"If the situation is allowed to develop as it is now, even if China can be defeated, the final result is likely to be that both Ben and China will lose, and Soviet Russia and the United States will become winners." Hara Kei saw that the "Quasi-Emperor" was fighting fiercely in his heart, and continued,

"Is it possible for the Chinese side to agree to peace talks?" Hirohito sighed and said, "The current Shina is not the same as it was ten years ago. ”

"In terms of opposing the redness of Soviet Russia, the interests of Ben and China are the same," Yuan Jing said, "and China and Soviet Russia are directly bordered, and Soviet Russia has already invaded Mongolia and established the Far Eastern Republic, which poses a great threat to China. ”

"If we negotiate peace with China, we will inevitably cede some of the empire's interests in Manchuria, right?" Hirohito thought for a moment and asked again.

"Yes." Yuan Kei gave an affirmative answer.

"In that case, there will definitely be fierce opposition from the army." Hirohito shook his head and said, "The navy won't agree to it." ”

"But the current situation is that if the Imperial Navy fails to defeat the Chinese Navy, gain sea supremacy, and restore the connection between the Army and the mainland, all the rights and interests of the Empire in Manchuria-Mongolia will be lost." Yuan Jing said with a gloomy face, "The Shina Navy has defeated the German fleet in Europe, and its combat power should not be underestimated. The capital ships of the Imperial Navy are already lagging behind the Chinese Navy, and the new ships have not been put into service, so I am afraid that in the event of a decisive battle with the main force, the outcome will probably be unfavorable to the Empire. ”

"If the navy cannot win, the defeat of the army is also inevitable, and at that time, whether it is Manchuria, Mongolia or Siberia, it will have nothing to do with the capital." Hirohito seemed to say to himself, "If you want to make peace with Shina, you should start as much as possible." ”

"Of course, it is impossible to rely entirely on peace talks, and if we can achieve a certain military victory, it will be very beneficial to peace talks." Yuan Jing said, "So at present, we cannot relax in the military. ”

"The Prime Minister should do his best according to this idea. If there is any opposition from the army, I will coordinate it. Hirohito said as if he had made up his mind.

Hara Jing bowed and bowed to Hirohito very respectfully, Hirohito nodded in return, and Hara Kei got up and left.

Watching the figures of the prime minister and his entourage disappear into the night, Hirohito sighed, waved his hand a little distraught, and asked the motorist to take him away.

When Hara Kei returned to his official residence, it was already late at night, and he couldn't help but feel a little strange when he noticed that a secretary was still waiting in his study.

"The information transferred by Yanjing said that President China died of illness." The secretary said, handing over a report.

"Which president died? Is it Li Yuanhong or Feng Guozhang? Yuan Jing's heart shook violently, but he asked quietly on the surface.

"It's Feng Guozhang acting president." The secretary replied, "Li Yuanhong is said to be suffering from a brain disease and is still being treated in the hospital. ”

"I see." Yuan Jing opened the report and looked at it, and said. Although his tone was flat, his brain was more active than ever with the unexpected news.

Chengde, summer resort.

"I want peace talks?"

Cai Ye received an urgent letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from an officer and asked with some surprise.

"It's understandable." Jiang Baili said, "They feel that they can't beat us this time, and it is very possible that they want to maintain their vested interests in peace talks." ”

"They're really picky!" Wu Peifu listened to Jiang Baili's words and sneered.

"It's too late to think about peace talks now." There was disdain on Cai Yi's face, he just looked at the document in his hand briefly, and handed him to Wu Peifu, who just glanced at it and handed it to Yang Shuoming.

Unlike General Cai and Wu, Yang Shuoming took the document, but he read it very carefully. Seeing Yang Shuoming's movements, Cai Ye and the others couldn't help but smile at each other.

