When the Spring Festival in 1941 was belated, Chinese people around the world ushered in the happiest day of the year.

It is different from the great Soviet people who are suffering from Germany's crazy aggression and crying over the hoarse sounds of 'Long live Hitler' and 'onboard'; different from the European people who are in the midst of a deep crisis and who are making a Nazi revolution every day and setting up a Nazi political axe in a few days; different from the noble and gentleman-like Britons who are bombed by the German army frantically at Christmas and Halloween and cannot stop the German army from ravaging them across a strait; Unlike the people of southern Southeast Asia, who are suffering from the devastation of war between the British and the Chinese, but they themselves cannot even arm a guerrilla force; It is different from the American gods who live across the ocean, holding wine glasses and smoking cigarettes every day, staying in the Americas and counting the bills while watching the people of the world with pity.

The Chinese people, and even the Chinese people around the world, celebrate its arrival in every way they can think of on this most important festival of the year. It is not about war, it is not about the fate of other races, just because this is a grand festival belonging to our Chinese nation.

Westerners will never understand that the yellow-skinned Chinese coolies who carry heavy bags in the port, the Chinese who are willing to buy only the cheapest black bread and eat meat for three days or even a week, can drain their pockets when the Spring Festival comes, and buy back the rich New Year goods they like with unprecedented generosity.

Westerners will never understand why those Chinese, thousands of miles away from their homeland, can pay tribute to their ancestors with a glass of water and wine when the Spring Festival comes, or worship their homeland from afar with tears in their eyes.

Westerners will never understand why those Chinese who have been working hard overseas for a hundred years or even more will wear new robes representing the descendants of Yan and Huang on the occasion of the Spring Festival, sing and dance, set off firecrackers, dance dragons and lanterns, and even charter an entire sea boat, and the whole family will return to China to find their roots.

They will never understand, because this is not just a festival, this is already part of the national heritage, it is the identification of civilization in the bones of the Chinese descendants, the dependence on the homeland, and the attachment to the villagers. Their brains, shackled by the so-called Western civilization, are hard to understand.

This is not a one-man festival, nor is it just for revelry, this is a national festival.

Therefore, when the British [***] purchasing group arrived in China the day before the Spring Festival, shocked by the beautiful New Year scenery that could be seen everywhere on the streets of Hanjing, and shocked by the super high spiritual outlook of the Chinese, they also found that they originally thought that there would be a welcome and ultra-high-standard reception, just like the late Qing political axe, even if the emperor died, the scene of foreigners could not be neglected, but it did not happen at all.

After visiting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the British [***] purchasing delegation was only arranged to stay temporarily, and the British expected high-ranking officials to receive them, and the special attention from the top of the Republic of Scholars, did not show up at all.

History has only turned over a few decades, and the great empire of Yubu actually has a time to ask for China, and it is such a huge order, but the Chinese have not shown even a trace of servility and humility.

Chinese seem to understand that whether it is arms or other commodities, they can be sold, not because we bend lower than others, not because we are more able to lick other people's dirty feet, but because the chairman of the committee leads the entire nation, through decades of deliberate management, so that our products can be proud of the world, let the world's products, made in China.

"The Spring Festival is an annual event for our Chinese, and I would like to extend a warm welcome on behalf of the political axe and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on behalf of the Chinese People's Republic of China. You can have a good experience of the festival celebrations belonging to our orientals, and as for the military purchase, we will arrange an equipment exhibition immediately after Chinese New Year's Eve, that is, three days later. ”

The British were greeted by a working group led by He Yunzhang, director of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and as for the absence of the high-ranking officials of the Republic as expected by the British, it was because at this time, most of the high-ranking officials of the Republic were in various places to express their condolences to the people of the Republic and celebrate the New Year with the whole people.

When Zhang Shusheng got the report, it was Chinese New Year's Eve, and he was preparing to go to the studio to watch the Spring Festival Gala, since the 1939 Huaxia TV Station tried to hold the Spring Festival Gala, this Spring Festival Gala in 1941 has finally been greatly enriched in scale and content.

