After a few people sat chatting and farting in the garden for a while, French Prime Minister Clemenceau suddenly said: "George, with your current physical condition, when do you think we can continue the meeting?" You must know that the heads of state and high-ranking government representatives of the main countries of our Entente countries are gathered here, and we are not very idle people, and time is very precious to us! ”

British Prime Minister George listened and said: "I don't have any problems, just take a break, I think the meeting will continue tomorrow, right?" ”

Xiao Zhenlei shook the big cigar next to him and said, "Prime Minister George, do you think that if we keep arguing like the previous two days, when will there be a result, and when will this meeting be finished?" In addition to our four countries, China, Britain and France, other countries sent are only representatives of government officials, there are many things they can't do, they can't be the master but they like to quarrel, I think these people come to Cairo not to have a meeting at all, but to quarrel, they will only add chaos and can't help, I don't think these people will participate in the meeting to help us solve the problems that we urgently need to solve, since only the three of us who came this time have the final decision, it is better for all things to be decided by the three of us in private, It's much simpler, and as for the others, let them travel here! ”

British Prime Minister George's face changed when he heard this, he looked at Xiao Zhenlei and said, "That means to put them aside, and our three countries will discuss it separately?" Will this cause discontent among the countries? ”

Xiao Zhenlei looked at French Prime Minister Clemenceau the same way, and said with a smile: "Does this matter?" If they want to be dissatisfied, let them be dissatisfied, and I don't think they can do anything against us. You must know that those countries have been occupied by Germany and Austria, and they have all become governments in exile. Germany and Austria have propped up puppet governments in their own countries, and these government-in-exile must rely on us to defeat the Allies if they want to turn over. Otherwise they will always be just a government in exile".

Although Xiao Zhenlei's words were explicit, they were true, and the old French man Clemenceau was a little uncomfortable to hear it, after all, his government was also a government in exile, but he still had a 1.5 million army and some naval units in his hands, and he also had an air force in Africa, which was much stronger than other government-in-exile that had actually died out, so he had no objection to Xiao Zhenlei's words, and it was a tacit acquiescence.

Clemenceau nodded, "Yes." Prime Minister George, I think President Shaw's words are very reasonable! ”

Xiao Zhenlei said: "If Prime Minister George insists on asking those people to attend the meeting, I don't think there is any need for our meeting to continue, because I really don't believe that with them here, we can negotiate a result in a short time, we are all busy people, and we don't have a lot of time to spend here!" ”

Under the alternate bombardment of Xiao Zhenlei and Clemenceau, British Prime Minister George finally understood that the two of them were prepared today, and when things came to this point, George Jingua was extremely reluctant. But he also knew that he had to make a compromise, otherwise the meeting would not go on, so he had to say, "Well, since you are both busy." Then we will go through the simplest process, and the meeting will be attended only by the heads of our three countries, and representatives of other countries will be excluded. We'll let them know when we know the results! ”

Xiao Zhenlei and Clemenceau looked at each other and smiled when they heard this, and it was done!

After consultation. The official meeting of the Big Three is scheduled for 9 a.m. tomorrow, and an agreement must be reached for two days at most. Because no one can afford to stay here for a long time without leaving state affairs, someone must compromise in any case within two days, otherwise the meeting will be in vain.

On the morning of February 15, the meeting of the Big Three was held in Clemenceau's villa, which was decided by Xiao Zhenlei and George out of respect, after all, he was the oldest of the three, and he was already a 76-year-old man, and people of this age were basically stuck into the grave with one leg in their hearts, and it was possible to go to their God if they were not careful.

The meeting of the triumvirate was not held in a very strict place, but in the back garden of the Villa Clemenceau, and the three of them sat on a wicker chair around a stone table, on which were placed three ashtrays, three glasses of red wine, and a few plates of fruit, and the three secretaries sat behind them with pens and notebooks ready to take notes, and each of them sat a military general who could provide them with advice on military strategy, and there were guards around them who kept walking back and forth to patrol without anyone disturbing them. It's as simple as that.

