America: My Time

Chapter 1006 John's Counterattack
Chapter 996 John's Counterattack
"Damn it, how could this happen? Why are our stocks being shorted? Can we find out who is doing this?" With Hurricane Investment and Standard Chartered Bank taking action, the car companies in Japan were furious. Being shorted at this time was not a good thing, and everything happened too suddenly, leaving them no time to prepare. After all, their previous efforts were focused on how to cooperate with Toshiba and how to reverse their own losses.

"It was Hurricane Investment and Standard Chartered Bank. Our betrayal angered Mr. John. I said long ago that we shouldn't have done this. Betrayal will not end well, and we can't afford such an impact now. But you insisted on doing it. What benefits did Toshiba give you that made you insist on this? I just can't understand. What do those bastards in the government know? They only care about their own interests and don't care about our lives at all. Now Nissan's situation is even more difficult."

"It's too late to say all this now. They're targeting us not only in the stock market, but also in the media. The US, Europe, and Asia are all spreading rumors about our betrayal and are talking about how we Japanese betrayed our friends. Toyota is being criticized even more harshly, and their sales in the US have been affected, as have those in Asia, not to mention Europe. Those guys are taking advantage of our misfortune to target us."

"This time, we want Mitsui to give us an explanation and a proper account. This is completely different from their promises to us. If they can't give us a satisfactory explanation, this matter is not over. Now, major financial newspapers are targeting us, even analyzing our situation, pointing out that our losses will be staggering. If this continues, our stock price will plummet, and we may not even have a chance to recover!"

"Why don't we talk to Mr. John and try to get their understanding? After all, we didn't push for this. It was Mitsui and those bastards in the government who made us do it. Now they haven't suffered any losses, but we have been hit."

At this time, Japanese car companies also panicked. They were shorted in the stock market, and their market share was also impacted. In Asia, Bentley Motors Group seized a large share of the market, not to mention in the United States. In Europe, they were even more vulnerable to being taken advantage of by Europeans.

Will their betrayal affect global satellite navigation companies? Yes, but not much. After all, the market for navigation devices is huge, and it's difficult to meet market demand in a short period of time. When global satellite navigation companies abandon their IPO plans, they themselves will no longer be affected. The unlucky ones are these guys from Japan.

Short selling in the stock market and attacks from the media were just the beginning; a more brutal counterattack was the attack on the market itself. Soon, the global satellite navigation companies retaliated. Taiwan upgraded its high-end products, and factories in China also upgraded their products. This counterattack caught Toshiba and American navigation companies completely off guard.

With software upgrades and hardware upgrades, mid-range products from global satellite navigation companies can easily outperform their high-end products, and at a lower price. This completely stunned Toshiba, the Japanese, and even Ford, as it was entirely different from what they had expected.

"Boss, Hurricane Investment has made another big move. They're shorting Toyota and Toshiba!" Jimmy quickly reported to the Morgan executive. This was unexpected. They had thought John's target was only other Japanese car companies, but after the global satellite navigation companies retaliated, Hurricane Investment and Standard Chartered Bank made their move!

Morgan was shocked by this situation and stunned by John's methods. His initial decision not to short Toyota was not a sign of weakness, nor was it entirely to exacerbate the conflict between Japanese automakers. Rather, it was to lull Toyota and Toshiba into a false sense of security before delivering a fatal blow.

"Impressive! It seems I underestimated John's methods. Perhaps I'm really getting old, failing to see through this little fox's scheme. Now that we've made our move, I'm sure those guys on Wall Street have gotten wind of it!"

Just as Morgan had predicted, the same frenzy soon swept through Wall Street. After learning that Hurricane Investment and Standard Chartered Bank had made their move, those guys on Wall Street naturally wouldn't let Toyota and Toshiba off the hook. But by the time they made their move, Hurricane Investment and Standard Chartered Bank had already done everything.

