Soldiers wearing black and white Van der Linde uniforms, armed with semi-automatic rifles, followed closely behind the advancing Tanks, running towards the distant city.
Scanning the entire scene, thousands of Tanks, interspersed with dense formations of soldiers, advanced from all directions, like a black torrent, surging into the city.
Another extremely dangerous war was about to begin, yet the soldiers, group after group, showed no signs of apprehension or tension; instead, their faces were resolute, filled with a fervent zeal.
Arthur, dressed in a black general's uniform and wearing a black beret, sat at the rear of a Tank, taking out his camera to photograph the vast, dense army behind him.
"Oh, I don't know why we went from a band of outlaws to where we are today. Dutch seems to possess a charm, a charm that can make everyone fervent and follow him closely... From Horseshoe Overlook to Guarma, from Guarma to now, everyone seems to spontaneously gather around him, and once they come, they never leave..."
Arthur wrote his thoughts in his diary, feeling a deep sense of emotion as he watched the soldiers beside him, each brimming with fighting spirit.
Their war was now actually very simple.
Leaving aside the issues of airplanes and Tanks, Mr. Dutch Van der Linde recently proposed a brand new plan: 'All American Veterans are Veterans,' to take in the disabled Veterans discarded by the American East Coast Government. This alone led to most battlefields surrendering without a fight.
The American East Coast Government was, after all, a capitalist government. Although it promised excellent treatment and high benefits during conscription, Veterans who survived the battlefield without being killed by airplanes and Tanks would be refused their retirement and disability benefits upon their return, under the pretext of 'the government currently facing financial difficulties, please wait.' They were even evicted from their homes, their injuries left untreated.
President Theodore might not have had such intentions, but the current American East Coast Government, from its administration to its military, had been infiltrated by capital. Thus, some matters he wasn't even aware of were handled by these capitalists below him.
This behavior utterly broke the hearts of the soldiers in the American East Coast Government's existing army.
Under these circumstances, large numbers of Veterans who retired due to injuries could only wait for death. In this despair, their former enemies, surprisingly, put aside past grievances and specifically established the Veteran Club to help them, treat their bodies, bring them to the West, and then provide them with a job that could guarantee their basic needs...
This damned tactic was like a direct stab to the heart!
This also completely extinguished the will to resist in the American East Coast Federal Government's army. When Mr. Van der Linde's troops arrived, there was no need for battle; the opposing side surrendered directly.
This allowed the Van der Linde SS troops to advance at an incredibly fast pace. It is estimated that within another two months, America will completely become Mr. Van der Linde's America.
However, the speed of the advance was much faster than Arthur had imagined.
April 2, 1902.
The Van der Linde rebels completely occupied Ohio and continued to push towards New York.
Throughout the entire process, they encountered almost no resistance, making one wonder what the American East Coast Government was up to.
However, most of the factories within the cities had already ceased operations when Arthur and his forces advanced, and even the machinery was nowhere to be found. Only the larger, un-dismantlable ones were intentionally destroyed.
This gave Arthur a slight bad premonition.
As expected, his premonition was confirmed on April 18.
On April 18, a piece of news broke in the Eastern newspapers. The news was reported by a journalist who had bypassed multiple blockades by diving and entered the Maine port to capture the photographs.
According to the photos, the Maine port was completely surrounded by American soldiers, with countless ships and warships anchored nearby.
Wagons were seen transporting various equipment and machinery onto the ships, and there were even images of soldiers boarding the vessels.
Countless upper-class individuals, dressed in luxurious and expensive attire, gathered there. From their actions, it seemed they were preparing to depart by ship!
As soon as this news was reported, it instantly created a massive international uproar.
No one knew that the United States Government, though not particularly powerful, was ultimately a nascent empire, yet it was fleeing in disarray at the hands of a mere Great Western President of America!
The public opinion of the United States Government's defeat and hasty retreat spread widely, even causing the fighting in Europe to intensify.
Previously, the intensity was from German Second Empire and Austria-Hungary, as the airplanes had fallen into British hands, forcing them to accelerate their war efforts to end the war before the British could get the airplanes airborne.
But now, America was already about to fall completely into the hands of the Great Western President of America, which caused British, France, and Russia to feel deeply pressured.
Everyone knew that Mr. Dutch Van der Linde, the Great Western President of America, was allied with German Second Empire. With the pacification of America, he would surely deploy troops to aid German Second Empire.
This was simply unacceptable for Europe!
But now, their naval power was completely lost. The only thing they could do was to accelerate the speed of the European war, to end this World War before Dutch Van der Linde, this bandit, could pacify America and free up his hands!
Consequently, the intensity of the war on the European continent escalated, becoming so fierce that it almost completely disregarded the consumption of human lives and resources, solely to push the opponent flat with all their might, or be pushed flat by the opponent!
Within the short period of one and a half years, from April 2, 1902, to July 8, 1904, the European continent successively experienced the Battle of Siber River, the War of Lorraine Destruction, the Occupation of the Alps, the Rhineland Destruction War, and eight other large-scale, devastating, and world-record-setting major wars.
These eight battles resulted in more than half of France's three-million-strong army being wiped out, completely exhausting the foundation of France's new generation of young people, to the point of a generational void.
England's losses were also not to be underestimated; its army alone suffered over 700,000 casualties, and its entire navy of 200,000 elite troops was annihilated in the Pacific War, leaving only a few small naval units that were completely unable to maintain the operation of its colonial system.
Of course, the number of deaths was a minor issue, as people are a renewable resource. However, the loss of various warships could not be compensated for in a day or two.
And German Second Empire and Austria-Hungary were even more desperate. This war had the heads of the emperors of these two countries at stake, and for the sake of their own heads, they would be utterly ruthless.
On the entire West Front, the combined death toll for German Second Empire and Austria-Hungary had already exceeded 2.5 million, and this does not even include the East Front.
On the East Front, Tsarist Russia's casualties were equally astonishing. Not to mention the 300,000 troops lost in the attack by Mr. Van der Linde on the American coast, the losses on the East Front and in the Pacific War alone amounted to 500,000. However, it was also fighting on two fronts, battling German Second Empire on one side and Little Japan on the other. The casualties on the Little Japan battlefield were also considerable, totaling 350,000. But Little Japan's losses were even greater; its strength was originally not well-matched with the Russian Empire. Nicholas II, seeing the European battlefield in such a state, realized he couldn't explain it to his people.
There was no other way. Little Japan was conveniently close and had even initiated an attack, so they would directly invade Little Japan to boost morale!
Therefore, under Nicholas II's no-holds-barred attack, the Tsarist Russian army has even pushed into Little Japan's territory and is currently engaged in a difficult resistance war.
This World War can be said to have completely shattered the glory of Europe and completely broken the world order. The only country that was not officially involved, America, also suffered heavy losses due to its civil war.
Only the Devil laughed heartily, lamenting the impermanence of the world.
However, he would not be laughing for much longer.