American Strategic Deception Bureau

　But once the Tunku Abdul Rahman regime in Kuala Lumpur is convinced that it has been completely abandoned by the United States - specifically, that it no longer receives money, then the entire top leadership will probably become discouraged and only think about making one last grab and then running away to Europe or the United States with their wealth to enjoy life.

　The situation in Malaysia is particularly special. Although it is a monarchy, it does not have only one monarch. Instead, there are nine sultans who form a "Conference of Rulers" and authorize the prime minister to form a cabinet - which is equivalent to having nine kings but only one prime minister!

　In the history of East Asia, such a strange political system has never been seen from ancient times to the present:

　The only one that sounds similar is "Su Qin Hang"

　The "six kingdoms' seals" are just the words of novelists. But even according to the novels, the seven powers of the Warring States Period each had their own court, rather than seven kings appointing the same prime minister to form a court to govern the seven kingdoms.

　Anyway, after reading through all the history books, I have never found a strange situation like Malaysia where nine kings share one court.

　With a political system like this made-up team, and in a newly established country, it is easy to imagine that cohesion is a problem.

　When faced with a crisis on the brink of national extinction, every Malaysian prime minister and sultan feels, "This isn't just my country." There's no need to live and die with the nation; all you need to do is persevere a little and live up to your sense of responsibility.

　Obviously, with such a weak spirit and such a lack of sense of responsibility, it would be difficult to withstand the sweeping red wave.

　Therefore, if President Nixon wanted to avoid the red flag being raised in the Strait of Malacca, then the money transfer to Tunku Abdul Rahman must not stop!

　Not only does the money have to continue to be paid, but because the US troops have withdrawn, they have to pay Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman several times more money!

　——Although generous donations may not necessarily lead to the success of "suppressing the Communists", if no donations are made, the "suppression of the Communists" will definitely fail.

　But the question is, can President Nixon, now president, still get Congress to allocate large sums of money to call on Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman?

　I’m afraid it’s very difficult?

　Today, the White House still does not control the Federal Reserve, and the power to issue currency is still not in the hands of President Nixon. At the same time, after experiencing the New York catastrophe, a substantial negative growth of the US economy this year is a foregone conclusion, and a plunge in the value of the US dollar is inevitable.

　According to the latest report submitted to Congress, the U.S. economic growth rate has declined for eight consecutive years and has recently turned into negative growth. Business bankruptcies have reached the highest level since the Great Depression. The government fiscal deficit has increased by 150% in three years, and the national debt has increased to an exaggerated level of 8 trillion.

　The first task that the new Congress gave President Nixon was to cut spending and implement drastic layoffs.

　Now, President Nixon has forcibly cut many departments that theoretically should never be cut, so that transportation and postal services across the country are in chaos, unemployed police are turning to gangsters to collect protection fees, and the endless rebellions have made the government numb.

　In this situation of high debt and domestic turmoil, if President Nixon still wanted Congress to vote to allocate at least tens of billions or even hundreds of billions of dollars to Malaysia across the Pacific to support a corrupt Third World government in suppressing communists...

　Firi felt that given President Nixon's currently low popularity, he would definitely not be able to pull off such an incredible operation.

　If there is no money to support the Malaysian government, it will be hard to say what will happen next: the Soviet Union is still continuing to provide aid to the Malayan Communist Party!

　Dr. Kissinger frowned upon hearing Firi's words. After all, poverty was the original sin in this world, and without money, nothing could be accomplished.

　However, Professor Brzezinski, who just came over to join the conversation, had a different opinion on this.

　——Unlike Dr. Kissinger, who became a "professional mess cleanup man" and was responsible for cleaning up the messes of successive presidents running around the world, Professor Brzezinski's career in recent years has been relatively low-key. He even went back to school to teach for a while and only returned to the White House this year.

　However, since he has been working as an advisor in the White House recently, he knows more about the latest political developments than Fieri and Dr. Kissinger.

　"You've probably been fooled by President Nixon's poor show, haven't you? Indeed, the new Congress is one of the most stingy of the stingy. Expecting Congress to allocate billions of dollars to aid the Malaysian government is probably a long shot."

　Professor Brzezinski smiled and said, "But just because Congress doesn't give money doesn't mean the president has no money! President Nixon was actually very generous!"

