Chapter 468: To hell with that treaty

Nanjing Presidential Palace

Su Tong was meeting with the British ambassador, Sir Carr, and although the cold wind was blowing outside, the room was as warm as spring. Su Tong was wearing a Zhongshanzhong, just a snow-white shirt inside, drinking slowly with a teacup in his hand, and listening to the plenipotentiary ambassador say some polite words with a strange look in his eyes.

"Dear Mr. President, first of all, on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen, I would like to congratulate you on your assumption of the presidency of the Republic of China, and at the same time on your fatherhood of your second child." Sir Carr's face was always marked by the polite words of a diplomat, but at the same time there was a hint of reserve and arrogance characteristic of officials of the British Empire.

Su Tong put down the teacup in his hand and smiled, and said with some answers: "Sir Karl, it's very cold outside. Are you still used to it on the road? ”

Sir Carr's face froze, Su Tong's words just now clearly said that it was very cold outside, so he had something to say quickly. Well, I'll bear with it! Sir Carr also smiled and said, "Your Excellency, my government heard that you have ordered the new 10th Panchen Lama of Qinghai to enter Tibet a few days ago. For this reason, the Tibetan Government, as well as Langdun Gongga Wangchuk Selun and others, are extremely disturbed by this, and they have entrusted our Government with the advice of His Excellency the President not to rush into Tibet, because this will cause instability in the Tibetan region and among the people, and I ask you to carefully consider their opinions. ”

Su Tong's squinted eyes seemed to shoot a fine light into Sir Xu Gesen's face, "Sir Karl, can I consider what you said to be a warning to my country?" ”

"N, n, Your Excellency the President, I am just giving you a piece of advice on the instructions of my Government." Sir Carr smiled and shook his head, but his haughty look was already on his face.

Su Tong sneered, "Tibet has been my country's territory since ancient times, this is an indisputable fact, if the Tibetan local government wants to tell me something, it can naturally be sent to the government through normal channels, what I don't understand is when did your country become the spokesperson of Tibet?" ”

"Ugh!" Sir Carr's expression froze, he didn't expect that His Excellency the President would not turn around at all when he spoke like rumors, this was still the Chinese who had a gentle personality in his impression, even if he was angry in his heart, he would only hide it in his heart and not show it on the surface?

But not to be outdone, out of the pride of an official of the British Empire, he raised his head and said, "Mr. President, the reason why my government has sent me to tell you these words is out of concern for the security of India, a colony of the British Empire. Your government's actions in Tibet have already harmed the interests of our government in Tibet, so I have no choice but to solemnly inform you of the words of my government and ask you to be cautious in dealing with the Tibet issue. ”

Su Tong sneered disdainfully: "Does your government have factories, companies or enterprises in Tibet?" If not, I don't understand where a normal order from us harmed the interests of your country? Is it true that the interests of your country are a matter of touching the upper lip against the lower lip? ”

Sir Carr, as the ambassador of the British Empire to China, when did he suffer such cynicism in China, he took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart, and said: "Your Excellency, you must know that we are also acting in accordance with the treaty in the "Simla Treaty", in which it is stipulated that the troops of your government are not allowed to enter Tibet, and the internal affairs of Tibet are temporarily supervised by the Indian government. ”

The "Treaty of Simla" mentioned by Sir Carr was the rebellion of some reactionary elements in Tibet instigated by Britain after the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution in an attempt to achieve so-called "independence" of Tibet. Under the coercion of the British, in October 1913, the government of Yuan Shikai sent representatives to Shimla, India, to attend the "Sino-British-Tibetan Conference." British representative McMahon proposed a so-called solution, stipulating that China should not garrison troops in Tibet and that "Tibet's internal affairs should be supervised by the Indian government for the time being." In this regard, Yuan Shikai's government refused to accept it. Subsequently, the British and Tibetan local representatives privately signed the Treaty of Simla. Representatives of the Huaxia government refused to sign, and the meeting broke down. Successive Chinese governments have never recognized this treaty. Therefore, this so-called "Simla Treaty" is completely illegal. As for the fact that during the meeting, the British and Tibetan local representatives, behind the back of the Chinese central government, arbitrarily demarcated the so-called "McMahon Line," that is, the eastern section of the Sino-Indian border, in a secret exchange of letters. Representatives of the Chinese government made a statement on 3 July categorically denying the so-called "McMahon Line." In fact, at the Simla Conference, the Sino-Indian border issue was never formally discussed. Now Sir Carr has brought out the so-called Treaty of Simla again!

