When the news of a major arms deal between China and Britain reached Tokyo, the entire upper echelons of the book were shaken. For a time, the military and political circles were surging, and even the anti-China sentiment that had been deliberately hidden suddenly rose inexplicably.

The entire high-level government was urgently discussing countermeasures, and the military department quickly came up with a plan after weighing the pros and cons.

In the Kikuno Pavilion of the Tokyo Imperial Palace, the emperor held the document in his hand, and his whole body trembled slightly with anger. The twitching corners of his mouth could represent the truest anger in his heart, and even the presence of several military and political dignitaries could not keep him as impatient as the emperor had played in the past.

"His Majesty the Emperor ...... Anger"

At this time, the people who bowed and bent down in the Kikuno Pavilion were all military and political dignitaries of the book, and they were also the top group of people. Fumima Konoe, who served as prime minister for the third time during the war, Bunzo Kanaya, who returned to the mountain to serve as advisers to the emperor, Minamijiro Riku, chief of the general staff of the military department, Hideki Tojo, deputy chief of the general staff, Seishiro Itagaki, director of the war department of the military department, and two important ministers of the navy, Shusei Nagano and Isoroku Yamamoto.

The Emperor tried to calm the rising anger, closed his eyes slightly, and took a deep breath, the report of which completely aroused his resentment and monstrous anger against China. Above is the most detailed information sent back by agents and ambassadors to China about the Sino-British arms deal.

In Hirohito's view, it is indeed impossible to compete with China today, the extreme lack of strategic depth, too close to China, the concentration of important industrial clusters and developed economic zones, once the war starts, it is foreseeable that North Korea will soon be the first to be lost.

Although the people in the military department always told him that the emperor [***] dared to attack any enemy, dared to go to war with the Soviets, the British, the French, and even the Americans and Chinese. The Emperor [***] people can also block any enemy and dare to fight to the death to the last man.

However, Hirohito understood that with the strength of the elite army group deployed by China in the northeast, it was enough to quickly capture Korea. The terrain of North Korea is mountainous and difficult to attack in the north but close to China, and the terrain in the south is flat and difficult to defend but close to the capital, once China relies on its geographical advantages and quickly breaks through the border, even if it deploys more troops, it will be difficult to defend. If it is arranged too closely, it will be the Chinese's superior land and air firepower coverage, and if it is arranged too far, there will be no danger to defend.

And once North Korea is lost, the terrain of Yuben is equivalent to a piece of meat exposed under the mouth of a Chinese dragon.

Although Hirohito was not a wise strategist, he understood that if this worst-case scenario occurred, not to mention the defeat of China, as advocated by those military generals, it would even be worse than that of the British.

The Germans were able to bomb and attack Britain across the sea, and China had this ability, and perhaps the capital, which was also narrow in size and highly concentrated in industry, would be destroyed more quickly.

Looking at the group of people bowing and bending down below, Hirohito let out a long sigh, shook the documents in his hand, looked worried, and said bitterly, "That's why I rejected the plan you proposed. If we had conquered China, I would not hesitate to approve that great plan, but ......"

"Your Majesty the Emperor, the reason why the War Department put forward that plan is also to serve the future Asian policy of the Empire. The cause of the empire benefited both from the inaction of the Chinese and from the immobility of the Chinese. And our enemies, the British, have a traditional ally, the Americans. ”

Chief of General Staff Okamura Ninji pushed the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose and said, "At present, the Americans, like the Chinese, have adopted a conservative trade policy, but although the Chinese are as hostile to the Great Empire as the Americans, unlike the Chinese, the Americans have begun to earnestly prepare to increase military aid, and last month, five military aid proposals for Britain and the Soviet Union were passed, and in the next year, the Americans will provide war loans and military aid to Britain and the Soviet Union on a larger scale." Moreover, there are indications that Churchill arrived in the United States and is lobbying the US Congress in an attempt to win the United States into the war or to get more military aid.

The empire has begun to threaten the security of the United States in the Pacific, and the United States is already discussing the security of the Pacific Ocean, and has imposed "restrictions" on the transportation of various materials to our empire, and it is expected that there will be more serious trade sanctions.

