After the conferment of the title, the Governor continued to feast with the merchants in the hall, and from time to time he showed disdain for Jiannu in his conversation.

Because of his high degree of cooperation with the military in the war against Japan, Cho An had been awarded the title of "Knight of Honor" (Note 1) at several previous small-scale ventilation meetings, and was politically regarded as his own person, so he could be close to the governor's circle.

Qin Xiangping, who was dressed in military uniform, wore a seniority badge on his chest, and he also wore a luxurious Morning Star Medal under his collar. He held a wine glass in his right hand, and from time to time he let out a hearty laugh, and his breathy voice could be heard five or six meters away.

"Your lords contributed a lot in the last war, and our government and military remember it." He smiled and put down his wine glass, arching his hand towards everyone, his expression was very gentle, "You have proven your loyalty to my Great China. Ao-Song and Daming are originally a family, or a Chinese watch. If you are willing to join the nationality of our Great Song Dynasty, you can enjoy the treatment that is completely equivalent to that of our own citizens of Australia and Song. ”

Zhao An stood on the periphery of the crowd, and when he heard this, the cup in his hand couldn't help but shake, and he almost spilled the red wine.

The dozen or so people around him were all active collaborators of Ao Song, not to mention that they also invested 100,000 taels of silver in the war, and when they heard Qin Xiangping's words, an inexplicable silence spread to Qin Xiangping as the center of the circle.

Qin Xiangping himself acted as if nothing had happened, and he still toasted to the people around him unhurriedly, and the smile on his face was still warm.

The hall fell silent. The merchants standing on the outside were observing the crowd around the governor, and a strange atmosphere gradually spread.

A few minutes later, a person beside Zhao An suddenly gritted his teeth and said loudly: "Your Excellency the Governor, the villain Wei Shaoan is willing to join the nationality of the Great Song Dynasty and do his best for the cause of my Australian Song Dynasty!" ”

The atmosphere in the hall was suddenly broken, and the people who had been eerily calm suddenly became lively, as if a thin layer of ice had melted and the spring water came alive again.

For a while, the sound of congratulations and registration was endless, and other businessmen who were eligible to join the Australian and Song Dynasty nationality woke up like a dream, one louder than the other, and couldn't wait to become a citizen of the Australian and Song Dynasty.

Zhao An, who was rapidly approaching Ao Song in the past, hesitated at this moment, walked out subconsciously, and suddenly stopped.

There is a talent in his family, called Zhao Yinggong, who not only reads the sage books on weekdays, but also practices the Australian and Song Dynasty armaments, and Mr. once commented on the future of being admitted to the Lifting People and even climbing the Jinluan Palace... Zhao An is really worried that if his patriarch joins the Australian and Song nationality, it will have an impact on his relatives, so that the Zhao family will lose a big backer in the future.

But they know what it means to be a citizen of another country.

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Just when Zhao An was fighting between heaven and man, in the garden at the back of the hall, a small-scale dinner held by Zhu Mingxia himself was also going on.

Veteran Zhu Mingxia himself had already taken off his heavy military dress - in Taipei in May, it was indeed not a pleasant thing to wear an airtight military uniform weighing several pounds and a bunch of medals.

In the garden, a round table is set up in a small square, and the waiters are constantly putting dishes on the table. There was no wine on the table, just a few bottles of fruit vinegar and soft drinks chilled in small wooden barrels.

"Everyone, please be seated." Zhu Mingxia smiled and pulled out the chair, sat down first, and then the young people standing at the table sat down one after another.

I was sitting on the right side of Elder Zhu, and from my right side I lined up: Major Zhang Fengyuan, head of the Army Advisory Corps of the Dongjiang Association, Major Huang Caifang, deputy regiment commander, Captain Du Baichuan, cavalry adviser, Captain Chen Ming, infantry adviser, Captain Chen Haiping, artillery adviser, and several officers in charge of intelligence work (their names are still under secret status, so I will not list them one by one).

In general, with the exception of more than 20 members of the advisory group who remained in the Dongjiang Army to guide the battle, all the leading groups of the advisory group on the southern Liaoning front had arrived in Taipei.

Zhu Mingxia smiled and waved his hand, signaling us to eat first: "Everyone didn't eat well before, and I didn't fill my stomach at the banquet myself." I don't talk about any rules, everyone is a soldier who has fought on the battlefield, and don't engage in any formalism. Come, eat as much as you like. ”

Seeing that Zhu Mingxia picked up a piece of roast suckling pig by himself, dipped the sugar in the white porcelain plate and put it in his mouth, we also smiled and stretched out the chopsticks to our favorite plate.

