Wang Chonghui and the minister of the Nine Kingdoms had a big quarrel, and the two sides broke up unhappily. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Soon, the Chinese government's hard-line attitude was transmitted back to Europe through the envoys of various countries, among which several small countries such as the Netherlands and Luxembourg were playing soy sauce, while France and the United States were relatively peaceful, and they were all talking about their own affairs, and only Britain and Italy reacted most violently.

Interestingly, Britain and Italy are not in the same group.

Although Germany, Italy and Japan have not yet signed a military alliance treaty, everyone can see that the formation of the German-Italian-Japanese axis military alliance is a certainty and it is difficult to reverse.

And Britain, like the Soviet Union, is the main enemy of this soon-to-be-formed military alliance! Britain hoped that this soon-to-be-formed military alliance would turn the spearhead at the Soviet Union and pursue a policy of appeasement, and endured many of Germany's excesses again and again, even going so far as to sign the Munich Agreement and betray the Czech Republic.

Therefore, fundamentally, it is impossible for the nine Western countries to act in unison.

Seeing that scaring was useless, several small countries immediately decided to give up.

In fact, the United States and France are full of sympathy for China, and they are also deeply sympathetic to the plight of the lonely military camp, because this is fundamentally caused by the British treacherous preference.

Therefore, only Italy and the United Kingdom are the ones who really can't get off Taiwan.

Britain is particularly embarrassed, no matter what, Britain is the only superpower in the world today, although the United States' industrial manufacturing strength has surpassed Britain, but when it comes to comprehensive national strength, especially military strength, it is far worse than Britain, Germany and the Soviet Union's industrial strength is also very strong, but the international influence is far less than Britain.

Therefore, Britain is embarrassed by the toughness of the Chinese government.

According to past experience, the British originally thought that as long as they were scared, China would definitely admit it, but who would have thought that this time the Chinese would actually be like fighting chicken blood, and they did not admit it at all, but bared out two rows of fangs and put on a posture of wanting to compete with the British, which is very embarrassing.

The Chinese's reply reached London, and Chamberlain immediately convened a cabinet meeting.

Chamberlain was not a militant, so he endured Germany's aggressiveness, but this in no way meant that Chamberlain was a good gentleman, in fact, if it were not for the industrial strength and army of the Germans, Chamberlain would never have been so easy to speak.

And China, in Chamberlain's eyes, has always been weak and deceitful.

The two Opium Wars wiped out the confidence of the Chinese in the face of Westerners, but also held high the confidence of the British in the face of the Chinese, in fact, Chamberlain never looked at China squarely, and China in his eyes was a dumping ground for British goods, a weak country to be bullied.

Therefore, after receiving the reply of the minister in Chongqing, Chamberlain still wanted to go to war.

However, fighting a war is not an easy task, first of all, where are the troops transferred from?

In addition to the native army, the British army also has Indian, South African, Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian servant armies, and the current situation in Europe is tense, and it is obviously not possible to transfer troops from the mainland, and the distance from the mainland to China is too far, and it will be consumed for several months on the road, and the daylily will be cold when they reach China.

The most feasible option is to transfer troops from Hong Kong or Singapore.

However, Hong Kong originally only had 10,000 garrisons, which were insufficient to defend against the Japanese army in Guangdong, so they could only transfer troops from Singapore, and Singapore's garrison was enough, 50,000!

However, in order to transport Singapore's 50,000 troops to Shanghai, it is necessary to mobilize a large number of ships, which cannot be accomplished by the Far East Fleet alone, and it is also necessary to transfer the fleet in the Indian Ocean as well, but if the fleet in the Indian Ocean is transferred there, it will inevitably cause a backlash from Japan, so it is necessary to make diplomatic representations first.

In addition, the use of such a large navy and army, military expenditure is also very huge, although after the end of the Sino-British war, can be compensated by the Chinese government indemnity, but at the beginning, this military expenditure must be paid by the British government in advance, which is a huge burden for the British government, which is already financially constrained.