At nightfall, the Spring Festival Gala officially began.

Through the accumulation of eight years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, nearly two million television sets across the country have also been filled with audiences. In some villages, in front of a television, even half of the village is filled, and the television is not placed in the house, but in the barn.

Although there were many rehearsals, the audience still consciously arrived nearly three hours in advance to accept the security check, enter the venue, and take their seats. Everyone was dressed up, most of the men wore moderately modified Tang costumes, the women wore classic modified skirts, and the children wore miniature red Tang costumes, which were very cute.

Everyone was excited, because according to the practice of the previous two years, Zhang Shusheng, the supreme leader of the republic, would bring his family to attend the Spring Festival party.

"Long live the Führer!"

When the host rushed to the stage with the microphone and raised his arms and shouted, everyone saw a group of people coming out of the backstage, and the first one was the chairman of the committee, who was widely loved by the Chinese people.

"Long live the Führer!!"

The audience at the scene all stood up sharply and shouted in unison.

He is still so young, as if the years will not leave any scars on him, the only change is that he is more and more imposing, and the whole person is like a dragon and tiger, even if he stands still, it is also eye-catching. The actual situation is that Zhang Shusheng's reputation is comparable to that of an emperor, and in this era, he is the only one who has undergone the transformation of the intermediate starry sky civilization, plus he has cultivated the exercises from a certain martial arts civilization, and now in the eyes of ordinary people, he has really reached the point of shaking his waist.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the country, happy New Year, everyone. Here, on behalf of the political axe of the Republic, on behalf of Shusheng Company, and on behalf of my family, I would like to greet you in advance. The past year has been a year of bumper harvest, and the past eight years have been eight years of all-round take-off of the Chinese nation. We have comprehensively solved the problem of food and clothing, successfully completed the country's industrialization revolution, and basically solved the problems of food, clothing, housing and transportation for the people.

The great Chinese nation has once again proved to the world that we can not only create the four great inventions and human miracles, we can not only have a hundred schools of thought and a 5,000-year-old culture, but we can also create the world's scientific, technological, economic, and industrial miracles.

The 400 million Chinese have strength, everyone has worked hard for a year, now is the time to rest, prudently and often busy with official duties, take the opportunity of the Spring Festival Gala to spend a Chinese New Year's Eve with the people of the whole country singing and dancing. ”

Facing the camera, Zhang Shusheng did not use the long speech written by the secretary, but improvised a few sentences, although there were not many words, but every sentence came from the bottom of his heart.

Present at the Spring Festival Gala included Zhang Shusheng, chairman of the Supreme Power Committee, and his two wives Lu Yunyan and He Ning, and their adopted daughter Luoyu. Sun Changchang, vice chairman of the Supreme Power Committee of the Republic, Sun Laixi, deputy general manager of Shusheng Company, and their families.

In the understanding of the majority of Chinese people, the Sun family, who was deliberately elevated by Zhang Shusheng, has a rather extraordinary status.

While the others were seated, Zhang Shusheng walked to the front row and shook hands with the audience cordially, this is not a show, except for the Zhang family and the Sun family, the audience present is not special, most of them are elites and models in various fields and industries across the country. And this time for the Spring Festival Gala, the person from the most remote area invited was a Tibetan from the border area of China and India. He said that his usual job was to serve as a guide for the border garrison, sheltering from snowstorms and patrolling the border along the Sino-Indian border.

Tonight, this Tibetan was placed in the first row, and next to him was Xue Yue, commander of the Ninth Group Army, who had just returned to China by plane after participating in the Southeast Asian winter offensive.

"Commission... Hello Chairman. Seeing Zhang Shusheng coming over with a smile, Tibetan Tsering Wangdui stood up nervously, so excited that he almost forgot how to speak, but fortunately his Chinese was good, and his face turned red before he spoke.

"Tsering Wangdui, I saw your deeds in the Hanjing newspaper. Thanks to your excellent performance, the Border Patrol has dodged the Grim Reaper Storm many times, and you are a hero. Zhang Shusheng held his hand, felt the thick calluses on his hands, and said sincerely.

