Stanley. Baldwin was the British Prime Minister at the time, the Conservative Party. Baldwin became prime minister for the second time after a short 10-month term in 1924, and it was only then that a new round of prime minister elections would begin next year. Over the years, seats have been occupied by the Conservatives, and the original Liberal Party has lagged behind the Labour Party.

Baldwin was in a very bad mood at this time, and this incident was a red flag, and he knew that if he didn't handle it well, he wouldn't have to wait until next year, and he would be removed from the prime minister's position now. The Labour and Liberal Parties will not pass up such an opportunity in vain.

Baldwin was a prime minister who pursued appeasement and was a moderate. Figures who belong to the category of defending the country do not advocate the expansion of the army or external expansion. The general strike two years ago also had a lot of impact on Britain at this time, so Baldwin now did not want to go to war with China. But according to the other party's intentions, it is to use this matter to recover Hong Kong. This made Baldwin very embarrassed, Hong Kong could not just give it up, but he had no clue what to do about this matter. Originally, a cabinet meeting was planned to settle the demonstrations in Hong Kong, but before the reason could be discussed, a telegram from the British ambassador arrived in the conference room.

"We must not agree to China's demands, this is Chiguoguo's coercion. What follows the will of the people, it would be good to directly say that Hong Kong should be returned. The First Minister of War was the first to speak with an unhappy face.

"We should take a tougher attitude to respond, we are the British Empire on which the sun never sets, how can people be so threatened."

"Measures should be taken against China, to let them know that our British Empire is not Japan. Don't think that if you defeat a small Japan, you won't take others seriously. ”

There is no shortage of arrogant people in the world, and in some people's hearts, even if China defeats Japan at this time, it is nothing, and some people also look down on Japan from the bottom of their hearts. They believed that as long as Britain could recover from the First World War, it would still be the number one in the world.

"That is to say, we are going to war with China!" Churchill said nonchalantly.

"So what, we have a strong navy in the Far East, and we have hundreds of thousands of our land forces in India and the Southeast."

"But I want to remind you that China also has a navy at this time, and it is much stronger than our Far East Fleet, and those two battleships alone are enough to destroy our Far East Fleet. Speaking of the army, the Chinese Army can attack Hong Kong in just a few hours, and how long can our 10,000 soldiers in Hong Kong resist. I don't blindly think that our 10,000 soldiers are more powerful than the 200,000 Japanese troops who held Taipei. Churchill said.

"What do you mean by that, don't forget that you are a colonial minister, and you are also responsible for this."

"I didn't mean anything, I just told the truth." Churchill Road.

"And what do you think we should do now?" At this time, Baldwin opened his mouth and looked for Churchill.

"Try to negotiate while trying to fight if you can. While mobilizing troops to prepare for war with China. If China insists on taking Hong Kong back, then this war is inevitable. Although Churchill analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of the two countries for a long time, Churchill also knew that Britain must not retreat at this time. Unless defeated.

"Let me think about it." Baldwin said.

Churchill's words hit everyone's heart, Britain must be tough, because Britain can't afford to lose this man.

Britain also had two powerful battleships in the Far East at this time, one was the Nelson, which had just been launched in 1922, two ships of the same class were built at the same time, and the other was the Rodney. At the same time, there was also a battleship Royal Oak that was also in the Far East at this time, as well as several cruisers and destroyers, which had been the First Fleet cruising in the South-East until the Chinese fleet was exposed, and no one could compare. The Nelson was launched just last year, and it went to the Far East only to test the ship's long-distance sailing performance, and was not specially transferred to the Far East.

Not to mention the small 10,000 troops in Hong Kong, there are only two brigades of troops in Burma, and there is also a Gurkha regiment. Moreover, there were only one or two divisions of the British army in India, the rest were Indian divisions, and among all the armies in the southeast, except for the elite Gurkha regiment, which was commendable, the rest of the battles were very low.

In the end, the meeting adopted the Churchill approach. On the one hand, it was preparing to start talks with China, and on the other hand, it began to integrate the army and navy in the southeast, and also contacted France.

―――――――――――――――― a nation without heroes is sad, but once there is a nation that can bring hope and sink into darkness to see rejuvenation, it can make the backward ancient country rise again, everyone can be fed and clothed, the country can be peaceful and unified, and the old can be supported and the young can be educated. Then this person is a hero.

