As the commander-in-chief of the march into the northeast, Pu Guanshui found that perhaps it might be more appropriate to be called the commander of the general logistics force. Pu Guanshui believed a long time ago that such a thing as national strength was directly related to the number of arsenals. Later, he believed that a complete industrial system and a strong and well-developed agricultural system represented national strength. Now he believes that how much can be made by light is only one aspect, and that transportation and the allocation of material flows are the true embodiment of national strength.

The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had a total of 10 reorganized armies from the front lines of Beijing, Tangshan, Qinhuangdao, Shanhaiguan, Jinzhou, and Panjin. Except for the 18th Army, which was engaged in the war, the other 9 armies were in a state of defense and logistics transportation. In order for these 10 armies to fully exert their strength, it is necessary to dredge the Beijing-Harbin railway.

The Beijing-Harbin Railway runs from the capital Beijing in the south to Harbin in Heilongjiang Province in the north, passing through Hebei, Tianjin, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang and other four provinces and two cities. It mainly passes through Tianjin, Tangshan, Qinhuangdao, Shanhaiguan, Huludao, Jinzhou, Shenyang, Siping, Changchun, Harbin and other cities. The total length is 1388 km. There are a total of 171 stations. Construction began in 1881 and was completed in 1912, with a total length of 1,388 kilometers, making it the first standard gauge railway in China. The Beijing-Harbin Railway connects North China and Northeast China and is the core railway trunk line of the three eastern provinces. As long as the railway can be dredged, theoretically, the materials of the People's Party can be transported from Wuhan to Harbin without changing trains.

The biggest problem facing Puguanshui is that Tianjin Station, an extremely important station on the Beijing-Harbin Railway, is still under the control of the remnants of Beiyang. Tianjin is also the headquarters of the troops stationed in China, and the Central Committee of the People's Party is not entirely sure what the immediate capture of Tianjin will lead to.

If there is no problem in Northeast China, the People's Party can carry out land reform in Hebei in a step-by-step manner, and wait until the land reform is completed before recovering Tianjin. At that time, even if Japan poured out of the nest, it would not be able to take advantage of Hebei in the slightest. This timeline will not be long, at most until the beginning of 16. With the current embarrassment of the Beiyang defenders in Tianjin, it won't even take that long, and the Beiyang defenders are afraid that they will collapse on their own.

However, the war in the northeast required the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army to immediately and completely control the entire Beijing-Harbin Railway, at least the section from the Beijing-Harbin Railway to the Panjin area. At this time, the Party Central Committee felt that Britain and other countries were likely to start to pull the strings apart.

Recently, Pu Guanshui not only has a different understanding of "national strength" than before, but also has a deeper understanding of national interests. The British fleet always "maintained a presence" in Wuhan, and this fleet must have drawn up a military plan for the bombardment of Wuhan. Similarly, the BJP's military plan to bomb and sink the British fleet and even its military training did not stall in the slightest. At such a time of tension, all kinds of materials sold from Wuhan to Britain were still transported onto the freighter. The freighters sailed east along the river next to the British fleet, completely oblivious to the military standoff.

This is the national interest, whether it is struggle or cooperation, there is not only one criterion. The military confrontation between the People's Party and Britain revolved around the struggle for Chinese sovereignty. The big business with Britain revolves around the realization of China's commercial interests. The same is true for Britain, which, while trying to maintain its privileges in China, must also maintain large imports of various materials from China because of the war in Europe.

Against this background, Britain was definitely going to support Japan in the Sino-Japanese War. Even if it offends the People's Party, it will not hesitate. This is the diversity of interests, if the world is divided into enemies or friends, such people should live very happily mentally, but only spiritually.

Faced with such a trade-off, Pu Guanshui felt a headache. There is no direct rail connection between Beijing and Tangshan, and the land transportation of bulk goods is a nightmare. No matter which way you look at it, it is imperative to recover Tianjin.

In this regard, the central government seems to be planning something. Pu Guanshui was very anxious about this, and he was completely helpless.

Chen Ke did plot something, and in the history he knew, the United States entered the war in Europe in 1917. But as early as 1916, the United States had already determined that if the United States did not enter the war, the Allies would most likely lose. If the Entente failed, the huge amount of money that the United States lent to Britain would have been wasted. So the United States must enter the war. As for the pretext under which the United States entered the war, it is no longer at all important.