The US military in the Philippines has entered a state of second-level combat readiness, the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor is already conducting targeted training, and even the US military in Guam is building a military airfield. All this shows that even if we do not take the initiative to provoke the Americans, once the war in Southeast Asia goes well and the British are bound to lose, the Americans will definitely join in. Therefore, General Yamamoto 56 proposed that if conditions permit, we should launch an offensive first to buy us more time. Once the war in Southeast Asia is over, we will be able to occupy absolute superiority over the United States in the Pacific. ”

"Under the call of His Majesty the Emperor, the people of the empire are actively preparing for war, and at present our naval and air forces are surpassing those of the Americans. However, they have already launched a more aggressive expansion program, and the number of aircraft carriers alone has now reached five, and once completed, the United States will have twelve aircraft carriers, as well as many more retrofittable ships. The army is also recruiting soldiers on a large scale, and there are signs of an overall acceleration in aircraft and tank factories.

They do the same as the Chinese, only the Chinese do it earlier and are more prepared. ”

Kanaya Fan San didn't say a word, today's China, well-prepared like a tiger with a knife in its mouth, armed to the teeth, seems to lie still, in fact, any enemy approaching may cause its crazy counterattack.

However, even if they knew, the military department could not do anything, after all, to deal with the Americans, it could also give priority to destroying the main forces of their Pacific Fleet, but against the Chinese, should they run to their ports, evade their dense coastal air defense airfields, and sink their warships docked in ports equipped with heavy radars?

When it is impossible to do anything, try to maintain relations with the Chinese, occupy more areas, and increase the strength of the empire is the primary task.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, I also agree with the opinion of the Ministry of War, from now on, whether it is Britain or the United States, it is necessary to bear the burden of humiliation for the time being." Prime Minister Fumima Konoe said.

Hirohito nodded blankly, he was familiar with Chinese culture, and he knew that at this time, he seemed to be powerful, but the situation was still not as good as others, and the plan proposed by the military department and the prime minister was correct.

Picking up another document on the table, Hirohito groaned slightly, and then quickly imprinted his own emperor's seal on it.

This is a draft of an emergency arms purchase.

"Gentlemen, the war in Southeast Asia needs to go all out, the enemies of the empire are still very strong, the British are just a small obstacle for the empire to move towards world hegemony, and the two sides of the Pacific Ocean are our real enemies.

I have approved this draft arms purchase, and whether the Chinese need gold, oil, rubber, fruits, or grain, we can all agree to it, as long as we exchange a batch of emergency weapons and equipment, maintain the fierce offensive on the Southeast Asian battlefield, and wait until our own advanced weapons are put into service in batches, it will be a new situation. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The emperor said two more words, and everyone was about to disperse, but Hirohito suddenly said, "General Yamamoto 56 stays." ”

"His Majesty the Emperor." After everyone left, Yamamoto Fifty-six was a little excited in his heart, and he could feel that the emperor had a special reason for staying on his own.

"If ......" Hirohito paused slightly, took a document from the hand of the guard officer next to him, Yamamoto Isoroku immediately bowed his head, it was a secret battle plan that exhausted his efforts, "If one day Chinese take care of himself......"

Of course, the emperor at this time would not have understood that no matter what, he would always have to take care of himself more than China.

Unlike the British, as they did in the previous cases, they mainly procured military fighters, but this time, they will also purchase a large number of H-1 bombers, and the skies of Southeast Asia will gather more advanced fighters.

Of course, perhaps soon, there will also be American-made fighters.

Although he did not get an accurate scale of arms procurement, judging from the intelligence, this time, he himself was determined to urgently purchase a large number of fighters to deal with the increasing number of advanced fighters of the British and Soviets in Southeast Asia and the Far East.

Compared with the British who directly purchased a large number of fighters from China, and compared with the crazy production capacity of the Soviets, he himself is still relatively poor, at least before the large-scale production of the Zero type, in addition to buying ready-made ones from China and using them to fight a war of attrition over the battlefield, then only the old fighters with a much worse surname can be loaded into the sky to send the pilots to death.