"Now as long as our army increases its strength, it can take Lushunkou and Dalian Port." Wu Peifu said, "I said that I was in peace talks at this time, because I was afraid that we would take back the first fortress in East Asia." Let's ignore them, let's beat them down first! ”

"This time thanks to the support of the Navy and Air Force." Cai Yi looked at the small warships and aircraft models placed on the map table, and sighed, "If you want to do a good job, you must first sharpen your tools." I didn't expect this battle to be fought like this. ”

"This is probably what some fashionable military books call 'mechanized warfare'." Jiang Baili said.

"Songpo, you haven't seen a real mechanized war," Wu Peifu said with a smile, "I was in Europe, but I have personally experienced it, the planes in the sky are tearing and killing, and the airships are dropping bombs, and when hundreds of ironclad chariots and thousands of cannons are firing together on the ground, half of the sky is red. ”

Yang Shuoming just finished reading the report at this time, and when he heard Wu Peifu's words, he couldn't help but smile slightly.

"This mechanized war is largely about who has more money." Jiang Baili looked at Yang Shuoming and said, "In this battle, Hanzhi's pressure is probably the greatest. ”

"Fortunately, we are far from bankruptcy at the moment." Yang Shuoming smiled and said, "I guess I won't be able to survive my bankruptcy." ”

"What does Hanzhi think of his own request for peace?" Wu Peifu saw Yang Shuoming handing the report in his hand to Jiang Baili, so he asked.

"If they're sincere, they might as well talk about it." Yang Shuoming said.

Listening to Yang Shuoming's answer, Wu Peifu couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, but Cai Ye seemed to understand Yang Shuoming's thoughts, and quickly exchanged glances with Jiang Baili.

"Talk?" Wu Peifu said with some surprise, "Let's win now, what are we talking to them!" Beware of their delaying tactics! ”

"Talking is just one more channel to fight for the greatest interests of the country and the nation, and it will not affect the current military operation." Yang Shuoming said, "Besides, our current enemy is not the only one, and in order to prevent a two-front battle, it is not impossible to talk about it." ”

Hearing Yang Shuoming say the word "two-front battle", Wu Peifu seemed to remember something, and his expression couldn't help but froze.

"Hanzhi means that he is afraid that Soviet Russia will take advantage of the fire." Jiang Baili saw Wu Peifu's realization, and further explained, "If we make Yu himself anxious, and they join forces with Soviet Russia to deal with us, we will be in trouble." ”

"Didn't Xiao Xu go to Mongolia to top?" Wu Peifu asked.

"Our main forces are now all in the three eastern provinces, especially the troops who have returned from Europe." Jiang Baili said, "The troops on the Mongolian side are mainly the soldiers of the Central Army brought out by Xiao Xu Gang Lao Duan in the past, and now there are not many troops that can be mobilized for him, the border envoy in the northwest, and it is more than enough to deal with those bandits who are now entering Mongolia, but if Soviet Russia really presses the border, he really can't use it." ”

"It's really the front door to drive the tiger, and the back door to the wolf." Wu Peifu said with some annoyance, "Ben and Russia, these two evil neighbors, none of them are good!" ”

"So it's still necessary to talk about it this time." Yang Shuoming continued as if he was half-joking, "If I am willing to deal with Soviet Russia with us, we might as well talk to them." If we were willing to give up our rights and interests in China and unite the armistice to deal with Soviet Russia, we can also consider it. This is much better than the Soviet Union and the Ben teaming up to deal with us. ”

Wu Peifu was somewhat persuaded by Yang Shuoming, but he still seemed a little uneasy: "Did you agree to give up the rights and interests you have in hand?" ”

"There is not much left of Ben's rights and interests in our China now," Yang Shuoming seemed to guess his own psychology and said, "Rather than clinging to these, it is better to find peace from somewhere else." ”

"Hanzhi said that he wants to find a peace, does he mean from Soviet Russia?" Wu Peifu asked.

"Of course." Yang Shuoming's gaze fell on the map and said affirmatively.

