Seeing everyone's expressions, Chiang Kai-shek's heart suddenly tightened, his arm couldn't help but tremble, and a little water spilled out of the cup in his hand. He felt as if he had suddenly fallen into an ice cave, cold and cold to the bone.

Chiang Kai-shek was fully aware that what Wang Zhengting had brought today must be extremely bad news, and these people already knew the contents when they were waiting outside, so Zhang Qunfang did not hesitate to say anything and suggested that he negotiate with Soviet Russia.

Chiang Kai-shek could now fully imagine what kind of bad news Wang Zhengting had brought, and although such bad news shocked him and made him feel great pain in his heart, he still stubbornly tried to maintain his peace in front of everyone. He slowly put down the cup in his hand, laboriously held the chair handle with both hands, and tried to support his tall and thin body, which was a little stiff, straightened his body, and moved his legs weighing more than a thousand pounds strongly, and walked silently to the window.

Nanjing in September should have beautiful scenery and pleasant climate, but at this moment, the sky is dark outside, and the thick lead-gray clouds have filled the sky over Nanjing City at some point, which is so depressing that people feel breathless.

Chiang Kai-shek stood silently in front of the window, staring out of the window with blank eyes, motionless.

The people in the room wanted to comfort Chiang Kai-shek, but they didn't know what words to use to comfort Chiang Kai-shek's sad and depressed mood.

Chiang Kai-shek was silent alone in front of the window for a long time, and then he did not look back, and said in a low and hoarse voice: "Confucianism, what is the attitude of the great powers? Just tell the truth. ”

Chiang Kai-shek's demeanor made Wang Zhengting's heart very sad, he tried to control his emotions that were about to get out of control, and said in a slightly trembling voice: "Among the five permanent members of the League of Nations, Britain and France say that the caliber is very unified, as if it had been discussed in advance, and they said, 'The historical reasons of Northern Mongolia are complicated, and it is not good for them to intervene rashly. It is hoped that China and the Soviet Union will exercise restraint and adopt appropriate means to resolve the issue on their own. The United States, which did not join the League of Nations, had the same attitude as Britain, France and Italy. ”

"Also, they said that they would not sell weapons to us, given that China and the Soviet Union were already in a de facto state of war."

Seeing that Chiang Kai-shek just listened silently, he neither expressed his position, nor did he make any moves, nor did he even look back.

Wang Zhengting had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue: "According to the information privately learned by our diplomats in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brussels, the reason why the great powers did not dare to uphold justice, condemned the Soviet Union's invasion of Northern Mongolia, and were even unwilling to sell us weapons was entirely because the Soviet Union was now constantly buying a large amount of industrial manufacturing equipment and grain, as well as industrial products, and even weapons, from the European and American powers. ”

"Soviet Foreign Minister Litvinov is now leading a large-scale industrial equipment purchasing delegation to tour European countries, not only to Britain, France, Italy, but also Switzerland......"

Wang Zhengting continued: "It is said that in the past two years, the Soviet Union has spent hundreds of millions of dollars every year to purchase goods in Europe and the United States, which has been of great help to the European and American powers that have been affected by the economic crisis, so that the European and American powers are very afraid of offending the Soviets, losing huge orders, and affecting their domestic economic situation. ”

"Hypocrisy! The great powers are selfish hypocrites! Song Ziwen could no longer hide his anger and scolded loudly.

Yang Yongtai sighed, shook his head and said: "Don't look at what the great powers say, they always look like sanctimonious defenders, in fact, they are all thinking about the interests of their own countries in their bones, as long as they can get actual benefits, even if they harm the interests of God, they will not blush." ”

In order not to make Chiang Kai-shek too upset, Wang Zhengting interrupted Yang Yongtai's words and told the only news that could be called good news.

"However, the representatives of the two permanent members of the League of Nations, Germany and Italy, although they abstained in the voting, made it clear to us in private that they were under pressure from Britain and France. They also told our diplomats that the German and Italian political axes were willing to secretly sell weapons to us to support the Fourth Route Army in resisting the Soviet invasion of Northern Mongolia. ”

Zhang Qun said with a wry smile: "Germany and Italy have always had a grudge against Soviet Russia, especially Italy, and their leader Mussolini [***] is very resolute. I abstained from voting this time, and I think it is still due to the domestic economy. ”

Song Ziwen also said: "Italy is the weakest of the major European powers, not only is its scientific and technological and industrial production capacity far inferior to that of Britain, France and Germany, but its energy supply also comes from Britain 80 percent.

Lin Wei also interjected: "Germany is a defeated country in World War I, limited by the Treaty of Versailles, Germany has no heavy weapons to sell us, as for the Italians, their planes and heavy weapons are not much worse than those in Europe and the United States, they are also worse than those in the Soviet Union, and they will not be of great help to Wenge." ”

"The attitude of the great powers, does Wengo know?"

Chiang Kai-shek didn't seem to hear the words of these people, but turned around and asked Wang Zhengting.

