When the British surrendered to the United Autonomous Government of Southwest China in Hong Kong, it was like a magnitude 10 earthquake at home and abroad.

In the West, with the exception of the United States and Germany, all the other major countries almost unanimously condemned the Southwest China Autonomous Government for not complying with the Treaty of Nanjing, which was signed by the Qing Dynasty in the late Qing Dynasty. Under the influence of British cattle, dignitaries from various countries came and went, international conferences led by Britain and France were constantly held, and an undercurrent of encircling southwest China was surging all over the world.

In front of Chinese and foreign reporters, Sun Changqing, prime minister of the Southwest Political Axe, personally took the stage and made a speech to reporters at home and abroad on the position of the southwest.

At the same time, the diplomatic corps in southwest China also frequently moved between the United States and Germany, and Southwest Foreign Minister Li Zongren was even received by Hitler, a rising political star, in Germany. The two sides had a positive exchange of views on the Far East issue, and Hitler even personally supported the move of the southwest to take back Hong Kong, and said that he was very much looking forward to the meeting with Zhang Shusheng, the supreme leader of the southwest.

Wei Sancai, vice premier of the Southwest Autonomous Political Axe, was visiting the United States, and because of the operation of some big chaebols behind the scenes, Wei Sancai met with Mr. Roosevelt, the candidate of the Ming Cook Party and the governor of New York, who is participating in the new round of presidential election in the United States.

At the meeting, Wei Sancai listed various crimes committed by Britain in Hong Kong, and stressed that the war was initiated by the British on their own initiative in order to shield a criminal who planned drug smuggling. In the exchange, Roosevelt hoped that southwest China and the British political axe would properly handle the dispute. The United States, on the other side of the Pacific, will regard southwest China as a major economic partner in the Pacific Rim. Because, according to the latest statistics, the total economic volume of southwest China is already comparable to that of Italy and other second-class powers, and the speed of development is very fast; on the basis of a huge population, abundant natural resources, and large-scale capital investment, many American economists believe that southwest China will be the second powerful economy to rise after Germany and the Soviet Union. Although it is still far from being compared with the United States, it can be an important boost to the economic recovery of the United States. The old East needs to be modernized, and the United States can find a huge new market full of temptations for excess capacity and huge investment**.

"Repeated actions, the ancient East defeated Britain!!"

"Lost Britain!!"

"New forces collide with conservatives again!!"

"War! War from the East! ”

Compared with the diplomatic moves of Britain and France and southwest China, the media attention is even higher than ever, and the German media is the most boiling, whether it is large or small newspapers and radio stations, they are reporting on this huge defeat of the British in the Far East one after another. On the front page of the photo, there are even photos of the Chinese [***] team marching into Hong Kong, welcoming the citizens and the Hong Kong governor and the commander of the garrison on the spot to the supreme leader of the southwest.

Those majestic and combat-ready squadrons were even made into headline photos, announcing to the world that there was a powerful army in the far east.

Some major newspapers, led by the Rheinische Zeitung, published a large number of photos about the southwest, which were not top-secret photos, but only roughly described the modern industries in the southwest represented by the Dongchuan Industrial Belt, the Kunming Industrial Center, the Guilin Industrial Belt, the Panzhihua Iron and Steel Center, the Chengdu-Chongqing Industrial Center under construction, the Guangzhou Industrial Center, and so on. The report commented in a tone of approval and amazement: It is hard to imagine that after the Red Soviet Union, another originally poor and backward country completed a national-level industrial revolution in 20 years. Their speed is almost as fast as that of the Soviet Union, which carried out the industrial revolution with all its might!!

Some British and French newspapers condemned the Chinese for not abiding by the 'equal treaty' of that year, and suggested that the British political axe send troops to the Far East. Americans' newspapers are more neutral, and the country's attention is still on the economic crisis, and there is no past harsh winter, so the whole United States is not particularly concerned about other things, but rather suggests that several disputing parties sit down and negotiate.

It is worth mentioning that the cover of the annual Times magazine actually chose Zhang Shusheng's avatar as the cover of the times, and the cover words are: If the psychology of the new Chinese warlords who influence the world is a combination of anger, arrogance, surprise, and schadenfreude, for the recovery of Hong Kong in southwest China, the Chinese people all over the world feel great encouragement, a kind of strong declaration from the motherland, so that the Chinese who have been uprooted from their homeland for many years and have suffered too much racial discrimination can see a glimmer of the dawn of racial prosperity.

