I don't see it that way, I think the Chinese government is likely to be able to fight, but the government's judgment is wrong. At this time, a voice came from the periphery of the crowd, and everyone looked back to see that it was a slightly chubby middle-aged man who spoke.

"Miss May, this is Mr. Clais Webb, a Chinese commentator for the Washington Observer." Thomas enthusiastically introduced to Meroran, making no secret of his intentions, and the others seemed unimpressed.

Mei Youlan blinked and looked at Weber, who looked a little sloppy, with a lot less hair, a slightly bald head, a pair of old-fashioned glasses on the bridge of his nose, and some fat suits that covered his slightly bulging belly.

"You're Mr. Webb, I've been admiring you for a long time, I've read your articles a lot, and I used to read your articles when I was in school." Mei Youlan greeted her warmly, she had admired this peer for a long time, and when she was in school, his report used to be a teacher's curriculum for educating students.

Like Stilwell, Weber was a well-known China expert in American journalism, an expert on Oriental issues in journalism, and he spent as much time in China as Stilwell did in China. During these 20 years or so, he wrote many in-depth reports, including the Northern Expedition, the Ning-Han confluence, the impact of the September 18 Incident, the drought in the northwest, the floods in the Yangtze River basin, and the high-level political struggle in Nanjing.

"Miss Mei, I met your brother Mr. Mei Yuntian when I was in Chongqing, he once talked about you, what is the reason why "Yuzhou Evening News" can achieve such results today, I finally understand, with the editor-in-chief and boss like you, it is difficult for "Yuzhou Evening News" to develop even if it wants to." Weber smiled slightly and complimented Mei Youlan, and then he turned his head and said to everyone present: "I don't know if you have been to Chongqing, but I have been, I was in Chongqing during the Xi'an Incident last year, and I interviewed Mr. Li Zhilong, the mayor of Chongqing, and Mr. Lu Zuofu, the director of the Industrial Bureau. Gentlemen, my conclusion is that the Chinese government has been preparing for this war for a long time, and in the southwest they have built a military industrial system that is beginning to take shape, which is not yet complete, but it is enough to support the war, and the Chinese government will never easily admit defeat, and the war will last for a long time. ”

Weber looked at Mei Youlan with a little regret when he said this, he wanted to interview Zhuang Jihua, the actual controller of the southwest, but Zhuang Jihua was too busy to give him time, but from the conversation with Li Zhilong, Lu Zuo and others, they respected this leader, which added to his regret, but he heard another statement, that is, Zhuang Jihua never accepted interviews with reporters, except for Mei Youlan.

"The "Yuzhou Evening News" once serialized the "Theory of National Defense" by General Jiang Baili, chief instructor of the Chongqing Military Academy and now deputy commander of the group army, and I had the honor to read it, and many of its views are very enlightening, and I think that as long as the war continues, the Chinese will win sooner or later." Weber's conclusion surprised the generals present.

Stilwell's heart moved, he did not say anything against it, he went from Peking to Shanghai for no reason, the Sino-Japanese war has a tendency to become more and more intense, he led a military intelligence group, the main purpose is to evaluate the development of the Sino-Japanese war, Japan's war capability.

"Mr. Weber, two years ago, I also went to Chongqing, Chongqing is indeed developing rapidly, but I think Chongqing's industry is very primitive, even if the development is fast, it cannot exceed the basic law of industrial development, what can they do in two years, unless there are another ten years." Logan shook his head and said that two years ago, he went to Chongqing to interview penicillin, but returned empty-handed, and the request to interview Zhuang Jihua was rudely refused, which made him haunt him.

"Two years?" Webb nodded thoughtfully, he didn't catch up with the penicillin incident, when he was interviewing Gandhi in India: "If that's the case, then the Chinese have done a miracle, and what I see is probably very different from what you see." 90% of China's industry is in Chongqing, even if the Japanese occupy Shanghai, occupy Nanjing, and blockade all Chinese ports, but China can still hold on, because the southwest has developed all raw materials except petroleum rubber, if China and Japan declare war at the same time, and Western countries strictly abide by neutrality according to the neutrality law, and stop exporting iron ore, oil, rubber and other strategic materials to the two countries, Japan may collapse in less than a year, because it has nothing. ”

"But. The Japanese could get iron ore from the Tohoku. coal and other resources. On the contrary, China has no material support from the West. In particular, weapons and ammunition are urgently needed. I am afraid that the collapse will only be China. New York Times reporter Mike retorted. He only came to Shanghai from the United States this year. The New York Times correspondent in Shanghai was repatriated. Unlike a lot of American journalists. Mike would love to come to China. He had read some of Edgar Snow's articles. And be fascinated by this ancient and mysterious country. I especially yearn for the Great Northwest.