Actual combat has proved that the Chinese's weapons can be outstanding, even enough to compete with the main fighters that the two countries are about to produce in full force, but it is such a time difference of one year or even several months that makes these more advanced fighters of the Chinese sold all over the world. Even the Germans, who achieved the production of advanced fighters much earlier, issued many orders for the Chinese.

Of course, in turn, the sale of Chinese weapons to various belligerents also forced the Americans to speed up the pace of military aid and loan amounts in support of the Allies.

"Chairman, in my opinion, he is also a dog who has been forced to be anxious, so he can only jump over the wall. The planes purchased by the British from us flew directly from Yunnan back to Burma, and they were able to quickly join the battlefield, saying that their zero production was still in the run-in period, and the output could not be increased on a large scale until at least a few months later. In this arms purchase order, they were bent on fighting against the British with spears and shields. ”

Jiang Baili clicked on the information in his hand, these weapons and equipment are all super profitable, not to mention, the strategic role that these weapons can play after they are sold.

As for raising tigers, there is no need to worry about it at all, and when the two sides are separated, not to mention how many of these planes will be left for the time being, the Air Force of the Republic has basically completed the replacement of second-generation aircraft, and some of them are equipped with third-generation fighters, which have certain advantages compared with a certain advanced fighter of the P series that the Americans have just finalized.

In preparing for war, China has performed better, is better prepared, and more aware than the Americans with deep pockets.

Not to mention, Made in China has a cost advantage, and in the future, large-scale production can even surpass the Americans, and of course, there are more advanced Tianlong jet fighters.

"The chairman made a good move." Jiang Baili said sincerely, the General Staff Department is only responsible for refining the Southeast Asia policy, but the strategic idea was put forward by Zhang Shusheng himself.

"I just did what was supposed to be done. When you're a spectator and you see two people you hate fighting, and the other only has a stick, then if you want to see a more exciting and pleasant scene, you have to provide them with guns. Sticks can only wound them, knives or rifles, but they can drain their blood and kill them. ”

Zhang Shusheng smiled, making the two sides play more exciting, and providing them with tools, it's that simple. Since Britain and Ben have temporarily encountered a bottleneck in their arms production, but China has not encountered a bottleneck, then helping them is a good thing to help others and send them to the west.

It is still early for China to enter the war, but Zhang Shusheng understands better than anyone that although World War II was a blowout period of advanced weapons and military technology, the problem is also very prominent, that is, there is not enough time. Often, each side has many advanced weapons in their hands, but the time is too tight to set up more factories and produce more weapons and equipment.

In China, these problems almost do not exist.

For example, if the British wanted to line up at the Yangon train station, they would be able to throw away their tattered rifles while picking up the advanced semi-automatic rifles that had just been delivered from the China-Burma railway.

How convenient, you can go to the front line to kill the enemy in one day.

In fact, the Soviets did just that, and the weapons that were transported from the Chinese side were often distributed on the spot and then driven to the front line on the spot. This is similar to several famous Soviet anti-Japanese war movies that Zhang Shu watched in his previous life, except that at that time, they were several people who received a rifle, but this time it was directly purchased from China with gold and resources.

The two continued to talk about military affairs, but they didn't know that thousands of miles away, an unexpected incident was about to be staged.

On the Mekong River in Nong Khai, Thailand, a converted motorized iron-hulled wooden boat equipped with diesel propulsion is sailing on the clear Mekong River, splashing in the sun, and the tail churning waves, from time to time you can see the leaping tide chasing fish.

On this converted motorized iron-hulled wooden ship, several people in canvas clothes and trousers are talking about something.

"Third brother, if this business is completed, after we go back, we can at least change to a big ship." The two leaders, like the boatmen behind them, are dressed in canvas clothes and pants that are easy to move, a very simple shape, but they are the most suitable outfits for the world.

A young man in his twenties looked at the high stacks of cargo on the ship, which were full of miscellaneous goods that had recently become popular in Southeast Asia.

The young man's name is Yu Jinke, a native of Ruian, Zhejiang, and the thirty or forty-year-old next to him is the third brother of his own family, from the same village. After the young man finished high school, he was not admitted to university, so he followed this third brother who ran the world out to do business.