There were Chinese rallies in many cities in solidarity with the war in the Far East, and they unanimously condemned the British and the unequal "Treaty of Nanjing", and they even donated generously and actively donated money as they did to Sun Yat-sen, just to support the 'mother country' thousands of miles away, just for that glimmer of revival at the dawn of revival.

The manifesto of the donation reads: For a common ancestor, for a common race, for the rise of the mother country. We need to buy one less dress, one less car, one more day of work, and one more day of sweating. All just to let Mr. Zhang Shusheng's army build one more bullet, one more rifle, and one more plane! The country is strong, the people are strong, although we are wandering, but the heart of the motherland, we have never forgotten, no matter to the ends of the earth, we are the descendants of the dragon, we are all Huaxia children!!

Compared with the feelings of the Chinese, the feelings of the Chinese people are more memorable.

What is Hong Kong? After the defeat of the Opium War, the late Qing Dynasty was forced to lease out the land after signing the humiliating treaty "Treaty of Nanjing".

Since the Opium War, the whole of China has suffered many disasters.

Constantly suffering defeats, defeats, and defeats!

Sign one unequal treaty after another!

Ceded piece by piece of land!

The whole nation is like being caught in the dark night of decades. Suffering is boundless, and there is no hope for the dawn.

However, the strong rise of the southwest political axe, not only internal reform, but also foreign war, first defeated the British and French forces in Yunnan, and then strongly counterattacked the massacre and bloodshed made by the British and Chinese in Shanghai, and then supported Zhang Xueliang in a high-profile manner, and did not hesitate to help Zhang Xueliang resist the southern march of the Japanese army to Pingjin with a large amount of real arms and huge war funds.

The people may not be able to understand politics, they may not be able to understand cutting-edge technology, they may not be able to understand the so-called policies of this kind and that, all they can understand is whether the regime does things for the people and whether it does things for the whole nation. What they care about is not who is in charge of the regime, but who is doing practical things, doing things for the people's clothing and food, and for issues related to protecting the homeland, defending the country, and the people's security.

In the southwest, even Hong Kong, which was shamelessly forcibly leased by the British, can be reclaimed, so will China bend its legs and submit to other Western powers that were once far from being defeated? Will China still cede land? Will the Chinese still kneel on the ground and let the powers ravage!!

"Say no to imperialism!!"

"Say no to Zhu Ming!"

"Say no to shame and inequality!!"

"Say no to cowardice and incompetence!!"

Under the frantic impetus of newspapers and public opinion, regardless of the north and south of the river, whether in the southwest or under the rule of the Kuomintang, Zhang Shusheng's prestige reached the top for a while, reaching the height of those national heroes who have been sung through the ages.

A nation without heroes is sad, but once a nation emerges, it can bring hope to the people, can revive a nation that has sunk in darkness, and can make a backward ancient country rise again. If you can keep everyone fed and clothed, can make the land of the north and south of the country peaceful, and can support the old and educate the young, then this person is a hero and a national hero.

"Punish the thieves at home and resist aggression from the outside. It will be the long-term proposition of the southwest, the country is rich and the people are strong, and the country and the people will be safe. Whether we succeed or fail, we have been working hard to let China, all Chinese, and the sons and daughters of China have a better living space. For this war, I just want to say one thing, it's not that I, Zhang Shusheng, are too tyrannical, it's not that I, Zhang Shusheng, don't know the overall situation, but that the powers are too pressing. When we can't bear it anymore, we should not continue to forbear, but with a fearless spirit, defeat the enemy and strive for self-improvement!! ”

In an interview with the Southwest Daily, Zhang Shusheng once again reiterated that the Southwest Union did not recognize any unequal treaties between the great powers and China from the beginning of its establishment, and the reason why they did not take back Hong Kong before was only to take it back through more moderate means, but the British took Hong Kong by virtue of the Opium War, and now they have made trouble with the behavior of military drug trafficking to provoke war, so that the southwest can not bear it.

He told this reporter that our nation has endured too long and endured too much, and the entire nation has long been overwhelmed, and what the southwest should do is to rescue this sinking nation, dare to say no to all Chinese enemies, dare to use force against all Chinese enemies, and dare to fulfill the promise that 'those who offend our Chinese heavenly might will be punished even if they are far away.'"