No matter how much Toyota and Toshiba struggled, it was useless. Their products were indeed inferior, not as good as the mid-range products of global satellite navigation companies, and their prices were higher. Under such circumstances, it would be strange if their stock prices didn't fall. "How could this be? This is completely different from our plan. Why are global satellite navigation companies upgrading their products so quickly? And how did China obtain the production license? Are those Americans deceiving us?"

"Toyota-san, what's the use of saying all this now? Even if those bastards deceived us, there's nothing we can do. The contract has already been signed! You don't think that if you back out now, John will let you off the hook and continue to cooperate with you, do you? You have no way out, and Toyota is also a member of Mitsui!" Toshiba was also very annoyed by this situation, but they were powerless to do anything about it, and they had to swallow this bitter pill.

Being betrayed is a bitter pill to swallow. Tatsuro Toyoda was filled with rage, but he was powerless to do anything about it. It was all his own doing; Toyoda had betrayed John, and Japan had broken the agreement first. They had invited John to Tokyo for negotiations, and John had shown them considerable respect and made promises, yet these same people had betrayed him so quickly. Now, suffering this blow, who was to blame?

Yes, this is indeed a problem between Mitsui and the Japanese government. They insisted on doing it, but it was something they agreed to. Now look what happened, they have suffered such a crazy blow. The stock market and the market have both been severely affected. Most importantly, Japan's steel imports have been directly blocked by John!

They're either still or they're making a big move! This time, these guys will pay the price for their stupidity. Meanwhile, the Japanese suddenly discovered that the Mandarin Oriental Group had sold off all its real estate. The Japanese economy, which had just started to improve, was dealt another heavy blow. Bentley Motors launched a full-scale attack, and the Koreans, with John's help, also made a major foray into the North American market, aiming to impact Japan's market share.

Products that were originally intended for Japan were given to South Korea, which increased South Korea's market share in North America. Japanese car companies suffered setbacks in North America, Europe, and Asia. Due to the Europeans' opportunistic actions, these companies are in a very difficult situation. With Japan and Ford out of the picture, global satellite navigation companies can naturally invest more products in Europe and the United States, and Japan and Ford will naturally suffer the losses.

At this point, Ford wanted to renegotiate and resume cooperation with John, but John refused outright. Kongming, the global satellite navigation company, directly rejected the offer, thinking that having the White House's backing meant they could act with impunity. Since they were enemies, a fatal blow was necessary. Moreover, even if John agreed, GM and Bentley Motors wouldn't.

If traitors can be forgiven without paying any price, what authority will John have in the future? Countless people will be tempted to betray him. At this point, even the White House is unwilling to step in, and Old Man Bush directly rejected Ford's request. He didn't want to fall out with John because of Ford.

Although everyone understood that this was all a scheme John had orchestrated long ago, knowing it was useless, and they couldn't speak ill of John, because it wasn't John who caused this; those guys in Japan betrayed them first, as did Ford, so they had to bear all the consequences themselves. As for the American navigation company, they had nothing to say; it was their product quality that was lacking, and they hadn't expected John to be so reckless, releasing a new product with a major upgrade before the previous generation had even fully recouped its costs, catching the American navigation company completely off guard!
Everything is judged by quality and strength. At this point, even the US government could no longer persuade John to help Ford. No one had the nerve to do that. Making mistakes comes at a price. This situation also showed everyone John's ruthless side and made them realize that John had changed and was no longer as easy to talk to as he used to be.

"Now those guys in Japan know what pain is, and how high the price of betrayal is. But this is just the beginning. Since they are enemies, don't blame me for being ruthless. I don't think those guys in Europe will give Japan a chance. This time, I will make those guys in Japan know what pain is!"

Upon learning of Japan's current situation, John revealed a cruel smile. This time, he was going to teach these guys a lesson, to show them the consequences of betrayal. All the raw materials Japan wanted would be targeted by John, especially in the energy sector. When these guys in Japan chose to stand with the oil and gas capital, or even when they plotted against John, they stood on the opposite side of the Middle Eastern tycoons. They would have to pay a heavy price for their greed and take responsibility for their stupidity. How could they dare to take sides under such circumstances? It was utterly ridiculous!
(End of this chapter)