An hour later, the negotiations continued.

The German side and the representatives of the enterprise abandoned all diplomatic rhetoric and immediately made a commitment to Xiao Yimin and Luo Fa, general manager of Huaxi Group Company:

"We will certainly bring back to Germany the profound friendship between His Excellency Xiao Yimin, the Huaxi Group Company, and the 40 million Sichuan people, make every effort to complete the established agreement between the two sides, further strengthen cooperation in the field of trade and technology between the two sides, and strive to further extend the friendly cooperation between the two sides to the field of military and technological exchanges and cooperation."

At the celebration dinner, in the presence of Consul Fu Diegeng and Colonel Brian, the chief military attache in China, Sharpler solemnly asked Xiao Yimin: Is there a possibility of war against the Yunnan army in the near future?

Xiao Yimin was amazed in his heart, and had to admire the keen and rigorous analysis of the Germans, and he generously admitted it, and clearly told the other party: "Although I have always advocated the peaceful settlement of all disputes, it cannot be denied that the possibility of war between our Sichuan army and the Yunnan army is getting bigger and bigger!"

"Since the high-profile appointment of the new governor of Sichuan by the Beiyang political axe, especially the sudden transfer of Mr. Zhang Lan, the speaker of the parliament who represents the interests of the people of Sichuan Province, there has been unstoppable chaos in the military and political circles of Sichuan, and the Yunnan army, which has already begun to retreat, immediately stopped all military operations to withdraw from the southern part of Sichuan, and launched an even more frenzied plundering and suppression of the people of the sixteen counties in southern Sichuan.

"Under these circumstances, as the Minister of Military Affairs of Sichuan Province and as the commander-in-chief of the Sichuan Frontier Army, I have to say something, otherwise, I will not be able to give an account to the 40 million people."

Colonel Bryan asked in astonishment: "Dear general, as far as we know, the Yunnan army occupying the southern region of Sichuan has a total of eight infantry regiments, totaling as many as 15,000 troops, while the border guards loyal to you have only more than 6,000 officers and soldiers, of which 2,000 have already gone to the Sichuan-Tibet border area to fight the rebels.

"Please forgive my frankness, the disparity in strength between the two sides is so great, I don't know how you can use 4,000 officers and soldiers to fight with 15,000 Yunnan troops?"

Xiao Yimin smiled faintly, he was not afraid that these Germans knew their details, and explained the current bad situation very frankly:

"Colonel, I need to correct your statistics, the Yunnan army currently stationed in Sichuan is not eight regiments, to be exact, ten regiments, two of which are stationed in the Xijiao field south of our Chengdu, nominally it belongs to the Fourth Division of the Sichuan Army, but in fact, these two Yunnan regiments do not have a moment of delusional desire to control Chengdu;" Second, the Sichuan Frontier Force under my leadership is not more than 6,000 men from two brigades, as it claims to the outside world, but has three brigades and five regiments, and the total number of officers and men has reached more than 18,000. "Finally, more than 6,000 officers and soldiers of the First Division of the Sichuan Army, which have been stationed on the front line of Leshan south of Chengdu, also said that they will follow my dispatch and go all out to fight against the Yunnan army.

Brian looked at his fellow Sharpler in disbelief, but Sharper was at a loss.

Perhaps seeing the blame in his boss's eyes, Sharpler hurriedly asked Xiao Yimin: "General, have your border guards developed to such a scale unconsciously?" However, the border guards are so scattered that unless you explain it yourself, no one else will know your true strength.

"As for sending troops to fight against the Yunnan army, I don't think the prospects are optimistic, after all, the Sichuan Army, which is self-contained, has just experienced a big earthquake, and they are likely not to obey your command, and sometimes numbers don't mean everything...... With all due respect, it seems that the top brass of the Sichuan Army still has a lot of nostalgia for General Yin Changheng, who has just been dismissed from his post as governor, and they may cause you a lot of trouble and tie your hands and feet. ”

Xiao Yimin's face became solemn, and he nodded: "You are right, they don't want to surpass me all the time, and they want to make trouble for me anytime and anywhere, because many generals feel that they are older than me, have deeper military qualifications than me, and are more qualified to obtain higher positions."

"But please rest assured that with the resignation of the two Sichuan supreme military and political chiefs one after another, more than half of the generals and colonels in the Sichuan Army have left Sichuan one after another because they have no future or have been squeezed out by local officers, leaving the Sichuan Army in chaos and almost no combat effectiveness to speak of.

"At present, the five divisions of the Sichuan New Army combined, only 18,000 officers and men are pitiful, and even then they are still facing a huge crisis of internal division, and two of the divisions, totaling more than 8,000 officers and men, are respectively in the west to suppress the rebellion and stationed in Yucheng.