　He had just cited an old precedent from the Civil War and had a new set of Reconstruction Acts passed in Congress, which legally deprived New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey of their autonomy and imposed martial law on the three rebellious states - in fact, it meant sending the president's trusted private confidants to serve as governors in these three states!

　Not to mention the other two states, New York alone can easily raise tens of billions of dollars..."

　Hearing this, Fili was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized: That's right, as the victor of the Civil War, President Nixon still has three recently surrendered rebellious states to control as spoils of war! Not to mention the other two states, if he could simply demote the golden state of New York into a colony and exploit it like the British Empire did to India, wouldn't it be easy to squeeze out billions or even tens of billions of dollars?

　——The so-called "invoking old precedents from the Civil War" refers to a series of coercive measures taken by the federal government representing the North against the southern states just after the Civil War ended.

　Because President Lincoln was assassinated on the eve of the end of the Civil War and did not live to see the end of the war, and because his sudden death plunged the federal government into civil strife, the federal government was initially too lenient in its post-war treatment of the Southern states.

　In 1865, just after the war ended, although the defeated southern states abolished slavery, blacks still did not have the right to vote, and the governments and legislatures of the southern states were still controlled by the original white leaders. These people continued to uphold white supremacy and advocate racial segregation during the war.

　This meant that apart from the nominal abolition of slavery in the Southern states, nothing actually changed, which was unacceptable to the abolitionists in the North.

　The federal army also complained about this, believing that the southern states did not act like losers at all and did not show any sign of surrender.

　——If the South had only abolished slavery, how would the North use the South’s power and wealth to reward its meritorious officials?

　Therefore, in 1867, the radical Republicans passed the Reconstruction Act in Congress, allowing the federal army to directly control eleven southern states. Under the banner of "changing customs," they brutally interfered in the internal affairs of various states, parachuted in officials, and supervised elections, turning the South almost into a colony.

　However, this martial law did not last long. The harsh martial law caused public resentment in the southern states, and politicians in the northern states also criticized it. They were afraid that the troops sent to the South would evolve into warlords, and that another Caesar would emerge and lead troops back to Washington from the South to seize power by force. That would be troublesome.

　Therefore, the final result of this political confrontation between the North and the South of the United States was that although the North won a great victory on the battlefield, it surrendered politically. It eventually withdrew its troops from the Southern states in the 1870s, ended Reconstruction, and restored the autonomy of the Southern states.

　As martial law ended in the South, white racists seized power and launched a rebellion. Black civil rights were effectively stripped away, and various systems of racial segregation and discrimination were introduced, persisting for over 80 years until they were overthrown by the Black Civil Rights Movement after World War II.

　But at least during the period of martial law, those "receiving officials" who were parachuted from the north to the south made a lot of money for themselves.

　——With so many plantations, so many mines and ports, how much wealth can be plundered!

　Similarly, now that New York, the "Empire State," has become a rebellious state, the wealth of the entire state of New York has become a steak on President Nixon's table, which can be cut at will and any assets can be confiscated at will - it's really exciting to think about it!

　As for New York, which had just been baptized by war and then devastated by a nuclear explosion, could it still be plundered for money?

　How should I put it? New York is like a sesame seed. Even if it looks dry, you can still get some juice out of it if you squeeze it!

　Putting aside other things, just by imposing an extremely high punitive special tax on the rich people living in those luxurious villas on Long Island, confiscating their property if they don't pay, or even charging them with treason... President Nixon can raise an astronomical amount of money!

　Even if these people run away, it doesn't matter. Do you understand the rules of "long-arm jurisdiction"? No matter where you run, the White House can chase you and fine you!

　"President Nixon decided the day before yesterday to appoint governors for these three states during the military rule period. They all came from the IRS. It's obvious he's going to make them tax farmers and extort money from the rebellious states! Although Congress reluctantly passed his Reconstruction Act, there was also considerable opposition.

　Many secretly cursed Nixon as a "ghoul president." New York had already been devastated by the nuclear explosion and the rampage of war, leaving it in its current state of devastation, yet he didn't even bother trying to help. Instead, he squeezed oil from the ruins, gnawing on New York's corpse...

　But if you ask me, even being a ghoul president is better than being a pauper president! Besides, rebels deserve to suffer."

　Brzezinski shrugged and continued, "So, if President Nixon was determined to preserve the Strait of Malacca at all costs, even if he couldn't get Congress to approve financial aid for Malaysia, he could still raise the money from the three rebellious states."