Su Tong's face began to turn cold: "Hehe....... the Treaty of Simla?" Who signed this so-called "Simla Treaty" with your country? As far as I know, no central government, including the Manchu government that we overthrown, has ever signed this document, nor has it ever recognized any McMahon Line, and this treaty is just an invalid agreement signed by your government with a small group of people in Tibet. Is that how you talk and do things in the British Empire? I can tell you now definitively, to hell with that Simla Treaty! ”

Sir Carr was speechless for a while, the biggest shortcoming of the "Simla Treaty" is that it has not been signed by any central government in China, and it is completely untenable from the perspective of international law. But now after being robbed by Su Tong continuously, Sir Carr's face couldn't hold back, he stood up and said angrily: "Your Excellency, President, I will bring your words to our government as they are, and I hope that you will be as confident as today and take your leave." ”

With that, Sir Karl stood up with a blushing face, picked up his hat from the shelf, and went out without looking back......

Su Tong watched Sir Karl go out of the door, and his face sank and shouted: "Come on, prepare the car to go to the central government office building!" ”

In the central government office building, senior government officials who had been urgently recruited by Su Tong gathered, including Vice President Jiang of the Congress Party, Vice President Gu of the Social Workers Party, Premier Li Zongren of the State Council, Minister of National Defense Jiang Baili, Chief of General Staff Bai Chongxi, and Zhou Tiecheng, who had just been appointed by Su Tong as foreign minister.

At the meeting, Su Tong printed out the content of Sir Carr's conversation just now into a transcript of the conversation and distributed a copy to everyone present, and the participants looked very bad after reading it. The British are really too deceitful, and the government just sent a 10th Panchen Lama into Tibet to cause such a big backlash from them, and they kept saying that the "Simla Treaty" that looked like waste paper was used as an excuse to talk about things.

"President, we must not agree to the terms of the British, and we must not recognize this "Simla Treaty", the Tibet issue is China's internal affair, and we must not accept the blackmail of the British. I propose that troops be immediately sent to escort the new Panchen Lama from Qinghai into Tibet, as a demonstration of China's sovereignty. Defense Minister Jiang Baili spoke first.

Gu Yue was still smoking a cigarette, and her fingers, which had been yellowed from being smoked for a long time, pointed at this conversation record and smiled contemptuously: "The British have a good calculation, and they want to directly intervene in Tibet's internal affairs through this matter, and if we don't react, we will be poked in the backbone by the Chinese people." ”

Vice President Chiang sat on the sidelines with a gloomy face, and after the death of the 13th Panchen Lama, the Tibetan monks and lay people hoped that the 9th Panchen Lama would return to Tibet. In 1936, when he was the chairman of the National Committee, he ordered the Ninth Panchen Lama to lead his guards to Qinghai to prepare for the passage into Tibet. However, the British then sowed discord in Tibet, arguing that although Tibet should welcome the Ninth Panchen Lama back to Tibet, it should refuse to allow the Chinese army to enter Tibet. Under the demagogy of the British, some members of the Tibetan ruling circles also advocated that they could not agree to the return of the 9th Panchen Lama to Tibet with his guards. The British Embassy in China went so far as to protest to the Chinese Government on many occasions over the issue of the Panchen Lama's return to Tibet, and did everything possible to create a tense atmosphere. At the end of 1936, the Ninth Panchen Lama arrived in Yushu, Qinghai, and repeatedly held consultations with the Lhasa side on relevant issues. Later, although the Tibetan deputies no longer insisted on opposing the escort of the Panchen Lama into Tibet, the guards could only go to Houzang via Nagqu, and all of them had to be withdrawn within five months. The negotiations between the two sides dragged on until the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in July 1937, but they could not be resolved. In August, Britain went so far as to take advantage of the difficulties of the armed aggression of Japanese imperialism to protest to China again on the issue of the Panchen Lama's return to Tibet, and the Nationalist Government ordered the Ninth Panchen Lama to postpone his entry into Tibet and keep Yushu. The 9th Panchen Lama's wish to return to Tibet could not be realized, and he became depressed and fell ill, and died in Yushu on December 1, 1937.

