"I hope that the British and French will send troops!" The Japanese minister to China, who is also an old diplomat, kept his tone calm when he said this.

The British minister did not answer this question, but asked another question, "We hope that when the Japanese attack Tianjin, they will not accidentally injure the headquarters in China." ”

The Japanese minister was stunned at that time, although he knew that the British might not be willing to agree to put pressure on the People's Party together, but he did not expect the British minister to refuse so ruthlessly.

Ignoring the shocked and even aggrieved look on the face of the Japanese minister, the British minister took a sip of his teacup. The rejection of Japan was a necessary diplomatic process, and Britain now had no intention of carving up and annexing China, and the rise of the People's Party only made Britain have to face an opponent that is not easy to bully. This did not mean that Britain would agree to Japan's monopoly of Northeast China. Nor does it mean that Britain has an obligation to unconditionally endorse Japan. Britain's diplomacy must first conform to Britain's national interests, and after the resumption of communications, Britain itself has made it clear that since the news received from various sources shows that the People's Party has not joined the Allies, the British Parliament will not agree to open another front in China at this difficult time of war.

The British attitude was naturally unacceptable to the Japanese minister, and he tried his best to persuade the British minister, "We can take full responsibility for all operations, but we at least hope to have the support of the Allies in terms of morality and declaration of war." ”

"What if you fail?" The British minister simply asked bluntly.

"There is absolutely no way we can fail." The Japanese minister knew that he was bragging, but at this time, the Japanese minister had no other choice, "The People's Party does not have a navy, and even if there is a stalemate in the land war, our Japanese navy can still shell China's coastal cities at will and force the People's Party to surrender." ”

The British minister took a sip of black tea, and then asked in a moment, "Which coastal city are you going to shell?" ”

"We will shell Qingdao and Lianyungang! These two cities are very important to the BJP! The Japanese minister gritted his teeth and said.

The British envoy knew that the Japanese side was saying nothing more than to show that it was capable of striking at the People's Party and that the Japanese navy had such a huge advantage, but Japan did not mention any question of land warfare at all, and these days, in Beijing and Tianjin, and even in many newspapers where the People's Party could speak, it was reported that the Chinese army had dealt a great blow to the Japanese army in the northeast. So the British minister calmly said: "As far as we know, the industrial base of the BJP is far from the coastline, how useful can you be in shelling those two cities?" ”

Seeing that the British minister was not moved at all, the Japanese minister simply asked directly: "Then what is your country's attitude?" ”

"We believe that if Japan wants to make peace with the People's Party, we can mediate in the middle." The British minister replied.

"......" The Japanese minister really didn't know what to say. The so-called hope that foreign countries will mediate in the middle is, in a sense, a very implicit admission of defeat. At least in the years of war between China and Japan, China took the initiative to ask foreign countries to mediate, and Japan never asked foreign countries to mediate. The words of the British minister have already shown Britain's judgment on the outcome of the Sino-Japanese conflict.

Having said that, there was nothing more to say, and the Japanese minister said: "In view of the current situation, we will try to intercept the merchant ships of the People's Party." ”

"Humph!" The British snorted with his nose, and the current performance of Japan was indeed fully in line with the British forecast. What merchant ships can the BJP intercept? According to the information obtained by the British, all the ships built by the People's Party up to now have been cargo ships and merchant ships for inland waterways. If Japan intercepts merchant ships on the sea trade routes, it can only intercept British and American merchant ships. And this is precisely what Japan simply cannot do. Japan had been forced to such a point, and the British minister felt that there was no need to have illusions about Japan's victory over the People's Party.

The attitude of the British towards incompetent collaborators was always very certain, and the British minister said: "Do your own thing." ”

The Japanese minister left the British legation with a heavy heart, but in fact, he had just proposed such remarks as shelling China's coastal cities and intercepting the merchant ships of the People's Party, and the Japanese minister did not want to say so. However, the pressure in Japan has been too great recently, and the Japanese side has no other way than to speak harshly.

Wars can be easily started, but they cannot be easily ended, and this aspect is the same for everyone. Japan originally thought that the People's Party, as a Chinese, could not be too fundamentally different from Beiyang or the Manchu Qing Dynasty. In other words, when you win, you will be desperate to expand your victory, and when you encounter setbacks, you will lose confidence and courage.

In the actual course of the war, however, there was a clear difference between the BJP. The elimination of the Japanese 20th Division did not let the People's Party get carried away, and then desperately stormed Mukden. And the Japanese plan failed. They had hoped to make a surprise naval landing when the People's Party was attacking Mukden, while at the same time the troops in Korea crossed the Yalu River and surrounded the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army from behind. A decisive battle of annihilation. Then he waved his army south to attack Jinzhou and Qinhuangdao. Complete the full occupation of the Northeast.

