There were many who considered Chen Ke insidious, and not a few who thought him a coward, but these claims were always treated as jokes. For example, some ridiculed Chen Ke's lack of combat ability, saying he "couldn't lift a jack or fight ten thousand enemies." This kind of view wouldn't even be adopted by any of Chen Ke's decent enemies.

However, in the mid-1960s, NATO launched a series of coups in Africa through military and covert means, toppling a large number of local African governments. China only managed to retain normal commercial relations with two African countries, which was seen by many at the time as a strategic collapse for China. The so-called hawks in Europe and America cheered, believing this was a sign of Chen Ke's senility in his final years.

In order to drive China out of Africa completely, the Euro-American hawks set their sights on Tanzania, China's last partner on the African continent.

In 1968, Tanzania's neighbor, the Kingdom of Zanzibar, overthrew the Sultan. They were accused of "turning Red" and being "Africa's Cuba," and were subjected to military threats. The newly established Zanzibar government was willing to merge with Tanzania to form the United Republic of Tanzania. This gave the United States an excuse. The US immediately announced that in order to maintain the Zanzibar regime, it would support the Sultan's relatives who had fled to London to form a provisional government.

The self-proclaimed free United States finally tore off its own mask and began to openly collude with the monarchical system. To maintain monarchical rule, NATO, led by the US, sent 50,000 troops into Zanzibar and carried out a brutal slaughter of the Zanzibar republican army. After capturing the capital, the US gave the local royalists large sums of money, and NATO took the lead in providing a large number of mercenaries. These mercenaries carried out a brutal massacre of the Zanzibar republicans. Moreover, the mercenaries fought their way into Tanzanian territory, committing heinous crimes along the border.

At this critical juncture, Tanzania finally agreed to the request of the Zanzibar republicans and agreed to the merger of the two countries. The Tanzanian government openly stood on the opposite side of the United States.

China and the Soviet Union immediately began to give the Tanzanian government all-round support. To establish influence on the African continent, China agreed to Madagascar's request and accepted Madagascar as a Special Administrative Region, building a brand-new relationship with China.

The largest local war since World War II broke out.

At that time, Tanzania had built the East African Common Market with Uganda and Kenya. The United States immediately instigated the Amin rebellion in Uganda, overthrowing the legitimate government of Uganda. Since Kenya was a desert area with weak national power, the United States did not intervene for the time being.

The United States originally thought it could easily defeat an African country, but they underestimated the determination of the Tanzanian people to resist external aggression. And the United States even more underestimated the self-awakening of Africa.

Historically, Europe and America only occupied some strongholds along the African coast. In order to control the whole of Africa, Europe and America had to go deep into the entire continent. This action forced Africa to be drawn into world exchanges.

The United States didn't intend to engage in colonialism initially, but the tens of thousands of NATO soldiers, hundreds of thousands of mercenaries, and local warlord armed forces swaggering around in Africa soon began to infringe on the interests of ordinary local African people. Since China had been "driven out of Africa," these unscrupulous fellows soon began to infringe on the interests of the local African people.

After going directly from a relatively primitive social state to a comprehensive commodity society, extremely cruel exploitation appeared in all parts of Africa. As long as there was a profitable industry, Americans would stick their foot in it. Driven by profit, from death mines to blood diamonds, and then to human organ trafficking, a large number of crimes against humanity soon appeared in Africa.

The nature of imperialism, which oppresses internally and plunders externally, determined that the United States could not resolve these contradictions. While American capitalists made huge profits, they drove American soldiers to die for foreign kings. The United States could no longer maintain its own painted skin of the "Free World."

Tanzania was soon armed with the support of China and the Soviet Union and began a war with NATO using modern weapons. The scale and duration of this war completely exceeded the imagination of all countries at the time. The war was divided into several stages and was fought for a full twelve years.

At its peak, the United States deployed more than 700,000 US troops and a total of 250,000 troops from other NATO countries in Zanzibar.

The war spread from Zanzibar to Tanzania, then expanded to Uganda and Kenya, and finally NATO attacked Mozambique. Millions of square kilometers of land in Southeast Africa were engulfed in the flames of war.

This war greatly stimulated the self-awakening of the African people, and in particular promoted the process of the region centered on Tanzania entering into modern statehood.

