The drizzle washes away the dust of the mountains, the green leaves of early spring become greener, the droplets of water roll on the leaves, and the birds jump in the forest and make cheerful calls.

There were always officials waiting to be summoned in the Hou Jian room of the Huangshan Mansion, but no one dared to make a loud noise, and everyone waited silently, or whispered in the small courtyard, so as not to alarm the owner of the official residence and cause a catastrophe.

However, it is obvious that this is not possible in the past two days, and there is a relaxed atmosphere in the official residence, which can also be seen in the demeanor of the officials and guards working in the official residence, most of them have smiles on their faces, and they are more kind and easy-going than before, and there is less stupidity and stiffness.

Today is also very different from the past, in addition to the officials of the national government, there are many white-skinned Americans in the courtyard, they gather in twos and threes, talking quietly, and their eyes sweep down the direction of the gate from time to time.

The meeting in the living room was very harmonious, Wendell Wilkie was smiling, but in fact he was a little embarrassed, last October, as the situation on the battlefield improved, Roosevelt planned a meeting between the leaders of the allies, coordinated the strategy, and at the same time made some arrangements for the post-war period, for which he was sent to the Middle East, London, Moscow, and in Moscow, he received a telegram asking him to go to Chongqing.

Stilwell's dissatisfaction with Chiang Kai-shek is still there, in the report to the US government, Stilwell accused Chiang Kai-shek of refusing to fight against Japan, the Kuomintang army was seriously corrupt, and a large number of American materials were sent to the black market in Chongqing by corrupt officials to be sold.

But Roosevelt sensed a widening rift between Stilwell and Chiang Kai-shek from these accusations, and recently Stilwell simply suggested arming the Eighteenth Army, which was closest to Japan. However, this proposal was opposed by US Ambassador Gauss.

Gauss believes that although the Nationalist Government is not clean, it is by no means completely corrupt, Chongqing's social organization is very good, the people's support for the government is very high, and the battle of the squadron is steadily improving. Conversely, support for the GCD-led Eighteenth Army would lead to further tensions between the United States and the Chiang Kai-shek government, and now China pins down the main Japanese forces.

The Chinese government repeatedly complained that China had launched an attack on Japan as originally agreed, but the aid promised by the United States never reached the agreed amount, and Stilwell transferred the supplies originally allocated to China to Britain on several occasions, while China assumed the main task of fighting against Japan.

The various and even contradictory voices coming from China made Roosevelt aware of the complexity of the China problem, and in order to find out what was going on in China, he deliberately sent Wilkie to Chongqing, nominally inviting Chiang Kai-shek to the planned Cairo Conference, but in fact to find out what was going on in China.

"The Cairo Conference should stipulate the following: the course of the war against Japan, the international relations of the Far East after the war, and the assumption of greater international obligations by the four countries of China, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union after the war." Chiang Kai-shek's confidence was very high, and the situation in the country he faced now was much better than in his previous life.

In the previous life, China needed the support of the United States in terms of weapons and equipment, and the economy, and Chiang Kai-shek had to make concessions to the United States everywhere, but now it is completely different, economically, comprehensive material control, and the economic situation has been greatly eased; The development of Guizhou has gradually matured, the southwest industrial base has provided more than half of the equipment for the squadron, and more importantly, the victory of the two northern Burma campaigns, the Changsha campaign, and the ongoing northern Hubei campaign, the prospects are optimistic, which gives him the confidence and qualification to put forward China's political demands.

"Yes, the president is going to consult with Your Excellency," Wilkie replied with a mouthful: "Your Excellency, I have heard that two Japanese divisions have been annihilated in northern Hubei, is that so?" ”

"Yes," Chiang Kai-shek was in a very happy mood when he mentioned the Northern Hubei Campaign, which had developed into a decisive battle between the Chinese and Japanese armies, and if this battle was to be won, the problem of Central China would be solved, and the recovery of Wuhan would no longer be a problem.

"General Zhuang Jihua, commander of the Fifth Theater of Operations, reported that the 39th Division and the 58th Division have been annihilated, and the commanders of the Japanese division, Ichiho Shimono and Lieutenant General Raishiro Sukita, have been killed, and the 6th, 13th, and 17th Divisions, the main force of the Japanese army, have been encircled, and there are three entire divisions." When he said this, Chiang Kai-shek's whole face lit up.

Wilkie obviously felt Chiang Kai-shek's optimism, but yesterday's conversation with Stilwell still made him a little skeptical, Stilwell admitted that in the northern Hubei region, the squadron was achieving a great victory, but he categorically vetoed it, believing that the enterprising spirit of the Chinese generals decided that even if such a great victory was obtained, the Chinese generals would not counterattack, and I am afraid that they would not even occupy Wuhan, even if there were only a few thousand Japanese soldiers there.