Weber's expression was very firm: "No. Mr. As far as I know. China can create all light weapons. All ground guns up to 150mm caliber. And cars. They are seeking the technology to manufacture tanks and airplanes. Chongqing's steel output has been hundreds of thousands of tons. I've been to their local arsenal. I saw with my own eyes that the workers on the production line were equipped with machine guns and cannons. If you wish. I can show you the pictures of the location. But the Chinese are careful. All photos are indoors. Photography is not allowed outside. ”

Webb said as he pulled out a few photos from the inside pocket of his suit. Distribute these pictures to the people. Stilwell looked closely. At this time, one is slapped down from a high place. However, you can clearly see this huge factory. Workers are busy on the assembly line. Another photo shows a recent photo. Photograph of a ground worker concentrating on the installation of a Czech light machine gun. Another photo shows two workers fiddling with a heavy cannon. Look at the caliber a bit like a 105 cannon.

"Oh my God. Weber. How did you get to the ground? Logan was amazed. He wanted to go into the factory to shoot. But it was resolutely rejected by local officials in Chongqing.

Webb felt a little smug in his heart. At the beginning. The Chongqing magistrate also rejected his request. But he grinded and soaked hard. Finally, when Zhuang Jihua left Chongqing for Wuhan, he persuaded Li Zhilong through Mei Yuntian. I was able to enter four of the factories to shoot.

Stilwell stared at the photograph in his hand. He felt compelled to rewrite the report to Washington. China's war potential is by no means as bad as it appears to be. I'm afraid the Japanese are going to get bogged down this time.

This group of people gradually divided into two camps, one is represented by Weber, backed by Mei Youlan and Thomas, who are optimistic about China, and they believe that China can fight; other

The pessimists, led by John Jr., believe that even if Chongqing has a certain #7, the gap between China and Japan is still too large, and Japan's victory is obvious. The two factions debated their own scriptures, and they gradually became the focus of the reception, attracting more and more people to attend.

"The West should come forward to stop Japan's aggression against China, in the long run, after Japan occupies China, the next target will inevitably be the South Pacific, where Japan urgently needs oil and rubber for development, if you sit back and watch Japan annex China, in a few years, the West will pay the price for today's decision." Webber continued to talk eloquently, he was now almost alone in the fight, Mei Youlan only supported two sentences at the critical moment, and Thomas was purely friendly and helped to strengthen the momentum.

"Mr. Weber is right when he says that there should be justice in this world, and the Western society should play the role of China's protector and stop the Japanese aggression against China." Another Frenchman stood out from the crowd, he was Benoit, a French teacher at the Sino-French Polytechnic Institute, and he took a clear stand to support China during the Shanghai war, and also organized a French volunteer team for this purpose, which was recruiting members extensively, and even sent people to Annan to recruit members. Thanks to the efforts of him and his companions, the French Concession had a strong atmosphere of sympathy and support for China.

"Mr. Benoit, I myself am very sympathetic to the Chinese," John Jr. sighed, "and I also admire the bravery of the Chinese soldiers in the Hongkou battlefield, but war is about strength, our strength in the Far East is not enough to stop the actions of the Japanese, and now we cannot draw more forces to the Far East." ”

John Jr. is telling the truth, Hitler's Germany is frantically expanding its armaments, since the armed march into the Rhine Demilitarized Zone last year, the intervention in the Spanish Civil War, and now the annexation of Austria, the whole of Europe trembles under his threat.

Little John's words brightened up Mei Youlan's eyes, and she concluded that Europe and the United States would take a sideline approach to the war between China and Japan, and at most they would give moral support, and it would be worth it tonight.

"But we can do more, as long as we cut off Japan's oil and rubber supplies and increase aid to China, Japan must consider whether it should continue the war." Weber went one step further and put forward his idea.

"Mr. Consul, do you say so?" Benoit turned to ask Philip, the British Consul General who was standing quietly on the side.

Philippe had a professional smile on his face, and secretly cursed the damned Frenchman in his heart, who was going to ask him when he was standing next to the French Consul General.

"It's up to them, and if they declare war, then I'm sure Whitehall will act accordingly."

"But we can fully cite the policy of the Spanish Civil War, they also did not declare war, didn't we declare an embargo?" Benoit pressed further.

"Monsieur Benoit, do you want to impose an embargo on both countries at the same time? Or do you just want to impose an embargo on Japan? Rogan was a little dissatisfied with Benoit's aggressiveness and duly relieved the consul general.