The meeting was presided over by British Prime Minister George, and after all the qi was ready, the three of them sat on the rattan chairs, George said: "The time is almost up, then let's start, this meeting we have to carry out two topics: the first is the future strategic direction of our Entente countries, last time I heard President Xiao put forward the strategy of Europe first and then Asia, I expressed great satisfaction, President Xiao saw that the crisis in Europe is much stricter than Japan's threat to China in Asia; Second, there is the issue of the distribution of interests after the war, and now only the three of us are present, so I will not hide what I say, and if you have any requirements, you can directly put them on the table, and we can discuss different discussions! ”

"Ahem!" Xiao Zhenlei coughed twice, and George and Clemenceau both knew that he had something to say, so they looked at him. Xiao Zhenlei picked up a cigar and said while playing with it: "Mr. Prime Minister, I think the issue of the distribution of benefits after the war is over, and we will hold a special meeting to carry out this matter?" Two, we excluded other countries from this meeting, mainly because we discussed strategic issues, and other countries had no say in this regard, because they really couldn't help, but if the issue of the distribution of interests after the war was only discussed privately by our three countries, and it was now and not after the war, I am afraid that it would cause very serious consequences, after all, it is still too early before the end of the war, and any loss may lead to defeat. What if we fail to achieve the desired goals of certain countries in the distribution of benefits, and they make trouble and drag us back in the subsequent war? It's not impossible, I think this issue needs to be taken seriously, I don't want us to win the war in the first place because of what we are doing now, and we will fail! ”

George was a little unhappy when he heard Xiao Zhenlei's words at first, this Xiao Zhenlei had already opposed his proposition three times and twice, but the reasons listed by Xiao Zhenlei later made him hate Xiao Zhenlei and couldn't hate it, because what Xiao Zhenlei said was right, after all, George was not old enough to use his brain.

George really didn't take into account the serious consequences that would be brought about by discussing the distribution of benefits after the war, and Xiao Zhenlei's description of the possible consequences made him think that it was very likely to happen, and if he didn't want those bad consequences to happen, the best way was not to talk about the distribution of benefits after the war this time, and organize a special meeting to solve this problem after the war was over.

However, George did not agree at the first time, he turned to look at the French Prime Minister and asked, "Mr. Clemenceau, what do you think?" ”

Clemenceau smoked with a big cigar in his pocket, exhaled a circle of smoke, and his mouth full of white beard opened: "Your Excellency President Xiao is reasonable, I also think that it is best to discuss and decide on this matter, and hold a meeting after the war, first, to discuss the distribution of interests, and on the other hand, to discuss the punishment and restriction of the Allies, and absolutely not to let Germany have the opportunity to rise again and start wars against other countries!" ”

Seeing that Clemenceau also supported this proposal, George said: "Well, we will not discuss the distribution of benefits after the war, but will set aside time after the war to hold a meeting to punish and restrict the Allies and discuss the distribution of benefits after the war." So now let's move on to the first topic, that is, the direction of our future strategic main attack, and my proposition is to focus the main attack on the Eastern Front! ”

Clemenceau said, "Mr. George, tell me your reasons?" Since it is not wise from a military point of view to focus the main direction and focus of the offensive on the eastern front, I think your general should have told you the right choice."

Xiao Zhenlei thought to himself, don't talk about your eldest brother, one likes to skip the command, and the other has irreconcilable contradictions with his army commander-in-chief. Let's just say Lloyd's? George, this old fellow often fights beyond the commander-in-chief of the army and the general staff to command the troops below him, which makes the commander-in-chief and the chief of the general staff extremely annoyed, because the orders are different, causing confusion in command, and the navy is often at a loss to know whether to obey the prime minister or the naval command.

George? Clemenceau, an older French man, had always been autocratic, and he became even more prominent when he became Prime Minister and returned to power, effectively imposing a personal dictatorship while retaining Parliament. At this time, it had been almost two years since the entire territory of France had been occupied by Germany, and the morale of the French troops in Britain, North Africa, and other overseas colonies was extremely low.

In order to boost the morale of the army, Clemenceau once said in a parliamentary speech to the government-in-exile: "My domestic policy is: I will fight. My foreign policy is: I want to fight. …… Anytime, anywhere, I have to fight...... And I will continue to fight until the last moment of my life. ”

He was decisive in killing and commanding with authority. He went to the front line of the army many times to boost morale, forcefully suppressed anti-war forces internally, and denounced them as "defeatists". He also used this as an excuse to crack down on opponents. Former Home Minister Malvi and former Prime Minister Cayo were also arrested on charges of attempting to negotiate peace in secret.

Clemenceau with Army Commander Henry? Philip? Petain's contradictions have always existed. Clemenceau's almost fanatical personality became more and more at odds with the quiet Petain, who often angrily accused his commander-in-chief of the army of not reporting to him in detail and time, and the more he did on such occasions, the more Petain did not say a word, making it almost impossible for him to grasp the situation of the war. (To be continued......)