He still remembers that the third brother Yu Dequan was the most prosperous person in the village, and in his early years, he ran around running business outside, but his wife and daughter parents who stayed at home were the best in the neighborhood.

Every time the third brother returned, he first pushed back a bicycle, then came back again, and brought back a television set that looked like a strange item, then a sewing machine, and, of course, the cash that was said to be stacked on the table...... The third brother seemed to have an endless amount of money, and even took out the money to help the village repair the potholed village road.

In the face of the villagers' inquiry, the third brother just said: dolls, study hard, it's really not good, just go with the third brother. The outside world is full of gold and silver, as long as you dare to go with me, Lao Tzu will make you three generations of money without worrying about spending.

So, since Yu Jinke was in the fifth grade of primary school, the third brother has been constantly taking people out of the village, and two or a few years later, these people have returned to their hometowns one by one, not only making money, but also starting a new stove, and like the third brother, they have done the work of the leader, not only to hire neighbors, but also to take them out to the world.

Yu Jinke has a high culture and an active brain, and after failing the college entrance examination half a year ago, the third brother who happened to go home brought him out.

At this time, coinciding with China's seizure of half of Southeast Asia, the third brother, who used to go back and forth on the Sino-Burmese border, resolutely gave up the kind of petty business and came directly to Laos.

Based on his years of experience in Burma, he believes that the lower reaches of the Mekong River are easy to navigate, and if he can buy a boat, carry the goods south, and exchange them for gold and silver, or even handicrafts, jewelry, and jade, it will be a business that can make money in the sky.

Relying on waterways is far better than carrying a two-wheeled truck around northern Myanmar with a backpack on its back.

This is a treasure land that no one has developed, and what is produced in the old hometown in the north has almost infinite charm in Southeast Asia.

What the third brother has to do is to be one step faster than other merchants, even political axes, to transport goods and sell them to the south.

In Laos, the third brother with his full wealth originally thought that he could only hire Lao fishermen to help him run a business, but he did not expect that the management agency of the political axe in Laos actually opened a simple shipyard, which can manufacture iron-hulled wooden boats and install simple engines and other accessories.

In this way, with his own identity certificate, the third brother Yu Dequan smoothly bought an iron-hulled wooden ship as a merchant ship for his own commercial use.

Buying from the hands of the local newly stationed Chinese political axe, after running twice, the third brother tasted a huge sweetness, compared with those businessmen who only knew to go to the township to open a shop after buying the goods, the third brother went to the south, along the Mekong south, and made much more.

This time, a large buyer in southern Thailand offered to trade a batch of ivory for a batch of goods in demand, including medicines, which were not comparable to the colonial dumped goods of the British or French, and as long as Yu Dequan could transport them over, he could make ten times the profit.

After receiving the deposit, Yu Dequan, who was overjoyed, immediately returned to Vientiane, Laos, and quickly gathered the goods and got on the ship to prepare to go south.

"Brothers, pay attention, although the British and French devils in Thailand dare not shoot us, it is inevitable that there will be blind Diao people, as long as there is something, just shoot me."

Yu Dequan felt a little uneasy, turned around, and told the five brothers behind him that these were all his countrymen, and that the guns were on loan from the Chinese administration in Laos. According to the regulations, any Chinese or Chinese with legal Chinese identity certificate can borrow guns from the local administration bureau for self-protection if they meet certain conditions.

Now Britain and France are afraid of China, fearing that persecuting the Chinese or the Chinese will lead to China's pretext to send troops, and they all turn a blind eye to Yu Dequan and their merchants, and sometimes when they encounter British patrol boats, the other party will actually choose to get out of the way, and even the tax is exempted.

Knowing that these growing Chinese merchants were trying to squeeze some of the profits out of the British colonial economy, they had nothing to do.

However, some Thai mountain dwellers are different.

