The expeditionary force began to dominate Southeast Asia by recruiting defeated soldiers

a few days later.

Ambassador Huang Mingxuan sat behind his desk, wearing glasses, and flipped through the thick report page by page.

The office was quiet. Four international students sat on the sofa, as if waiting for their dissertation defenses.

The report is titled "An Analysis of the Impact of Political Changes in Gaul on the Interests of Southeast Asian Nations and Preliminary Countermeasures Recommendations."

It consists of 28 pages and is divided into five parts: an overview of the event, political impact, economic and technological impact, security and geopolitical impact, and policy recommendations.

It includes charts, data references, and even simple timeline projections.

Ambassador Huang watched it for a full twenty minutes.

Finally, he took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“This report,” he began, “is of a very high standard.”

The four of them breathed a sigh of relief.

“The logic is clear, the data is detailed, and the foresight is very strong.” Ambassador Huang looked at them. “In particular, the judgment that ‘Gallic might get mired in the Annamite quagmire and drag the White Eagle down with it’ is very bold, but the argument is solid.”

He stood up, walked to the window, and turned his back to them.

"You may not know this, but your analysis and the deductions of the domestic strategic research office have many similarities."

The four exchanged glances, all somewhat surprised.

Ambassador Huang turned around, a smile on his face: "The situation has changed domestically. President Zhang Chi is personally monitoring it. I will immediately send your report back in encrypted form as supplementary material for the front lines."

“Then we…” Lin Zhenhua asked.

“Continue to observe.” Ambassador Huang walked back to the table. “In particular, the true public opinion in French society regarding the return to Annam, the specific movements of various political parties, and whether there are any signs that the military industry is beginning to mobilize. These details are very important to the country.”

He paused, then emphasized, "Remember, what you are doing now goes beyond the scope of ordinary international students. You are one of the country's eyes and ears in Huadu. Stay sharp, stay objective, and stay vigilant."

It was already dusk when I left the embassy.

The sunset over the Seine is rust-colored, like dried blood.

"I feel a lot heavier on my shoulders," Chen Siyuan said.

“But it was very fulfilling.” Zhou Xiaomei held a file bag containing copies of the report. “We are participating in history, not just watching.”

Wu Xinjue suddenly asked, "Tell me, what are we doing in China right now?"

-----

In the South Pacific, on the other side of the world.

Zhang Chi sat at the head of the curved conference table, with two documents spread out in front of him.

One was a report from the Paris embassy on international students, and the other was an analysis of the political situation and Far East policy trends in the early days of the Fourth Gallic Republic, compiled by the Intelligence Department.

Chief of the General Staff Tan Zhijie, Foreign Minister Li Zhenguo, and Director Kim of the Intelligence Department sat on either side.

Zhang Chi first read through the reports of the international students.

He smiled.

“These young people are very clear-headed.” Zhang Chi handed the report to Tan Zhijie. “Upon seeing General Dai step down, they immediately thought of three things: the cooperation plan was shelved, Gaul wanted to return to Annam, and the White Eagle might intervene. The logic chain is very complete.”

Tan Zhijie quickly glanced at the text: "In particular, the judgment that 'Annan may become a quagmire that drains Gaul and the United States' is very bold."

"Bold?"

Zhang Chi leaned back and placed his hands on the table, crossed.

He smiled.

In the original timeline, General Dai's downfall had far-reaching consequences. Gaul suffered a crushing defeat at Dien Bien Phu, and the White Eagle was bogged down in a ten-year war, costing hundreds of billions of dollars, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths and injuries, domestic division, and a significant loss of national strength.

This is the completed script, which he, the time traveler, has already read through.

"This judgment, though bold, is logical. We need to conduct a cost-benefit analysis based on it."

He turned to the Southeast Asia map behind him and picked up the pointer.

“Let’s talk about the cons first.”

The pointer pointed to Gaul: "First, General Dai stepped down, and the technology cooperation plan was shelved. We will lose some sources of advanced technology in the short term, especially alloys, machine tools, and possibly maritime technology."

Tan Zhijie added, "Uranium ore imports will also be affected, so we need to speed up our uranium exploration within the country."

Zhang Chi nodded.

In fact, he had a mineral atlas provided by the system at hand, and had long ago secretly arranged for people to search for minerals in Borneo and Sumatra.

According to the atlas, the combined uranium reserves in the two locations amount to 8.5 tons, which is sufficient for nuclear energy development in the short term.

The reason why they kept importing from Afica's colonies through Gaul was simply because they thought that since these were non-renewable resources, they should use other people's resources first.

He then moved the stick in his hand to Annam: "Secondly, Gaul has returned to Annam, and war is imminent. In the direction of Siam, there will be a refugee crisis, infiltration risks, and border frictions. Security pressures are increasing."

