"First of all, here, whether as a representative of the Great Empire or as an upright person with a conscience, I must remind all countries to pay attention to the fact that the large-scale use of poison gas by the Chinese [***] team in the Manchurian battlefield is outrageous! Moreover, it is a violation of the Rules of Engagement of the Hague Land War, and I hope that the ambassadors and ministers will exert pressure on the Chinese political axe to publicly declare that it will stop using this inhumane weapon and violates international conventions! ”

In the banquet room on the third floor of the Imperial Hotel in Nanjing, after receiving no accurate reply to his two requests to the Chinese Emperor since last night, Ito Hirobumi, who had already arrived in Nanjing, did not abandon the purpose of his visit because of this; almost after receiving an accurate reply to his first request for advice to His Majesty the Emperor, he invited the ambassadors and ministers of Britain, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, and the Netherlands to attend the "breakfast meeting" held by him in his personal capacity.

On the one hand, as far as the ambassadors and envoys of the nine countries are concerned, their attitudes are very clear as soon as this war, which has made all military experts fall through their glasses and the battlefield situation is extremely chaotic, broke out.

China said that the two countries must immediately cease war, and at the very least, the war must not be extended to Guannai, especially the Yangtze River, but rather that they hope that the two countries will restrain their attitude toward the war, they will do so.

And the Northeast Battlefield, which caused headaches for all the soldiers, was like a mess, and the squadron [***], which they originally thought was beyond their strength, actually achieved three completely different advantages on the three battlefields from the very beginning, in the most unfavorable combat environment for them.

In Mukden, they succeeded in putting Nogi Xidian's corps outside Mukden City, and under the cover of non-stop artillery bombardment, they dispelled their hope of occupying Mukden City, and in the area of Tieling, they carried out a comprehensive encirclement of the main forces of the three group armies, and in Dalian, the weakest link of the [***] team, they also fought admirably.

Just yesterday, they even drew out a part of their army and completely annihilated two divisions and regiments of the Japanese army in one day, and it was not impossible to completely annihilate the Yalu River Army in this country.

At this time, when the army, now called the "Imperial Guard", in five days, used military operations on the battlefield to make the envoys of various countries have to take a fresh look at this new empire with an army of 1.6 million, the poison gas that was suddenly put into use on the battlefield by the squadron yesterday also shocked each and every one of them.

No one knew what poison gas was, they only received reports from field observers stationed in China and China, and the report of the observers stationed in China was very simple, only mentioning that the Chinese had used a powerful new weapon on the battlefield and relied on this new weapon to break through the defense line of the Yue army, but the observers of the commanders of the various regiments stationed in the country reported a large amount of "intelligence", and a brand-new weapon that changed the course of the war -- poison gas -- was first thrown into the battlefield by the Chinese.

In the official Chinese report, it is also mentioned that "with the help of a certain weapon, our army was able to break through the defense line of the Japanese army in a matter of minutes." Through all kinds of gossip and ominous reports in the newspapers, everyone knows that China now has a powerful weapon, although the grapevine deliberately exaggerates the cruelty of this weapon, but the Chinese who have not seen it with their own eyes are still full of longing for this weapon, especially when they think that they can be used on foreigners.

"When the death fog rises, there will be no more living creatures in the place where the death fog drifts through!"

This was the report that the diplomats had received from the observers of this [***] matter, and after receiving this report, they had complained to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Empire that China had violated the Hague Rules of Engagement in Land Warfare by using poison gas shells, but the reply of Minister Liang almost did not turn their backs.

"Your Excellency, Honorable Minister ***, according to the information currently available to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Imperial Guard has never used poison gas shells in this operation, and the Imperial Guard has used chemical smoke canisters instead of poison gas shells fired by cannons, and according to the provisions of the Rules of Engagement on Land, only gas shells are prohibited! ……”

This was followed by a series of explanations, explaining the meaning of the shells in English, French, German, Russian, and Chinese, which was a complete quibble, but in the face of China, which had a certain secret weapon, the missions of various countries did not insist, and for them, what was more curious was the hope that they could obtain the secret of this secret weapon.

"Count Ito, if I'm not mistaken, your country has already received an explanation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Empire, hasn't it?"