"Then what strategy will your ** team adopt next?" Wilkie asked.

"Of course, it is the capture of Wuhan," Chiang Kai-shek said here, and he paused: "Our army has also defeated the Japanese army before, but what has always troubled us is logistics, the development of the southwest has lasted for ten years, and it can barely meet the needs of half of the troops, Mr. Wilkie, according to our agreement with your country, the monthly transportation of materials into China will reach 100,000 tons, but now it is only more than 20,000 tons, which is far from enough." ”

"Mr. Wilkie," Song Meiling smiled, and took over the topic, Wilkie couldn't help but tremble in his heart: "Our current supplies can only meet the needs of one battlefield, and if they are used in Hubei, they cannot be used in Burma, let's just say gasoline, the Northern Hubei campaign needs the support of the air force, so General Chennault can't meet it." ”

Wilkie was a little stunned, yesterday Stilwell pulled Chennault, as his witness, Chennault has also been depressed recently, his Sino-American air force is seriously short of fuel, and now can only maintain patrol flights, and the Chinese side is still trying to put the air force into the expeditionary force sequence, so that he can no longer decide on his own strategy and tactics as before.

Chiang Kai-shek apparently believed that Wilkie had been influenced by Stilwell, and although he did not directly accuse Stilwell, the implication in his words was more obvious.

"Ambassador Gauss and General Stilwell both believe that the current problem is transportation, the Tibetan highway is limited, and the India-Yunnan highway is still under construction, and once completed, the transportation volume can be doubled." Wilkie pondered.

"Mr. Wilkie," Chiang Kai-shek said unceremoniously and bluntly, "as far as I know, the volume of the Tibetan highway is not full, but at least doubled." Moreover, our supplies in India are often taken away by the British army, for example, last month, 80 tanks, 20 planes were diverted for other purposes, and there were more guns and ammunition. ”

"I know the problem," Wilkie explained at once, "that it was assigned to the British army at the request of Lord Mountbatten." ”

"General Stilwell is Chief of Staff of the Chinese Theater," Chiang Kai-shek said word by word, in fact, not only last month, but also about 50,000 tons of ammunition were allocated to the British army: "He asked for the reorganization of the expeditionary force, and I agreed, and he asked for the right to distribute American aid materials, which President Roosevelt granted; But on the one hand, he asked us to counterattack Burma, and on the other hand, he distributed the supplies that should have belonged to us to the British army, and I had time to wonder, is he the chief of staff of China or the chief of staff of the British army? ”

Wilkie was shocked that Chiang Kai-shek's attitude showed that his relationship with Stilwell was already very bad. Wilkie hesitated and said, "As allies, the British are building up their strength. ”

"But Mr. Wilkie, we are fighting against the main force of the Japanese army." Song Meiling stood up just right, and stretched out her hand to add water to Wilkie: "We have won two victories in northern Burma, and the victories in these two battles have prevented the Japanese army from moving south, so that Australia and New Guinea have been preserved. ”

Song Meiling put down the kettle, sat down, and said: "When I was in Washington, President Roosevelt agreed with our strategy to start a counteroffensive from the five theaters, and Burma was just to contain the battlefield. ”

Wilkie is not very clear about this strategy, and his visit was originally not made by China, but China was added on an ad hoc basis, and the information provided by the State Council was not very comprehensive.

He hesitated slightly to look at Brian, the deputy head of the US military advisory group who came with him, and Brian said: "The problem of materials is actually a transportation problem, and if they are transported into the interior through the Tibet Highway, it will cost one meal of materials for every three meals of materials transported, and if they counterattack Burma and recover Yangon, the consumption of materials will be greatly reduced." ”

"If our army recovers Rangoon, will Rangoon be under the control of our army?" Lin Wei asked a pointed question

Brian paused, the question is very tangled, the British cannot agree, but if they do not agree, the Chinese obviously do not want to shed blood for the British.

"It's not up to us to decide," Wilkie immediately dodged the question: "The Chairman can consult with the President and Mr. Churchill at the Cairo Conference." ”

Lin Wei sneered: "If our army recovers Rangoon and the British take over Rangoon, our supplies are still not guaranteed, they take the supplies, we bleed, and in addition, according to our strategic planning, we will not increase our troops in Burma, so even if we recover Burma, we will not advance southward." ”

"We want the post-war Far East to be a democratic and independent Far East," Chiang Kai-shek stood up, as if to declare China's post-war political position: "Whether it is Burma or Thailand, Malaysia, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, they should all gain independence after the war, so that the local people will support us and fight the Japanese with us." ”

"I personally support this issue, but how to implement it, I think, should be decided by a higher level meeting." Once again, Wilkie has shied away from the Chinese side.

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