Historically, although the United States paid a huge price after entering the war, Britain and France still hoped that the United States would be a "responsible power" after the war, that is, the United States was kicked out of the ranks of participating in the dominance of the world situation at the Paris Peace Conference. So the United States has shown strong support for China when it is trying to regain sovereignty in Shandong. In addition, Britain did not want Japan to expand its interests in China, and China was finally not ceded Shandong.

Historically, China was unable to protect itself, and even if the United States wanted to pull China into the gang and fill its own scene, China did not have the national strength to support it. But this is no longer the case in China today, and the People's Party, although it does not fully control China, has considerable power. Now, if the United States can "pull a brother's hand," China will be able to provide great support to the United States.

However, it is extremely difficult to judge whether the United States is willing to "pull its brothers along." Although there is a "memorandum" between China and the United States, Chen Ke simply does not think that the paper used to print the agreement can be more valuable than the paper that is used to wipe the wrapping paper, and because this paper is harder, it is not as comfortable to use as the wrapping paper.

The United States' judgment of interests is a very troublesome matter, and I am afraid that this will have to rely on the will of God. However, Chen Ke still informed the US minister in advance of the People's Party's intention to use troops against Tianjin. The American minister was smart, and he hoped that Chen Ke would be able to "wait a little longer."

On November 19, 1915, Chen Ke finally waited for the request of the American minister to see him.

We're all old friends, and we're very straightforward. When the U.S. minister asked Chen Ke who he thought would be victorious between the Entente and the Central Powers, Chen Ke said that judging from the current situation, the situation of the Entente was not good at all. Unless a stronger force intervenes, the Allies are likely to have a crushing victory.

"Chairman Chen, our U.S. government is now neutral, but it has made a lot of loans to the UK. We will support Britain to the end. "The American minister was very blunt.

Chen Ke felt that this was "very interesting", and usually after starting with such remarks, the United States would put forward very harsh conditions. But for Chen, even the United States made a completely different choice from history and joined the side of the Allies. The People's Party must also support the Entente to the end. With this bottom line, even if it is harsh conditions, you can only pinch your nose and admit it.

Of course, the US representative did not know what Chen Ke was thinking, and he also felt a little weak before putting forward the conditions of the US side. After a little composure, the representative of the United States continued: "We want you to accept British bonds in trade. ”

After hearing this, Chen Ke sneered. The rest of the BJP participants could not help but glare angrily at the American representative.

To put it bluntly, this demand is to ask the BJP to lend money to the British. Britain has more money than the People's Party, and it sounds indescribably funny for the tyrants to borrow money from the poor.

Chen Ke sneered for a while before saying, "So what benefits can we get after we get these British bonds?" In my personal opinion, no matter how much money we lend to the British, the British will demand that we maintain the status quo. And what we can't accept is to maintain the status quo. ”

"In this matter, we in the United States can mediate with the British side on behalf of the People's Party." The representative of the United States replied.

"Does it work?" Chen Ke asked, "The United States asked us to share the bonds, which shows that the United States does not have much confidence in the Entente countries." ”

The representative of the United States was silent, and the United States did not have much confidence in the Entente at this time.

In the spring of 1915, the Anglo-French forces took advantage of the concentration of the main German forces on the eastern front and launched two offensives at Shambany and Adwa. However, due to the old tactics and the lack of strong firepower, the Germans successfully resisted, and their own side suffered heavy casualties. In April of that year, the Germans counterattacked and used poison gas for the first time, adding to the heavy losses on both sides. As a result, on the western front in 1915, the British and French troops suffered one million casualties, and the German army also suffered 610,000 casualties, but the war was still stalemate.

Because the pressure on the Western Front was slightly reduced, the German army decided to concentrate its forces to defeat Russia first, force Russia to cease the war, so as to end the war on the Eastern Front and avoid continuing to fall into the dilemma of fighting on two fronts, and the Eastern Front became the main battlefield. In May 1915, Ludendorff planned the Gorlice-Tarnov summer offensive that began in May 1915, and the German-Austrian army attacked the Russian army in two directions with 18 divisions and more than 2,000 artillery pieces, captured most of Poland, and the German army won a great victory. Russian troops were expelled from East Prussia, and they were also forced to abandon Poland, Lithuania, the lands west of Riga, and the Volyn region. Although it was not possible to force the Russian army into the "Polish pocket" for annihilation as planned. After six months of fierce fighting, the German-Austrian forces captured Przemyšl, Lemburg, Ivangorod, Warsaw, Brest, Vilno and Riga, and forced the Russian army to retreat to the line from the Gulf of Riga to the Dniester. The Russian army lost more than a million in total, and was beaten back step by step.

