In the face of a veteran ruffian like Xu Rui, these diplomats have no choice, if the situation allows, they can also use force to deter or even suppress directly, but unfortunately, this road is not feasible at all now. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Small countries like the Netherlands and Luxembourg are not capable of sending troops to suppress them.

Britain has the ability to send troops, but what benefits can it bring to Britain by sending troops to suppress patrol camps at this time? Obviously, it will not bring any benefits, if it is really from Singapore to send troops to suppress the patrol camp, in the end it can only cheapen the Japanese, and this kind of loss-making trade will never be done by the British.

What's more, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain has now been kidnapped by his own policies.

The core of Chamberlain's appeasement policy was to connive at the German-Italian-Japanese Axis Alliance, which later led this scourge to the Soviet Union, so it was absolutely impossible for Britain to enter the water easily at this juncture.

Some people will ask, what does the suppression of the Concession patrol camp have to do with the Japanese?

Of course, it has something to do with it, because most of Shanghai has become the territory of the Japanese, and if Britain sends troops to Shanghai on a large scale at this time, it will be sleeping soundly next to the Japanese's couch, and the Japanese can agree? Maybe the patrol camp was not suppressed by then, but Britain and Japan fought first, and it was because of a small loss.

Although France has troops stationed in the French Concession, the total strength is only one regiment, this amount of troops, if you really do it, let alone suppress the patrol camp, it will be suppressed by the patrol camp in the blink of an eye! Today's patrol camp is no longer the patrol camp when it confronted the Gurkha royal infantry battalion.

The current patrol camp not only has 6,000 people, but also beautiful equipment of one color!

The attitude of the United States has always been very ambiguous, and the strength of the US Army is pitifully weak, and its combat effectiveness is extremely poor, so it can be said that it has no sense of existence in the world; not to mention that the US Government has been clamoring for glorious isolation, for fear that Britain and France will drag him into the quagmire of world war, so it cannot be counted on.

With such an analysis, it really doesn't take the patrol camp.

The envoys of various countries in Shanghai dispersed one after another, each went back to his own home, and went to find his own mother.

However, it is completely foreseeable that early tomorrow morning, the newspapers and magazines controlled by the Western countries will inevitably be filled with a crusade against the patrol camps, and sensational words such as barbarism, ignorance and backwardness, disregard for rules, and self-isolation from the civilized world will certainly appear in large numbers in newspapers and magazines.

Xu Rui expected such a situation, so he seemed to be fearless, to put it bluntly, China has nothing to lose, no matter how bad the situation is, it will not be worse than now, but the West is different, the West is now in the dead silence on the eve of the war, except for Germany, no one dares to act rashly.

Steve did not return to the legation, but came to the building of the Ministry of Industry and Bureau of the Concession.

Until he entered Jonathan's office, Steve was still angry.

Seeing Steve rush in angrily, Jonathan, Ferguson, and Johnson, who were gathering together to discuss countermeasures, quickly got up to greet them, and Jonathan also asked the female secretary Jenna to pour Steve a cup of hot coffee, and Steve's face finally eased a little after a cup of coffee.

Johnson asked in a low voice, "Your Excellency, are the negotiations not going well?" ”

"It's not just that it's not going well." Steve said angrily, "Xu Rui, this guy simply can't get in!" ”

Jonathan immediately said: "If you really can't do it, you can only put pressure on the national government." ”

"Are you stupid?" Steve said angrily, "Xu Rui is a member of the Communist Party, do you think he cares about the pressure of the Nationalist government?" ”

It is already an open secret that Xu Bu is the commander of the patrol battalion.

The news was leaked by the Japanese side, and the purpose was nothing more than to provoke the relationship between the Ministry of Industry and the Patrol Battalion in the concession.

"The Communists?" Ferguson immediately suggested, "Why not try to get the Soviet government to come in and put pressure on you?" ”

"It's useless." Steve exhaled a turbid breath and snorted, "The Soviet envoy in Shanghai has already sent a note to Yan'an, but Yan'an replied that the patrol camp is the armed force of our concession Ministry of Industry and has nothing to do with them, and said that Xu Rui was not transferred to the Songhu area at all, and they didn't admit it, what can you do?" ”

Ferguson was furious when he heard this: "Isn't this talking nonsense with your eyes open? ”

"But no, they just open their eyes and tell nonsense, what can you do?" Steve said, "You can't move troops, you can't use force to suppress it, it's all empty to say anything." ”

At this time, Steve was looking forward to his grandfather's time.

When Steve was very young, his grandfather often sat on his lap with him in his arms and told him about his glorious military deeds, and his grandfather once told him that the British Empire could force the Chinese emperor to cede land and pay reparations for peace by erecting a cannon on the coast of China, and every British soldier who participated in the battle could gain infinite wealth.