"Britain and France know the strength of our political axe, and will not embarrass us for this little thing, let alone fire at us, listening to the deputy director of the Commerce Bureau in Vientiane, Wang said, we have a memorandum of understanding with Britain and France. But ......" Yu Dequan's tone changed, revealing some ruthlessness, "But those poor and crazy Thais, don't think so, those water ghosts and mountain bandits are also rampant." Britain and France are afraid of China, but they are not. Everyone be careful. ”

In the past few months, Yu Dequan has encountered two accidents, one is when a small merchant ship docks for trading, almost robbed by a group of Thais, and once the other party blocked the river with iron chains, trying to stop them abruptly, as a result, although the ship suffered some losses, but what made the Thais dumbfounded was that the momentum was too great, and the Chinese merchant ship actually directly broke the iron cable and fled.

In short, Yu Dequan always believes that in this Southeast Asian region, there are poor mountains and bad waters, especially after he has been back and forth a few times, these water thieves and mountain bandits who could only bully fishermen to eat have been staring at themselves for too long before and after.

Even if he has a gun in his hand, he can't be careless.

"It's okay, third brother, didn't Deputy Director Wang say it? He attached great importance to the situation you reported to him, and said that he would report it to us and strive for a special batch of machine guns to be issued to these merchant ships. Speaking of these, Yu Jinke was very excited, the political axe can really do his best to arrange it for the people.

Under the leadership of Yu Dequan, there are now not a few Chinese running merchant ships.

"I hope so, Jinke, you have to remember that if you run the world outside, be cautious, even if everything is ready, you must leave a way back." After Yu Dequan finished speaking, he deliberately got into the cabin, walked to a pigeon cage in the corner, picked up the wheat grains and fed the pigeons.

This is his last way back.

The merchant ship continued to move for a while, and the waterway in front of it began to narrow, but it came to a narrow river.

"The water here is relatively narrow, so be careful."

Yu Dequan returned to the small deck of the ship, holding an old model of Huaxia-style single-shot rifle in his hand. The rest of the townsmen, except for the boatman, also carried rifles on their backs and were on guard.

The trade route was not peaceful, their fleet alone was almost robbed twice, and I heard that there were other ships that were almost detained with people, and those poor and crazy Thais, where did they see the goods passing by this boat.

In the eyes of the ignorant Thai mountain people, those British and French who look like monsters can't afford to offend, these are not too different from their own appearance, but they are just a little better-looking, I don't know which country, can't they rob it?

As for China, where is China? Yes, they hardly even know where China is, so how can they be afraid? After all, the Chinese have not yet held guns, slaughtered them, pointed at their heads and spoke.

"There is a situation!!"

Suddenly, Yu Jinke pointed to the two wooden boats parked on the waterway in front of him and shouted loudly.

"Third brother, that ship is similar to ours, and one ship has been damaged by the Thais."

At this time, Yu Dequan also discovered that the iron-hulled ship was indeed produced by the political axe shipyard in Laos, and he didn't know why it was detained. But at this time, on the waterway, in addition to this ship, another big wooden boat was already turning its bow and actually crashed directly into Yu Dequan's boat.

"Damn, they're going to hit the ship!! Forcing us to stop. ”

Seeing those captured motor boats and another big wooden boat wrapped up, Yu Dequan, who had already had no time to turn around, realized that the other party wanted to keep him.

"Aim for a while, give Lao Tzu free fire."

Seeing that a trick from hitting a boat to grabbing a boat was about to happen on the river, on the shore next to him, a fat man in a Thai gown laughed happily, "Haha, damn Chinese, it's all mine soon." ”

"Big brother, is this really okay? I've heard that the Chinese are very powerful. ”

Next to him, an old man in his fifties and sixties said worriedly.

"You damn mongrel, the Chinese you have seen have not killed as many people as Lao Tzu, no matter how terrible they are, are they more terrible than the British and the French? I'm not even afraid of the British, the French, what these Chinese do. Do you think Lao Tzu doesn't know, they are on the Lao side? You're afraid of, this is Thailand. Big deal, after snatching it, go back to the mountains. ”

......, "Chairman, you're tired too, so let's take a rest first, and we'll talk about it in the afternoon." ”

When Jiang Baili was about to let Zhang Shusheng rest for a while before talking about things, Mao Yunxian knocked on the door outside, "Chairman, there is an emergency." ”

"Come in."

