to a leak from a US biochemical experiment that caused the flu outbreak, what is President Wilson supposed to think?

Was he angry at his subordinates' incompetence and audacity in deceiving him, or at the international coalition's investigation team for speculating about the United States without sufficient evidence, and even for leaking all the information directly?

November 12, 1918, in the office of U.S. President Wilson.

This ambitious American ruler now looked like an old man in his twilight years. His eyes were red and swollen, and he looked extremely tired. The cigar he held was almost burnt out, but President Wilson was completely oblivious to it.

It wasn't until the cigar in his hand started to burn that President Wilson realized what was happening. He stubbed the cigar out in the crystal ashtray and then said with a hint of indignation, "Damn it, this is a complete conspiracy against the United States."

Are the people all fools? Don't they know which country is the hardest hit by the flu?

Last month, more than 30 Americans died from the flu, but the results of the international coalition investigation tell me that the flu was caused by a biochemical leak?
Damn it, do you think I don't know whether this biohazard leak is related to the flu or not? Those damned British, French, and Spanish—they must have conspired together to kick us while we're down!"

The League of Nations investigation team's conclusion was certainly false; the flu had nothing to do with the chemical plant leak. As the President of the United States, Wilson certainly knew what was leaking from the chemical plant.

Although it is also a chemical drug, it is impossible for this drug to cause such a harmful flu, let alone spread it around the world.

The problem is that the US government cannot refute the results given by the international coalition.

The chemical plant leak was real, the military's lockdown of the plant was real, and even the flu outbreak originating from the military camp was real. All three key pieces of evidence were true; how could the US government refute this?

Are we going to brazenly tell the public that the chemical plant leak was simply because the United States was developing a chemical weapon, and that it had absolutely nothing to do with the flu?

Regardless of whether the public will believe the US government's claims, even if some people do believe them, it won't change the fact that most people still see the US as the culprit.

Even more critically, while facing external threats, the United States is also facing serious internal problems.

If this incident is not handled properly, America's short history may truly be coming to an end. For the United States, this is another major crisis, no less significant than the Civil War.

To exaggerate a bit, the crisis brought about by the Civil War was not as severe as the crisis brought about by this flu. After all, regardless of which side won the Civil War, the United States would still exist.

But if the United States were to completely disintegrate due to internal and external troubles during this flu outbreak, it would be hard to say whether it could continue to exist.

"Tell me, gentlemen. Now that things have come to this, what can we do?" President Wilson asked calmly, his gaze sweeping over the key officials of the U.S. government.

If he cannot save the United States as it is now, President Wilson can only prepare for the worst, which is to take full responsibility himself in order to salvage the reputation of the US government.

Under normal circumstances, the opposition party would have already begun impeaching President Wilson, eager to seize power from the US government.

The reason President Wilson remained in office was not because the opposition was unwilling to impeach him, but because the opposition also believed that it was incapable of handling the current situation in the United States, and therefore decided to leave this mess to President Wilson to deal with.

It wouldn't be too late to impeach him after President Wilson has dealt with all these problems. If he couldn't handle them either, then all the blame could be shifted onto President Wilson, sacrificing one president to ensure the survival of the US government.

Upon hearing President Wilson's question, the American officials in the office exchanged glances, and finally Secretary of State Robert Lansing spoke up: "Mr. President, the most important thing now is to resolve the huge trouble caused to us by the information revealed by the League of Nations investigation team."

Although we know the chemical plant leak has nothing to do with the flu, the public won't believe it, and neither will those damned newspaper reporters.

Any rebuttal we offer will be weak and ineffective; to these people, they will only see it as sophistry and a cover-up of the truth.

To quell this incident, we must start from the point in time. In my view, only an international coalition speaking out on our behalf can perhaps change the dire situation the United States is currently facing.

The position of Secretary of State is unique to the United States, and its authority is equivalent to that of the Foreign Minister in other countries. As the highest-ranking official in the U.S. foreign ministry, the Secretary of State is generally a close confidant of the President, which is why Secretary of State Robert Lansing spoke first.

President Wilson was not satisfied with Secretary of State Robert Lansing's answer. To get the League of Nations to speak for the United States meant that the US had to make concessions to the League.

Everything the United States is currently facing is largely a consequence of the League of Nations' investigation. As President of the United States, Wilson harbored deep resentment towards the four major powers of the League of Nations, and to back down to them at this time would be a disgrace for him.

Seemingly aware of the president's resentment, Secretary of State Robert Lansing continued, "Your Excellency, our top priority right now is to address the dire situation facing the United States."

The United States is currently facing a huge crisis, beset by both internal and external troubles. We must treat this crisis with utmost care and regard it as another great test no less severe than the Civil War.

Our concessions to the League of Nations are only temporary. We need international organizations like the League of Nations to explain ourselves so that we can gain the trust of the American people and the world and clear the United States of its guilt regarding the flu.

Only in this way can we confidently address the domestic crisis in the United States, thereby ensuring that the country does not disintegrate.

You are one of the greatest presidents in American history, and we certainly believe that America can become great under your leadership. But before that, some storms are inevitable. A powerful dreadnought must withstand the test of storms to dominate the seas, and I believe the same is true for America today. Sooner or later, we will dominate the world and exact revenge on the League of Nations.