In the end, Zhang Shusheng announced that the southwest was formulating a "supplement to the Fourth Five-Year Plan," and that due to the rapid development, the Fourth Five-Year Plan showed signs of being completed ahead of schedule, and that the Southwest Joint Political Axe would launch a large number of factories, mines, and oil fields that were not part of the Fourth Five-Year Plan in the remaining two years, and that the construction of national industries that were key to national rejuvenation.

Through the Southwest Daily, he once again called on the vast number of Chinese aspiring sons and daughters to go to the southwest, where there is the best education, the most advanced science and technology, the most job opportunities, and a more equal and prosperous life.

There were turbulences at home and abroad, but Zhang Shusheng returned to Kunming early.

"Chief, I really envy you."

As soon as Zhang Shusheng returned to Kunming, Jiang Baili came to the office to discuss some recent strategic issues.

It was raining lightly, and the two of them came to the garden at the back of the office area, so that the staff stood far away, and the chief of the supreme general and the chief of staff took a walk by the lake while discussing the recent turmoil at home and abroad.

It's been a long time since I've been walking on a rainy day, Zhang Shusheng held an umbrella in one hand, looked at the hazy sky, and looked up at the southeast, "This weather is somewhat the same as the situation in the southwest, hehe, it's really embattled." ”

"In the matter of taking back Hong Kong, Fang Zhen believes that the chief will not regret it."

Jiang Baili is in charge of the operation of the Supreme Staff Headquarters of the Southwest Army, and the heavy work in his usual times can completely crush him, and he is just fifty years old this year, and his hair has turned a lot gray. With the exception of the Navy General Staff Department and the Air Force General Staff Department, which were established only in recent years, the army staff system has been set up from the most basic regiment level to the army staff headquarters, and the entire staff system has been set up very well. The establishment of the General Staff Headquarters of the Southwest People's Army in addition to the staff headquarters of the three armed services represents the perfection of the staff system of the entire armed forces. Of course, this is also closely related to the large number of outstanding graduates cultivated by several military academies represented by the Huaxia Military Academy over the years.

Zhang Shusheng: "The resumption of Hong Kong is an arrow that has to be launched, and the resumption of Macao is to take advantage of the trend. The southwest is in the most critical period, and if this last stage of accumulating strength is affected, it may have a great negative effect on the future. Only by surviving these most difficult years can we develop with peace of mind, instead of letting Hong Kong stand in the way of the south of China and keep us under the round-the-clock surveillance of the British. So, my decision was more firm than ever, but the drug trafficking incident became the fuse. ”

Unlike Jiang Baili, Zhang Shusheng knew exactly that World War II would come sooner or later, even if he changed part of history, but the general trend of the world could not be completely changed, especially the outbreak of World War II, by 1932, it was already on the bow, the contradictions of all parties had already been highlighted, and there was a trend of becoming more and more complicated, the war was only a matter of time, and all countries were still accumulating strength.

As for himself, he is also paying close attention.

In some articles he saw in his previous life, he found that many people believed that there was disagreement between the top and bottom of the book on whether to launch a further war of aggression against China. However, in this era, Yumoto's hesitation is insignificant. The first reason is that the economic crisis suffered by the Yue Ben is more serious than in the original history, and the military personnel of some key surnames of the main battle faction have also taken up positions more quickly, and the most important thing is that for some reason, some middle and high-ranking officers and emperors of the Yue army attach great importance to obtaining interests in China north of Pingjin, and they are almost frantically trying to establish a 'Manchurian and Mongolian lifeline', so as to make it easier for them to obtain resources and other benefits from the northeast.

In fact, Zhang Shusheng knew that no matter what, he had always had the ambition to invade China, and what he hesitated was only sooner or later. Originally, in time and space, after launching the war in the northeast, the army smoothly entered the Pingjin area, however, even after a great victory in the northeast, they also attacked Shanghai in the second year, and the 218 incident occurred.

But now the history that has been changed is like this.

Not only did the army not attack Shanghai, but it did not even take down the Pingjin area, and was blocked by Zhang Xueliang in the north of the Ningjin defensive line. According to the opinion of Jiang Baili, chief of staff, unless the army broke through the Ningjin defensive line, it was likely to choose another location to attack China. It's just that Zhang Shusheng doesn't know whether the Yue army will still choose to attack Shanghai. You must know that Shanghai at this time is not as good as the original history, after the Kuomintang shrank its sphere of influence, the Shanghai-Nanjing-Hangzhou area has long been an important place for the Kuomintang, heavy troop hoarding, and the army has received great assistance from the three countries, so it is doubtful whether the army still dares to launch an attack.

