Near noon, the British Consul General in Hankow, Graham Ford, did not go to the consulate to work, but wore a casual lounge suit, sipping coffee on the balcony on the third floor of his house while leisurely flipping through a few English newspapers.

Sitting next to him was Colonel Weir, the military attache of the consulate who hurried over to report the latest news of the Sino-Japanese conflict in Wuhan to Ge Fu, with an uncontrollable look on his face.

After a while, Ge Fu was still leisurely flipping through the newspaper, and Colonel Weir finally couldn't help but ask: "Your Excellency Consul General, the Japanese have given the last 24-hour ultimatum to that Chinese ** valve, threatening to raze the area outside the Hankou Concession, do we British Empire have to stand up and intervene and mediate?" ”

Ge Fu looked at Colonel Will, who seemed to be a little impatient, smiled faintly, and said slowly: "Colonel, don't you think the weather is very good today?" Shouldn't you enjoy such a beautiful day? ”

Such an answer almost didn't choke Colonel Will to death, he was an impatient soldier, and what annoyed him most was this kind of slow, calm and elegant so-called aristocratic demeanor.

"Your Excellency Consul General, are we going to watch the Japanese destroy the bustling city of Wuhan?" Once again, Will expressed a strong desire for the British Empire to intervene.

"Colonel, drinking coffee, like Chinese tea, is to taste slowly to get the most memorable enjoyment." Ge Fu took a sip of coffee and said, "The British Empire wants to intervene in the Sino-Japanese conflict, but this is the time for us to mediate when the young governor is in a desperate situation, takes the initiative to ask our British Empire for help, and completely surrenders and bows under the banner of the rice character." ”

For those who resisted and did not want to submit to the British Empire, they first used various means to push them into a desperate situation, and then stood up to shake the "civilized demeanor" of the "civilized world", saved the fate of the rebels and put shackles on them, so that they would submit to the glory of the rice flag.

Colonel Will was certainly no stranger to this, and he understood it immediately as soon as Graham said this. However, he still said quite worriedly: "It is naturally good to take the opportunity to force that Chinese **** valve to submit to the British Empire, but the Japanese only gave the Chinese 24 hours, in case it is too late to stop, the Japanese gunboats really shelled Wuhan." The situation has expanded to the point that even if the British Empire intervenes, we may not be able to mediate. ”

For Colonel Will's worry, Ge Fu didn't care at all, and smiled lightly: "Colonel, don't worry. The Japanese absolutely did not have the guts to shell Wuhan, they would not have been unaware of our British Empire. And the French, Russians, and even the old-fashioned Germans would not tolerate the bombing of the bustling city of Wuhan to the ground. ”

Indeed, since Hankou was opened up as a treaty port, capital and enterprises from all over the world have poured into Wuhan and even Hubei like cats smelling fishy smells.

Therefore, Wuhan is a city with huge interests of the great powers of various countries, and how dare Japan blow up Wuhan into ruins at the risk of angering the great powers of other countries?

Hearing this, Will breathed a sigh of relief, and was about to say something, when he suddenly heard a loud noise of "buzzing" in the air.

Graham and Will both looked up at the sky, under the harsh sunlight. I saw a huge black shadow whizzing through the air.

"This is an airplane, strange, how can there be a plane in China?" Colonel Will looked at the plane in the sky that was constantly making noise, with a puzzled expression.

"Looking at the direction in which this plane is flying, it seems to be on the Yangtze River." Ge Fu whispered, with a faint bad feeling in his heart, as if he was stained with evil spirits, and everything would be attached to bad luck.

……

Hankou Wharf Area.

At this time, the dock was not as busy as it used to be, not that there were few ships that had to enter and exit the dock to unload cargo today, but that the dock area was being overrun by a group of Japanese.

The Japanese arbitrarily occupied the entire wharf to load materials, and the shipowners who were waiting to enter and exit the wharf for loading and unloading were naturally extremely dissatisfied. But they all dared to be angry, because everyone could see that there were three Japanese gunboats parked on the water of the Yangtze River not far away.

Watching the Chinese coolies continue to carry supplies onto the transport ships, Matsumura reminded the Japanese overseers from time to time to urge the Chinese coolies to speed up the transportation, and these supplies were to be sent to the three Japanese gunboats on the Yangtze River.

"Suzuki-kun. Have the wounded Imperial Navy soldiers been properly accommodated? Sadao Matsumura asked Koji Suzuki, who was beside him.

Koji Suzuki stood solemnly and nodded in reply, "Your Excellency, please rest assured, all the wounded Imperial Navy soldiers have been sent to the hospital in the concession, and they will all receive the best medicine and treatment." ”

Matsumura Sadao nodded in satisfaction and said, "That's good, Suzuki-kun." Each and every one of these valiant Imperial Navy soldiers is extremely precious. Without them, there would be no powerful naval fleet of our Great Japanese Empire. ”

Speaking of this, Koji Suzuki gritted his teeth and said, "It's all damn Shina people, not only did the empire lose two gunboats, but also caused so many casualties among the imperial navy soldiers. Your Excellency, Minister Minister, why bother to give the people of China 24 hours to think about it. Directly bombarded Wuhan and bombed it until they couldn't bear it anymore, and these lowly people would naturally succumb to our Great Japanese Empire! ”

