Admittedly, von. Brünnberg was a very temperamental German soldier, and there were many raunchy and sloppy fellows among the senior officers of the German army, such as Guderian and the like, but there were also people like Brünnberg and von Blunberg. The descendants of traditional military aristocrats, such as Bock, who had undergone a strict ceremonial education from an early age, always adhered to the manners of the old Prussian aristocracy in their dress and demeanor.

This is a group of guys who are very suitable for the camera, and even their enemies feel the same way, especially when paired with the new German uniform, they look even more imposing. Although it is said that people rely on clothes and horses rely on saddles, the necessary military temperament is also an indispensable factor, if you change to a bakery owner to wear it, even the uniform of an SS officer can give you a taste of doughnuts.

The Field Marshal did not choose the standard Marshal's Scepter, but instead chose a gilded scepter with the head, in order not to make the trip seem too formal, since it was just a visit to an ordinary foreign city. He really didn't expect that the Shanghai Concession would make such a grand scene, and he was afraid that it would be enough to welcome the head of state.

He was thinking about this on the transport boat, obviously not because of his popularity, there must be the plans of Britain and France and other countries themselves, and if he did not deal with it properly, he would bring trouble to Berlin if he was not careful.

Brumberg smiled and strode forward, followed by his adjutant and his entourage, and in the short road from the pier to the viewing platform, dozens of strong British patrolmen stood on both sides of the human wall, holding batons and pushing the onlookers who wanted to squeeze forward to see clearly. Some of the citizens who had arranged for it began to throw flowers into the middle of the road, and the crowd erupted in bursts of slogans of welcome.

"It felt like going to some kind of ceremony, and these Chinese citizens seemed quite enthusiastic." Major Kuhler whispered to Colonel Davidson beside him.

"I don't think so, you haven't been to Chongqing, otherwise you would immediately notice the subtle differences between the Chinese people in the two places." Davidson looked at the surroundings with cold eyes, and he saw the problem immediately.

The citizens here did not show the kind of heartfelt enthusiasm they had encountered in Chunking, they simply treated the ceremony as a lively trick, and the flower-scattering men were apparently hired, and after participating in the annexation of Austria, the Czechs, and Poland, the colonel could tell exactly what a false smile was.

"They didn't know about our agreement with Chongqing, otherwise it would have been very different." Lieutenant Colonel Roch heard the discussion between the two colleagues, and he interjected.

"I think you're right, Roch, and if they listen to Japanese propaganda and think we're supporting their enemies, it might be even worse." Davidson nodded approvingly.

Field Marshal Brumberg walked up to the welcoming procession, shook hands warmly with several consuls in Shanghai, and then began the standard polite greetings. At this time, he also figured out the taste, and it was obvious that these consuls had deliberately raised the diplomatic standards of the visit, and the ultimate goal must be to target the Japanese who were circled on the sidelines.

It seems that the Führer's arrangement for him to go around Shanghai first was not for nothing, and the water below the city was even deeper than he had expected.

"Welcome to this great city, Your Excellency the Marshal." The French Consul General Auchi was particularly enthusiastic, he genuinely welcomed the German mission, and in addition to bringing him a number of garrison troops, he was able to show his abilities to the Parisian side, and by the way, he invited him to take credit.

He was originally just an ordinary consul at the French Consulate General in Shanghai, and the consul general before Petain came to power was Bao Daizhi, a seasoned diplomatic expert who was inclined to appease Japan, but after Petain came to power, he was recalled to France, and before he left, he was appointed temporary acting consul general.

Theoretically, Paris should immediately send a new consul general to his post, but the Honorable Occi was not a fuel-efficient lamp either, and he wrote a touching telegram to Pétain expressing his allegiance. At that time, Petain was still fighting with Renault's henchmen, and there were not many people available in his hands, how could he be unhappy when someone came up to work, although he was just an ordinary consul, and his level seemed to be a little low, but this was not easy to solve, and it would be okay to upgrade him to a level.

As a result, His Excellency Auchi became the Consul General of France in Shanghai, and was in charge of the entire government affairs of the French Concession. Historically, the acting consul general, who had only served for four months, was immediately transferred back to France, because the life of the consul general had changed the course of his life completely because of the flapping of the wings of an apostle.

