On August 12, 1935, three days after the conclusion of the Berlin Peace Treaty between the United States and the Western Allies, Natsuki in Limerick welcomed several special American guests, dressed in civilian clothes and top hats, and courteous in words and deeds. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

In the reception room with a few bright windows and full of greenery, the white-haired old man sitting on the left hand side of Xia Shu is the former US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral William Wiezy Pratt, and the operational strategy of uniting the British army to attack the Azores with all efforts was formulated and implemented during his tenure.

Sitting on Pratt's left hand side was U.S. Admiral Ernest Joseph King, who had fought Natsuki head-to-head in the Battle of the Azores, who had high hopes for Pratt and a considerable number of high-ranking Americans, but unfortunately his ingenuity failed to turn the tide, and during his 10 months as commander of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, his greatest achievement was to preserve the strength of the U.S. Navy as much as possible. After the Battle of Bermuda, he was transferred back to the Admiralty Aviation Directorate, where he focused on the development of aircraft carriers as well as naval aviation.

The middle-aged man sitting diagonally across from Natsuki had a kind face, his popularity was still limited to the United States, and few people in Europe knew his name, but the name of Henry Harry Arnold sounded thunderous to Natsuki. He was a 49-year-old deputy chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force and represented the organization, training, and equipment support for the U.S. Air Force since early 1935.

Sitting directly opposite Natsuki is the former chief of staff of the US Army, General Charles Summerrow, who is nearly seventy years old, participated in the suppression of the Philippine uprising in the early days, participated in the invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Alliance, and then successively served as regiments, brigades, divisions, corps-level commanders, military commanders and even army chiefs, and after retiring from the army, he served as the president of the Charleston Military College.

After some pleasantries, Admiral Pratt recounted in a calm tone: "We have heard early on that Your Majesty has studied Oriental culture, and since the early twenties, the Kingdom of Ireland has been very closely trading with China. In the late 20s, Ireland provided a large amount of valuable military aid to the Chinese government in defiance of Japan's diplomatic protests, and then the Sino-Japanese War broke out, the Japanese navy occupied and blockaded most of the Chinese coast, and then Japan officially joined the Allies. ”

This entanglement, which spanned more than a decade, can be summed up in only a few words, but the actual process is tortuous and extremely complex, with both verbal and verbal arguments that can be seen in diplomatic occasions and covert wrestling that cannot be seen in the international arena. In the early days, Ireland's normal trade with China could be said to be mutually beneficial, but since the Japanese invasion of Northeast China, which is what the Americans call the "Sino-Japanese military conflict", Ireland's move to provide military supplies to China has been met with increasing resistance, especially in 1931-1932, the smell of gunpowder between the two camps has become increasingly strong, and the German top brass has forced Ireland to stop all aid in the official name in order to win over Japan to suppress the United States and Britain. In the summer, autumn and winter of 1933, the two camps fought for life and death in the panatlantic theater, during which there was no time to take care of Asian affairs, and the Japanese army launched a stormy offensive on the Chinese battlefield one after another......

Natsuki looked at Pratt calmly, and when he was all done, he responded with a serious expression: "An arrogant, aggressive, and insatiable country, ignoring the historical origins of national culture and the ethics and morality of civilized society, and wantonly invading neighboring countries that are peaceful and respectful, elegant and courteous, they do not want to defeat each other openly on the battlefield, but to exterminate each other fundamentally!" Over the years, we have more than 20 incidents of massacres of civilians in China by the Japanese army, and the total number of victims has reached hundreds of thousands! It's a pity, it's a pity, my personal ability is limited, and I can't stop the Japanese army from committing one atrocity after another...... In fact, in the Philippines, Malays, India, and other places, the Japanese army slaughtered surrendered soldiers without mercy, and you should know this better than me. ”

