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

Sporadic applause and cheers began to appear in the crowd.

"Yes, we have suffered setbacks on the battlefields of Europe,"

Howell admitted it frankly, but his tone immediately changed and became sharp.

"But this is by no means a failure! It is just a stumbling block on the road to ultimate victory!"

"Our enemies, those cowards hiding in the East, dare not confront us head-on. Instead, they resort to despicable schemes and tricks that we have never heard of to sneak attack our brave soldiers!"

"Do they think they can defeat us in this way? Do they think they can extinguish the flame of freedom in our hearts in this way?"

"I told them—they were wrong! Dead wrong!"

Howell slammed his fist down on the podium.

"What they awakened was not our fear, but our dormant rage! What they awakened was an angry giant!"

The crowd's emotions were completely ignited, and cheers and slogans echoed across the square like a tide.

The shouts of "USA! USA!" rang out one after another.

Howell opened his arms as if to embrace the entire crowd in the square, his eyes gleaming with enthusiasm.

"I promise you! I promise to all the heroes who sacrificed their lives for their country! I promise the whole world! We will definitely defeat those enemies from Europe and Asia! We will make them pay tenfold, a hundredfold, for their actions!"

"We will recapture the glory that belongs to the Eagle Sauce and let the Stars and Stripes fly high again in every corner of the world!"

He pointed into the distance, his voice filled with unquestionable determination.

"Look at this monument behind us, which symbolizes the birth and greatness of our nation. Look at yourselves, you are the bravest, most hardworking and most creative people in the world!"

"We once defeated the arrogant and powerful empire. We once saved the entire civilized world in two world wars! Today, we can also defeat any enemy who dares to challenge us!"

"For this reason, I appeal to you, the young people of Eagle Sauce!"

Howell's eyes swept over the young faces in the crowd, and his voice became earnest and inflammatory.

"Just like your fathers and grandfathers did during World War II, answer the call of the country, put on your uniform, and take up arms! Defend our homeland, defend our freedom, and defend everything we cherish!"

"This is not for me, not for any politician, but for you, for your families, and for our shared future!"

"Go! Let our enemies see that the young generation of the Eagle Sauce is not a lost generation, but a generation that can once again shake the world! Go! Use your blood and courage to defend the glory of the city on the hill!"

Howell's speech reached its climax, and the entire National Mall was boiling.

People cheered and applauded wildly, and many people had tears in their eyes.

At this moment, the gloom brought about by Yugoslavia's disastrous defeat seemed to be swept away, replaced by an unprecedented patriotic enthusiasm and determination to fight a common enemy.

Many young people expressed on the spot that they would go to the recruitment station immediately to sign up and serve the country.

The speech was a huge success. Howell looked at the enthusiastic crowd below the stage with satisfaction and waved to them.

He knew that he had successfully transformed the people's grief and anger into a strong public opinion base supporting his launch of a full-scale war.

Surrounded by Secret Service agents, Howell walked down the stage and prepared to board his bulletproof car to continue his speaking tour in the next city.

The crowd rushed towards him frantically, everyone wanted to get closer to the "wartime commander-in-chief", touch him and express their support for him.

The Secret Service agents formed an impenetrable human wall, working hard to clear a path to the special car for the President.

The scene was in chaos, with cheers, whistles, reporters' flash lights, and police whistles intertwined together, forming a typical picture of the president's travel.

Howell had a victorious smile on his face and kept waving to the crowd.

He enjoyed the feeling of being supported by the masses, which made him temporarily forget the disastrous defeat on the front line and the crisis at home.

He felt like President Roosevelt during World War II, leading this great country towards a just war.

Just when he was about to get into the special car, something strange happened!

In the crowd, an inconspicuous middle-aged man in a gray jacket suddenly squeezed out from the gap in the crowd at an astonishing speed and broke through the Secret Service's first line of defense!

He had a neurotic, twisted smile on his face, and his eyes were full of madness and hatred.

"For peace!"

He let out an incomprehensible scream.

Almost at the same time, he pulled out a silver revolver from his arms!

Time seemed to slow down at that moment. The exclamations of the Secret Service agents, the screams of the crowd, the stunned expression on the President's face, and the glint of madness in the gunman's eyes—everything unfolded before everyone's eyes, as clearly as a slow-motion movie.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Three crisp and dull gunshots broke the frenzied atmosphere at the scene.

Three bullets, at a very close distance, accurately hit General Howell's chest!

Howell's body shook violently, and the smile on his face froze instantly.