Chen Shao said in the China Daily a while ago: "The people are the people at home, and resist aggression abroad." This is our long-term proposition in Southwest China at the beginning, and it is also our long-term proposition for the future of China. Strengthening the country and enriching the people, and the country and the people will be safe, and it will not be just empty words. No matter whether I succeed or fail, I have always worked hard to make all Chinese people have a better living space. For the ideals here, I, Chen Shao, am willing to bear all kinds of accusations, I am not afraid of others saying that I am a tyrant, I will sacrifice everything for this nation. For the sake of this nation, I dare to face any enemy, just for the sake of self-improvement. ”

At this time, there was turmoil at home and abroad, but Chen Shao still came to the operational staff headquarters as if nothing had happened.

"Chairman, I admire you more and more."

Jiang Baili was in charge of the operation of the Sino-Japanese civilian highest-level operational staff, and he was overwhelmed by the heavy work in peacetime. Although he did not directly participate in the command of the war, he also achieved great results in his work; apart from the Navy General Staff Headquarters and the Air Force General Staff Headquarters have not yet been perfected, the General Staff Headquarters of the Army has been completely established, and the general staff departments at the regimental level have also been established one after another. This is also indispensable to the close relationship between the Chinese Military Academy as the first and the large number of graduates of each military academy every year. The work is arduous, but Jiang Baili feels great satisfaction from it. There was nothing more exciting for him than to see an army growing stronger day by day.

"What do you admire about me?" Chen Shaodao.

"I don't know how excited I was when I received your request to formulate a force to recover Hong Kong, which was completely comparable to the feeling when I defeated the Japanese." Jiang Baili said.

"It is necessary to reclaim Hong Kong, and since we want to build a country, how can we build a country if it is not complete. Taiwan, Ryukyu and other places were recovered, but there were still concessions everywhere, and the flags of all nations were still flying in many places. We have defeated Japan, but the matter is far from over, and we must take back what belongs to us in one go, and muster up courage and move forward. Only by surviving this most difficult time can we have time to develop with peace of mind. Instead of being in the southern part of China, as is the case with Hong Kong now, we are under British surveillance around the clock. My resolve has never been stronger, and this incident is just a fuse. "Chen Shao didn't plan to make the spy matter public, maybe a hundred years later, when these files were unsealed, Chen Shao would be given the name of a conspirator.

Jiang Baili is still not clear, Chen Shaoke knows that World War II will definitely break out, and the Versailles Agreement is the fuse, whether there is Hitler or not, the fuse has been lit when France forced Germany to sign the contract in this war. The time of the explosion is only the difference between morning and evening.

Regarding the recovery of Hong Kong, Jiang Baili and many generals were supportive: "At present, the British only have two brigades of troops in Burma, and the Indian has several divisions, and it is worth seeing the Gurkha regiment. As for the British Far Eastern Fleet, the forces were okay. Besides, will Britain dare to fight a war with us thousands of miles away? That's two more to say. ”

"It would be easy to knock out the British Far East Fleet at once, although we are superior to the British in the size of the fleet, but be careful not to die but to suffer from it, if the British come and jump over the wall and bomb our coastal areas, then we will be passive. And don't forget France, and Britain is also likely to unite other countries to put pressure on us. Chen Shao said.

"The key also depends on the layout of the navy, this time we do not plan to dispatch battleships, but directly dispatch aircraft carrier formations and submarine forces, aircraft carriers are the next move, the most important thing is to let Germany see the combat effectiveness of our submarines. And this place is the South China Sea, the birthplace of our navy, and we also have shore-based radars, which will be detected by us as soon as the British Far East Fleet approaches. The French did not have much naval power in the Far East, and if they really helped the British, only the French army in Vietnam and the French army in French Indochina, the chairman of the army side did not need to worry. At this time, we will face the Eight-Nation Alliance again, and our army will not be afraid, and the victory will be ours. Jiang Baili said.

"Morale is good, and I believe you will be able to fight this battle. The German side has maintained a certain degree of relations, and now they are a major arms dealer to us. But teach tigers to fight, don't teach the ability to climb trees. Chen Shao said.

At this time, the navy's submarines were not very advanced, at most they were at the level of World War II in later generations, but they were only better in endurance and diving ability. When Chen Shao sells weapons, as long as he sells them, they are all weakened versions, and it is good to have eighty percent combat effectiveness. It is likely that the appearance will be the same, but there are some reservations in the materials or some key technologies.

"Of course, that's the guy we eat, how can you say it." Jiang Baili said.

When Chen Shao had just gotten into a special car and was about to leave the General Staff Headquarters, he said to himself: "China is not afraid of pressure, and it is not bad that this battle can really bring Britain to the negotiating table." The premise is that Britain is really afraid, North Korea is a nerve of Japan, and India is also a nerve of Britain. ”

(To be continued)