When Zhou Hexuan returned to Chongqing from Lizhuang, the Hemingways were still on the front line, and the visiting ambassador, Currie, had already left China.

Within a few days of Currie's absence, Chang Kaishen had an additional political adviser named Owen Lattimore.

For the next year and a half, whenever there was an important occasion, even a Christmas dinner held by Chiang, Owen Lattimore, an American adviser, would be by his side. He is estimated to be Chang Kaishen's favorite foreign consultant, not only can he speak fluent Chinese, but even Lao Jiang's Ningbo dialect can be understood - Owen was brought up by a Ningbo grandmother.

At the end of May, Roosevelt openly campaigned war throughout the country and declared that the president and Congress had the right to requisition manpower, material resources, and industrial sectors in response to the impending war. Many conglomerates and ordinary people in the United States strongly opposed and demanded that the government continue to adopt a neutral foreign policy, but Roosevelt was still methodically starting the chariot.

In mid-June, the historic American Ranger unit was formed again.

In late June, Germany implemented the Barbarossa Plan, and the Soviet-German war officially began.

As early as half a year ago, the British media hyped up the imminent invasion of the Soviet Union by Germany, which was nothing more than an attempt to draw the Soviet Union into the British camp as soon as possible. However, this propaganda had the opposite effect, so much so that when the Soviets uncovered the German attack plan, Stalin mistakenly believed that the information was deliberately fabricated by the British.

Stalin believed that it was impossible for Germany to invade the USSR on a large scale until Britain was completely settled, because idiots would make such an unwise move.

Stalin seemed to have forgotten that Hitler was not an idiot, but a madman.

Therefore, the Soviet Union was caught off guard and lost 1,200 planes in half a day, of which 800 were blown up directly at the airport before they could take off.

The situation in the Soviet Red Army was terrible, although the number was superior, but 75% of the officers did not serve for more than a year, so it can be said that they were rookies on the battlefield.

Moreover, when the Soviet-German war had just broken out, the evil consequences of the Soviet Union's wanton expansion in recent years were also unmistakable, and the newly occupied lands were full of Belt and Road parties.

Due to the high-pressure rule of Poland, when the Soviet Union partitioned Poland, local Ukrainians and Belarusians responded enthusiastically and welcomed the king. However, they soon discovered that the Soviet Union's repressive rule was no match for the Polish government.

So when Germany invaded the Soviet Union, various Belt and Road parties appeared. This was particularly evident in the newly annexed Baltic states, where some 30,000 Lithuanians took part in the mutiny and declared independence from the Soviet Union the next day. As the Germans advanced, this wave of mutinies soon spread to Estonia.

On the third day of Germany's attack on the Soviet Union, Chang Kaishen sent someone to summon Zhou Hexuan, and the newly appointed political adviser Owen was also called to ask for advice.

Chang Kaishen didn't wear dentures today, which surprised Zhou Hexuan, because Lao Jiang would only not wear dentures on very private occasions. This is to appear close to trust, and Owen Lattimore is estimated to be the first foreign adviser to receive this honor.

The meeting place is not in the study and living room, but in the garden.

Song Meiling cut two lemons on the spot, put them into the water cup with a toothpick, and said with a smile: "Come and taste it, this is the lemon tea I made myself." ”

"Thank you." Owen smiled and nodded, his Chinese words round.

Zhou Hexuan also nodded and said, "Thank you." ”

Chang Kaishen asked Owen, "What did President Roosevelt think about the German invasion of the Soviet Union?" ”

"The president believes that the Germans will advance in depth, but the Soviet Union will surely regain its strength," Owen said. In the end, it was Germany that was defeated, and the USSR would have won. ”

Chang Kaishen smiled: "Not bad! I agree with the president. All my generals told me that the Germans would win, but I thought the USSR would hold out. The Soviet Union was numerous and wide, and although its military strength was inferior to that of Germany, it could trade space for time and hold on to the end with great perseverance. This is the same as China's War of Resistance, where the aggressor will lose, while the righteous side will win. ”

Zhou Hexuan drank lemon tea and quietly looked at Lao Jiang pretending.