　After hearing this, Dr. Kissinger immediately breathed a sigh of relief and felt a little more at ease.

　Chapter 515: "Star Trek Anthem" and "Always Above"

　"Go forth, children of Earth! The glorious day has come!

　Before us is the vast universe, and the sky blue flag has been raised!

　Look, in the vast solar system, the stars are shining.

　The planets are waving to us, calling for the arrival of mankind.

　Pilot the spaceship! Warriors! Organize! Your fleet!

　Forward! Forward! "

　In a fairly well-decorated business suite at the Harrington Hotel, 1.3 kilometers from the White House in Washington, D.C., Fieri was playing a newly recorded tape on a tape recorder, frowning as he listened to the cheerful lyrics coming from the speakers.

　The melody is uplifting and sounds energetic, but the lyrics are very short, only one minute even including the prelude.

　After listening to it once, he replayed it, stroked his chin and thought for a moment, then changed to another tape and pressed the start button.

　Then, another new song with a slightly dull tune came out from the tape recorder speaker.

　Compared to the previous song, this song is shorter, only 40 seconds from beginning to end.

　"We are the sharp watchful eyes, the sentinels from above the blue sky.

　A brave and loyal warrior standing firm on the dark front.

　We head for space with determination, our horizons are limitless.

　We are the Space Force standing at the highest point, watching day and night!"

　The former is "Star Trek Song," a song Ferry composed based on later space opera anime. The latter is "Always Above," the anthem of the United States Space Force, founded by Trump in the 21st century before his time travel.

　It has to be said that the United States in the 1920s of the 21st century really showed signs of lagging behind in all aspects, even in military songs.

　Although beautiful

　The U.S. Space Force was established during Trump's first term, but the anthem wasn't completed until Sleepy Joe took office.

　The melody of "Always Above" clearly bears traces of "The Star-Spangled Banner," but the overall feeling it gives is much more depressing—neither the lyrics nor the music conveys the passion and grandeur of exploring the vast universe and conquering the sea of ​​stars.

　On the contrary, it is filled with a kind of petty vulgarity and cowardice, just like some old school songs, which makes people sleepy.

　Compared with the former Soviet space epic "The Glorious Guide", the feeling it gives to the audience is really like heaven and earth.

　Hey, how should I put this into words?

　In most cases, the type of army deserves the type of military song.

　An army that is filled with decadence cannot sing such a heroic war song.

　However, the U.S. Space Force in the 21st century is definitely not a vigorous new force from any perspective.

　On the contrary, from the very beginning, this space force was filled with the makeshift team's perfunctory work and the decadent bureaucracy.

　The US Space Force under Trump and Biden seems to have positioned itself, from its inception, as a group of sentinels squatting in satellite orbit overlooking the Earth, much like the border guards of ancient times guarding beacon towers and watchtowers, with no thought of turning around to take in the vastness of the universe.

　Not to mention navigating the starry seas, exploring the galaxy, colonizing alien planets and fighting aliens.

　So much so that even Firi couldn't help but want to complain: Are you a space force conquering the stars? Or are you "satellite spirits" spying on the earth?

　——From this we can see that American astronauts during the Cold War had their backs to the Earth and were facing the universe.

　The U.S. Space Force in the 21st century has its butt facing the universe and its eyes staring at the earth!

　With their horizons lowered to such a low level, there is no trace of the pioneering and enterprising spirit left, and there is no longer any sense of legendary mission.

　So, how can the military song of the Space Force, which symbolizes the military's appearance, not be petty?

　There's no way around it. The 21st-century U.S. Space Force doesn't even have any space battleships. At best, it's a space version of the Coast Guard, and a super-bankrupt, low-profile one at that. It doesn't have any real combat power, and merely assists the intelligence community, managing some of America's space assets and orbital transportation. Its most powerful "weapon" is a microwave blinding device designed to jam enemy satellites, and it's quite unreliable...

　So, forget about expeditions to alien planets, even if you just ask them to attack China’s space station, I’m afraid they can’t do it!

　Not to mention the competition between China, the United States and Russia for low-Earth orbit, starship paratroopers from space, or the even more mysterious space arms race.

　Against the backdrop of the highly deindustrialized United States, if the U.S. Space Force wants to rise rapidly, it will have to find a UFO one day!