U.S. government officials were well aware that this was all a conspiracy by the League of Nations investigation team, but at this point the United States had no choice but to back down to the League of Nations.

Because the international alliance controls public opinion, while the United States has a notorious reputation. No one will believe the US government's explanations if the US tries to explain itself.

Not to mention the people of Europe and the world, even Americans themselves don't quite believe their government's claims.

As a national government, the U.S. government absolutely cannot afford to have a bad reputation. Otherwise, the government cannot function without public trust, and the United States will naturally become paralyzed.

President Wilson certainly understood this principle; the reason he hadn't made up his mind yet was simply because he was somewhat unwilling to give up.

After being persuaded by Secretary of State Robert Lansing, President Wilson breathed a sigh of relief and then instructed, "You're right, Robert."

Temporary concesions will not defeat us. What we want is to stand at the top of the world in the future, so that the whole world can hear the voice of America.

After devising a solution, the US government approached the League of Nations investigation team, hoping that the team could issue a written statement confirming the US's innocence in the flu outbreak.

To ensure the fairness, impartiality, and transparency of the investigation, the U.S. government is willing to donate a substantial sum of money to the League of Nations and the investigation team to cover the League's operating expenses and the team's investigation costs.

Although the League of Nations investigation team did soften its stance, European countries' appetites were clearly greater than the United States had anticipated.

Of course, this is mainly because European countries suffered such heavy losses in this flu outbreak. Now that they've finally managed to extort money from the United States, they naturally want to get even more.

When President Wilson learned that the League of Nations wanted the United States to pay more than $1000 billion in compensation to make up for the huge losses suffered by Europe and the world during the flu, he finally became furious.

How staggering is $100 billion? According to the exchange rate before World War II, $1000 billion was equivalent to £1000 billion, which was 200 years of the British government's total fiscal revenue, and was higher than the GDP of the United States.

Let alone the fact that the current US government simply cannot come up with such a huge sum of money, even if it could, the US treasury would collapse instantly due to this enormous expenditure.

The League of Nations was well aware that the United States could not come up with such funds, so the reason it made such a request was clearly to extort the United States and try to completely drain it dry.

This was also the reason for President Wilson's anger. The League of Nations was treating the United States like a fish on a chopping board, as if the United States could be slaughtered at the mercy of the League of Nations.

When has the United States ever suffered such a great humiliation? Although the United States has always been seen as a nouveau riche in the eyes of European countries, it is still one of the great powers, with its navy ranking among the top five in the world, and its industry and economy firmly holding the top spot in the world.

President Wilson's anger was understandable, given that a burgeoning great power was being subjected to such blatant extortion.

The angrier he became, the clearer he realized that his anger was utterly useless. He could, of course, refuse the League of Nations' extortion, but what would that get him in return?

The international coalition investigation team only needs to leak a little information to completely confirm the claim that the leak at the US chemical plant caused the flu outbreak.

In this way, America's reputation will be completely ruined and will never be able to be redeemed.

Having become a pariah on the international stage, the United States has naturally become a target of universal condemnation. Coupled with the immense chaos within the US, even if this crisis cannot dismantle the country, it will be enough to cripple it and completely shatter its dream of becoming a superpower.

For the sake of America's dream of becoming a great nation, and for the sake of the United States as a country, President Wilson decided to be patient a little longer.

He turned to his trusted confidant, Secretary of State Robert Lansing, and said with a serious expression, "Tell Britain, France, and Spain that the United States will only accept $10 billion in compensation, and it must be delivered to the European countries as an interest-free loan."

The funds will take five years to arrive; if they don't agree to these terms, then there's no point in discussing anything further.

If they disregard American feelings, I wouldn't mind fighting them to the death. I need to maintain closer contact with the British and French ambassadors; they are much easier to deal with than Spain.

"If we can obtain the assistance of the British and French ambassadors, I believe the United States will be able to weather this crisis safely."

The current US government is indeed facing a huge crisis, but that doesn't mean it can't overturn the table. Britain's colony of Canada is just north of the US, and if the US were to completely break off relations, it could create enormous trouble for Britain.

More importantly, the League of Nations was not a monolithic entity. Although the compensation paid by the United States was shared among the League of Nations, Spain's losses in this flu outbreak were not particularly large, a fact that likely alerted Britain and France.

Britain and France were absolutely unwilling to let Spain gain any more benefits, as doing so would be tantamount to aiding the enemy.

Upon hearing President Wilson's instructions, U.S. Secretary of State Robert Lansing nodded solemnly and said very seriously, "I will meet with the British and French ambassadors and explain your views to them."

The great United States will never bow to its enemies; we are only temporarily yielding to them for the sake of our people.

We believe the public will understand our good intentions. Once we recover from this flu, America will still be a powerful America, and Europe will no longer be able to threaten us, even with underhanded tactics.

As a close confidant of President Wilson, U.S. Secretary of State Robert Lansing was certainly aware of President Wilson's plan for American revival.

Both men were well aware of the extent of the damage this pandemic would cause to the United States, and also of the enormous impact it would have on the rise of the United States.

But there's no way around it; things always need to be resolved. We can only pray that America will get back on track after this unexpected crisis, and hope that a great tomorrow awaits America, rather than a quiet end.

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(End of this chapter)