July 25, 1937. Washington, USA.

In the conference room of the White House, Roosevelt said in a deep voice to the cabinet members present: "The current situation in China is not optimistic, at least the area to which Nanjing belongs is seriously threatened. What I want to know is whether Japan will infringe on our interests in China?! ”

Roosevelt was talking only about Nanjing. As for the three eastern provinces, he was not at all worried, and as early as July 12 the Wehrmacht announced the losses of the Japanese army in Korea.

According to the Wehrmacht's notice, the Japanese lost more than 4,000 infantry troops, 50 tanks, and more than 1,000 fighters near the 38th parallel in Korea.

Of course, the Japanese side does not admit this. They merely admit the loss of about two thousand troops, twenty tanks and three hundred fighters.

But from Patton's and Eisenhower's observations, the Wehrmacht's statistics should not be far from the truth. Fifty Japanese tanks were brought back, and it is estimated that more than 800 planes were shot down.

This directly frightened the Japanese, but the Wehrmacht tentatively attacked the Japanese positions and found that they had all applied a large number of reinforced concrete fortifications.

It was extremely difficult to attack, and it fell silent after the first wave of tentative attacks. On the Korean battlefield, the two sides are now in a stalemate. Shanhaiguan was garrisoned by a regiment of the Wehrmacht and hundreds of fighters.

The United States is not worried about its enterprises and cooperation in the three eastern provinces at all, and is mainly worried about their interests in Tianjin, Shanghai, and other areas under the jurisdiction of the Nanjing government.

"According to the information coming back, at least the Japanese operation in Tianjin has been temporarily stopped." Treasury Secretary Morgan Jr. whispered to Roosevelt: "I should have been frightened by the Wehrmacht's performance in Korea, but the Wehrmacht stationed a large number of troops at Shanhaiguan. If there is a war, the Japanese army of less than 30,000 may not be able to support the ......"

Everyone nodded, they must have been frightened! Hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops were helpless against the Korean National Defense Forces, so Tianjin was so close to Shanhaiguan, the Japanese army would definitely not dare to move at will.

"Shanghai is in crisis, and according to our information, the Japanese seem to have stopped their imminent offensive in order to achieve an absolute victory. Instead it went to the preparatory stage, but it seemed to us that war was certainly inevitable......"

As he spoke, Morgan Jr. paused and smiled at Roosevelt and the others, saying, "Fortunately, most of our interests in China are in the three eastern provinces. I don't have to worry too much. Moreover, the three eastern provinces themselves have access to the sea, and most of our companies and enterprises have moved there. The impact won't be too great......"

Morgan Jr. paused and continued: "But the question we face now is, how should we deal with Japan?!" Also, what should be our attitude towards the three eastern provinces?! These are the most pressing ...... issues."

After the three eastern provinces declared war on Japan, everyone originally thought that Japan would be angry and also declared war on the three eastern provinces. Unfortunately, Japan did not do so. Even Japan did not respond in any way to this. Just started the war blindly!

And although they lost the war in Korea, they still occupied most of Guangdong! This greatly threatens Britain's interests in Hong Kong, so Britain has also sent several secret telegrams hoping that the United States will have a clear attitude.

The quarrel in the parliament on this matter is not a day or two, and the pro-China is the spokesperson of most enterprises. In fact, Roosevelt himself was also pro-China, and he had a deep friendship with Situ Meitang and Tu Qianjun himself.

"It seems that some of the things we were originally opposed to are still good later~" Roosevelt suddenly smiled humorously at everyone, and everyone was stunned at first! Then I laughed out loud!

They knew what Roosevelt was referring to, and in fact Roosevelt was referring to the Neutrality Act, which he opposed in early May but had to sign at the strong demand of Congress.

The Neutrality Act is the general term for a series of bills passed by the U.S. government in the 1930s. In the early days, the United States actively participated in World War I, which led to heavy losses. And most of the loans are not recovered. This makes a lot of people extremely angry!

And these things, after being promoted, are considered to be one of the culprits of the economic crisis. At least that's how it was seen at the time, which indirectly led to the rise of homegrown isolationism in the United States. It was hoped that the United States would not be involved in the international struggle, which led to the enactment of the neutrality law.

In 1935, an amendment to the Neutrality Act prohibited U.S. citizens from selling arms to belligerents in international wars. This indirectly led to the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. But the bill does not prohibit the trade in raw materials, such as steel and oil.

The 1936 Neutrality Act, readopted in February 1936, plugged the loopholes of the 1935 Neutrality Legislation, prohibiting war raw materials and lending and accounting to belligerents.

