Fighting is still raging in Afghanistan, and distant Beijing is feeling the breath of war again after two decades. Organs, ministries and commissions in various parts of Beijing have strengthened their vigilance, and the increase in military vehicles in the streets and alleys has always aroused speculation and associations among the people.

From their standpoint, they do not want the war to affect their lives. Since Xinhai, the Republic of China has been completely different after experiencing the civil war, the European war, and the two wars against Japan. After the development of reform measures such as compulsory education, Chengcheng bill, industrial rejuvenation, electric power, communication and transportation, etc., the country has entered a mature and stable harvest period. Anyone wants to extend this period, extend it and extend it! Therefore, even though newspapers and radio stations deliberately demonized and propagated the Soviet Union and explained the importance of Afghanistan several times, everyone still had a bystander mentality about this battlefield. Only a few people understand that in fact, the haze of war has never left the Republic of China from the beginning to the end, whether it is Japan across the sea, the Soviet Union in the northwest, or the South China Sea, which is still unknown.

For these people, this war is not too big and not too small, but it gives them an excuse to prepare for the war in advance, warm up in advance, and reshuffle the cards in Central Asia in advance!

Full-fledged armaments quietly unfolded under the cover of the war in Afghanistan, huge military orders and the required astronomical reserves began to affect the system of the national economy. Under the astronomical procurement contract, there is a rapid explosion of manufacturing and economic growth. All the participating military enterprises and manufacturing tycoons are desperately buying, expanding and re-acquiring! Huge ships of grain purchased from the United States crowded the harbor. Rubber and nickel from West Borneo, cotton from the northwest, tungsten from Jiangxi, copper from North Korea, aluminum from Chita, tung oil from the southwest, chromium from Gansu, manganese from Australia, etc.

Electric sparks flickered on the slipway, guns riveted, warhawks walked down the assembly line one after another, new tanks ran wildly on the test site, brand-new cannons were sheathed, guns and bullets were covered with butter. They are all waiting for their moment.

But for diplomats in the Far East, the Battle of Kunduz meant the complete destruction of the Asian peace system that had been maintained for more than a decade, and pushed them into a huge maelstrom. This whirlpool not only dragged China, the Soviet Union, and Japan into each other's three countries in Asia, but also began to affect the diplomatic direction of the British Empire and the world.

Ambassador Hügelsenck sat in the living room of the Presidential Palace, enjoying the fragrant coffee restlessly. He was joined by the U.S. ambassador Jensen, and the well-known military attache in China, Colonel Stilwell, who spoke fluent Chinese. As spokesmen for the interests of Britain and the United States in China, the second war in Afghanistan in their eyes is full of opportunities and uncertainties.

The hostility between China and the Soviet Union and even the fight in Afghanistan is what Britain wants to see. When Prime Minister Chamberlain learned that Kabul had changed hands, he even excitedly called Xu Gesen personally to ask for strict attention. Perhaps in his eyes, it is the best strategy for China and Germany to flank the Soviet Union, fight each other to the death, and finally let the British Empire come out to clean up the mess. Roosevelt, on the other hand, was much more cautious. Although they also wished for an all-out war between China and the Soviet Union, the huge orders for grain, cotton and other materials from China made people smell of conspiracy.

But are they really willing to sit on the sidelines? It's impossible! Roosevelt's heart was always to break the Versailles system's imprisonment on the United States, and he always dreamed of controlling the initiative in the Pacific, so as long as the Chinese and Japanese navies did not go to war for a day, he would not be at ease for a day. Britain, on the other hand, is much more complicated, and the war in Afghanistan does not matter who wins or loses. It will affect the political direction of India, and now India is chaotic enough, if it eventually spreads, I am afraid that the British Empire will have to go into battle shirtless. And the movements in the Persian Gulf are even more worrying! Saudi Arabia has fully turned to China. Reza, Iran. Khan had long been eager to expel the forces of Britain, France and the Soviet Union, and even semi-independent Iraq was eager for Yang Qiu to make another large Saudi-style order and get rid of the British trusteeship in one fell swoop. So if China wins in the end, these countries will not hesitate to fall to Yang Qiu.

Until that time. The Soviet Union will face a situation of complete encirclement, and those GC madmen will definitely not hesitate to wave their troops south! One thinks of the image of millions of Soviet troops ravaging the Persian Gulf. Xu Gesen, who had no confidence, even looked gloomy. That's why he made an appointment with Jensen to try to inquire about the war situation in Afghanistan, so as to provide a reference for the next strategic direction in the country.

Hearty laughter came from outside, Yang Qiu, who had just finished the military meeting, was full of smiles, and walked into the living room with Jiang Fangzhen and Bei Zuyi, and as soon as he saw the three of them, he immediately stretched out his hand to greet them, with a warm expression: "I'm sorry to keep the three of you waiting, does my coffee here taste okay?" ”

Stilwell, who can speak fluent Chinese, saw his face excited, and while shaking hands, he said the hearts of the two ambassadors: "Mr. President, I look very good today, let me guess, is Kunduz victorious?" ”

"Victory?" Yang Qiu glanced at Jiang Fangzhen and smiled: "Colonel, although I would also like to immediately cut off the claws of the Soviets reaching out to Afghanistan and India, it is obvious that this will require enough time and patience. However, I can tell the three of them that the Pulemri Trail and the Khan Balad Pass have been broken through by the coalition forces, and now they are starting to intersperse Aliabad between Baghlan and Kunduz, and it is expected that by tonight Baghlan and Kunduz will be completely separated! In addition, there is already a detachment of troops leaving from Kabul for Kandahar, and they will expel the Soviet troops there as soon as possible. I have been with Nadir Shah

The king communicated that he was willing to cancel the future garrison in Kandahar, hoping to resolve the conflict between the former and the imperial government. ”

Yang Qiu looked at Xu Gesen with meaningful eyes, and the meaning was very clear. Kandahar is the most important passage between Afghanistan and India, and the British government has tried to send troops to expel the Soviet troops stationed here and cut off the base camp of GC International's activities in India. Now that I've sent troops, I say that your heart has hit the Soviet Union, and Nadir Shah doesn't garrison troops, and it is impossible for you to go to the station, so you should always take some benefits out of the British Empire, right?