Now the British are jumping out again with a roar, which is really unbearable for uncles and aunts. Although Vice President Jiang also held back a fire in his heart, he was cautious by nature and still didn't say anything, just looked at Su Tong and asked, "What do you mean, President?" In this general public occasion, he didn't dare to shout Su Tong's words, and he still commensurate himself with his government position according to the rules.

After hearing this, Su Tong sneered, slowly glanced around the people in the venue, and said: "I, Su, dare to do a lot of things in my life, but I don't dare to be a turtle with a shrunken head, and the British have come to the door to slap my face, if I swallow my anger again, will I still be a man?" The people elected me as this president to let me serve them, not to let me take them as a turtle with a shrunken head. I believe that the Ninth Panchen Lama must enter Tibet, not only in Tibet, but also in a big way, and we must let the people of the whole country know that we will never give up every inch of our country's territory. ”

At this time, Li Zongren frowned and said: "Now the 10th Panchen Lama in Yushu, Qinghai has only one battalion of more than 600 guards around him, and if he enters Tibet like this, I am worried that his safety will not be guaranteed!" ”

Su Tong smiled and said, "A guard of more than 600 people? Hehe, Premier Li, you don't have to worry, since the 600-strong escort force is not enough, we will send 60,000 people, I want to see if those people in Tibet who are fighting for independence all day long are the bones or our bullets! ’

"Sixty thousand!" When the participants heard this number, they all looked at Su Tong in surprise, what did he want to do when he was going to send 60,000 people to Tibet, did he want to serve those people in a pot?

Su Tong looked at the participants in the venue and asked, "Does anyone still have different opinions now?" If not, I'm going to give orders. ”

There was silence in the meeting, and no one dared to raise objections on issues involving the territorial sovereignty and integrity of the country, otherwise the spread of the hat of territorial sovereignty of a monk would crush him to the point that he would never be able to live beyond his life.

Su Tong turned his head to look at the newly appointed Foreign Minister Zhou Tiecheng, who was silent at the meeting, and said with a smile: "Minister Zhou, I will assign a task to your Ministry of Foreign Affairs next." Your Ministry of Foreign Affairs will send a diplomatic note to the British Government tomorrow to protest against the British Government's interference in China's internal affairs, and to clearly tell them that the Tibet issue is an internal affair of our Government, and that we do not need and will never allow any country or government to interfere in our internal affairs. The Chinese Government will send troops into Tibet to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity. ”

Zhou Tiecheng stood up and said calmly: "President, please rest assured, I will definitely follow your instructions!" Inform the British Government of our Government's decision. ”

On 3 December 1938, all major newspapers throughout the country successively published the British Government's attempt to interfere in China's internal affairs and obstruct the central government's dispatch of the 10 th Panchen Lama to Tibet, which aroused great indignation among the people throughout the country. Paralyzed, we just drove out the Japanese, and you British jumped out to point fingers at us again, and we were not allowed to send troops into Tibet, so we were really soft persimmons and pinched as much as we wanted?

On the same day, large-scale demonstrations broke out in major cities across the country to protest against British interference in China's internal affairs and to demand that the government immediately send troops into Tibet to safeguard the integrity of the country's territory and sovereignty.