Owen echoed: "Mr. Jiang's analysis of the international situation is very correct, and you have amazing strategic vision. ”

Chang Kaishen was very happy and introduced: "This is a well-known expert on international issues in China, Mr. Zhou Hexuan. ”

Owen said: "Mr. Zhou has long been famous in the United States, and I have long admired the great name. ”

Zhou Hexuan smiled: "Mr. Lattimore's Chinese words are really good, and the idioms are also used accurately. ”

"I've lived in China longer than I've been in the U.S., and China is my second home. ”

Chang Kaishen helped to introduce: "Mr. Lattimore is an expert in Chinese frontier studies. ”

This expert is not touted, Owen Reality walked from Beijing to Xinzhuang, from Beijing to Heilongjiang, and then went deep into Inner Mongolia to do research, which lasted for several years. His knowledge of China's borders is far stronger than that of 99.9% of Chinese.

A few years ago, Owen also went to Yan'an for a walk, met several founding bigwigs, and greatly appreciated the ethnic policy of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo Border Region.

Chang Kaishen is very serious about Owen now, and he obviously has not read Owen's writings. In the book "China's Inland Frontiers in Asia", Owen clearly pointed out: "The Communist Party's policy of uniting ethnic minorities to oppose Japanese imperialist aggression in China's great northwest is in fact a continuation of the 'royal road' of China's successive dynasties. What is foreseeable is that the CCP, by uniting ethnic minorities to occupy China's vast frontier areas in the struggle to expel Japanese imperialism, will then use China's inland Asian frontiers as a base to eventually overthrow the corrupt rulers entrenched in the Central Plains and coastal areas, as was the case in the Sui and Tang dynasties. A new, united China will form ......"

This gentleman's body is a foreigner, but his way of thinking has been completely sinicized, and he has a very thorough understanding of China's history, culture, geography and peoples.

Later, Chang Kaishen also compared Owen and Song Ziwen, saying that Song Ziwen is a Chinese American, and Owen is an American Chinese.

Let's just talk about it now, occasionally hiding the edge from beginning to end, and echoing and touting Lao Jiang in various ways. Although he was an adviser sent by Roosevelt, he never took the initiative to express his opinion, because he felt that it was too much. He thinks that too much fingering is annoying, and it is impossible for Lao Jiang to adopt it, and he will express a few opinions at a critical time, so that he will be taken seriously.

This man believes in the Confucian set of middle-of-the-road ideas, and his understanding of the mean is more thorough than most Chinese, and even more in line with the original meaning of the mean.

After Chang Kaishen inquired about the Soviet-German war, the rest of the time was idle days. Song Meiling said more and more, but Lao Jiang closed his mouth and was silent - well, it's not that Lao Jiang doesn't want to speak, but he can't intervene in the topic at all, because he doesn't know English.

The four people present all spoke Chinese, and Song Meiling actually chatted in English, and then translated the conversation to Lao Jiang.

Owen looked embarrassed and realized that Chang Kaishen and Song Meiling did not trust each other. So he spoke more and more cautiously, basically not talking about politics, only talking about irrelevant topics.

Song Meiling complained about Britain and began to count the Soviet Union again. "The quality of our Soviet military advisers was quite low, because now that the Soviet Union was being attacked by Germany, they needed every competent officer they had," she said. So the consultants we get are all third- and fourth-rate and of no practical use. ”

Owen echoed: "After the Great Purge of the Soviet Red Army, there was indeed a shortage of military talents. ”

Song Meiling turned her head again and asked Zhou Hexuan: "What does Mr. Zhou think?" ”

"It seems so." Zhou Hexuan could only nod.

At this time, the chief military adviser of the USSR in China and the head of the Soviet military delegation was named Varisi Ivanovich Chuikov...... Well, three or four streams.

(PS: It's not that Lao Wang is in the dark, Song Meiling really said this kind of thing, including speaking English all the way to someone who knows Chinese in front of Lao Jiang.) ）