Mongolia, Kulen.

At this time, a lieutenant [***] officer was sitting on the turret of a tank, intently writing something in a notebook with a pen.

"I'm Zhong Liwei, and this is my story."

“…… A lot of people will ask, Douglas? What kind of man was MacArthur, arrogant but geniusful, rejoicing and persevering. This is a man with a wolf-like surname: in war he wins as many as wolves catch; Despite his defeats, he used the hunt as a means to hone his skills and increase his hunger for success. All kinds of contradictory surnames are combined in one person, and perhaps this is the difference between great people. Some say he was a general who laughed at defeat and moved forward detachedly. I can't give this old friend of mine any comments directly, I'm just talking about the old Doug I know. ”

"I met Doug Sr. on the battlefields of Europe, but at that time he was the acting commander of the 42nd Infantry Division of the United States Expeditionary Force, and I was only a major staff officer in the headquarters of the [***]. Our real acquaintance was in Zhangjiakou, in that war against Yue himself. "Immediately after the end of the war in Europe, the Americans began large-scale disarmament, and the 42nd Infantry Division of the elder Doug was among them. Old Doug was a man who valued honor more than life, and if he was to be disarmed, he would have to return to the official rank of major in his past, which was obviously unbearable for Doug. However, there is always a time when things will come and go, and the outbreak of the Far Eastern War between my motherland and the Japanese has allowed a large number of American [***] people who are facing 'unemployment' to find jobs. In particular, professional soldiers like MacArthur, who saw war as their life's work, clearly preferred the battlefield. "With the efforts of General Xiao Yang, in order to deal with the invasion of Yuben, the armies of all parts of the country plus the European expeditionary force were unified and reorganized into the Republic of China National Defense Force, and the National Defense Force in the spring of 21 years, the expeditionary force returned from Europe 8 divisions from Zhangjiakou to Ulan-Ude. Along the way, in order to quickly transfer the troops to the assembly area, in order to start from Zhangjiakou as soon as possible, thousands of train wagons were concentrated all the way, and the Zhangku Railway was taken to Kulun. After the army arrived in Kulen, the local Mongol princes all contributed money and efforts, which seemed to be similar to the Mongol princes who had been clamoring for separation. In fact, this is easy to understand, in their eyes, they say that they are not a good person, and the Red Russia is even more of a flood beast, and no one will take out their own property to engage in any communalism. Now that the central government has sent troops to fight, maybe it can still reap some benefits by following behind, and it was also a bad relationship with the central government before, so it is natural to mend it at this time. "In my opinion, the war dividends of our European war have also made the central government rich. In order to ensure the logistical supply of the army abroad, hundreds of thousands of horses and hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep were purchased from the princes of Mongolia and Chahar. A large number of leather goods used by soldiers and officers once gave birth to nearly 10,000 leather workshops in Zhangjiakou. ”

"Now Mongolia, because of the infiltration and invasion of Red Russia, once became dangerous, before we arrived, the Han people here were panicked, but now the people's hearts have stabilized, we have defeated the Germans on the European battlefield, for those Red Russian bandits, we did not take them seriously at all."

"Actually, after coming here, our progress was not significant, only the 3rd Division played well, but we have nothing to worry about. Because all of our troops had already arrived at their intended location, if they were to lose, it would be because the enemy was superior to ours, not because I had made a mistake in our deployment.

