"Headmaster, what's the matter with the U.S. envoy?"

Before leaving the Prime Minister's Mansion, Tan Renhao endured it and didn't ask.

"Japan wants to withdraw from the war with dignity, or rather, to delay our strategic bombing and get a respite."

Nie Renfeng looked a little irritable: "We received information last month, and Tojo sent someone to the United States to discuss the next battle plan with the United States. At present, there is a serious famine in many parts of Japan, and it is not uncommon for people to eat people. Japan demanded that the United States enter the war before the end of the year, otherwise they would not hold out until next year. The specific response of the United States is not yet clear, but at the end of last month, the United States organized a fleet of transport ships to prepare to provide at least 550,000 tons of grain to Japan within this month to alleviate the famine in Japan. ”

"Then why would the United States send a special envoy to negotiate with us?" bsp; Tan Renhao still didn't understand a little, "And it's still about Japan's surrender, and if you want to talk about it, it should be talked about by the Japanese, not by the Americans." ”

Nie Renfeng laughed. "Don't you see the key to this?"

Tan Renhao hesitated for a moment, he really didn't understand.

"This is just a fake negotiation, the purpose is to delay our strategic bombing of Japan and to relax the blockade against Japan."

Nie Renfeng leaned back on the chair and crossed his hands on his chest, "Judging from the current battlefield situation, as long as we don't relax our strategic bombing of Japan, even if the 550,000 tons of grain are successfully delivered to Japan, it will only give Japan a breather for three months at most." In fact, the Americans themselves are not sure that this batch of food security will be shipped to Japan. At present, we have 15o submarines carrying out diplomatic break-up operations on the North Pacific route, and 5o submarines are guaranteed to patrol this route for a long time. Unless the United States breaks its previous agreement with us and sends escort warships to escort the convoy to the Japanese mainland, it will be impossible for the convoy to reach Japan without the cover of escort warships. Therefore, the United States wants to use this negotiation to ease the pressure on Japan, so that Japan can hold out for a few more months, at least until the United States is ready for war. ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, he suddenly realized. The problem is far from simple.

"Do you think differently?"

Nie Renfeng also immediately noticed the change in Tan Renhao's expression.

"Headmaster, isn't this too explicit and too simple?"

Tan Renhao wasn't much sure about his strange idea.

Nie Renfeng's expression froze on his face for a moment, and then nodded slightly. "You mean the United States and Japan have another purpose?"

"This is just my speculation, if it is just to escort a convoy of convoys, the United States has more means, there is no need to send an envoy over, right?"

Tan Renhao took out a cigarette. Smoking while thinking about problems became a habit for him. "Moreover, this batch of grain cannot fundamentally change the outcome of Japan's complete defeat, and there will certainly be no result in this negotiation, so why should the United States do this?"

Nie Renfeng's face sank, and it was not unreasonable to talk about Renhao's questioning.

"It's not just a delaying tactic."

Tan Renhao suddenly thought of the outbreak of war: "Principal, if we don't suspect that the United States has other purposes, and only think that this is the United States in order to prolong Japan for a while, then what kind of policy will the empire adopt?" ”

"Surely nothing will come of it, and we will not be able to let go of Japan now."

"Then the negotiations will inevitably break down."

Tan Ren Haoxun pondered. "The United States will make new demands. Trying to maintain the negotiations would even make a fuss about Japan's surrender. ”

"What do you mean?"

Nie Renfeng became vigilant.

"What would happen if the U.S. side suggested that Japan agree to surrender?"

Tan Renhao glanced at Nie Renfeng.

"That would certainly be negotiated on the terms of Japan's surrender."

"What conditions will the Empire propose?"

Nie Renfeng thought for a while. said: "According to the current attitude of Xue Xiyue Xiang, Japan will definitely surrender unconditionally, and even put forward a demand for the destruction of Japan, so as to completely solve this enemy who has caused trouble to the empire for hundreds of years. ”

"Then the United States and Japan will definitely not agree, and the result will be that the negotiations will continue, and both sides will lower the price offered."

Tan Renhao slowly spit out the cigarette, "The negotiations will continue to drag on, even for several months." Principal, don't you think it's similar to two years ago? ”

Nie Renfeng immediately looked at Tan Renhao in surprise as "two years ago". He knows it well.