In any case, the Germans could not be offended, and Ucci understood this deeply without Petain's special reminder. This consul general is a patriot, which can be seen from his recent actions; since Japan put pressure on French Indochina, the attitude of the French Concession towards the Chinese has immediately changed in the past two months; the French Concession no longer obstructs Chinese shops, companies and newspapers from flying the national flag; in the face of some people's spontaneous anti-Japanese activities, the Annan patrol of the patrol house has also become very kind, no longer picking up a baton to drive forward to block it, and sometimes even help maintain order or something.

As expected, the changes in the French Concession immediately aroused strong protests from the Japanese and Wang Puppet, so that the activities of Wang Puppet and Japanese agents in the French Concession became even more rampant, which made the consul general a little anxious for a while, but he did not easily give in to the Japanese, but gritted his teeth and persevered. Because Ocki believed that his decisions would be favored and affirmed by Pétain.

Now the consul general felt that he had made the right bet again, as evidenced by the infantry and tanks of the two battalions, as well as the visit of the German envoys.

"We have been looking forward to your arrival after receiving the notice from London, Your Excellency Marshal." The British Consul General, Sir George, maintained a British aristocratic reserve, but the way he dressed today shows that he took the event seriously.

Mr. Sir wore a crisp black English gown, a black suit waistcoat with silver bracelets hanging from his pockets, a stiff-collared shirt with a bow tie, several shining medals on his chest, a straight line of trousers, and polished leather shoes, which made one wonder if His Excellency the Consul General was wearing this when he went to Buckingham Palace to meet the King.

In order to improve the status of British diplomats in foreign affairs, Britain often awarded some noble titles to senior diplomats, which cannot be hereditary, but simply for the sake of good looks.

Because the war ended early, the forces deployed by Britain in overseas colonies were not depleted as they were in history, especially in Asia, where Britain still has a lot of troops.

Although the native navy was defeated, the naval power of the overseas colonies still existed, and at least in Southeast Asia, the British could still hold on to the face of the empire on which the sun never set.

However, Shanghai was too far away from Britain's core area in Asia, and Britain's power in China was limited after all, and it could only barely maintain its interests in the control area.

Although the Japanese did not want to completely tear their faces with the European powers at this time, the expulsion of British forces from the Japanese-controlled areas had already begun quietly. Japan's commercial exclusivity was not only aimed at Britain, but in essence against all European countries, including Germany, and the ultimate goal of the Japanese was to monopolize the Asian market, control all the resources in their own hands, and then wait until the strength accumulated to a certain extent, and then conquer the whole world with military force.

At that time, few people believed that the Japanese had such ambitions, and the country was mired in the war with China, and given the country's population and land area, the conquest of China alone was already the limit of their expansion.

George was instructed by London to maximize the impact of the visit, to draw the world's attention to Asia, and to cover up the Empire's ongoing operations in the Middle East.

As a traditional British bureaucrat, Sir George was accustomed to looking at problems from a realistic perspective, he would not be swayed by personal emotions, and would act strictly according to the plan given by his superiors, of course, if the plan contradicted his personal standards, he would choose to resign directly. He fully understood the instructions given by London, and since it was in the good interests of the British Empire, it was incumbent upon him as a British citizen to do his best.

The British consul general has no control over the management of the public concession, and the American consul general is the same, they can only use some directors of the Ministry of Industry to exert some influence on the management of the concession, the problem is that the directors are not only Britain and the United States, but also Japan, Belgium and Chinese, so that the ideas they put forward are not always satisfactory, so that many times, Sir George is really very envious of Ocki next door, whether it is industry and commerce, police, law, regulations, all affairs in the French Concession are determined by him alone.

George had always believed that the introduction of the Japanese into the Ministry of Industry was a huge mistake, and although efforts had been made to remedy it, the consequences had already been made, the north bank of the Suzhou Creek was no longer under the control of the public concession, and the Japanese tentacles were still trying to extend to the south bank. If no action is taken to curb it, I am afraid that the public concession will have to change owners in a few years.

The arrival of the German mission this time is an opportunity to change the status quo, and how it will be operated depends on the diplomatic skills of each side. He also caught a glimpse of the ugly face of the Japanese foreign minister, obviously the other party had also discovered this, but at present, the opportunity has been seized by his own side, and it is not easy to get back, and the British are thinking about whether they should take advantage of the hot iron to make the Japanese suffer a dumb loss.

PS: The first chapter is served, and the next chapter will be written after dinner, and the second chapter will be updated around ten o'clock in the evening, so stay tuned.

Thank you for your tips and monthly passes, I will continue to work hard. (To be continued.) )