At this time, there was no anger on Chiang Kai-shek's face, and he was calm as if nothing had happened.

Although Wang Zhengting was surprised that Chiang Kai-shek could be so calm, he still quickly replied: "Wen Ge knows about this. ”

Seeing that Chiang Kai-shek frowned slightly, Wang Zhengting thought that Chiang Kai-shek had misunderstood him and did not report it first, but notified Song Zhewu first, and hurriedly explained: "The chairman of the committee has instructed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should actively cooperate with the Northern Frontier Chief's Office to assist the Fourth Route Army in purchasing weapons and equipment from abroad. Therefore, the Taiyuan side sent Bi Guangheng, director of the Foreign Liaison Office of the Northern Frontier Governor's Office, to Nanjing to contact and liaise with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. So, these things, Wengo knows through him. ”

Chiang Kai-shek ignored Wang Zhengting's explanation and asked, "What is Wen Ge's attitude?" ”

Only then did Wang Zhengting understand that Chiang Kai-shek's unhappiness was not what he imagined, and he was worried that the attitude of the great powers would affect Song Zhewu's determination to resist the Soviet Union, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

According to Bi Guangheng, Wen Ge said that he never believed that the League of Nations could stop the invasion of the Soviet army, and he never put his hope on the League of Nations, and he was even prepared for the refusal of the Great Powers to sell weapons. Therefore, no matter whether the great powers sell weapons or not, he will fight to the end and will not back down. ”

"He has already made contact with the relevant parties in the United States through personal connections, and it is said that although the American side still does not agree to sell weapons to us, in the United States, the Curtis Company and the United States have been in contact with the United States. Under the lobbying and efforts of large companies such as Hui Company, US Secretary of State Henry? Stimson was relieved, saying that although it was difficult for them to sell us weapons, they could still make some workarounds. Wengo is already working with Curtis Corporation and Pu? Hui Company contacted and prepared to buy aircraft engines from them. ”

In addition, Wenge also hoped that the Ordnance Industry Administration would take advantage of this opportunity to purchase as much weapons production technology as possible from Germany, and asked the Germans to help the Central Political Axe build arsenals and aircraft and automobile factories.

"He doesn't buy planes, what does he do with engines?"

Chiang Kai-shek ignored the second half of Wang Zhengting's words and asked in confusion.

Bi Guangheng said that their aircraft factory in Taiyuan is now able to manufacture its own aircraft, and its surname is not bad, no worse than the planes of the great powers. It's just that the high-horsepower aero engines they built themselves are still very unstable, and at this stage, their own aircraft can only buy foreign engines first. Bi Guangheng also said that their experts said that the surname of the American aero engine can be very good. ”

Chiang Kai-shek, who was already in a normal state, walked back to his seat and sat down, and suddenly asked: "Isn't there an aircraft factory built in Mawei by the Aviation Administration of the Ministry of Military Affairs?" Aren't they able to make airplanes too? ”

For Chiang Kai-shek's questioning, everyone present was stunned.

This question should have been answered by He Yingqin, but He Yingqin hesitated for a moment and said to Chiang Kai-shek: "Chen Yi is the director of the Aviation Administration, and Senator Yu should report this issue to the chairman." ”

Seeing Chiang Kai-shek looking at him, Yu Dawei hurriedly stood up.

"Report to the chairman, the Mawei Aircraft Factory can only assemble imported aircraft at present, and cannot manufacture new aircraft on its own."

Chiang Kai-shek stared at Yu Dawei and asked thoughtfully: "I remember that when I was in Beiyang, Mawei built a seaplane, right?" Why can't it be made now? ”

"Back to the chairman's words, Mawei did make airplanes during the Beiyang period. In August 1919, they made the first "A-type No. 1" twin-boom biplane seaplane in China. The following year, the same model was produced and successfully tested. Subsequently, the level of aircraft manufacturing was gradually raised, and by the end of last year, Mawei had built a total of 15 trainer planes, reconnaissance planes, coastal patrol planes, and torpedo bombers of seven types. ”

Yu Dawei's answer not only did not make Chiang Kai-shek understand, but on the contrary, made Chiang Kai-shek even more confused.

"If Mawei was able to build his own airplane twelve years ago, why can't he now?"

"As far as I know, although Yan Baichuan established a small aircraft factory in Taiyuan very early, they only assembled a few imported aircraft, and they did it under the guidance of foreigners, and they never built their own aircraft. Why are they able to build airplanes now? Are the planes they make really good? Is it true that as Bi Guangheng said, the planes made in Taiyuan are no worse than the planes of the great powers? ”

Chiang Kai-shek's series of questions also reflected the mood of everyone, and their hearts were full of questions.

Yu Dawei smiled bitterly, if you want to explain this matter clearly, it is not something that can be explained clearly in a while, there are many deep-seated reasons here, and the drawbacks and reasons are very clear to Yu Dawei, who has been in the United States and Germany for many years, but these drawbacks are not something that he dares to touch on as a small senator.

(To be continued)