Chuan Presidential Palace. Got off the bus near the Commander's Hall. Wu Tingfang led the two-story building, and when they walked downstairs, they saw several senior officers coming out of the commander's hall. With a blue face for that person, it was Duan Qirui, the commander-in-chief of the 6th Military Department, and the few people around him were also senior officers from Beiyang.

Seeing Duan Qirui coming, Si Dai took off his top hat. greeted Duan Qirui very politely, but Duan Qirui just glanced at Si Dade, didn't stop his steps, and walked away with the other party's shoulders.

Mr. Duan didn't seem to be very happy

Stade shrugged his shoulders and pressed his top hat back to his head, then his gaze moved to Wu Tingfang's face.

Wu Tingfang shook his head with a wry smile, he didn't say anything, of course he knew that Duan Qirui was unhappy because of something, this morning, before the ground battle started, the military police arrested Duan Qirui's brother-in-law, Wu Guangxin, the commander of the National Defense Army's first wounded division. The crime was "delaying the fear of war and shaking the morale of the army." "After Wu Guangxin was arrested by the military police, he was immediately escorted to Shenyang. The order was issued directly by the Commander-in-Chief Hall by skipping the 6th Army Headquarters and the 6th Army General Staff, and Duan Qirui was very annoyed by this.

In fact, today Duan Zhigui invited Wu Tingfang, Li Yuanhong and others to "appreciate antiques." "The real intention is also for Wu Guangxin's arrest. Duan Zhigui, who was also from Beiyang, was worried that the commander's move was a precursor to cracking down on the Beiyang faction, so he hurriedly invited several heavyweights of the United Front to come over to give him peace of mind, and at the same time let the president know that he Duan Zhigui was now concentrating on being an antique expert and had no intention of taking care of other things.

Although it is not clear why the center suddenly arrested Wu Guangxin, Wu Tingfang understood why Duan Qirui rushed to the Commander's Hall late at night, and left with a look of chagrin. When the news of Wu Guangxin's arrest spread, Duan Qirui's wife immediately quarreled with him. There was a fire in the house in Duan's mansion, on the other hand, many Beiyang widows and young people were in a panic all day long, and they closed their doors one after another, and the widows of the Beiyang Group were about to disappear, could Duan Qirui not be in a hurry to get on fire?

Of course, Wu Tingfang and Si Taide don't have the heart to worry about what Duan Qirui thinks now, they just want to see Mr. President as soon as possible, but before meeting Mr. President, the two of them have to wait patiently for a while.

A few minutes later, Qin Sihu, the president's head of the guard, walked to the reception room, called Wu Tingfang over, and left Si Dai and several members of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to continue to wait in the reception room for the president to summon him.

When Wu Tingfang followed Qin Sihu into the president's "No. 1 office", he immediately saw two acquaintances, one was the German Minister to China Rex, although the other was the former guard captain of the German Legation in China, Major von Dinkmann, at this moment, the two were standing at the president's desk. With monocles in his eyes, he carefully studied the stack of photos on the table one by one, and under his full concentration, he didn't even notice Wu Tingfang walking into the office.

The photo is a reconnaissance photo of the Lushun operation, and now Britain and France are as anxious as Germany and the United States, and almost all the powers are eager to find out what happened to the Lushun battlefield and why the seemingly thin aircraft can achieve such a brilliant victory, if it is not bragging about it by the Chinese, then it must be a key point in the exhibition of military technology. Once this critical point is crossed, it will be an era of a new revolution in military technology.

"Mr. President, Mr. Stade, the U.S. Minister has arrived and is awaiting your summons."

Wu Tingfang's words finally caught the attention of the Germans, and they turned their heads to look at Wu Tingfang. Then there was an exchange of glances, and the German minister, Rex, decided to leave before the American minister arrived.