The Minister of Finance first began to cry out loudly: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, I regret to inform you that there is no more money in the treasury account, and it is simply not enough to support such a major military operation, let alone using two fleets to transport 50,000 troops to the Chinese battlefield thousands of miles away, even if it is to transfer a division of troops to India, it is already very difficult to do." ”

"Money is not an issue, public bonds can be issued." Chamberlain waved his hand and said, "The only thing we have to consider is the reaction of the Japanese, and if the Japanese stand up and intervene, it will be a little tricky." ”

"The Japanese should not stand up and interfere, after all, it is only good for them and not bad." The Foreign Minister shrugged his shoulders and said, "The question is, are you really going to do that, Your Excellency, Prime Minister?" Have you not thought that once Britain intervened in the Sino-Japanese war and sided with the Japanese, China would likely be quickly defeated? ”

"If China dies, it doesn't matter." Chamberlain said in a deep voice, "As long as Japan targets the Soviet Union after annexing China, I think this is still very likely." ”

"I don't think so." The Minister of Finance shook his head and said, "From a strategic point of view, the Japanese will not be able to obtain the oil, steel, and rubber resources they urgently need by attacking the Soviet Union in the north, but if they attack Southeast Asia in the south, they will immediately be able to obtain rubber, crude oil, and steel resources, so it is more likely that Japan will go south after successfully annexing China." ”

There was a fierce debate in Britain about whether the Japanese would go north or south after annexing China.

Chamberlain retorted: "Didn't the intelligence services say that the Japanese Kwantung Army was in full swing preparing for war against the Soviet Union? ”

"It was just a tentative move by the Japanese." The Minister of Military Intelligence continued, "If the outcome is satisfactory, it is not ruled out that the Japanese will go to war with the Soviet Union in an all-out way, but I think that this is unlikely, and the military adventure of the Japanese will most likely end in defeat, both victory and must be a disastrous victory." ”

Chamberlain said very depressedly: "Doesn't this mean that we can't go to war with China?" ”

"I think so, Your Excellency Prime Minister." Several ministers attending the meeting nodded in unison and said, "The tough statement of the Chinese has only caused a little loss of face, but if Japan is allowed to annex China and burn the war to Southeast Asia, it will undoubtedly lead the German-Italian-Japanese axis alliance that is about to take shape to the empire, which is a crisis related to the life and death of the empire." ”

"Okay." Chamberlain said dejectedly, "Then let the Americans intermediate." ”

(Dividing Line)

At the same time, in Chongqing.

The whole day was spent in restlessness.

Although the possibility of the British government sending troops is very small, there are no absolutes in everything, what if the British government does send troops? That would be a catastrophe for China!

Therefore, the statement was expressed, but Chairman Jiang was still extremely worried in his heart.

The staff did not leave, and all stayed in Chairman Chiang's official residence to wait for the latest feedback.

Time passed slowly in a suffocating wait, and the sky outside had begun to gradually darken.

Chairman Jiang looked up at the clock on the wall, and saw that the hour hand was already pointing to seven o'clock in the evening, and then turned his head and asked Foreign Minister Wang Chonghui: "Liang Chou, London should be almost noon now, right?" ”

"Yes, take a seat." Wang Chonghui replied respectfully, "London should be around eleven o'clock in the morning." ”

"It's eleven o'clock, and the internal reading meeting should be over." Chairman Jiang said faintly, and then said, "There should be results soon, right?" ”

Wang Chonghui smiled bitterly and said, "It should be like this." ”

Chairman Chiang looked around at the dozen or so staff members present and asked, "Do you say that the British will go to war with us?" ”

"Definitely not." Bai Chongxi said firmly, "Unless the British are crazy, it is impossible to start a war with us. ”

"I don't think I can do it at the lower grades." He Yingqin and Chen Cheng also rarely agreed with Bai Chongxi's judgment, nothing else, because Chairman Chiang now wanted to hear this, but in terms of their hearts, He Yingqin and Chen Cheng did not think so, they thought that the British would definitely start an all-out war with China.

After a few words, the chamber fell silent again.

Fortunately, the silence did not last long, and it didn't take long for Wang Shihe, the chief of the guard, to walk in happily and report to Chairman Chiang with excitement: "Bench, Ambassador Jensen has called and said that he will come over later to mediate this dispute between us and the British. ”

"Jensen is going to intervene?"

"It turned out to be an American?"

"The British themselves refused to come?"

"Didn't you just hear that, this is a dispute!"

"Americans' characterization of this incident is a dispute!"

"Haha, it seems that the British don't want to go to war with us."

"I said earlier, the British will not and dare not go to war!"

When the dozen or so staff members present heard this, they all looked excited.

A diplomatic victory, this is definitely a major victory on the diplomatic front!

The invincible British, in front of the Chinese, finally lowered their proud heads!

In the face of intimidation and blackmail from the West, Chairman Chiang rarely took a hard line, and this time he was also forced, but this only one toughness achieved unexpectedly good results, and such a result really cannot be asked for more.