Mao Yunxian was also wearing a military uniform at this time, and said, "Chairman of the Committee, I just received an urgent report that a motorized merchant ship of our country was intercepted by a group of Thai bandits on the Mekong River in the Nong Khai section of Thailand. ”

"What?"

When Zhang Shusheng heard this, he was stunned on the spot, the Mekong River is actually the Mekong River.

He remembered that in the original history and modern times, Chinese fishermen were often bullied on that river, and there was even an incident in which an entire shipload of crew members was killed.

And what's even more ironic is that the dead bodies of the people here are not cold, and the relief materials sent over there actually landed in Thailand, among the Southeast Asian countries, compared with the Vietnamese, although the Thais and the Vietnamese do not seem to take much advantage of China, they are definitely a country and nation that Zhang Shusheng hates very much.

Although this incident is not a major event that affects the country's luck, it is definitely one of the national shames in later generations that impressed Zhang Shusheng very deeply.

And the habit of the Chinese, where there are business opportunities, there will be their figure, when the political axe in the Laos bureau report, mentioned that many businessmen entered Laos and the northern region of Vietnam, ready to do business in the south, he did support. At that time, Lu Yunyan mentioned it in passing, and he added a point, issuing weapons to fishermen, since they may encounter incidents with evil surnames, they should try to put an end to it and issue them weapons.

Of course, Zhang Shusheng did not know that Yu Dequan and others were tied up by the other party after killing many Thais, and the Thai mountain bandit leader who had a whimsical idea not only wanted to leave the goods, but also because of the loss of his subordinates, he was angry and wanted to inform the Chinese to send another shipload of goods as ransom. And Yu Dequan and others also escaped because of the greed of the Thai scum.

However, Zhang Shusheng knew that although the plan could not catch up with the changes and the understanding could not catch up with the situation, he could do a little, "In the future, Lao Tzu was born at the wrong time, and there is no way to take you, this time, Lao Tzu wants you to die." ”

Looking at the map of Southeast Asia on the wall, after thinking about it for a while, Zhang Shusheng ordered, "Immediately dispatch two ZW-3 armed helicopters and one Z-3 transport helicopter of the 122 Special Brigade in Yunnan to rush to Vientiane on a special operations team, the Mekong River in the section of Nong Khai is very close to Vientiane, let Xue Yue prepare supplies for them and wait for orders."

In addition, put pressure on the British to immediately provide information about this group of mountain bandits and tell them that otherwise we will send troops to investigate ourselves. Cooperate with follow-up intelligence, so that the special operations team is ready to carry out rescue operations at any time. ”

After giving a simple order and closing the door, Zhang Shusheng felt a wave of anger burning in his chest. In the original later generations, the Thai people were cunning in every way, looking for excuses and not saying anything, pushing the blame on the drug dealers, and trying to push it on other forces.

Whether it is those real Thai bandits or those Thai [***] policemen who kill innocents indiscriminately, Zhang Shusheng does not have any good feelings.

It is not his responsibility for the occurrence of this incident, according to this era, the shooting of the crew is already very well prepared, and like these policies, according to the government's regulations, grassroots officials can report upwards and revise the policy according to the situation.

And even in the face of the muzzle of the gun, the Thais who have to come to grab it once, Zhang Shusheng can only say that these Thais are crazy.

However, in retrospect, according to the strength of China, regardless of the American GIs, it is no problem to sweep the surrounding area.

However, because of this, all the small surrounding countries, although they also know that China is strong and far from being able to confront themselves, still rush up, you bite the meat, I suck the blood.

The modern political axe bureaucrats of later generations will be able to ignore China's power, let alone in this era, and it is really impossible for them to take the initiative to avoid it in front of Thai bandits who may not even know where China is.

The best way is to kill one to make an example, and kill a hundred to make an example of a thousand or ten thousand.

Thinking of this, Zhang Shusheng slapped the table and said angrily: "It's over, not only light machine guns, Lao Tzu even equipped them with rocket artillery." ”――

(To be continued)