Well... To be honest, I thought that what Elder Zhu said "You're welcome" was said casually, but I didn't expect it to be really polite.

Seven or eight of us ate without saying a word for twenty minutes, until the core of the food was exhausted and the cups and plates were messy, Zhu Mingxia spoke, and asked the waiter to remove the plates, change the tablecloth, and make another pot of tea.

Even the tea is served in a large two-liter glass jug.

Elder Zhu's adjutant brought up a large-scale map covering the entire southern and western Liaoning corridors.

"Fengyuan, you can explain the latest situation first." Zhu Mingxia wiped his beautiful white beard, his eyes were already deep, and he looked at the map calmly.

Zhang Fengyuan got up and bowed slightly, then walked to the map nailed to the wooden board, pointed at the southern Liaoning region with a teaching whip, and introduced to us: "Everyone, please see, this is Haizhou. ”

"Our intelligence officers had previously been reconnoitring near the Liaonan Peninsula. Beginning at the beginning of this month, Jiannu began to mobilize a large number of regular troops from the coastal states to the Gaizhou line in an attempt to expel our forces. He took a green oil pen and drew on the map, "Probably such a line, the north of this line can no longer guarantee the integrity of the intelligence network, and the main reconnaissance force has shrunk to the area south of this line." ”

"On the 5th of this month, the 4th Regiment of the 1st Division of the Dongjiang Army stationed in Xiuyan reported that the scouts they sent were intercepted and killed by Jiannu, and that Ba Ya La's figure was suspected to have appeared - this is the first report we have received about Hou Jin's dispatch of Ba Ya La. On the 8th, about 2,000 Jiannu Yuding began to besiege Xiuyan, but did not start the siege. We suspect that this is to block our lines of communication. ”

Zhu Mingxia interrupted Zhang Fengyuan and asked, "Which part of Jiannu is it?" ”

"It's two blue flags, and the specific commander is not known for the time being."

Zhu Mingxia nodded and motioned for Zhang Fengyuan to continue.

"On the 10th, Liu Xingzuo sent intelligence, saying that Jiannu had reached a resolution to officially attack Lushun, and the strategic goal was to drive our army into the sea and completely eliminate the base in southern Liaoning."

(In this time and space, the Liu Xingzuo brothers reached a cooperative relationship with the Ao Song Dynasty, and did not flee to Lushun in the first year of Chongzhen, but continued to lurk in Jiannu)

After talking about the enemy's situation, Zhang Fengyuan changed to a red pen and marked a circle on the map: "Our army has dispatched the second and third regiments of the second division of the Dongjiang Army to Lushun by sea and landing, and now they have basically arrived. They will enter the Golden State Fortress to assist in the defense. ”

"At the same time, the remnants of the First Division of the Dongjiang Army stationed in Kuandian and Phoenix have completed mobilization and entered a state of combat readiness, and can attack the eastern stronghold of Jiannu at any time."

"Based on your analysis, does Jiannu have any plans for a decisive battle?"

Zhang Fengyuan was silent for a while and replied: "The intelligence department thinks no. Jiannu had just experienced a famine, and his war potential had decreased a lot, and it was more likely that he would have to fight a quick decisive battle. If it is to fight a decisive battle with the main force, the scale of their mobilization is too small. ”

Zhu Mingxia nodded slightly and did not continue to speak.

Zhang Fengyuan continued to explain, but my eyes were observing Zhu Mingxia. Following Zhu Mingxia's line of sight, I turned my head to look at the map.

Zhu Mingxia's gaze was falling on the westernmost part of the map. There is the junction of Qiancheng and Kuancheng, Xifengkou.

Note 1: "Honorary Knight" is an honorary title given to foreigners, and can enjoy the same treatment as "Knight".

According to the "Nobility Law of the Republic of Australia and the Song Dynasty", the ranks of nobility in China are divided into knights, barons, viscounts, earls, marquises, dukes, and grand dukes. Among them, the title of knighthood can be conferred directly by the governor of the colony; Barons to Earls are approved by the National Association of Nobles and are directly conferred by the Association; The title of Marquis must be approved by Parliament and the Senate before it can be conferred by the Senate. The Senate had the power to dispose of titles of nobility, which could be stripped by notifying Parliament.