"Thank you, thank you, Chairman."

Tsering Wangdui was extremely nervous, and finally said what he wanted to say the most, "Chairman of the committee, I, when I came, the villagers in the village asked me to convey to you the most sacred greetings from the snow-capped mountains, and also brought you a gift. ”

Tsering Wangdui turned around, picked up a delicate box on the table, and solemnly opened it, but there was a whitest Hada inside, "Dear Chairman Zhang, this is a Hada that has been worshiped by all the townspeople of our Bianha Town, and it is now dedicated to you." ”

I remembered that when I left the village to go to Beijing, the whole town came to see me off, and that Hada was the most valuable gift for Tsering Wangdui to enter Beijing this time.

After letting Tsering Wangdui put it on himself, Zhang Shusheng held his hand and said, "Thank you, help me convey my greetings to the villagers, I am far away in Hanjing, and if you have difficulties, you must remember to find a local political axe." ”

Although it was just a simple sentence, it came out of the mouth of the chairman of the committee, which already overwhelmed Tsering Wangdui, fortunately, at this time, the party started immediately, Zhang Shusheng shook hands with Xue Yue, and walked to his seat.

"Audience friends in front of the TV, Happy New Year." The two hosts, a man and a woman, are not particularly beautiful, but they are very energetic, and a few simple words completely mobilize the enthusiasm of the audience at the scene and in front of the TV. "The old year is coming to an end, have you eaten well? Are you dressed? Are you ready to stay? Are you alright? …… The new year is coming, have you thought about it? See? Ready to plan? ”

After the show started, Zhang Shusheng also looked interested. The Spring Festival Gala program of the Republic is very different from the Spring Festival Gala of later generations, in addition to the few singing and dancing performances, the number of traditional performances has increased, and even martial arts performances have been regarded as the highlight, and other such as on-site calligraphy, painting, hand-carved performances, etc., are a good presentation of folk culture.

This year's Spring Festival Gala even arranged a technical competition program, and top workers and technicians from some industries came to the stage to perform their best skills, attracting bursts of warm applause.

Watching the show, Zhang Shusheng's mind drifted to the British order.

By this time the war had begun, the British, though far from being shaken at all, were by no means as wealthy as they had been.

This order, with a total value of more than 400 million yuan, is already a very scary number after a little conversion. In the order, there are as many as 300,000 Huaxia-style semi-automatic rifles alone, and although the British were able to modify the bullet factory to manufacture the required bullets, nearly 20 million rounds of ammunition were still ordered in this batch of orders. The reason is very simple, the British do not have semi-automatic rifles in active service, and although the Americans have Garand rifles, they are in short stock, and the American GIs are also rapidly expanding their troops, coupled with the long distance, it is far better to buy them directly from China, and they can be pulled to Yangon, Burma, on the train, to replace the British army on the spot, and resist the offensive of the army that is stronger than the other.

The situation is indeed quite urgent, and if the Thai defense line collapses again, the army will chase all the way to the Indian border.

As for other aircraft, light jungle armored vehicles, mine detectors, tropical jungle communications equipment, they are also very expensive.

The British, of course, could not pay all in gold, and according to the letter of intent, they would pay about a quarter to a third of the total price, with the rest paid mainly in oil.

Of course, the requirements of the British are also quite harsh; first of all, except for the relatively large number of semi-automatic rifles, which can only be directly allocated to the short-term rapid demand in Yunnan's combat readiness warehouse, all other weapons and equipment must be brand new, and the quality and technical requirements are very high. For example, the more than 500 J-1 fighters and H-1 bombers (foreign trade type, compared with the original generation of aircraft, the cost and surname are much higher, and the cost price is about 3-50,000 yuan. The price is about 8-100,000 yuan, and it has replaced a more advanced airborne radio, replaced with a better engine, and has increased its range and bomb load.

