"Boom ......"

A violent explosion came from the direction of the riverbank, and when the explosion came, the people on the boat could clearly see the cloud of smoke and dust rising from the Shogunate Mountain.

"This fort can be repaired faster!"

The passengers on the ship knew what was going on on the Shogunate Mountain, which was the engineering troops of the Liberation Army building the fort, which was completely built in the tunnel of the Shogunate Hill, which was part of the Ruling Axe Preparation Plan, and the Suojiang Fort built by Liu Kunyi was further improved, and the old rack back gun was replaced with a new rapid-fire gun.

Outside Nanjing, however, a large number of projects have been suspended, and all construction materials and construction workers have been put into the construction of the capital's national defense projects; although the people are inevitably a little panicked, on the other hand, the whole country has unanimously formed in this intense preparation for war and self-defense; in Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Shandong, and other places, artillery batteries have been reinforced, and a large number of troops of the Guangfu Army have been transferred from the interior to the coast; at least in the eyes of the outside world, the Chinese are unexpectedly preparing for a war, a "war that the imperialist powers want to impose on China."

Although I don't want to admit it in my heart. But Gunna, who came to Nanjing from Shanghai, had to admit a fact. China has undergone radical changes, and compared to the upheavals that have taken place in China in a short period of time, countries have ignored the changes that are taking place in China and have failed to adjust their attitudes towards China.

"Maybe that's the root of all the problems!"

As a China expert, Guna understands that the root cause of the current diplomatic crisis in the Far East is by no means the result of China's brazen demand for the withdrawal of tariff rights and interests in disregard of diplomatic credibility. This is just the fuse, and the real reason is precisely because the countries have not adjusted their attitude towards China according to the time, and they still look at the country with the old eyes, which is the root cause of the crisis.

"Who would have thought that four years later, this country would once again prepare for war against the nations?"

Looking at the marching groups coming and going outside the car and the Chinese soldiers building fortifications in the streets, Guna couldn't help but sigh with emotion, not only did the country not be torn apart by this "war of force", but the last time the local government declared neutrality, all localities insisted on supporting the ruling axe.

"Fight to the end!"

As the car will drive into the ruling axe, a slogan on the wall once again reminds Guna of the attitude of the Chinese towards this possible war, which is a "flesh-and-blood struggle of all peoples, a battle for national power!" ”。

Are they willing to fight this battle?

No! They were unwilling, and the Secretary of the Treasury had already shown their willingness in contact with the U.S. consul in Nanking.

But are they willing to compromise?

"Mr. Archon, if Britain, France, Germany, and other countries are unwilling to give up the tariffs they have agreed upon, is your country really going to war?"

Looking at Chen Moran in front of him, Guna raised his own question, this is not the first time Guna has been in contact with this young ruling officer, as early as when he was in Shanghai, the two had a lot of personal friendship, and this time he came to Nanjing, it was Guna who sent a signal to Nanjing on behalf of the American political axe, and the United States is willing to hold talks with China in Beiping on the issue of tariff autonomy.

"Before your country's Reading Power War, your country sent representatives to Europe to petition the Emperor for fair treatment, but they were treated savagely, and they were not even allowed to enter the Buckingham Palace, but what about us?"

Chen Moran said in a helpless tone.

"We tried to negotiate with various countries, at first we followed a gradual way, the implementation of additional taxes, for tariff autonomy, but our demands were treated savagely, just like your country's reading heroes, when you were treated barbarically, your country's patriots chose to read, in the same way, when we were treated barbarically, we could only choose, to achieve tariff autonomy as the bottom line, in short, to make war intentions, for a peaceful result!"

Listening to Chen Moran's sigh, Guna could certainly taste the helplessness in his sigh. In the private correspondence between the two, he has repeatedly told about his helplessness in the letters.

"China wants to seek justice to the world, but the world treats me as a fish!"

When Chen Moran compared the American reading power war with tariff autonomy, Guna just nodded, the reading power war is also rooted in tariffs, and now the Chinese are also preparing for a "reading power" war because of tariffs, a "reading power" war for all countries to read and treat me, and this metaphor has invisibly won his sympathy.

"Mr. Chen, the United States is looking forward to establishing an equal and friendly international relationship with your country, which is also the attitude of the United States!"

"Equal treatment is what we are pursuing, among all countries, the United States is undoubtedly the most friendly attitude towards China, just like three years ago, the United States is the only country that opposes the extortion of reparations in the peace program, and we will never forget the friendliness of the United States, which is also one of the reasons why the Ministry of Education chooses the United States as the main sending country when sending students!"