Roosevelt opposed the law on the grounds that it punished victims of aggression (such as Ethiopia) and limited his right as president to assist friendly nations. But because of overwhelming public support, he had to sign the case. In 1937, the U.S. Congress passed a stricter bill.

In January and May 1937, two neutrality laws were passed in response to the Spanish Civil War, which was not covered by the neutrality laws. Originally, the Neutrality Act was aimed only at wars between states, not within states. With the support of Republican Senator Vandenberg, the bill tightens the assistance of American businesses and individuals to the participating countries. It was even forbidden for U.S. citizens to leave the country on ships of the participating countries.

And what Roosevelt said was actually this bill that he originally opposed but now thinks is good. At least this will give the United States a reason to refuse to sell steel, oil, and other materials to Japan.

In contrast, the United States has a greater interest in the three eastern provinces. If the three eastern provinces fall, this will not be a good thing for the United States. This will probably mean that their own steel, oil, and most of their enterprises will fall into the hands of the Japanese, and they will be left to slaughter.

It is still okay to give Japan a certain amount of intimidation and tell them not to harm the interests of the United States at will. Of course. Privately resold through a third country, this is beyond the control of the United States.

Bill! There will always be loopholes, so just go to Mexico or Brazil to register a company and resell it. There are always workarounds in business, and if you don't know how to do that, you can just die.

Roosevelt and the members of his cabinet discussed the strategy for a while, and then sent a secret telegram to Britain and France. As for Congress. Naturally, it will be up to little Morgan to do the persuasion.

Who's the biggest in Congress?! Naturally, it was the corporate interests of the little Morgan that they represented, and as long as they agreed, most of the matter was settled.

An hour later, 10 Downing Street, London, England.

Chamberlain rubbed his forehead and said to everyone: "This is the attitude of the Americans, you all say what we should do?!" Do it with them and take the side of the Japanese?! Or is it the side of the tiger?! ”

When he said this, Chamberlain directly kicked Jiang Zhongzheng's Nanjing State Mansion into a corner without mentioning it. One fought the fiercest air battle, crushing the Japanese troops.

The other has lost a large amount of land in only two weeks, and the fool knows who to choose with his toes.

"Prime Minister, the most important thing is the interests of the Empire in Hong Kong. This is extremely important, and now Hong Kong is directly threatened by the Japanese...... but the Earl of Halifax, the Speaker of the Privy Council and the leader of the House of Lords, stood up and said to Chamberlain.

"Our interests in the Far East, the focus is understandably on the three eastern provinces. But Shanghai, Tianjin, Hong Kong...... and so on, and so on, and you can't give up ......"

Chamberlain rolled his eyes, I don't know?! But now the situation is that the tiger has declared war! The Japanese did not accept the offer, but fortunately, the United States had a "Neutrality Act" as a shield. But we always have to take a stand, right?!

"We can morally condemn Japan and express the hope that Japan will sit down and negotiate the abandonment of the invasion attempt." Foreign Minister Anthony. Aiden stood up and said to Chamberlain.

"Although we do not have a Neutrality Act, we can still condemn this war in the name of the League of Nations. The rest...... I think we'd better take a look......"

This is also a very helpless thing, and Britain cannot actually interfere too much in the Far East. Britain is no longer the British Empire on which the sun never set, and the severe decline in national power has forced them to narrow their control.

The increasingly chaotic situation in Europe has made Britain also have a mind to prepare. Germany's growing strength gave the British a sense of playing with fire. Although they felt dangerous, they felt that they should keep playing.

The reason why I feel this way is because the British know that the economic wounds of the First World War have not yet healed. The onset of the economic crisis has plunged the whole world into winter again.

Second, Britain had long believed that France had overpressed Germany in the Treaty of Versailles, and they thought that Germany was only trying to get back its rightful benefits.

In fact, Germany may have thought the same way in the beginning. But when you are getting stronger step by step and all your demands are met, the expansion of ambition is inevitable......

Perhaps, later the Germans themselves said: "We are all crazy!" But it's the best portrayal.

"Aiden, write a manifesto and release it to the public! We have no shortage of interests in the three eastern provinces, and we take care of their emotions. Let's just declare that we will no longer trade with Japan, and make a statement! ”

Chamberlain thought about it, anyway, there was not much trade between Britain and Japan, just a little bit.

"As you wish, my Prime Minister!" Foreign Minister Anthony. Aiden nodded at Chamberlain and said in a deep voice...... (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly passes, and your support is my biggest motivation. )