It was the French Minister Bi Shengyi who spoke, as Russia's most important iron-clad ally in this war, at this time, he didn't mind falling into the ground, not to mention, France also hoped that Russia would win this war, at least a decent peace, and now China's actions have made the dying Russia that was originally beaten get a breathing room, and the same appropriate overtures may have unexpected gains in the future.

"Moreover, it seems that your country violated the neutrality clause first, and your country first broke through the demarcation of the theater of war under the "neutrality clause" formulated by the Qing State last year, so that China has the current neutral war, right? ”

Bi Shengyi's-for-tat answer only made Ito Hirobumi frown, but at this time, the British Minister Zhu Erdian spoke first.

"I don't think it's about who has violated public international law, but how to end the conflict between China and China, and in this conflict, the British political axe's attitude is very clear, out of consideration for the interests of all countries in China, we will never accept any attempt to expand the war to the south of Shanhaiguan, especially the Yangtze River!"

Zhu Erdian, who stood up, glanced at Ito Hirofumi, just yesterday, when Ito left, there was some change in Saiben's fleet, which could not but make him vigilant, British investment in China accounted for more than 70 percent of the total investment in China, and the vast majority of it was concentrated in the Yangtze River valley, and Britain would never accept any possible adventure by himself.

Moreover, Britain must now repair the unhappiness caused by tariffs with China, after all, now that the Empress of China was born in England and has a British knighthood, which could have given Britain an advantage that is difficult for other countries to achieve, but because of the short-sightedness of some people, Sino-British relations have plummeted, and Britain must rebuild its influence in this country.

"Minister Juerdian, I think!"

Listening to Zhu Erdian's aggressive words, although Ito Hirobumi felt no less humiliated than when the Three Kingdoms intervened in the return of Liao ten years ago, he still replied in a deep voice.

"Whether the war will be extended to the south of Shanheguan and the Yangtze River must be decided by China's attitude, and if China's political axe insists on expanding the scale of this war, then, for Yueben, Yueben will have to choose some unwanted military actions to defend its own interests!"

Looking around at the ministers and ambassadors of the eight countries, Ito continued his speech in a slightly sad voice.

"In the war between Yuben and Lucia, Yueben not only fought for Yuben, but also fought for China and you, I think this, all the ministers are very clear, in order to defeat this country that wants to annex Manchuria and even go south to fight with other countries for control of China, Yuben has paid heavy sacrifices, indeed, without the loans and help of Britain, the United States, Germany and other countries, our country could not have won this war, but what about the sacrifices we have paid? The money is not worth mentioning! ”

When Ito Hirobumi accused these countries with the remarks of "Westerners pay (loans) to shoot guns, say that they pay people, and use themselves to fight Russians" proxy wars that are now prevalent in their own country, the French just laughed, and in this war France was Russia's ally, but Jurny, Rou Keyi and others did not react at all, in their opinion, this seemed to be taken for granted, saying that what they needed was not only their loans, but also that they needed to weaken Russia's overall strategic situation. Then the agent, as an agent, must be subordinate to their interests, not to their own interests.

"In order to respect the interests of all countries, the Great Empire has always maintained a restrained attitude towards the Chinese [***] team on the battlefield at the expense of the dissatisfaction of the people, but what are the Chinese doing in comparison? While they are exercising restraint, they are constantly expanding the war, and they are trying to completely annihilate one of the legions of the Benben, and I would like to ask you, if a certain country is annihilating one of your legions, then for you, what will you choose? Minister Juerdian! ”

Looking directly at Zhu Erdian, Ito asked in a questioning tone.

"At that time, any country will choose war, all-out war, and in order to preserve the dignity of the country, only war can be chosen, and at that time, any attempt to control the scale of the war will be extravagant!"

"Count Ito!"

In the face of the questioning, Zhu Erdian said lightly, he clearly knew that Ito Hirobumi was just threatening, with his own mentality, if he said that he could see the victory of this war, then they would definitely go on the war, the domestic economic environment, the sudden severe bond issuance situation, the intervention of the great powers, and the imminent crossing of Malacca, all of which made him far more eager to end this unexpected war than China.

However, as he said, even gamblers who have no capital should not be pushed too hard, otherwise, what adventures the gambler who has lost all his capital will make is not something that others can predict.

"We have been doing our best to bring about the restoration of peace between China and the two countries! I think there will be results soon! ”

(To be continued)