Chen Moran said with a smile, the so-called equality is only relative, the United States does not have a concession in China, but that is because of the opposition in the United States, just like this time, didn't they still transfer warships from the Philippines to Shanghai? If it had not been for the previous tough statement, even if the United States had not taken the opportunity to establish diplomatic superiority over China out of its global strategic considerations, I am afraid that it would not have been willing to make contact with Nanjing first.

In the same way, the reason why he chose to shake an olive branch to Guna through personal correspondence is not also to take advantage of this kind of thinking of the United States?

"Mr. Chen, to a certain extent, my country has agreed to your country's imposition of tariff surcharges, as well as the realization of tariff autonomy, of course, the specific issues need to wait for Minister Guan Mingtang to arrive in Beiping and the tariff negotiations with Minister Rou Keyi can be agreed, but ......"

Guna paused, looked at Chen in front of him, and threw out a condition given by the White House.

"The United States needs a guarantee from China, a guarantee that it will never use force!"

"Gunna, is this promise that when the enemy hits me on the head, I can't fight back?"

"Mr. Chen, the White House means Beiping, Tianjin, and Shanghai! Your army must not fire until the [***] teams have fired! ”

Listening to Guna's request, Chen Moran could vaguely guess the reason for their request, they did not want the war caused by the stalemate of other countries after the United States agreed to tariff autonomy, so that the United States would abandon the agreed tariffs and everything would return to square one.

"I can guarantee this, but Mr. Gunna, you must understand that now that the British are preparing to intercept my warship, and my wife and daughter are still on the warship, who can guarantee their safety?"

After a few seconds of silence, Chen Moran suddenly made his request.

"If I can guarantee their safety, I can guarantee that I will not start a war in Beiping, Tianjin and Shanghai!"

"Hmm...... This ......"

It seemed to be pensive, but Guna smiled slyly.

"If your warships pass through the Strait of Malacca, the United States can guarantee that you will never be intercepted in any way!"

There is never only profit!

For the country, the international community has its own interests as its priority, the commander of the British East India Fleet, George? Atkinson? After the tariff incident, in the face of China's preparations for war, Les openly announced to the outside world that he would intercept the "Zhenhai" and "Dinghai" ships on their way home.

When the main force of the Chinese fleet in the Singapore Naval Base poured out of the nest and rushed towards the Sunda Strait, Sir Anderson in the Governor's House of the Straits Settlements in Singapore was chatting with the Consul General in Singapore, Zhang Bishi, about people's livelihood and economy, and the two were not affected by any external factors.

“…… Now that the Chinese fleet has been transferred out of Singapore, the maritime security of Singapore and even the entire area of the Strait of Malacca is not optimistic, and the fleet leaves Hong Kong to go to the Sunda Strait. ”

Sir Anderson, who was shaking his wine glass, was full of worry when he spoke, and it was all the worries of a "parent official", but only he knew that after six days of arguing in London, a decision was finally made, and the instructions from London were very clear, that is, the two [***] ships could not be stopped, but they could not be stopped.

No, the face of the British Empire is not there. Stopped, London is still worried that the duchess will come to burn jade, and at that time the situation may really develop into an endless situation, and Britain is not prepared to fight a full-scale war with China at all, or even ideas, so it is necessary to send a signal to the Chinese.

"Oh, Your Excellency the Governor, although the fleet has departed, the situation in Malacca is not like this! After all, there is still the coast guard! ”

Although he had met the Governor many times before, the Governor had no reason to worry about pirates, who were just robbing fishing boats and sailboats, and it was really unheard of to rob large steamers, and he also specifically mentioned Malacca.

"Oh, the coast guard is there, but the ships of the coast guard are already old, no, they are being maintained in the dock, originally the patrol around Malacca was the responsibility of the Chinese fleet, but now the fleet is far away in the Sunda Strait, and the entire strait will not exist in the next ten days at least!"

Sir Anderson deliberately accentuated the last sentence, hoping that the Consul General in front of him would understand the meaning of his words.

How could Zhang Bishi still not understand the meaning of the governor's words, which was to tell him to be careful of the pirates in Malacca, and it was clearly to tell him that the two ships could sail through Malacca with peace of mind, and the British would not intercept them. Secretly happy in his heart, he asked another tentative question.

"Your Excellency the Governor, what if a foreign [***] ship accidentally approaches Singapore!"

Lifting his eyelids, Anderson shrugged helplessly.

"I don't have a warship to send!"