In this blank period, the British urgently needed them to counter the planes of the Japanese army. Moreover, compared with the self-produced most advanced Mosquito fighter, which just delivered its first plane in August, the Jian-1 fighter has almost the same surname as the J-1 fighter, but the price is lower than that of the Mosquito, which has not yet been mass-produced, so the British chose to directly purchase a batch of advanced fighters for use in air combat in Southeast Asia.

In order to maintain absolute air superiority over the British and the Soviet Red Army in the Far East, and through the coordination of Germany, the Soviet Union, which was far richer than the original history, directly purchased nearly 1,000 Jian-1 fighters. This is also the main source of weapons and equipment purchased from China, while the rest are all purchased on a small scale.

In their opinion, as long as they can seize air supremacy, then even the oldest model of bombers can cause great disasters to the enemy. Therefore, I said that I spent the purchase of military weapons mainly on fighter planes, tanks and armored vehicles.

Before the Far East Glory Project, he had only purchased 100 Jian-1 fighters from China, but as a result, the military found that this type of fighter, which had been renamed the 39-year-old fighter, had almost achieved a comprehensive superiority in the air battle against Britain and France in Southeast Asia.

The British and French armies in Southeast Asia, which have not replaced their advanced fighters, are only equipped with slightly more advanced planes than their existing main fighters. It is said that the fighter plane purchased by himself quickly became the equipment for the finale on the battlefield.

As a result, the slammer himself held back and purchased 200 fighters again for use in the Strait of Malacca, and more fierce air battles broke out with the British over Malaysia and Singapore.

When the Barbarossa Plan and the Far East Glory Plan began, out of fear of the Soviet Far East Air Force, he was anxious to find a kind of battlefield finale fighter, and after studying and studying, he still gave up several self-produced fighters in service, and the latest Zero fighter had not yet formed a standard equipment, so he purchased a batch of fighters from China again, and this time the number was also the largest, as many as more than 500 J-1 fighters (the name was originally named the 39-year fighter, and the next name was the Zero) , which was mainly used in the Far East and Southeast Asia, served as elite fighters in air battles with Britain, France and the Soviet Union for air supremacy.

This time, the British proposed procurement targets precisely because of this kind of annihilation that made the British suffer so much in Southeast Asia. According to the plan of the British, they will purchase a batch of Chinese fighters for emergency use, urgently produce a batch of new fighters such as Mosquito fighters, and strive to obtain a batch of US aid, so as to gain an all-round advantage over the troops dispatched to Southeast Asia in the near future.

In contrast, the Chinese Air Force, which has been fully equipped with Jian-2 fighters and H-2 fighters, has an advantage over both the British and the Zoben Air Force, and compared with the modifications of the two first-generation fighters (compared with both the Mosquito and the Zero), the comprehensive surname of the second-generation fighters and bombers is basically about 15 percent higher.

"Since the British are so generous, then we shouldn't be stingy." Zhang Shusheng took the mineral water handed over by Luoyu from Shantai, took a sip, patted her head with a smile, and continued to think while watching the party.

According to his idea, the only way to get the arms sold smoothly is to have enough of the necessary needs from your customers.

From the beginning of World War II to the present, if we talk about weapons alone, China's largest arms customers, in addition to Germany and Japan, the Soviet Union and Britain occupy the third and fourth positions. The weapons sold to the Germans and themselves were mainly large single weapons such as tanks, airplanes, and submarines. The only advantage is that the demand for Mosin-Nagant rifles in Xinjiang Province alone has already sold more than 2 million pieces of the arsenals that produce Mosin Nagant rifles according to the requirements of the Soviets, and almost all the arsenals that produce guns and ammunition in Xinjiang Province, Gansu, and Ningxia are working in 24-hour shifts.

Of course, if you count all military-related foreign trade transactions, including stockings and boots, because of the relative cost advantage, non-monopoly products, China sells at the same price as the Americans, but makes more.

This batch of Jian-1 modifications, which will be supplied to the British, will be more advanced than the 1,000 planes sold to Yue himself, and will have a certain advantage in the fight surname Neng.

Although the progress of the Zero fighter is relatively fast, with the surname of the original Zero fighter, it is not enough to suppress the batch of goods prepared by Zhang Shusheng for the British.

