Eagle Sauce: The 055 destroyer was launched into the sea just after the founding of the country?

Will hung up the phone angrily and slammed his fist down on the oak desk. The delicate inkwell bounced slightly, and the papers beside the presidential seal scatter to the floor. He stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window of the Oval Office. He looked at the dim light on the Washington Monument, his anger surging.

"Damn Joseph!" Howell cursed. "The bear man only takes and never remembers to give back!"

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. His weary face was reflected in the windowpane—sunken eye sockets, furrowed brows, and a crisscrossing line across his forehead. These past few years as president seemed to have aged him ten years. Especially since learning two years ago that Dragon Nation had acquired that mysterious fighter jet, the situation had become increasingly complicated.

Howell pressed the intercom on his desk and regained his presidential composure: "Send Roswell in with the latest economic report."

A few minutes later, Economics Minister Rothwell pushed open the door and walked in, holding a thick stack of documents in his arms. He was a short, fat, middle-aged man with a bald head, wearing round glasses and looking worried.

"Mr. President, are you looking for me?" Roswell asked cautiously, obviously having heard about the president's outburst.

"The Bear Country is asking for supplies again," Howell said stiffly. "Tell me, how is the preparation of that batch of supplies going?"

Roswell placed the documents on the table and pulled out a folder marked "Top Secret." "The supplies are ready at the Port of Seattle, but I must report to you that this level of spending has become extremely dangerous." He flipped open the document and pointed to a set of shocking figures. "In the first half of this year alone, the value of military and civilian supplies we provided to the Bear Country has reached nearly $110 billion. At this rate, annual spending will exceed $200 billion."

Howell took a breath, walked back to his desk in silence, and sat down again.

"This money could have been used to build fifty nuclear power plants or two hundred modern hospitals," Roswell continued, his voice gradually increasing in urgency. "We are cutting domestic funding and sacrificing public welfare, but we are feeding the military of the Bear Country! This is not only economically unsustainable, but also increasingly difficult to explain politically to Congress and voters."

“You think I don’t know that?” Howell looked up, a complex glint in his eyes. “Of course I understand what $200 billion means. That’s one-third of our annual defense budget!”

He stood up and picked up another document on the table, marked "Top Secret." "But have you seen this? An intelligence analysis of Longguo." He flipped open the document and pointed to a set of figures: "Last year, Longguo's industrial output value increased by 28%, steel production doubled, and energy self-sufficiency increased to 91%. Even more terrifying is their technological advancement."

Howell pushed another photo in front of Roswell—a streamlined aircraft that looked like some futuristic weapon. "This is their J-20. It's completely invisible and can disappear from radar without a trace. We and the Russian Bear Country, even if we exhaust all our resources, cannot replicate this technology."

"Mr. President," Roswell took off his glasses, wiped the lenses with a handkerchief, and chose his words carefully. "I understand the complexity of geopolitics, but from an economic perspective, we cannot afford this war of attrition. If we rashly cut domestic investment and continue to send supplies to a country that is ideologically hostile to us, I am afraid it will trigger a domestic economic crisis."

Howell's eyes became sharp. "If we stop supporting the Bear Country and let the pressure on the Dragon Country's northern border disappear, do you know what will happen?"

He stood up and walked to the world map on the office wall. "Dragon Country will gain an environment of peaceful development and invest all its resources in industry and technology. According to the CIA's assessment, if there is no external pressure, at their current rate of development, their industrial output value will surpass that of the Bear Country within five years, and may catch up with us within ten years!"

Howell's finger slowly traced across East Asia on the map. "By then, they'll have more J-20s, stronger nuclear strike capabilities, and perhaps new weapons we can't even imagine. A rising hostile nation with a population of four billion, possessing technology that surpasses ours—what does that mean for the United States, Mr. Roswell?"

Roswell fell silent. The only sound in the office was the ticking of the old-fashioned wall clock.

"It's not that I don't understand economic principles," Howell said, his tone softening. "But sometimes, short-term economic pressures are a necessary strategic cost. I need you to find a way to continue supporting this plan for at least two more years."

He picked up a new report on the table. "At the same time, I need to increase our investment in our own technological research and development. If Longguo can achieve such a huge breakthrough in just a few years, we can't sit idly by."

Roswell sighed and put his glasses back on. "I will do my best to find room in the budget, Mr. President. But I must warn you that the resistance from Congress will grow."

"Then make them understand the threat we face," Howell said firmly. "This isn't just any international competition; it's an existential challenge to the future of the United States." He picked up the phone on his desk. "Notify the National Security Advisor and the Secretary of Defense to meet at 8:00 AM tomorrow. I need a comprehensive plan to address the rise of Chinese technology. Also, tell the Secretary of State to confirm with Joseph that the supplies will be shipped within 48 hours."

“Supplies to support Siberia have been arranged,” Howell said wearily, “but this war of attrition is not a long-term solution. We need a more fundamental solution.”

Just as he was about to end the late-night meeting, Secretary of State Darrell Hawkins, who had been silent until then, suddenly spoke up. He was a short, plump, middle-aged man with a bald head and gold-rimmed glasses, looking more like a scholar than a politician.

"Mr. President, it's actually not that difficult to deal with Dragon Nation," Hawkins said, gently pushing up his glasses. His tone was as calm as if he was discussing the weather. "I have a way to make Dragon Nation collapse without a fight."

Howell immediately sat up straight, a glimmer of hope in his eyes: "What solution? Tell me." He urgently needed a solution to the current predicament.