Jiang Baili nodded, he also fully supported the recovery of Hong Kong, "In this dispute, the weakness of Britain and France is that it is too far from the east. The strength of the three divisions of the Far East Army in Burma was even difficult to defend, and India had quite a few British and colonial troops, but at most they were stirring up something in Tibetan Province, and if they wanted to deal with us, they would have to go back to Burma, and whether the British would dare to fight a full-scale war with us thousands of miles away. ”

"There is also a battle at sea, the Anglo-French Far East naval forces far surpass ours in terms of tonnage alone, and once our navy loses, the consequences will be unimaginable, and as for the possible blockade of the sea, it will have little impact, and sooner or later it will be useless." Zhang Shusheng also found the problem, "Judging from the intelligence, they may unite many countries to impose international sanctions on us." ”

"The key is to look at the navy and the tricks we have arranged." Jiang Baili smiled, "Although the navy is weak, it is better than the theory of asymmetric warfare, the task force composed of two aircraft carriers, more than 20 offshore submarines, and ten new submarines of the South China Sea class are enough to fight in the entire southeast waters of China, and this will be our most important weapon against the British and French navies." They lacked aircraft carriers in the entire Far East and even in the East Indies, and with battleships alone, it was okay for them to shell coastal cities and block sea routes. ”

Zhang Shusheng nodded, "The intelligence shows that Hitler has signs of coming to power, and I specially asked Li Zongren to bring him a gift, a modified and weakened version of the new Nanhai-class submarine, on the condition that he encourage Germany to announce a formal naval expansion plan." I think he will take this opportunity to reach a further relationship with the German side. Once Germany's naval shipbuilding plans were announced, it was impossible for the British to mobilize a large number of navies to Asia. ”

The comprehensive combat capability of the Nanhai-class submarines is comparable to that of the German pre-World War II submarines in the original history, but some design concepts are more advanced, and the navigation ability and diving level of the submarines are relatively higher. He sent Hitler the drawings of this weakened version, removing the sonar and battery design, which was equivalent to the improvement of German submarine technology for several years, about the same level as before the outbreak of World War II. The German [***] side, which received this gift, would of course be happy to announce a false plan for mass shipbuilding, bluffing to stir up the nerves of the British, a thing that has happened many times in the history of the Anglo-German arms race.

Jiang Baili: "The southwest can be sanctioned by the international community, but this battle must be won, and the British must be afraid, only if they are really afraid, will this dispute end as soon as possible." Perhaps, returning to the negotiating table is also a good idea. ”

"Hong Kong is actually of little significance to the British, there is only one place in the whole East, and even in the whole of Asia, that can stir the nerves of the British, and that is India, once India, the most important British colony, is threatened, the British will definitely reconsider the war with us!!"

Zhang Shusheng put away the umbrella and let the light rain fall on his body, Jiang Baili wanted to give him an umbrella, but he refused, "Their Hong Kong fleet is still wandering around Hong Kong, and when I come back, the attack plan has already begun, and at this time, I don't know what the battle situation is." ”

"Report, military intelligence sent back from Hong Kong!"

At this time, the voice of the military secretary interrupted the conversation between the two.

"Let's see how the battle in the southeast goes, if it goes well, you can order a large army to assemble on the Sino-Burmese border." Zhang Shusheng turned around and motioned for the military secretary to come over, ready to see how the situation was in Hong Kong.

At 3 p.m. on 21 March, over a certain sea area in the South China Sea, more than 200 kilometers away from Hong Kong, two reconnaissance planes bearing the five-star and dragon symbols were conducting high-altitude reconnaissance. Although the speed of the reconnaissance plane modified from the H-2 bomber is far inferior to that of the fighter, the reconnaissance radius is far larger than that of the reconnaissance plane modified from the fighter, and it is extremely convenient for use in maritime reconnaissance.

"Report, Nanniao-1 found no target."

"Report, Nanniao-2 found no target."

The pilot in front of the reconnaissance plane looked at the fuel gauge and saw that it was almost reaching the maximum reconnaissance radius of the plane, so he had no choice but to return home.