This suggestion surprised Xu Gesen, he really didn't expect Yang Qiu to throw such a big bait. I even wanted to agree immediately, but I still took it back when the words came to my lips. At least for now, Britain must not intervene in this bad war, because the Soviet Union has always been eyeing India and the Persian Gulf, and Stalin has repeatedly proposed to export revolution to these places, and now it is undoubtedly deliberately provoking the other side to wade into troubled waters. Not to mention that Stalin was not a good man. You, Yang Qiu, are you a good person? Without GC International, the National Society and the Cheng Cheng Act, which had a huge impact, were equally scourge!

Jensen saw a good opportunity, and thought that if Britain took the bait, it would be China and Britain who would join hands to fight the Soviet Union, and it would be strange if there was no full-scale war in northwest China. So he stood next to him and inadvertently encouraged: "I really admire Mr. President's mind." The threat to our democratic governments is becoming more and more serious, and Spain and Afghanistan have proven that their unbridled expansion will only lead to instability and disaster. Therefore, Your Excellency Ambassador Xu Gesen, you should carefully consider this suggestion, because a safe and stable Afghanistan is not only in China's interests. It is also in the interests of the United Kingdom, and it is the foundation of world peace. ”

What a big hat!

Yang Qiu smiled secretly in his heart, this Jensen really spared no effort to push Britain to jump off the cliff, no wonder Roosevelt trusted him from beginning to end. Of course, Xu Gesen would not jump off the cliff, and picked up his coffee to hide his dissatisfaction. "Thank you very much, Mr. President, for your support of our Indian region. But you should know that as a staff member of the British government, my powers are limited, and such important matters must be decided by the Prime Minister and Parliament. Of course, I personally support your efforts to restore the independence of Afghanistan, and I hope that this terrible war will end sooner. Let peace prevail for the Afghan people. ”

Seeing that Xu Gesen didn't take the bait, Yang Qiu's face slowly turned cold, and even Jensen and Stilwell felt that this British colleague was a little too much. Although Yang Qiu had bad intentions, at least he showed sincerity. The U.S. government and President Roosevelt also deliberately did not mention the neutrality law, and used the subtext of continuing to export grain, cotton, and other strategic materials to China, but he directly deduced that he had no power, and did not just explicitly tell others. Britain will not openly support China in its fight against the Soviet Union!

The originally harmonious atmosphere suddenly became not very good, and Stilwell quickly coughed lightly when he saw this. Deliberately picked up the tea to moisten his throat and opened the subject: "Mr. President, you just said that you are about to cut off the connection between Baghlan and Kunduz, can you predict how long it will take to recover Kunduz?" ”

Jiang Fangzhen, who was sitting next to him, slowly stood up: "Baghlan is the southern gateway to Kunduz, and it is also the only way for Kabul to reach the northern gate of the border, so recovering Baghlan is our first goal." As long as it was evening, we could encircle the Soviet troops inside the Baghlan Basin. It's a region where there is nowhere to run from high mountains on all sides, and now it's the coldest season, and there is no even need for war, just a few weeks of siege, and they will surrender to us for lack of food. ”

Jiang Fangzhen patiently introduced the battle situation to Stilwell, and his eloquent words revealed his confidence in winning the Battle of Kunduz. But Xu Gesen kept his chin tilted slightly, silent, maintaining the last pride of the gentlemen of the British Empire.

After sending the three of them away, Bei Zuyi saw that Yang Qiu's face had not yet turned, and asked, "President, are you really angry?" ”

"Haha." Yang Qiu, who had been holding back for a long time, finally couldn't help laughing. Where would he really be angry, not to mention that even if he was angry, the good news brought by Du Yuming was enough to blow everything away. The 10th Panzer Division's breakthrough through the Khan Balad Pass at a slight cost of 11 tanks and more than 400 casualties was a remarkable victory, because even Yue Peng had predicted that it would take at least 1,000 casualties and 40 tanks to do so.

What if Xu Gesen doesn't take the bait? The breaching of the Khan Balad Pass meant that a sharp sword was inserted between Kunduz and Baghlan. Voroshilov and Shaposhnikov, if they had been smart, should have cut off their tails to survive and abandon the nearly 30,000 Soviet troops in Baghlan. But the loss of 30,000 soldiers means that Kunduz's defense will drop by one level!

It's a tough multiple-choice question, and there's not much time to think about it at all.

The most important thing now is to close the northern gate of Afghanistan as soon as possible and put on the posture of a large army going south to Herat, only then will Stalin feel pain! Britain will also worry that Afghanistan will be completely controlled by itself and threaten India and Persia, and when Germany marches into Austria and Japan goes south, they will naturally sit down and have a good talk.

"Let Mei Sheng and them work hard to take Kunduz as soon as possible." Yang Qiu stood up, took two steps and then slammed it back, and slowly turned his head: "It's shocking!" It's time to give Reza. The Khan and the Persians had a reassurance. ”