After listening to Natsuki's fluent, clear and concise expression, everyone present showed a look of indignation. Of course, what really annoyed these American soldiers were the torture and massacres that occurred in the Philippines and other American colonies and the Indian theater of operations, and tens of thousands of American officers and soldiers were still **** and even killed by the Japanese army after laying down their arms. Natsuki could see that the anger of these people in front of them was real, but this did not make each of them hate the Japanese to the marrow, and in the eyes of those politicians who held the power of the country, the belonging of soldiers was either retirement or death, and few people would be bitter about the tragedy that happened in Southeast Asia, and the reason why they wanted to continue to fight the Japanese army after the armistice with the Western Allies was the country's strategic interests - if it compromised with the Eastern and Western Allies at the same time, the United States would lose most of its overseas territoriesAs a result, the local territory is directly attacked from both sides, so that it is strategically controlled everywhere. In order to get out of the strategic situation of being trapped in a dead place and completely passive, it is necessary to make a breakthrough in at least one direction, try to recapture some of the colonies, and broaden the strategic depth of the country. Moreover, the most painful realization of the US army in the war with the Allied forces led by Germany was that the enemy's officers and soldiers had the iron-blooded qualities tempered in the war, so in those hard-fought battles, the US army most of the time collapsed before the opponent. Fighting the Japanese army in the Pacific Ocean can not only sharpen the fighting will of the US officers and men through actual combat, but also maintain the dignity of a great power.

After a moment of silence, Admiral Pratt said slowly but firmly: "We should now have a common language in the matter of helping China against Japan. It is because of this common language that we are able to turn enemies into friends and live together in the sun. ”

"Turn enemies into friends, well, well said!" Natsuki raised his hand and tapped the armrests on both sides of the seat, "If your country is determined to fight against Japan, Ireland will give priority to providing your country with all kinds of military supplies within the scope permitted by the peace treaty, and provide preferential loans and shipping services. ”

Admiral Pratt nodded, "In fact, this is one of the main purposes of our trip. ”

"But......" Natsuki said, "The terms of the Berlin Armistice Treaty limit the size of the U.S. Armed Forces, and require the U.S. Navy to reduce the size by half by the end of the year, and not to build new ships for the next three years, which is ......."

Pratt raised his head slightly, his eyes level ahead: "This is the second purpose of our trip - as we all know, Your Majesty is the most outstanding military strategist of our time, and in an old Oriental saying, he has the ability to turn decay into magic." On the question of the war against Japan, the reply we received from the Berlin side was that all armaments and combat operations must be carried out without violating the Berlin Armistice Treaty, which was like having gladiators tie their hands and fight with beasts of prey. ”

Natsuki was not surprised when the other party revealed the original intention of this trip, because the Western allies were not happy to see the eastern allies who saw the wind and rudder the rudder to win the victory that made them feel jealous in just one year. In order to prevent Japan from dominating the entire Asia-Pacific region, the heads of European countries hope that the United States will continue to fight against Japan, and it seems that the German top brass has reached some secret agreement with the Americans in private, so the number one problem facing the Americans next is how to win the Japanese army under the constraints of the "Berlin Armistice and Treaty" -- that army of tigers and wolves has fought in the north and south in the past half century, and has experienced four large-scale wars. Moreover, at this time, the Japanese navy was well organized and strong, and the entire Pacific Ocean from the Aleutian Islands in the north to the Mariana Islands in the south, as well as the Hawaiian Islands in the central part were all occupied by the Japanese army.

Natsuki spread his hands: "As you can see, I am not a god, but an ordinary person. Every strategy and decision I make must be based on a large amount of detailed and accurate information, and then the professional calculation and analysis of the staff team, do you understand? ”

Americans, look at me, I look at you, and then Army General Summerrall spoke: "Your Majesty the King of Ireland, since 1906 you have earned the respect of the whole world for your deeds in the military field. The road ahead is bumpy, and if we can get your sincere help, we will be greatly encouraged and full of confidence. ”

Xia Shu smiled slightly, and his eyes swept over the few people present one by one: "It is a matter of the fate of the country, even if I give you advice, how dare you use it boldly and with confidence, and you are not afraid that I will report to your opponents behind your back for huge benefits?" ”

The Germans dared to put hundreds of thousands of officers and soldiers in the hands of this person along with most of the ships, and they had both the protection of the interests of the camp and the insurance of blood origin, while the situation of the Americans was very different, although the European countries did not want to see an upstart like Japan, but they would never sincerely help the United States to fight back.

(End of chapter)