Jossonham said, "Your Excellency, is this the end of the matter?" Is it okay to let the patrol battalion exercise military control over the concession, or is it to let the patrol battalion turn the central and western areas of the concession into an anti-Japanese battlefield? Did the British Empire want to give up the interests of the concession? That's more than £50 million a year! ”

Steve sighed and said, "I'm afraid that's the only way to go." ”

After a pause, Steve continued: "You weren't there just now, didn't you see Xu Rui's fierce eyes, this guy is really in a hurry, he really wants to fight with the Japanese, if anyone stands in his way, he will be in a hurry, you don't want to stay in the dungeon of the patrol camp for a while, right?" ”

When Ferguson and the other three heard this, they immediately fell silent.

To put it mildly, the strength of the patrol battalion far exceeds that of the British military presence in Shanghai.

Ferguson sighed: "The patrol battalion is already full-fledged, and if there is a fierce battle with the Japanese army in Shanghai, I am afraid that the battlefield will not be limited to all districts of the Chinese boundary, and the central area of the concession, the western area of the concession, and even the French concession may become a battlefield for repeated contention between the two sides, and what Western countries can do is probably very limited." ”

Jonathan said: "What I am most worried about is that when the patrol camp is wiped out, the Japanese army will stay in the concession, and the northern and eastern areas of the concession will not be forcibly occupied by the Japanese in this way. If the central area of the concession, the western area of the concession, and the French concession also fell into the hands of the Japanese, then Shanghai, an international metropolis, would become a forbidden area for the Japanese. ”

The Shanghai Public Concession originally had four districts, and in the first stage of the Battle of Songhu, the northern area of the concession and the eastern area of the concession became a battlefield, and finally the Nationalist Army was defeated, and the Japanese army took advantage of the situation to control the northern and eastern areas of the concession.

Steve snorted lightly, gritted his teeth and said: "First of all, in the name of the Ministry of Industry of the Concession, issue a statement that the two sides will never be allowed to fight in the central and western areas of the concession, otherwise it will be a formal declaration of war on the British Empire!" I will then immediately present a letter to the Cabinet asking for an official statement warning the Chinese and Japanese governments not to cross this red line. ”

"Does it work?" Ferguson shrugged his shoulders and said, "At least Xu Rui won't care about our warnings." ”

Jonathan also thought deeply and said: "Three months ago, we personally released Xu Rui, the devil, from King Solomon's bottle, but now it is difficult to lock him in. ”

"Whether it's useful or not, you have to try it to know." Steve said, "Do you have a better way?" ”

The two Ferguson shrugged their shoulders and immediately shut their mouths, of course they couldn't have had a better way.

At this time, Jenna suddenly walked in and reported: "Mr. General Director, there is a Miss Helena who claims to be the Associated Press war correspondent in China, and wants to do an exclusive interview with you and let her in?" ”

"The Associated Press?" Jonathan frowned and added, "Just say I'm not ......"

"Wait." As soon as Jonathan's words fell, Steve shook his hand and said, "If the Associated Press can also speak out, the deterrence of the Japanese government will be greater, after all, Japan still has to import steel, wheat, crude oil and other commodities from the United States. ”

Jonathan nodded and said, "Okay, then let her in." ”

(Dividing Line)

At the same time, the Nakamura Agency.

Akira Kagesa is also being interviewed by the Asahi Shimbun.

Geunjiro is the chief reporter of the Asahi Shimbun press corps in China, and he can be regarded as the number one person in the entire Japanese news circle, and the 100-person slashing contest between Toshiaki Mukai and Takeshi Noda, two little devils, was carried to the front page of the Asahi Shimbun through his hands, and caused great repercussions in Japan.

"Your Excellency, I just heard shocking news." Geunjiro spread out his notebook on his lap, prepared to take notes, and said, "Is it true that the patrol camp has military control over the central and western districts of the public concession?" If this is true, what kind of impact will it have on the Imperial Army's control of Shanghai? ”

"That's a very good question." With his hands on his knees and a stiff expression, he replied, "The Imperial Army will never sit idly by and watch the barbaric act of the patrol camp that flagrantly tramples on international law and flagrantly ignores international diplomatic conventions, and if necessary, the Imperial Army will take resolute and just actions to maintain the sanctity and inviolability of international law." ”

Hearing this, Jinjiro's expression was shocked, and he knew that Kagesa Zhenzhao was building momentum for the Japanese army to enter the concession.

As a reporter for the Asahi Shimbun, of course Geunjiro knew that the 7th and 20th Divisions were urgently assembling and would rush to Shanghai within half a month at the latest, but the public concession and the French concession were always a difficult problem, and if the Japanese army could not enter the public concession or the French concession, it would not be possible to fundamentally eliminate Xu Rui's patrol camp.