A few dozen kilometers off the coast of Hong Kong, a huge task force consisting of two aircraft carriers, two Yucheng-class air defense and antisubmarine cruisers, and three Guilin-class destroyers is cruising. The two aircraft carriers were particularly spectacular, and from time to time there were fighter planes with air defense warnings taking off and landing on the flight deck, and the sound was intimidating. On the aircraft carrier's island, several large antenna nets were constantly rotating, while two Yucheng-class cruisers were dragging a long thing back and forth in the nearby waters. The anti-aircraft fire unit of the Guilin-class destroyer is always manned, meticulously ready for combat at all times.

After the war in Hong Kong began, the Hong Kong Squadron of the British Royal Navy was so frightened that two destroyers were sunk by the Southwest Air Force, and they were so frightened that they fled directly from the sea, fearing that they would be bombed by the Southwest Land-based Air Force again.

However, according to the information constantly fed back by the fishermen in the past few days, it is said that they saw these British fleets less than 300 nautical miles away from Hong Kong, and the huge Elizabeth-class battleships, with a displacement of tens of thousands of tons, are still like a small mountain even if they are far away from the sea.

"Strange, how can you not find it?"

On board the Chengdu aircraft carrier, after receiving the reply from the last group of reconnaissance planes, Navy Commander Deng Haoqian was a little puzzled, picked up a magnifying glass, and threw himself on the chart to study several sea areas reported by the fishermen in the past two days.

"Commander, it's a little strange, it's true that the British didn't stay far from the South China Sea, but how could they not find it."

The captain of the Chengdu aircraft carrier was Gao Xiaochuan, the captain of the earliest destroyer in the southwest, and the British Hong Kong fleet ran too fast, which surprised him, because it was getting late, and if the British could not find that small fleet, by tomorrow, the British would probably flee to Singapore, or completely lose their traces in the sea.

Originally, the task force was going to chase it all the way, but after receiving information that this small British fleet had been spotted in several waters of the South China Sea, the fleet stopped around Hong Kong and did not pursue it.

Deng Haoqian was lying on the chart, comparing the relationship between Hong Kong and several sea areas, and the reconnaissance planes had repeatedly failed to achieve results in the past few days, which made him anxious, and the order originally issued by the military department to deal with the British small fleet as soon as possible could not be completed, which made him very stressed. Gradually, by comparing the relationship between these points and Hong Kong, he found a wonderful problem, although these points are far away from Hong Kong, but they have become a strange curve, zooming in to the space of several hundred nautical miles, the distance between each point and Hong Kong, sometimes near and sometimes far, which gave him a delusion, "Could it be that the British did not want to escape or delay waiting for reinforcements from the Far East Fleet, the real target was Hong Kong?" ”

At this moment, less than 100 kilometers from the waters of Hong Kong, in the southwest, there were three warships sailing on the sea, and the leader was even more huge, which was actually the Hong Kong fleet that the British had escaped. The battleship at the head was the British's Warrior, an Elizabeth-class battleship. The battleship, which began construction at Fairfield Shipyard on January 31, 1913, was launched on November 4, 1914, and was completed in February 1916; It participated in the Battle of Deland on May 31, 1916, and can be said to be an old battleship that witnessed World War I. This big guy with a normal displacement: 29,150 tons, full load displacement: 33,020 tons, is undoubtedly far superior to the battleships in the southwest. The ocean-going flat-topped ship built by the large shipyard in Philadelphia, USA, and the converted Chengdu aircraft carrier has a displacement of only 20,500 tons, which is not as good as this old guy before the war.

On the battleship, the captain of the British, Colonel Sim, put down his binoculars, watched Luo Yue gradually sink below the sea horizon, he waved his hand, and finally gave the order, "Target Hong Kong, immediately pull out!" ”

Watching the fleet gradually accelerate, Colonel Sim's eyes were full of determination. In the past few days, under his orders, the fleet did not flee to Singapore, nor did it enter the Pacific Ocean and circle with the Chinese's small fleet, but in a zigzag track, circumnavigating the southwest of Hong Kong, sometimes far and sometimes near, and then relying on those fishing boats that deliberately let go to ventilate the message, the small fleet commanded by Colonel Sim was lucky to avoid the Chinese reconnaissance planes and confuse the Chinese.

"How can the great Royal Navy of Great Britain be a coward who runs away without a fight. We will fight back against the Chinese with shelling that shocks the world, and let Hong Kong suffer our wrath. ”

Colonel Sim looked forward to it like never before, as if he had seen the city of Hong Kong burned under the bombardment of battleships and cruisers.

(To be continued)