"It's just my speculation, and there is no evidence to prove it right now, but I think there is a possibility that this exists."

Tan Renhao is not alarmist. "Judging from the current situation, the United States does not have any chance to use the means of sneak attacks to paralyze our fleet and gain sea supremacy in the western Pacific. But since we learned a few months ago that the U.S. Pacific Fleet had moved en masse to Pearl Harbor, we have not received any detailed information about the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The United States has been sending additional troops to the Mariana Islands and Australia to strengthen its military presence in the western and southwestern Pacific. And now they're doing the same. Perhaps the ultimate goal of the negotiations is to buy the United States a precious few months of war preparation time, and perhaps to get the US Navy off to a better start. ”

"Yes. The possibility you are talking about does exist, and it is very dangerous. ”

Nie Renfeng let out a sigh: "Wait a minute, I'll have someone arrange a plane for you, and you can rush back to the naval headquarters immediately." I will send a telegram to the Chief of Staff in advance, and when you get back, you must come up with a relevant response plan as soon as possible. I will wait here for concrete results and keep in touch with the Navy Command, and you will also keep an eye on the negotiation process here. If this is a signal for war, then we cannot be careless! ”

"Then I'll go back and pack my bags right away."

"You don't have to go to the airport right now."

Nie Renfeng knocked on the glass window in front and asked Xiao Li, the secretary sitting in the front, to drive to the airport: "I will arrange for your adjutant to bring your luggage back, remember my words, and make a response plan with the chief of staff immediately after I go back, we can be in charge once, but we must not fall in one place twice!" ”

Tan Renhao nodded, he didn't expect that one of his guesses would attract the principal's attention, but he also felt that it was more than just a guess.

In the evening of the same day, Tan Renhao returned to Zhoushan on Marshal Nie Renfeng's special plane (the imperial cabinet ministers all had their own special planes). Gan Yongxing had already received a telegram from Nie Renfeng's return. Hao Dongjue was also notified and asked Hao Dongjue to come to the airport to greet Tan Renhao.

"The telegram arrived two hours ago, and the chief of staff immediately called me over."

Hao Dongjue drove the car himself, but he didn't bring the adjutant over: "Renhao, do you think it's really possible?" ”

"The question of any possible problem is how many people will believe it."

Tan Renhao picked up the bread that he put on the jeep, and he was hungry along the way. "What is the arrangement of the Chief of Staff?"

"We're all staffed, just waiting for you to come back."

Hao Dongjue drove the car out of the airport: "Chief of Staff, let me tell you, now you are specifically responsible for this matter, and he will provide cooperation and help." The staff officers have been mobilized, and now they are all in the staff headquarters, and probably none of us will want to sleep tonight. ”

Tan Renhao smiled and patted Hao Dongjue's shoulder. "Don't think about overtime pay, I'm not a generous boss."

"I just want to get back to the fleet early, this is a chance!"

Hao Dongjue also laughed.

Tan Renhao fell silent as the jeep drove into the headquarters. He saw the warships docked in the harbor. If it was an opportunity based on tragic sacrifices, he would rather not have it.

The special envoy of the President of the United States arrived in the imperial capital in the early morning of the 10th in order to avoid the war zone. This envoy named Truman traveled almost half the world to the capital of the Tang Empire. The first meeting took place on the afternoon of the 10th, and it was the Imperial Vice-Foreign Minister who was responsible for contacting the US envoy.

As Tan Renhao had predicted, the US envoy not only proposed that the Tang Empire suspend its combat operations against Japan (in exchange for the United States temporarily stopping the supply of war materials to Japan, but not including food), but also proposed that the United States be the organizer of the negotiations, and that the Tang Empire and Japanese representatives go to Washington to discuss Japan's surrender.