Three US presidents had to face the war in Africa, and this war consumed America's immense national strength. American citizens were also extremely disgusted with participating in the African war. They could find no reason to die for an African king. And the black people in the United States were also extremely opposed to the killing in Africa by the US. The black civil rights movement and the pursuit of democratic rights by ordinary American people triggered huge turmoil within the United States.

If it were before, the United States could attack socialist forces by labeling people as Communists. Facing the huge wave of opposition within the United States, the US initially continued its past policies. But this comprehensive civil rights movement triggered a great division within the US.

NATO subverted the governments of most African countries. The new regimes they propped up were either greedy, incompetent, or both. Even in Europe and America, colonialism could absolutely not be called politically correct; at least Europe and America dared not claim that colonialism was just. Europe and America had to claim that the African regimes they supported were models of democracy and the embodiment of justice.

But the legitimacy of royal power based on bloodline was repeatedly criticized in the socialist camp countries like China and the Soviet Union. People were not fools. In fairy tales, one could talk about the justice of kings, queens, princes, and princesses, but in reality, no one thought there was any glory in shedding blood and sacrificing one's life for a king. Not to mention that this king was not of the Solomon bloodline of Ethiopia that had been passed down for a thousand years, but just a local chief who crowned himself after World War II.

American politician Nixon led the normalization of relations between the United States, the Soviet Union, and China in 1976, but the United States did not withdraw from Africa until 1980. The just struggle of East African countries led by Tanzania finally won the ultimate victory.

Roosevelt's New Deal exercised great control over America's "venture capital," and venture capital banking and ordinary banking businesses were not allowed to overlap. China, the Soviet Union, and NATO all had to compete based on their actual production capacity. NATO fought against two major powers, and by the 1980s, it had entered a state of financial crisis.

At this time, the second Middle East oil crisis broke out again. The second oil crisis was similar to the first; Israel, supported by the United States, fought a big war with Middle Eastern countries, and the Middle Eastern countries were extremely dissatisfied. At the same time, foreign oil companies took the majority of oil profits, triggering an oil crisis with an embargo against Europe and America. Oil prices doubled again, jumping from $5 per barrel to $17 per barrel.

China's second-generation leadership, including Li Runshi, had successfully transitioned power, and China's power transfer system had entered a relatively standardized and institutionalized stable path. China's commercial nuclear power plants were also officially put into use at this time.

China itself possessed most of the world's thorium reserves. This nuclear power plant technology suitable for China theoretically ensured that China's power supply would not be in shortage for at least the next five hundred years. This reshuffling of energy supply was just right for China.

The second oil crisis in 1980 led to a massive economic crisis in the NATO capitalist camp, while China, relying on the state operational capabilities of governments in the modern sense that appeared in Southeast African countries during the war, began to increase investment and technology transfer in Southeast Africa.

The soaring oil prices prompted the Soviet Union to join the world oil market as well. High oil prices allowed the Soviet Union to obtain huge funds from exports, and the economic crisis in the capitalist world allowed the Soviet Union to rake in technical equipment. The retreat on the African front made Americans re-evaluate Chen Ke's "weakness" starting from the second half of the 60s.

Americans also had to admit that Li Runshi had creatively perfected Chen Ke's philosophy and ideology. He was indeed a world-class leader.

Regarding the US offensive in Africa, Li Runshi said in a meeting with American journalist Snow in 1968: "You can advise the US government, why bother doing this? Wherever it goes, the people there learn to fight. But if you tell it to leave, it won't leave. If it doesn't leave, it will inevitably be driven away by the local people. The little moral and economic advantage that the United States managed to gain in World War II will soon be squandered by the United States itself."

The economic and political decline forced the United States to adjust its strategy again. After Reagan came to power, the United States gave up the strategy of competing with China for Africa, and instead fully controlled Latin America. Furthermore, it began a tit-for-tat competition in Europe with the Soviet Union, which was assuming an aggressive posture.

The United States launched the Star Wars program against the Soviet Union, and at the same time deregulated the financial industry, trying to solve the aggressive Soviet Union in Europe with a final effort.

After development, the Soviet Union also began to try to expand its influence globally. The Cold War reached its climax in Europe.

As always, China completely adhered to the line of "self-reliance and ample food and clothing." After "Project Zhurong" achieved its first stage, the total demand for resources for China's domestic construction began to fall back, while the development of Africa expanded the global market that China had strived to establish, expanding China's investment space.

After gaining new space for energy development, China began to declare war on environmental problems, thereby driving the fourth wave of infrastructure construction. The world was galloping towards a brand-new height.

(The End)