Benoit was a little speechless, but Weber had entered the battle group: "The Nine-Power Pact, according to the Nine-Power Pact, whoever violates the Nine-Power Pact will sanction whoever is in full support of the other side." Article 1 of the Nine-Power Pact is to respect China's sovereignty and independence and territorial and administrative integrity. Obviously, Japan has long violated this article, it has occupied Northeast China and Rehe, it is seeking North China and East China, if possible they are afraid that they will take the whole of China into their pockets, and then the Western countries will lose face, and the peoples of the East will look at the West again. ”

"Mr. Weber, the Nine-Power Pact is nine countries, and even excluding China and Japan, there are seven countries, and there is also the League of Nations." Philip said calmly: "However, I believe that the parties to the Nine-Power Pact will not sit idly by and watch Japan's actions in China." Do you say yes? Mr. Brylava. ”

The French Consul General Brylava shrugged, he had only been Consul General in China for two years, and although the territory of the French Concession was large, France's interests in the Yangtze River valley were small, so Paris paid little attention to the Sino-Japanese War.

"It's up to Paris to decide, but I can tell you that the parties to the Nine-Power Pact are in contact to convene an international conference on the Sino-Japanese conflict, and I think a unified course of action will come up with at this meeting."

"Is it a plan like the Lytton Report?" After the fall of the three eastern provinces, the League of Nations sent a British Sir Lytton to lead a delegation to investigate the northeast, and all strata of Chinese society had high hopes for this investigation team, hoping that the League of Nations would uphold justice, but the final result greatly disappointed the Chinese; although Lytton concluded that the northeast was Chinese territory, he attributed the September 18 incident to China's anti-Japanese activities and the infiltration of Soviet Russia, and finally suggested that the northeast should be handed over to international condominium. Even this conclusion, which was clearly biased in favor of the Japanese, the Japanese did not accept it, and after the League of Nations passed the Lytton Investigation Mission, Japan announced its withdrawal from the League of Nations, and the Lytton report became a dead letter. This move by the Japanese caused the League of Nations to lose face and its prestige plummeted. Later, Italy's invasion of Ethiopia and Hitler's rearmament of Germany were all related to this, that is, they saw the weakness of the League of Nations.

"Sir Lytton's report is still basically fair, and it can only be said that the Japanese have seized a good time, and the West is mired in serious economic problems brought about by the Great Depression, and has no power to interfere in the situation in the Far East." Logan defended his countryman, but the defense was so pale that even Little John frowned.

"Gentlemen, the matter reported by Lytton is over, so let's talk about something else." Svensson, the director of the Ministry of Industry, came forward to resolve it, and Weber shook his head at him, what else could he talk about? War, war right around isn't it the best topic.

"Yes, yes, we should talk about how to help those poor people gathered in the concession, the situation on the streets is too chaotic now, and if we don't come up with a way, I'm afraid there will be a lot of law and order incidents." Brown, the chief of police of the Ministry of Works, chimed in.

"Mr. Brown, you don't want to kick those refugees out of the world, do you?" Benoit asked with a smirk.

"Of course not, I mean find a way to settle these refugees as soon as possible." Brown shook his head.

"There is a war going on outside, business has almost come to a standstill, and if you want to settle these refugees, I am afraid that you can only wait until the war in Shanghai is over, and it will definitely not work with the concession alone." Mike shook his head and said, "What we can do is try to help these refugees." ”

Mei Youlan looked at these talkative foreigners, but her heart was a little dissatisfied, the attitude of Anglo-American France was very unclear, obviously the battle of Shanghai seriously affected the interests of Britain and the United States in China, after Japan occupied the Northeast, almost completely controlled the Northeast market; After the Japanese army entered North China, Japanese products were sold in North China

The United States and Britain have almost withdrawn from the North China market, and now Japan is reaching out) Is the United States and Britain really sitting idly by? She didn't believe it.

Although Mei Youlan is not satisfied, now is not the time, there are too many people around, and it is impossible for those diplomatic veterans to reveal any useful information, at most a little diplomatic order.

When their conversation shifted from refugees to business, Mei Youlan and Thomas left the circle together, and they dangled around with a glass of wine in their hands, chatting with the ladies around them from time to time, chatting with the general managers of Citibank and HSBC, which have a close relationship with Chongqing and know more about Mei Youlan, and the two sides have a good conversation.

After a while, a plump woman stood in front of the piano and sang "The Marriage of Figaro" for the people attending the reception, and the hall resounded with the applause of the top hat, and Mei Youlan also clapped her palms modestly, in fact, she didn't sing very well, but in Shanghai, especially in this period, it was good to listen to it.

"Miss May," Stilwell and a young lieutenant suddenly walked over, "I'm going to Chongqing recently, I wonder if you'd like to go with me?" ”

"To Chongqing? Right now? Mei Youlan glanced at Stilwell in a little surprise, the latter nodded, and Mei Youlan asked puzzledly: "You don't care about the war in Shanghai anymore?" ”

"The bureaucrats in Washington think that the Nationalist Government may move to Chongqing, let me go and see, it is estimated that after a while, the US Embassy will also move to Chongqing." Stilwell's tone was very relaxed, in fact, this was his new idea, the task of the military intelligence group he led was to collect war intelligence on both China and Japan, since Weber came up with new evidence that the heavy artillery equipped by the squadron was not purchased from Germany as previously speculated, then China's war capability must be re-evaluated.