Matsumura Sadao shook his head and said, "Suzuki-kun, the reason why I gave the people of China 24 hours to consider is because we can't really bombard Wuhan at will. Westerners from all over the world have huge interests in this prosperous city, and once their interests are damaged, they will definitely intervene in a joint intervention, and then our great Japanese empire will be very passive. ”

Koji Suzuki, who has only worked in the consulate for many years, naturally understands this, but he said very unwillingly: "Then if the people of China know that we dare not bombard Wuhan at will, wouldn't they have nothing to fear?" ”

Matsumura Sadao laughed and said, "Don't worry, Suzuki-kun, the people of Shina don't have that guts yet." Moreover, just because we can't shell Wuhan at will doesn't mean that we can't fire at the barracks and troops of the Chinese people. ”

Hearing this, Koji Suzuki was shocked and said with a smile: "That's right, as long as the Shina army is hit hard, the rule of that arrogant and arrogant Shina warlord in Hubei will definitely be shaken and collapsed, and this is the end of daring to confront our Great Japanese Empire!" ”

Turning his head to look at the three huge Japanese gunboats on the water surface of the Yangtze River in the distance, the strong national pride in Matsumura's heart gushed outward, pointing to the three gunboats and saying to Koji Suzuki: "Suzuki-kun, from the moment the powerful fleet of our Great Japanese Empire arrived in Wuhan, this prosperous city of China is destined to surrender to our Great Japanese Sun Flag!" ”

Buzz - Buzz -

Just when Matsumura Sadao felt that he had the powerful fleet of the Japanese Empire behind him, and completely trampled Wuhan under his feet, there was a buzzing sound in the sky.

……

On the Japanese gunboat Yunying.

Kato Masaka was dressed in a straight military uniform, his military boots were shiny, he wore a ceremonial command knife that was rarely worn during the war, and he stood on the deck of the gunboat with great energy, looking at the bustling Wuhan on the river bank with pride.

"Kobayashi-kun, how long do you say it will be before that arrogant and arrogant warlord of Shina will kneel under the guns of our three gunboats?" Kato Masaka did not hide the smugness in his heart at all, he was dressed so formally and ceremoniously today, just to enter Wuhan as a victor and accept the submission of the Shina people.

Kobayashi Nobuyong smiled and said: "Your Excellency Dazuo, I heard that His Excellency the Minister gave the Shina people 24 hours to consider, I don't think it will take 10 hours, and the arrogant and arrogant Shina warlord will be so frightened that he will fall to the ground, and then crawl over and beg us to let him go." ”

"Haha......"

Nobuyong Kobayashi described it as exaggerated and funny, and Kato Masaga couldn't help but laugh.

At this moment, there was a sudden loud "buzzing" noise in the sky, and it was getting closer and louder.

Kato Masaka's laughter stopped abruptly, and he looked at the plane that was coming towards them in the distance with some strange feeling. Somehow, the ferocity of the plane made him a little flustered.

At this time, the Japanese naval soldiers on the three Japanese gunboats also spotted the planes flying towards them, and they all looked up curiously, and the soldiers with active personalities even waved their hands into the air and shouted something.

Suddenly, the nose of the huge plane in the air sank, and it swooped down and glided.

The plane was getting lower and closer, and Masaga Kato could even vaguely see the pilot of the plane with the naked eye.

The plane, with its wings several meters long, roared past, and something fell out of the bottom compartment of the plane, smashing into the Japanese gunboat Dreadhawk in a parabola.

When he saw clearly the thing dropped by the plane, Kato Masaga's face changed drastically and he shouted, "It's not good, it's a bomb!" ”

Boom -

As soon as Kato Masaka's words fell, a deafening explosion sounded, and smoke and fire instantly enveloped the entire Eagle, and the Japanese naval soldiers on the gunboat suffered heavy casualties, and there was chaos.

By this time, all the Japanese troops understood that the plane was the enemy, and the enemy that could give them a mortal threat.

"Your Excellency, the plane, the plane is back!" Nobuyu Kobayashi suddenly pointed to the plane in the sky and shouted in horror.

Sure enough, the plane spun around in the air and swooped down on them again.

"Quick...... Activate the gunboat and get out of that plane's range! Kato Masaga anxiously shouted the order.

In the face of the enemy attacking from the air, they did not have any means of counterattack and defense, and in desperation, the only thing Kato Masaga could think of was to temporarily withdraw from the range of the aircraft.

However, the speed of the gunboat was obviously incomparable to the speed of the aircraft, and Wang Mo piloted the Echo DH.4 bomber and quickly dived towards the seriously injured and smoke-emitting Eagle again.

Another 230-pound bomb slammed into the Eagle, burrowed into the gunboat's bilge, and exploded.

Boom -

The violent explosion sounded again, and the already badly injured Eagle could not bear it any longer, and quickly sank with billowing smoke.

"This ...... What kind of plane is this? Kato sat down on the deck of the Cloud Eagle, his eyes full of horror and helplessness.

At this time, on the side of the Hankou dock area, Matsumura Sadao, who was extremely proud of the imperial gunboats a moment ago, saw the scene of the Eagle sinking into the river with billowing smoke in the distance, and the whole person had a dull expression, standing motionless, as if a sculpture in the wind. (To be continued.) )