The Tang Empire's answer was simple: unless the United States pledged to stop sending any supplies to Japan (including non-military and humanitarian aid), the Tang Empire would never stop its strategic bombing and total blockade of Japan. And hinted that if the United States continued to export war materials (including grain) to Japan, the Tang Empire would be the same as Germany. Resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare in the Pacific Ocean. As for the negotiations on Japan's surrender, the Tang Empire said that it could negotiate with Japan on surrender, but there were two preconditions: first, the place of negotiation must be in the Tang Empire or the surrounding countries of the Tang Empire (that is, the allies of the Tang Empire), and second, Japan must first give up resistance, and the Tang Empire will send troops to occupy Japan, and then negotiate, that is, surrender first. Negotiate later rather than negotiate before surrendering.

The Tang Empire's reply had actually closed the door to negotiations, leaving only a gap. If the United States or Japan are to reopen the door to negotiations, they will have to make huge concessions. Now the initiative is in the hands of the Tang Empire, and according to the general principle of negotiation, what Japan cannot obtain on the battlefield, then it will definitely not be available at the negotiating table.

Truman stayed in the capital until the 14th, and after saying that he would temporarily stop exporting all supplies to Japan, he got concessions from the Tang Empire. The final agreement reached between the two sides was that the Tang Empire would send a special envoy to Washington to meet with the Japanese envoy for an informal round of meetings to discuss the preparations that would need to be made before the armistice talks between Tang and Japan, including the specific location of the negotiations and the schedule of the negotiations. As for what level of negotiation will be held in the end (which is critical, the higher the level of the negotiator, the more important the negotiation will be) and the specific content of the negotiation will be resolved at a later stage.

Japan's demand for surrender negotiations was quickly used by the empire as a propaganda tool to boost the morale of the military and civilians. For more than 10 consecutive days, beginning on the 11th, all the newspapers of the empire, large and small, published in the most conspicuous position on the front page the fact that Japan had put forward its request for surrender negotiations. The Beijing Times, which was the face of the empire, also published more than a dozen editorials in a row, making detailed and comprehensive comments on Japan's surrender and the official reply from the imperial cabinet to the surrender of the United States on behalf of Japan. This was a new public opinion offensive of the Empire, and news of the Persian Empire and the German Empire soon appeared in the newspapers of the Persian Empire and the German Empire. Japan, as the country that started the war, and as the most rampant of all the enemies of the "Big Three Alliance," and now suddenly offered to negotiate surrender, and the morale of the military and civilians of the three countries was greatly boosted, as if victory was just around the corner.

Tan Renhao received the news of Nie Renfeng's return only a few hours earlier than he saw the news in the newspaper.

"Looks like your guess is not wrong at all!"

Gan Yongxing rushed over as soon as possible: "The negotiations have been delayed, and if it weren't for your warning, we would definitely relax our vigilance now." ”

"This is just the beginning!"

Tan Renhao was not much excited about Japan's surrender, and if Japan did not surrender, it would only perish. "Chief of Staff, how is our fleet doing now?"

"Both the Second and Third Task Forces have received the news that the patrol area has shifted a lot to the north, and the distance between the two fleets has been shortened a lot. Lei Shaoqing and Yan Shiqi have also increased their attention, and now the two fleets have entered a state of combat readiness. ”

Gan Yongxing sat down and took out a cigarette at the same time: "The First Task Force left Guangzhou the day after tomorrow, and Jiang Zhongmin also replied by telegram that the First Fleet would carry out patrols in a combat state. ”

Tan Renhao breathed a sigh of relief: "As long as our three fleets are vigilant enough, then the Americans will not have a chance to launch a sneak attack." ”

"Nor can we be without any expression. The principal sent me a telegram. ”

Gan Yongxing handed a cigarette to Tan Renhao: "If the war breaks out, we must take the initiative to attack." Now we have to do not only maintain vigilance, but also improve the campaign plan that we have drawn up before. I'm personally responsible for this, and your task is the same, keep the siren in danger, and call the alarm immediately. ”

"Don't worry, I'll do this job!"

Tan Renhao smiled and nodded.

"Good job!"

Gan Yongxing stood up and patted Tan Renhao's shoulder: "Maybe the war will break out tomorrow, I don't want to go into battle shirtless." Also, you should pay attention to rest, I heard that you will always be here after you come back, so let's go sleep first. ”

Tan Renhao smiled and nodded, but he was really tired, but he couldn't sleep at all until he received the exact news.