Zhou Tiecheng was immediately instructed to submit a letter of protest from the central government to Sir Carr, the British ambassador to China, and clearly told Sir Carr that the central government had the right to send anyone into its territory in any way, and that the governments of other countries had no right to interfere in the internal affairs of China.

Immediately afterward, the central government issued another statement, ordering all the personnel of Zhang Zizhong's 59th Army to march into Tibet immediately, and if anyone encountered obstruction or erected obstacles, they could correct the law on the spot.

When the news spread, the whole country rejoiced, and Zhang Zizhong's 59th Army, which had set out from Hunan, was warmly welcomed by the people along the way, and the enthusiasm of the people along the way almost drowned out more than 50,000 men and horses of the 59th Army, which was dozens of miles long along the way.

So much so that journalists in China marveled at the reports sent to their own countries: after the Japanese were driven out of this ancient country, national sentiment erupted like a volcanic eruption.

After half a month of travel, the 59th Army finally set foot on the land of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The winter in December is very cold, especially on the Tibetan Plateau, and it is very painful to walk in this place without a decent road.

At this time, there was a long procession walking on the backbone of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, winding with no end in sight, and countless people and pack horses mixed together and moved forward slowly.

Several off-road jeeps loaded with supplies on the roof of the car roared on the accelerator and crawled slowly on the narrow road, and on the side of the road, Zhang Zizhong also rode a big black horse and talked with several generals panting and struggling.

Major General Huang Weigang, commander of the 38th Division, took out the kettle hanging on the saddle and poured it violently before taking a breath and saying to Zhang Zizhong with a smile: "Junzao, if I were you, I would have gone to Nanjing a long time ago, and I wouldn't have drunk the northwest wind here." The president was happy a few days ago, you look at people, a little bit of relationship with the president these days which is not in the presidential palace to eat and drink spicy, but you, the president's sworn brother, are blowing the wind here, if you don't know, you don't think the president is wearing small shoes for you! ”

Zhang Zizhong glared at Huang Weigang and said, "You don't want to do this errand, then okay, I'll let you go back to Nanjing to say hello to the president." The president asked us to do this errand with the 59th Army, because he could afford to look up to our 59th Army. Why did the president of so many troops in the country pick up our 59th Army, otherwise there would be more people rushing to do this errand, why did he let us catch up? ”

Huang Weigang laughed brightly and stopped talking, a cold wind blew, and Huang Weigang, who was shivering, took out the kettle and poured a sip of wine into his mouth, and his body immediately warmed up after the cold burning knife went down his stomach. Zhang Zizhong frowned and said, "Weigang, drink less." Although the president specially ordered each person to be given two catties of liquor on this trip, you should not get drunk. ”

At this time, Li Wentian, the deputy commander of the army, rushed over on horseback and said: "Military seat, the airship behind has caught up, and they have informed us to quickly gather the soldiers and wounded who have altitude sickness and prepare to send them back." Liu Zhensan asked if he would let the soldiers who had reacted lightly go back with him. ”

Zhang Zizhong shook his head, "No, the soldiers with a heavy reaction can go back, and those soldiers with a light reaction must persevere, otherwise what will it look like!" Let other troops see it, and don't laugh our 59th Army to death! ”

Li Wentian nodded, "Okay, I immediately ordered the oxygen cylinders transported by the airship to be issued to those soldiers with mild altitude sickness, but I estimate that the number of oxygen cylinders is not enough, and there will be non-combat attrition at that time, this damn place is really evil, and it is so difficult to even breathe." ”

"Then let them hold on, when we hit Japan, we all said that they couldn't get out of the line of fire with minor injuries, and now they can't stand it if they only walk a little?" Zhang Zizhong's dark face showed a sense of perseverance, "Now the people of the whole country are looking forward to our good news, our 59th Army will die on the march, and we must not live up to the expectations of our fathers and fellow villagers." ”

"Yes! I'll pass on the instructions of the military seat at once! Li Wentian saluted and went down to convey the order.

Under the supervision of Zhang Zizhong and the officers leading the team, the long procession continued to move slowly but firmly towards the destination......