"Mr. President, these aerial reconnaissance photos are really impressive, it is hard to imagine that the aircraft can cause such serious damage to a battleship, perhaps, the era of air war has really come. As a good friend of China, the German Government is willing to further strengthen cooperation on the technical and tactical issues of the Air Force, and I must now return to the embassy immediately. Report these aerial reconnaissance photographs to the German authorities, and report the details of the battle of Arthur to His Majesty the Emperor. ”

Seeing that the German minister was leaving, Zhao Bei stood up.

"As for the aerial reconnaissance photos, the Air Force has more information, and once they send all the photos, I will definitely give Mr. Minister a set In addition, I will arrange for Major Dinkman's visit to the Zhengzhou Aircraft Factory as soon as possible, and I hope that the Major's visit to the special products of the aircraft factory will further strengthen the friendship between China and Germany, and I sincerely hope that the friendship between the two countries will last forever."

"I am confident that your country will be able to win this great patriotic war. As a testimony to the Sino-German friendship, I will immediately urge the Deutsche Hua Bank to provide an emergency loan of 10 million Deutsche Mark to the central government of your country as soon as possible, I believe. The loan will be used where it is most appropriate.

The German minister took out the assurance, and then. He said goodbye politely, and left the Commander's Hall with the German major.

"Chief Wu, it's hard for you to make another trip, please ask Mr. American Minister to come over, since he wants to know the details of the battle in Lushun, then, I can show him these reconnaissance photos."

Zhao Bei nodded to Wu Tingfang, who retreated, and a few minutes later, Steder was already standing in this office, and like Major von Dinkman, he was completely shocked by the strategic significance revealed by the reconnaissance photo.

In the photo, the wreckage of the four Japanese battleships is clearly visible, and the devastation in Port Arthur is also very eye-catching, and the Americans do not believe that the era of air battles has indeed arrived, and it is indeed necessary to change the US naval strategy.

"Mr. President, can I use the negatives of these reconnaissance photographs to wash another set of photographs? Also, can I send a military attache to see that air force assault unit of yours? If you can agree, I'm sure the U.S. State Department will appreciate it.

Stade said.

Zhao Bei smiled and said: "Actually, Mr. Minister doesn't have to do this, because just now, I have already sent someone to take the negatives to the newspaper printing house, if everything goes well, then, on the front page of tomorrow's newspaper, everyone can see these photos." We want to tell the world through these photos that in this war between China and Japan. Jian Shu is dry and concave and said that the body clams are not the same", said that reading rape went outside

"So, about your Air Force assault force?" Stade asked.

"Mr. Minister, now the war has just begun. The combat units of the Air Force are still a military secret, and although the United States is a friendly country to China, at least for the time being, I cannot agree to your request. But after the war is over, or after the war is clear, I can give permission for American journalists to interview Air Force combat units. ”

Speaking of this, Zhao Bei's words changed sharply, and he said: "A few days ago, I asked Mr. Minister that once the Japanese fleet blockades China's coastal areas. Can the U.S. government come forward to organize a U.S. fleet to protect China's import and export trade routes? At that time, Mr. Minister told me that this issue needs time to be considered, and now that several days have passed, I wonder how the US government has considered it. ”

The president first had something to say in his life, and Stade understood it, in fact, he had considered this issue on the way here, and now he could give the president an answer.

"Mr. President, while the U.S. government is still considering it, in my personal opinion, if the U.S. government is willing to provide marine insurance. I think that the US shipowners can completely set up some transport fleets with all US flags on their own, and attacking these fleets is tantamount to attacking the US government, and the US government will never sit idly by. ”

Perhaps worried that this condition was not generous enough, Stade added another condition.

"I know that your country's central finances are not very well-off. I think it is necessary for your government to make public bonds in the international bond market, and I think if your government were to make public bonds in the United States, given the increasingly close commercial and trade exchanges between the United States and China, and the growing friendship between the two peoples. U.S. citizens will definitely buy it. ”

"Mr. Minister's advice is very timely. I couldn't agree more.