The United States, of course, knew that the troops that the Germans had defeated were the elite units that Russia had worked hard to build. According to the Russian Army's combat idea that rifles are more valuable than soldiers' lives, these elite units have suffered losses of more than one million, which is simply irreparable. Even if the Germans were not able to destroy all the main forces of the Russian army, they would not be able to force Russia to surrender, but the Russian army could not have performed any better.

At a time like this, it would be very good for Britain to be able to get China to take on some of the British debt. The United States can follow this "merit" to show its "international influence." Since the People's Party has a contradiction with Britain, the United States can also take advantage of this contradiction to the left and right. So the American representatives did not expect to be able to easily convince Chen Ke.

Seeing that the US representative was silent, Chen Ke did not continue to ask questions that embarrassed the US representative. He changed the subject, "If it were the current conditions, I would never have agreed to it." I'd like to hear if you have any suggestions. ”

When the representative of the United States saw that Chen Ke expressed a considerable degree of sincerity, he said: "If you are willing to express your support for the side that our US Government has joined, my Government would like to be able to sign a treaty with you." ”

The other comrades had not yet fully understood what the American representative meant, when they saw Chen Ke's brows furrowed. When everyone roughly understood what the American representative meant, everyone's faces changed.

The representative of the United States made it very clear that he was asking the BJP to hand over the power to declare war to the United States Government. This is simply a ridiculous request. This means that China is admitting that it is following the United States. For the United States, such benefits are naturally enormous, first of all, the United States has gained a higher international status. With the People's Party as its junior brother, the United States has a lot of face. Moreover, if the People's Party agrees to the condition of handing over the right to declare war to the United States, it will inevitably agree to the condition of accepting British bonds. Whether it is from the inside or from the face, the United States has reaped all the benefits.

In this matter, the BJP has received no commitment from the United States. The comrades of the People's Party could have guessed without even asking that the United States would never be on the side of the People's Party in the imminent Sino-Japanese war. Except for a few comrades, the other comrades almost looked angry.

Chen Ke was still frowning, whether to agree to such a request was not within Chen Ke's consideration at all. He is now considering whether the United States is sincere or tentative. If China and the United States had reached such a treaty, from the British point of view, the war in Europe would have been won. Because Britain doesn't have to do anything, just desperately buy supplies from China with bonds.

The People's Party is not as rich as the United States, and a large amount of Allied gold has flowed into the United States in history, and the United States, which implemented the gold standard, experienced relatively serious inflation during World War I. The People's Party is now relying on exports to boost employment, what is the benefit of getting a white slip for China? And Britain can use debt repayment to blackmail China.

There is a practice in the international community of "not paying bad debts", but this must first of all be that the victorious side has no money in the hands of others. Britain must count the debt borrowed by Yuan Shikai to the head of the People's Party, and at that time, the People's Party held a bunch of British bonds, isn't that embarrassing? Chen Ke made up his mind not to repay the debts he borrowed from Yuan Shikai. Naturally, he refused to fall into the trap so vainly.

Of course, from the U.S. perspective, if Chen Ke could accept British bonds, that would be the perfect outcome. The British will certainly have great appreciation for the American side.

Sometimes, however, the interests of the country cannot be calculated in terms of simple short-term losses, and Chen Ke certainly does not want to be excluded from the new international system after the war. From the point of view of the British and French, if they accept the American conditions and have to pull the People's Party into the group, then they must hold their noses and admit the "established facts" created by the People's Party before they join the group. If there is no corresponding "compensation", Britain and France will definitely have to make a big move. Because from their point of view, Britain and France are the side that "suffered a big loss".

This trade-off is difficult. Chen Ke may be well aware of what has happened in history, but the situation in front of him is something that has not happened in history at all. This requires Chen Ke to have a good discussion with the comrades of the People's Party.

"I can't agree to this for the time being, please wait a few more days." Chen Ke said to the representative of the United States.