Before there was an absolute conflict, Zhang Shusheng was very confident and sold the second and third batches of large-scale arms to the British.

If you sell a spear to yourself, you have to sell a shield to the British, and in turn, if you want to maintain a relative advantage, you have to come to China.

If the British have nowhere to buy more advanced weapons, then perhaps they will endure the pain of using old weapons, slowly waiting for new weapons, or waiting for military aid from the Americans and Germans, but once the two sides are in full swing and the front line is repeatedly urgent, they must buy more advanced weapons from third parties.

Thinking about these militaristic events in his mind, Zhang Shusheng's thoughts turned to Pearl Harbor.

Originally, in history, after attacking China, there was still a lot of strength left, so the army launched a fierce Southeast Asian offensive, and the Far Eastern army, which was poorly equipped and poorly trained, retreated one after another.

Now, due to the lack of 'drag' from the Chinese battlefield and the deep alliance with the Germans, and with the help of China's 'wartime trade policy', the army seems to be very easy to deal with the war in the Far East and Southeast Asia, and there are still a large number of active divisions in the country, which are useless.

There is no indication that the attack on Pearl Harbor, which was supposed to take place on December 7, will happen again, and according to the reports of the secret intelligence agents lurking in the city, there is not even any plan for a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.

Originally, after the launch of the offensive in Southeast Asia, the United States felt more and more the threat from the US Pacific Fleet, and with the successive defeats of Britain in Southeast Asia, the United States paid more and more attention to Asia, and after Churchill and other dignitaries visited the United States, they began to provide all-round military aid to the Allies.

Today, because of the presence of China, the movement of Ben in Asia seems to be much smaller, and the friction with the Americans is far less serious than in the original history, and even because of the complete fall of Europe to the Nazis, the British have to pay more attention to the huge role of colonies such as India.

Draining every ounce of potential and confronting Europe and the capital was a war countermeasure that Britain had to make. Historically, the British might have been able to hold out until the Americans entered the war, but this time, Britain had to join the war more actively.

For example, in the original history, Britain and France could not resist their own Southeast Asian offensive, and through some small favors, they finally induced China's political axe to send troops, and tens of thousands of Chinese men, putting aside the so-called strategic situation, in order to save Britain and France, ended up with heavy casualties, and it was difficult to return to their homeland after a hundred years.

It can be called a place to die without a burial.

This time, in addition to the northern part of Southeast Asia that must be occupied, Zhang Shusheng has made up his mind not to do what he did in the original history, what does it matter to me whether you live or die, the more you fight and live, the better it will be for China.

Therefore, occupying the southern part of Southeast Asia, getting a bridgehead from the front, and further compressing his own presence in Southeast Asia, so that in order to obtain greater war benefits, he could only choose to continue to attack in the direction of India.

said that his ambition is very big, and no one knows better than Zhang Shusheng, whether it is the lessons learned from his previous life or the secret information he has obtained now.

According to intelligence, he said that he would launch a super-large-scale military offensive in the Far East and Southeast Asia at the same time after the beginning of spring, and he named it the 'Sakura Plan', hoping to annihilate most of the existing enemies in the two battlefields in one battle, and gain the absolute initiative on the battlefield just like Germany.

In this way, the situation in Southeast Asia is no longer a simple colonial dispute, but a matter of whether India and Britain can wait for the American GIs to enter the battlefield. Once India is lost, Britain will inevitably be defeated, losing the war blood transfusion of huge colonies, and the British will soon indirectly lose other colonies around the world, which will eventually lead to the former powerful empire, which will be conquered by the Germans leading the European legions.

Therefore, Southeast Asia will certainly be the most important battlefield in the coming year after the Soviet battlefield. And this time, the British will also pay far more heavy losses than the original historical World War II. Of course, Indians who dream of building a country with reading power will also pay unimaginable losses.

Judging from the current situation, his battlefield advantage is far less strong than that of the Germans, so Zhang Shusheng has basically arranged a step by step chess move.