"The 4th Division fought quite well at the beginning of the battle, but because of the lone army, it lost a lot of tanks in vain. I don't think they fought according to the correct command scheme. Later, the division became a very good division under the new commander. At midnight on May 21, all our artillery bombarded the Soviet Russian army indiscriminately for about 20 minutes as a greeting for the first meeting. After the artillery fire stopped, our front scouts said that they could hear the Russians crying in the woods. The next day, I learned more about the fighting situation of the 4th Division and found the situation to be a mess. General Chen Zhijian had to personally intervene to change the situation. It was planned to use the 5th Brigade to support the 4th Division, but to leave a tank battalion to support the 12th Mixed Brigade, as they did not yet have a regular tank unit. One of the main drawbacks of mixed brigades is that they never get the most important thing they need - tanks, they have ample artillery, they have transports, but they don't have tanks. In addition to this, the 4th Division is still progressing well. The 9th and 10th armies on our right flank were fiercely attacked by Soviet Russians. However, since it was ascertained that the enemy forces attacking the 10th Army were all troops that we had pursued along the meadows to the border of Outer Mongolia, I did not consider these attacks to be serious at that time. Finally, after a long wait, the 9th and 10th armies began to attack the enemy with the 7th and 8th divisions, as well as the 22nd and 14th brigades. I don't think the Soviet Russian army will react to this offensive for a few days, but I feel that there is no reason to change the deployment of the 9th Army at that time. Last night, I had a hunch that the Soviet Russian army would attack, but I misjudged. The 8th Division advanced 3 kilometers on the 24th, but the 14th Brigade, which was on the left, did not make much progress. ”

"The 4th Division withstood a Russian onslaught on the center of our left. Due to the poor road conditions and the inability of the logistics supply area to quickly transport the 19th Brigade to the front line, the 4th Division was no longer able to continue the offensive after several days of fierce fighting, but they were still ready to attack together with the 7th Division in the early morning after tomorrow. ”

"We rejoiced to see the order given by the Supreme Command that after the 12th and 13th Divisions were united, the desire to fight to Lake Baikal became one of the main motivations for our fighting in the ensuing battles. At this time, the Mongol princes brazenly let some of them say that we had too much work and needed support, and they sent a deputy commander of the ground forces, who commanded the entire Mongol armed forces, to support our attack. We were unimpressed by their arrival, and it seemed to us that the supreme commander of the Mongol army did not have the talent for operational command at all. ”

"As the front gradually moved forward, the resistance of the Soviet Russian troops became more and more fierce, and in the early morning of the 24th, the Mongol army, which was the first to attack, was beaten to the head by the Soviet Russian army, and it was reported that one of the cavalry divisions lost nearly 40 percent of its strength. Whenever such a report is received, it shows that the person who wrote the report knows nothing about the operation. In fact, in the battle with the Soviet Russian army, the reports of more than one-tenth of the casualties of our army are rarely correct, unless someone flees or surrenders. The fighting power of the Mongol army was tested in this battle, and the elder Doug expressed great surprise at the loss of so many men and horses, and I told him that this was normal, because their tactics and equipment were still stuck in the Middle Ages. ”

"I met Gao Ying, the commander of the 7th Division, in the city of buying and selling (Kyakhta). At that time, the artillery fire of our army was extremely fierce. The flames of our and enemy artillery glittered in the air, and they looked especially magnificent against the backdrop of the snow-white earth. But they make people feel insecure. In the book I wrote down a sentence that I had said that afternoon, and it was very serious and full of pride, because I had never said anything like that, 'They are losing this war.' ”

"Since we arrived in Mongolia, General Chen Yi, an 'old friend of the Mongolian people', has not interfered in General Xu Shuzheng's actions in any way. But on one occasion, although he did not issue an order, he strongly suggested that we should add a division to the southeast of the Mongolian-Russian border to ensure the integrity of the front, and let us abandon the plan to attack the west of Lake Baikal and cut off the enemy. This proposal was opposed by many generals from the original European expeditionary force, including many American [***] people also raised protests, and General Xu Shuzheng did not agree to it in the end, although he took full responsibility for the operational mistakes caused by the 5th Division of the Central Army being too far west. Old Doug said that if the 1st Brigade of the American Volunteer Army is sent north of Lake Baikal, I am sure that we will be able to encircle and suppress more Soviet Russian troops at a very small cost. ”

(To be continued)