"I'm sorry Colonel, I have no plans to go back to Chongqing for the time being," Mei Youlan said with a smile: "I plan to go to Nanjing and then Wuhan in a while, and I won't be able to return to Chongqing for half a year." ”

Stilwell's face showed a look of regret: "Oh, let me introduce you, this young man is Lieutenant Zelston, a marine. ”

Mei Youlan glanced at Lieutenant Calm slightly, and she wondered a little how Stilwell had brought this lieutenant to her. Stilwell casually explained: "Zelston's father was an old friend of mine, he was in the Army with me, and his son was in the Navy..."

Stilwell said and shook his head, there was a feeling of hatred for iron and steel, the originally calm lieutenant showed a little embarrassment on his face at this time, Mei Youlan couldn't help but be happy, in the United States she knew that there was a deep prejudice between the U.S. Army and the Navy, and this stereotype could even be brought to a football game, and the winning side could talk about it for a year, even if it was a senior officer.

"Colonel, does President Roosevelt really care about the Sino-Japanese War?" Mei Youlan just glanced at the lieutenant, then pulled the topic to the issue he was interested in, and said very sincerely: "China needs help now. ”

Stilwell looked left and right and sighed heavily: "You grew up in the United States, and you know the situation in the United States, American voters don't want to fight, and the president can't do much." ”

"Can't even be an embargo?" Mei Youlan's beautiful big eyes revealed a sadness, which made people can't help but feel heartache.

"I don't know about that," Stilwell said, shaking his head, "and my personal opinion is to impose sanctions on Japan and maintain the balance of power in the Far East." Moreover, an embargo would only be effective if it was a multinational cooperation. ”

Stilwell, after all, is an amateur diplomat, and he speaks straightforwardly, unlike a career diplomat, who speaks in a roundabout way. Mei Youlan nodded approvingly.

"The British and the French don't necessarily agree." Jerseyton interjected at the right time, and he had the urge to speak when the senior officers were discussing just now, but his rank was too low, and it was not a good choice to speak at that time, especially when his superiors were present, and now only Stilwell, he began to express his opinion: "They are now taking care of themselves, and they can't afford to meddle in the Far East." ”

"What does that mean?" Mei Youlan asked suspiciously.

"After Hitler became the head of Germany, he began to reorganize the army, and last year he drove the army into the Rhine demilitarized zone, in fact, his army only had a few battalions, but the entire 60 divisions of the French ** team shrank behind the Maginot Line and did not dare to move." Zelston had a contemptuous expression on his face: "After Hitler succeeded in the Rhine Demilitarized Zone, Austria was also a member of the former German Confederation, and now it should be returned to the German Confederation." His request made it difficult for Britain and France, and the Treaty of Versailles clearly stipulated that Germany and Austria could not have any alliance or similar treaty, and if Hitler succeeded, the Treaty of Versailles would be officially reduced to ashes, and the peace framework on which it was based would officially collapse. ”

Mei Youlan was very surprised by this young man's keen sense of smell, before the exercise, Zhuang Jihua had talked with Mei Yuntian, thinking that Germany would instigate a war in Europe, and the business in Europe should be withdrawn as soon as possible, and at the same time try to end the German authorization of penicillin. Unexpectedly, this young man actually agreed with Zhuang Jihua's views.

"Lieutenant, are you a Marine?" Mei Youlan looked at Zelston, the latter nodded a little inexplicably, Mei Youlan shook his head lightly: "No matter how I look at it, I feel that you should be a diplomat, or a journalist, I guess you did the wrong thing, we Chinese have a saying that women are afraid of marrying the wrong man, men are afraid of entering the wrong business, and the Marine Corps is a little bent." ”

"Haha," Stilwell laughed, "Miss May, you're right, he shouldn't have joined the Navy, he should have joined the Army." ”

Jerseyton shrugged a little awkwardly: "I'm just interested in international relations, in fact, being a journalist is my second wish." Speaking of which, I have a very good impression of China, my father served in China for 10 years, and I often hear him talk about China. ”

"Marines too?" Mei Youlan asked with a smile, today she was extremely satisfied, and she began to plan a continuous report in her heart, the content of which was about the attitude of the States parties to the Nine-Power Pact towards the Sino-Japanese war, and she wanted to completely shatter the illusions placed on the West by some people in China in this continuous report.

Webb and Benoit continued to fight in the officer corps, when a loud explosion was heard in the city, and the room shook and the women let out a high-pitched exclamation, followed by a series of explosions, and people poured into the windows, and the light pierced the dark night, staining the sky red.

The two are in one, asking for a monthly pass

The two are more in one, asking for monthly ticket support

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