The first step is to launch a winter offensive to occupy the northern part of Southeast Asia, obtain a bridgehead in the future, and reduce the battlefield space between the two sides.

The second step is to sell arms to improve the combat strength of the existing British and French forces in Southeast Asia, so as to provide time for the British army to recover and obtain US aid.

The third step is to once again expand military trade with Syria and enhance the offensive capability of the Chinese army in Southeast Asia.

In short, all Zhang Shusheng's efforts are to let Britain and Yuben fight happily in Southeast Asia and make one meat grinder after another.

"It seems that it's time to talk to me about it."

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, He Yunzhang, director of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, invited Ambassador to China Takeo Mimoto to have lunch in a private capacity.

"Mr. He is so polite, the Spring Festival is the most important festival of your year. In peacetime, Mr. Duomenghe took care of him and gave him a lot of convenience, and it should be a contemptible banquet, which is really rude. ”

Takeo Mimoto, who became ambassador to China in 1939, has been actively implementing his new China policy since taking office, and has always played a goodwill role, trying to maintain Sino-Japanese relations to a level of 'relative stability and friendship at least during wartime'.

Of course, out of their own needs, the political axe of the Republic has always maintained a certain degree of friendship with Yue himself.

He is fluent in Chinese, and before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was a linguist at Waseda University, and has studied the culture and history of Asian countries, especially China. It's just that his research is not out of love, but out of the sentence 'knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent to win a hundred battles', naturally, Sun Tzu's Art of War is also his most admired military book.

"Mr. Sanben is too polite, China said that it is a strip of water, it is friendly diplomatic relations, and now the world situation is abruptly changing, between countries, one more friend is one less enemy, and peace and security in local areas are conducive to China and China to achieve long-term victories in their respective worlds."

He Yunzhang also responded politely, the family banquet and the family banquet, in the final analysis, are still for this devil.

The two exchanged pleasantries, although He Yunzhang was an acquaintance with these three books, he was still not used to his style of dragging texts, as soon as this little devil dragged the text, he felt that the other party was cunning and false from his bones.

"Mr. He, I heard that the British sent a delegation? The country's political axe is very concerned. Seeing that the wine was almost drunk, after He Yunzhang's wife and son went to the kitchen, they poured another glass of wine for He Yunzhang, who was dazed by the drink, and asked Takeo Sanben tentatively.

"It's... Yes, the good Spring Festival was also ruined by them, and tomorrow I have to go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work overtime to deal with this matter...... Mr. Sanben, you must not spread the word, we are friends, I will tell you......"

Sanben Wufu stared at He Yunzhang suspiciously, and found that his eyes were yellow, his face was flushed, and he was drinking when he spoke, so he was even more convinced, "I heard that it was about military procurement?" ”

"yes, a huge military ...... Arms Procurement ...... Wine, come ...... We move on...... There are hundreds of planes alone......"

He Yunzhang seems to be drunk, but in fact, his heart is bright, what the three martial artists don't know is that when He Yunzhang was in the northeast of his hometown, he was a famous wine barrel. He has one of the biggest characteristics of drinking, as soon as he drinks, he looks drunk, but his heart is transparent.

Not to mention today, in his many years of diplomatic work, whenever he encountered cocktail parties and banquets, he was intoxicated by those envoys and military attachés stationed in China who had other plans.

And more or less, every time those foreigners with ulterior motives can get some information from him that is not too important.

And this time, to the joy of Sanben Takeo, but what made him extremely nervous was that he actually learned from He Yunzhang about the detailed procurement plan of the British [***] purchasing group, which was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If he has done a good job in China, it is entirely possible for him to join the main wartime cabinet.

An hour later, Takeo Sanben politely bid farewell to He Yunzhang's family, hurried back to the embassy in China, and sent back an urgent secret telegram overnight.

“…… The British [***] group arrived in China, involving hundreds of thousands of Chinese-style semi-automatic rifles, more than 800 aircraft, hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles, and several others...... Countermeasures should be taken immediately, or corresponding arms procurement plans should be put forward in a timely manner......"——

(To be continued)