He lowered his head in disbelief, looking at the blood oozing rapidly from his chest, which stained his white shirt and dark tie red.

A painful groan escaped his mouth, and his body softened and fell backwards.

The scene fell into complete hellish chaos.

"The commander-in-chief has been shot! The commander-in-chief has been shot!"

A Secret Service agent let out a heart-wrenching roar.

The crowd erupted like a pond into which a stone had been thrown, with screams, cries, and curses rising one after another.

People ran around in panic, pushing and trampling on each other, and the scene was a mess.

The Secret Service agents reacted extremely quickly. Several agents immediately rushed towards the fallen commander, using their bodies as shields to surround him.

Several other agents pounced on the gunman like tigers descending from the mountains.

The gunman did not appear to intend to flee. After firing three shots, he was overwhelmed by the oncoming crowd and agents.

He was violently pinned to the ground, and the gun in his hand was taken away. Even as the agent pressed his knee against his back, he still had that strange and satisfied smile on his face.

"Quick! Send the commander-in-chief to the hospital!"

The head of the Secret Service shouted his orders at the top of his lungs.

Several agents hurriedly carried the unconscious General Howell into the special car.

The President's special car, escorted by police cars, sounded the shrill alarm and rushed towards the nearest Walter Reed Army Medical Center like crazy.

The entire National Mall, and even the entire Washington, was paralyzed by this sudden shooting.

The patriotic enthusiasm that had just been ignited by Howell's speech was instantly replaced by great shock and panic.

A powerful and arrogant superpower suffered a double blow in military and political terms within one day.

In a luxurious villa in California overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Senator Johnson, General "Ghost" and the mysterious consortium representative were leisurely sitting on the leather sofa, enjoying the best Cuban cigars.

Outside the huge floor-to-ceiling windows was the sea dyed red by the setting sun, while inside the room was broadcasting live emergency news from Washington.

On the TV screen was the chaotic scene after the shooting at the National Mall.

The reporter's voice trembled with excitement and nervousness as he kept repeating the shocking news that "the President had been assassinated."

However, in stark contrast to the chaos and panic on TV, the three people in the room were unusually calm.

There was no expression on their faces, neither shock nor worry, as if they were watching a movie that had nothing to do with them.

When the TV screen showed a close-up of General Howell being shot in the chest and being carried into a special car covered in blood, the "Ghost" General simply flicked the ash of his cigar lightly and curled the corners of his mouth into an almost imperceptible sneer.

"Well done," he said in his hoarse, icy voice. "The 'Psycho Gunman' was a great performance. The timing, the angle, the level of chaos—it was all perfect."

The consortium representative picked up the whiskey in his hand, took a sip, and a satisfied glint flashed in his eyes.

"I have arranged the direction of subsequent media coverage. They will emphasize that this was an isolated attack by a mentally ill person and has nothing to do with any political conspiracy."

"At the same time, it would also suggest that this may be related to agents from China or Russia, further intensifying xenophobia in the country."

Senator Johnson slowly exhaled a thick smoke ring, watching the smoke rise in the air and finally dissipate.

His face showed a calmness that showed he had the overall situation in control.

"Howell, the madman, can finally be quiet for a while."

he said calmly.

"The Vice-President is a wise man. He knows what to do. He will take power to stabilize the situation, and then suspend the war mobilization against Dragon Nation under the pretext that 'the country needs unity and healing.'"

"Next, we can naturally start 'secret negotiations' with Longguo and resume our business dealings."

He turned to the Ghost General and raised his glass.

"General, your 'soldiers' behaved well. Did you clean up afterward?"

General Ghost nodded. "Don't worry. He's a true 'patriot' and suffers from a serious mental illness, with complete hospital records."

"After completing his 'mission,' he will 'accidentally' commit suicide in prison, leaving no clues. All personnel involved in the peripheral operations have also been 'permanently furloughed.'"

The three of them smiled at each other, raised their glasses and clinked them lightly in the air.

"For the 'stability' and 'prosperity' of the United States." Senator Johnson said with a smile.

"For more 'sane' leadership," General Michaels echoed.

"No," the consortium representative shook his head, a meaningful smile on his face, "it's for the continuous business between us and Dragon Country."

Outside the window, the last rays of sunset sank into the Pacific Ocean.

And within the vast empire of the United States, an even darker conspiracy dominated by capital and power has just begun.

The fall of President Howell did not mark the end of the crisis, but the beginning of a more chaotic and dangerous era...