　Since it cannot become stronger, the U.S. Space Force can only focus on satellite reconnaissance as its sole main business and stop thinking about anything else.

　It would be strange if the overall image of a space force whose main mission is to voyeurism and secret photography is not vulgar!

　Not to mention, when the U.S. Space Force was established in the 21st century, a transgender man was serving as a four-star general, the LGBT movement was rampant in the military, and 15000 transgender "clean troops" were recruited from the more than one million U.S. troops. The remaining soldiers were mostly scumbags who took drugs all day long and were not included in the military.

　Later, Trump was re-elected and announced that he would clear out transgender soldiers from the military. It was then discovered that there were 15000 "clean soldiers" among the active US military alone.

　Well, in Thailand's entertainment industry, there are only 4 registered transsexuals. Has the transgender population in the United States become so rampant now?

　Therefore, the Pentagon issued a report stating that recruiting soldiers was extremely difficult, and that foreign green card soldiers were blocked by Trump, so they could only recruit more female soldiers in the future.

　Because the drug abuse rate among poor young people in the United States is so high, women's health is relatively better than men's.

　In short, after entering the 1920s of the 21st century, the overall appearance and style of the US military have become similar to those of the "double-gun soldiers" in late Qing Dynasty China who relied on smoking opium to stay energetic while fighting - even with the most advanced weapons and equipment, they are becoming more and more cowardly on the battlefield.

　In this kind of army, there are absolutely no ideals, dreams, or ambitions, and most of the soldiers are just trying to get by.

　There are also many soldiers who come from gangs and come to the army specifically to learn how to fight. After retiring, they return to the gang with guns and become the top thugs.

　The entire US military is filled with a decadent and depressed atmosphere. How can they sing any exciting "strongest voice of the times"?

　Anyway, every time he hears the song "Forever Above", Fieri can't help but think of the two unlucky American astronauts who boarded the International Space Station on a deflated Boeing spacecraft and were unable to get off for half a year... Could it be that these two unlucky guys are really going to "be forever above"?

　Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a lot of emotions and couldn't help muttering to himself.

　When humans first broke free from the constraints of the earth and soared into the sky in 1903, they probably could not have imagined that just 58 years later, huge and sophisticated rockets would carry humans beyond the confines of gravity and into space.

　The earth is the cradle of mankind, but the baby cannot live in the cradle forever.

　When human footprints are all over the sea of ​​stars after several years, we will look back at that trace of the universe.

　When we see the dim blue dot, our descendants will probably lament the crudeness of our ancestors' rockets—just like the barbarians tens of thousands of years ago, carrying hollowed-out tree trunks and bravely heading towards the sea...

　Oh, I hope that human civilization can truly break out of the solar system, travel the sea of ​​stars, and conquer the galaxy in the future, rather than being suffocated to death on Earth."

　"Honey, what are you mumbling about?"

　Marita, who was lying on the bed reading a newspaper, heard Ferry chattering alone at the table, and couldn't help but look up at him and ask.

　"Nothing much. I'm just comparing these two songs to see which one is more suitable as the military song of the Space Army."

　Firi answered casually, pointing to the space army flag hanging on the wall. The flag had a sky-blue background, symbolizing the universe, with a cartoon-shaped rocket in the middle, and an abstract ring diagonally surrounding the rocket. There was a sphere on the edge of the ring, symbolizing the satellite and orbit.

　"The Space Army's military song? The first one must be better, right? The second one is too dull and too short."

　Marita muttered,

　Is the entire song even 30 seconds long? It's even shorter than a nursery rhyme! Is it meant for illiterate people?

　"Don't make it sound so short! Although the lyrics of 'Always Above' are indeed less than a minute long, and even shorter than the opening theme song of an animation, it is still 40 seconds long - of course, the tune of this song is really a bit weak, so let's choose the former one."

　Fili complained like this, and at the same time secretly sighed: America in this era does still retain some spirit of striving for progress!

　While the current Federal Space Force is smaller, less funded, and technologically backward compared to the 21st-century U.S. Space Force, at least Americans of this era haven't forgotten their "space fever" and still harbor the ambition to conquer and explore the universe.

　The spirit of America's Golden Age in the 1950s has not faded, and even though Americans repeatedly encountered setbacks in the 1960s, they were not decadent to the point of losing their ideals - on the contrary, whether black or white, left or right, no one is lying flat, but is competing fiercely!