The Korean then shifted to the White Eagle's position: "Third, if the White Eagle becomes deeply involved, Southeast Asia will be at the forefront of the power struggle between the two superpowers. Maintaining diplomatic balance will be extremely difficult, and one wrong step could backfire."

"That's all for the disadvantages," Zhang Chi said, putting down his pointer. "Now let's talk about the advantages."

He picked up the pointer again, this time with a noticeably raised voice.

He drew a circle around the Malay Peninsula and the Bago region, saying, "The main conflict zones will be Annam, Laos, and Cambodia. Our predominantly Chinese Malay Peninsula and Bago region are relatively far away. The impact is manageable."

"Furthermore, if the attention of Gaul and the White Eagle is firmly drawn to Annan, our freedom of action in the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia will be greatly increased. For example, our deployment in the Indian subcontinent can be more relaxed."

"Finally, there's the economic opportunity," Zhang Chi paused, then uttered the key phrase, "that is, the profits from war."

Li Zhenguo's eyes lit up.

"Gallic troops want to fight, and the White Eagle wants aid. What do they need?" Zhang Chi asked himself and answered, "Food, medicine, clothing, spare parts, fuel, rubber, and even... some non-military engineering machinery and transportation vehicles."

Southeast Asia can serve as a neutral logistics supply point and material supply location.

We can operate at full capacity and then sell it to them based on commercial principles.

"Finally..." The pointer moved to the border between Laos and Siam, "Territorial opportunity."

On the map, the disputed area is circled in red.

"Gallic countries may very well make concessions here in exchange for our neutrality or tacit approval on the Annam issue."

The disputed territory between Laos and Siam, the Luang Prabang Highlands.

Tin, tungsten, fertile land, and a strategic point on the upper Mekong River.

As Laos' former suzerain state, Gaul has a voice.

Zhang Chi turned around to face his staff.

"So this is not a crisis, it is an opportunity. What we need to do is not to stop the Gauls from returning to Annam, but to allow them to go back and let them suffer the consequences."

We'll seize this opportunity to gain tangible benefits.

Zhang Chi sat back in the main seat and tapped his fingers on the table.

"Four o'clock."

"First, diplomatic negotiations."

Immediately and proactively contact the new Gallic government, expressing 'understanding of Gaul's special historical responsibility and concerns regarding Annam.' Maintain a high stance, but use a soft tone.

"Second, core transactions."

On the issue of Gaul's return to Annam, we pledged the "three no's principle": no criticism, no opposition, and no direct intervention. In exchange, Gaul recognized the Luang Prabang highlands as belonging to Southeast Asia.

"Third, additional terms."

Strive to sign a long-term trade agreement to ensure priority for supplies from Southeast Asia in future conflicts in the Annam direction. The terms should be flexible; since these are non-military supplies, the definition can be broad.

Li Zhenguo hesitated for a moment and said:

"But what if the Gauls don't have the money to pay?"

Zhang Chi laughed: "Let them write IOUs and make a written agreement, then we'll calculate the interest for them, and give them a generous amount!"

Fourth, the bottom line of safety.

A clear red line must be drawn: the Nanyang Army will absolutely not participate in any military operations in Annam, nor will it allow the Gauls to use Nanyang territory as a base for attack. This must be clearly stated in writing, with no room for negotiation.

Zhang Chi didn't mention one more point: the Cold War and hot struggles were the norm. Following the historical trajectory, letting the two major camps, the red and blue, contend in Annam was like releasing pressure from a pressure cooker to alleviate internal pressure.

Otherwise, with no outlet for the pent-up frustrations of the two camps, maintaining constant pressure will eventually cause the pressure cooker to explode.

(Important Notice:)

The new book, "Four Lines Warehouse," has also been blocked, most likely due to a report.

Here I want to say that the reason why Potato was able to keep updating the unprofitable book "Nanyang" is because he had a new book that could make money, which gave him the energy to write this book to 160 million words and enter the Cold War stage.

Now, my new book has been reported several times, especially with readers inciting others to report it in the comments and messages. I feel helpless.

Therefore, it has been decided that the novel "Nanyang" will be suspended indefinitely, and Potato will not be writing any more novels about the War of Resistance against Japan or the Republic of China in the near future.

In addition, there are still some important things left unresolved in this book:

1. First print

2. The Southeast Asian economy is overheating due to rising oil prices.

3. Southeast Asia was the first to launch an artificial satellite.

4. Profiting from the Annam War

5. Zhang Chi and Bei Mian collaborated to send Chinese people into space.

The title of Volume 5, "Jade Plate, Jade Plate," reveals that Potato intends to conclude the book with manned spaceflight and the moon landing.

In short, the journey of life is long, and we hope to meet again someday!