But the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army did not come from the left and from the right. What I was waiting for was the news that the Manchurian Railway in southern Liaoning had been completely wiped out by the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. Not only southern Liaoning, but even the Manchurian stronghold in northern Mukden was attacked by the cavalry of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. This is really killing Japan. After the loss of the Manchurian stronghold, Japan's strategic foundation was completely shaken. At present, Japan is demanding an all-out decisive battle to resolve the China issue.

Of course, the Japanese minister did not think that such an idea could be realized, just as the British minister said, the base areas of the People's Party were all inland far from the coast, and these areas were not capable of being penetrated by Japan's current national strength. Not to mention that the Japanese Army proved one thing with practical actions, and when it encountered the siege of the superior forces of the People's Party in the field battle, the Japanese army could only be destroyed.

"Am I just quitting?" The Japanese minister was disheartened and thought that in the face of the pressure from home all day long, the Japanese minister was powerless to refuse. Resign now, or you can avoid the black pot of "diplomatic incompetence" in the future.

As soon as I returned to the legation, I saw a liaison officer from China greeting me with a look of anticipation, "How is it?" Did the British side agree? ”

"The British side will not join this war!" The Japanese minister told the truth, and he told the British position completely to the liaison from within Japan.

"Aren't we all members of the Entente? We still have the Anglo-Japanese Alliance Treaty, so why are they unwilling to do their duty in this matter? The liaison officer in Japan said angrily, he was a big sa in the Japanese War Department, and he spoke a little unscrupulous......

Originally, the Japanese minister thought that the people in China who were determined to fight the People's Party to the end were crazy, but now seeing the attitude of the domestic liaison officer, he was completely desperate. With the mentality of treating a dead horse as a live horse doctor, the minister once again asked the domestic liaison officer what the Japanese Admiralty and War Department thought about the attack on Tianjin. He also asked last time, but the liaison officer in Japan did not fully confide in him.

In a fit of rage, the liaison officer finally told the map about Japan's plans for war. "We intend to occupy Tianjin first and then attack Beijing. After annihilating the main force of the People's Party in Beijing, the People's Party in the northeast was encircled and annihilated. ”

This was about the same as the Japanese minister had expected. However, the next words made the Japanese minister almost frightened his jaw, "Next, we will continue to increase our troops and occupy China's Shandong and the whole of Hebei." If the British side does not accept it, we might as well make our plans and plans clear. "The liaison officer of Dazuo is very pointing.

The minister's voice trembled a little, "The British have now made it clear that they do not want Japan to unilaterally change the situation in China!" ”

"Then Britain will accept the People's Party to unilaterally change the situation in China?!" Liaison Osa's confronting the Japanese minister.

He didn't care if he was insulted or not, the Japanese minister thought that the most important thing at the moment was to let the people in China who advocated all-out war understand the current situation through this Osa's liaison. He explained: "For the British, there is no essential difference between the People's Party coming to power and the coming to power in Beiyang, it is both a Chinese government. Britain did not accept all-out war, even though some aspects of the BJP were opposed to British interests. They did not want to conquer China now, and they did not intend to turn China into a British colony. Since Britain does not want to conquer China at the moment, they will definitely not approve of other countries conquering China and occupying China! ”

Liaison Officer Osa never expected that the Japanese minister would actually "speak for the British"! He glared at the minister, "We in the Great Japanese Empire need to conquer China!" If you don't take advantage of the opportunity this time, you won't have a chance next time! ”

"Are you crazy?" The Japanese minister simply asked, "If we don't get the support of all countries, can Japan alone conquer China?" ”

Seeing that the minister's words were so unkind, the liaison officer Dazuo was also angry, "Our army is determined to serve the country with seven lives, and we must be loyal to the future of the imperial country." As long as we mobilize a million troops and fight the BJP with all our might, war in Europe is our best opportunity! On the contrary, you people, who are blind, are simply a shame to the Japanese Empire! ”

The minister's original idea of resigning was just an idea, but now looking at the fanatical gaze and expression of the liaison officer, and the excited tone and movements, he was suddenly relieved, and at this time, not only did he not know how to retreat because of the past defeats, but tried to use all his strength to gamble to win the final victory, and the people in the country were really crazy. Even out of loyalty to Japan, the minister must resign. The resignation can be a reminder to those guys in China, and through the resignation, it may be able to stop the pace of the Japanese military department's misdeeds a little.

But the minister is also very aware of the behavior of those guys in Japan, and after getting used to gambling victories again and again, they will never really understand it if they don't hit their heads and break their blood.

"Japan is finished!" The minister's heart was filled with desperate thoughts.