Although it is not possible to give you close contact with our Air Force combat units at this time, as a symbol of friendship with the United States, I thought it would be possible to send a flying team to the United States and discuss aviation technology and tactics with American aviation experts. ”

Zhao Bei was very satisfied with the other party's performance, so he came up with his conditions in a timely manner.

Although I am not very satisfied with the quid pro quo of Mr. President, in the current situation. Stade couldn't have hoped too much. And, like the German minister, the current American minister was anxious to return to the embassy. Send a telegram to the country, relay the scenes on these photos to American aviation experts, tell them. The Lushun air raid is not an imagination, but a real fact, the Chinese Air Force has proved the real combat value of aircraft with their actions, and a new era of military-technological revolution has arrived.

But before leaving, Stade has one more important matter to discuss with the president, and this matter is very confidential, and it is best to have a private discussion with Mr. President alone.

Zhao Bei ordered to go down, and the idle people and others immediately retreated. He and Staid were the only ones left in this office.

Stade sat down on the sand and opened his briefcase. He took out a few pieces of letterhead from it and handed them to Zhao Bei.

"Please take a look at this document, Mr. President. If there's something you don't understand, I'll do my best to help you. ”

Zhao Bei took the document and hurriedly flipped through it. Somewhat surprised, because judging by the description of the contents of the document. This is supposed to be a confidential diplomatic document of the British government, and apparently the US government obtained a copy of this document through some "special channel". Then it was translated into Chinese and shown to the president of China.

It must be admitted that the Americans are very cunning, and this is not the first time that they have secretly stumbled other countries in diplomatic actions, and this time it is the entire Entente bloc that has been stumbled by them.

The content of this document was not complicated, it was a draft plan for the Entente to assist Japan. According to this draft, as soon as the Japanese government requested military assistance from the Entente bloc, then Britain and France would immediately use part of their strategic reserves in the Far East, including aircraft and artillery, which, if implemented, would undoubtedly delay China's end to the war.

However, given the current tensions in Europe. This draft plan also clarifies this. The military aid program is top secret, and the British government does not want the people to know that in order to assist Japan in its fight against China, Britain does not hesitate to weaken its strategic reserves in the Far East, and once this news leaks, Britain will have to suspend this military aid plan.

Seeing this, Zhao Bei already understood what to do, so he closed the document and expressed his gratitude to Stade.

"Thank you very much for your timely reminder, I will arrange for the publication of this draft plan immediately, and once the newspaper reports on it, I am sure that the British government will definitely deny it vigorously, but this cannot deny the threat of the Entente to world peace."

Stade wrinkled his brows, he didn't think that Mr. President would think so, although the Entente is not a force to defend world peace, but the Allies are not, on the contrary, what the Allies are doing is the main reason for the increasing instability of the world situation, what the German Emperor wants is to smash the entire old world order to pieces, which threatens not only the national interests of Britain, but also the national interests of the United States are threatened by Germany.

"Mr. President, before I leave, I feel it is necessary to remind you of the situation in Europe. The U.S. government is very worried that Germany and Austria-Hungary are threatening the sovereign Balkan states under the pretext of the assassination of the crown prince, which is already a signal for war, and Britain and France are ready for war, and I personally believe that if diplomatic efforts fail, war will almost certainly break out in Europe. At that time, the United States will not be able to pay attention to the Far East, because the strategic focus of the United States will always be Europe. And not Asia. So, I think. On the issue of this secret military aid program of the Entente, it is hoped that Mr. President will try to exercise restraint and that there is no need to provoke Britain. ”

"I have taken the words of Mr. Minister to heart. I think. It is more appropriate for this military aid package to be exposed by German newspapers. ”

Zhao Bei smiled and nodded, as a traverser, of course he knows what kind of situation the world will face, but he knows even more that once the war in Europe really breaks out, no matter how hard Britain and France try, the disintegration of the old international order is inevitable, which is not only because of the general trend of history, but more importantly, he will also play a key role in it. ,If you want to know what will happen next,Please log in to 6,More chapters,Support the author,Support genuine reading!