Sharpler nodded: "Yes, the Sichuan New Army cannot be compared with the border army under the command of the general in terms of total strength, combat effectiveness, weapons and equipment, etc., which is also the main reason why the senior officers in the new army are very jealous of the general, but fortunately, more than half of the low-level officers in the new army support you, we are all very clear about these situations, but ......"

Xiao Yimin's heart was like a mirror, and he said with a smile: "I finally know what you are worried about, my dear friend, please don't measure us by the standards of the heroic, tenacious and disciplined German Army, there is a huge gap between China and Germany, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the era of feudal separation." As the Minister of Military Affairs who commands all the armies in Sichuan, I am fully qualified and capable of ordering the Sichuan New Army to rush forward without hesitation, and even if those generals have any opinions about me, they have to fight on the front line under the watchful eyes of the Sichuan people.

"I am sure that after this battle is over, the 40 million people of Sichuan will see clearly who can truly represent their interests and what kind of army can defend their homeland! Ladies and gentlemen, before that, I need Mr. Watts and the others to stay for fifteen days, only fifteen days, is that okay? ”

"Of course, we all know that you have a lot of trust in Mr. Watts and his research team, and it's perfectly fine for them to delay their departure for fifteen days." Brian is very generous, but he can't figure out where Xiao Yimin got such strong self-confidence?

Everyone touched glasses with Xiao Yimin, and after a short rest, Consul General Fu Diegeng still couldn't help but ask:

"Shaw, maybe my question is rude, but I'm very curious and curious to know what Mr. Watts and his research team can do to help you in just fifteen days? Of course, if it comes to military secrets, please don't take my rudeness into account. ”

Xiao Yimin waved his hand, indicating that it didn't matter, and then explained: "You are all my friends, and I trust everyone here. The reason why Mr. Watts and others were left behind was that they needed to convert all the 3,000 Mauser long rifles in our arsenal into short rifles suitable for cavalry within fifteen days, that is, to see off the excess barrels and 30mm butts beyond 600mm, and then fix the butt guards made of stamped steel plates, which were urgently needed by our cavalry regiments and assault battalions, so as to better adapt to the mountainous terrain of southern Sichuan. ”

After the dinner, Xiao Yimin looked at his watch, stood up and was about to leave, Brian and Sharpler seized the opportunity to discuss urgently, and finally made a request to Xiao Yimin together: follow Xiao Yimin to the front line, and observe the real meaning of large-scale hot weapon warfare in modern Chinese history.

In the eyes of the two Germans, after the Wuchang New Army riot, the intermittent fighting between the old and new armies, which lasted more than two months, as well as the troops invested and the tactics used by both sides, were not worth mentioning, and only the war between the Sichuan Frontier Army, which was equipped with modern German weapons and rigorously trained with advanced military thinking, and the Dian Army, which was mostly equipped with German weapons and claimed to be the strongest army in China, could arouse their enthusiasm and interest.

The most important thing is that the war that will take place between Sichuan and Yunnan is huge, and the combined strength of the two sides exceeds 30,000 troops, which is a battle in the true sense of the word, and this battle is not only related to the future political pattern and development trend of China's southwestern provinces, but also related to the vital interests of the German Empire.

Xiao Yimin thought about it for a while, and readily agreed to the German request, he also wanted to see how Brian and Sharpler would perform as the best in the German Army?

Another reason is that when the war in Europe is raging, presumably the German [***] team will not refuse the military observation team sent by Xiao Yimin.

Back home, Xiao Yimin, who had not slept for two days and two nights, suddenly felt tired, hurriedly took a shower and fell on the bed, and soon fell asleep

The evening breeze was blowing, and there was silence in the spacious bedroom on the second floor of the main building of the Xiao Mansion, the soft dusk light was printed on the white curtains, and the curtains changed with the wind.

Xiao Yimin, whose hair was still wet, slept very deeply, and his beloved wife Yi Zhenying looked at his beloved man sadly, and waited for his breath to be smooth and let out an even breathing sound, before gently massaging his head with his slender ten fingers.

She doesn't know why her man is more tired the bigger the official, and she doesn't know what her man is tired and tired for every day, she only knows that her heart hurts faintly, and the deeper she loves, the more sad she becomes.

Only at this time, the man he loves has a bit of the fragile and pitiful child he used to look like, and the rest of the time, he always seems to be standing up to the sky and swaying freely, which makes people look like a twenty-three-year-old young man, many times, Yi Zhenying feels in a trance that his man is not twenty-three years old, but thirty-two years old.

At this time, Xiao Yimin was really tired, but he was very satisfied and comfortable, and even if there were great difficulties, he could not shake his firm confidence in continuous improvement.

(To be continued)