Xiao Zhenlei had just made arrangements for the war against Japan when he was approached by someone looking for trouble, and this person was Zhu Erdian, the British envoy extraordinary and plenipotentiary to China.

Xiao Zhenlei was surprised by Zhu Erdian's arrival, but since people came, it was not good not to see them, so they could only arrange for a meeting in the reception hall.

Xiao Zhenlei drank tea and asked, "Mr. Special Envoy must have something important to see me this time, I don't know what it is?" ”

Zhu Erdian said: "Your Excellency, I know that the First Army of your army fought very well in the battles of the Asia Minor Peninsula, the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula, and the Second Army Corps annihilated the two German armies with a rabble, which really opened my eyes, and I couldn't imagine that the military command art of China was so powerful!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei smiled: "Thank you for the compliment!" ”

As soon as he finished speaking, he didn't expect Zhu Erdian's topic and tone to change, "But Your Excellency, since your army has obtained such a large number of fighters in the battlefields of Europe and Western Asia, it is precisely when morale is high, and it should be pursued by victory, why do you have to stop?" Doesn't this give the Confederate troops a respite? For the sake of our alliance, I also ask the President to order the troops of the First Army of your Expeditionary Force to enter the Balkans in one fell swoop, and then to attack the heart of Europe, so as to cooperate with the new round of battles between the British Empire and the German army on the Western Front."

Xiao Zhenlei was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then smiled and said: "I understand the feelings of your high-level and special envoys, of course, my country also hopes to break into the hinterland of Europe as soon as possible and contain most of the forces of the allies, but I also ask your high-level and special envoys to understand our difficulties."

In recent months. Both the First Army Corps and the Second Officers of our Expeditionary Force are engaged in extremely high-intensity combat missions, especially the First Corps. They set out from the northwest of our country, crossed the steppes of Kazakhstan and went south to Iran. Passing through a large desert area, fighting for more than five months, there is almost no rest, and in the past five months, we have lost a lot of weapons, ammunition and combat strategic materials, and your country's ammunition and war materials from India and North Africa are always late, which makes my First Army suffer a big loss in the battle, if it were not for your country's delay in the supply of ammunition and war materials, our army can defeat the Ottoman Empire faster and faster! ”

Xiao Zhenlei's words made Zhu Erdian extremely embarrassed. Zhu Erdian knew that the Chinese Expeditionary Force had not stopped recuperating for five months, but he was actually unaware of the delay in the supply of ammunition and war materials by the British.

When Zhu Erdian turned his brain to think about what he should say to save his momentum, Xiao Zhenlei said again: "My officers and soldiers are not iron-clad, they are also people, they also need to rest, Mr. Zhu Erdian, you are not a soldier, you don't know how devastating a long war is to a soldier's spirit and body." Therefore, our expeditionary force needs to rest during this time, and cannot launch an attack on the Central Powers for the time being, and our army can also use this period of rest to wait for the supply of ammunition and war materials promised by your country to arrive. And the storage is enough to launch the next attack, otherwise there will be no ammunition in the future, what will happen when the time comes? If there is another situation where ammunition cannot be supplied in time. Mr. Zhu Erdian, then please ask you Britain and France to fight yourself. Please forgive my country for not accompanying me, my country's expeditionary force is not going to be cannon fodder! ”

Zhu Erdian was shocked when he heard this. Hurriedly said: "Your Excellency, don't be like this, no matter how you say that we are allies now, if there is anything we can sit down and talk calmly, I think there will always be a way to solve it, what the President said just now that our side often delays the supply of ammunition and war materials, I really don't know about this matter, I think there must be some misunderstanding in the middle, please rest assured, I will report this matter to His Majesty the King and His Excellency the Prime Minister, I ask His Majesty the King and His Excellency the Prime Minister to personally intervene and coordinate the solution to the problem of the supply of ammunition and war materials, and there will never be a situation where your army will not be able to get ammunition and war materials in time! ”

Xiao Zhenlei listened to Zhu Erdian's words, his face was a little better, he just said these cruel words just to scare the British, and he also took out a bad breath in his heart, the British always like to procrastinate, and they are very arrogant, it seems that the British have not been beaten enough by the Germans, and they have to let the Germans beat them up, beat them all over the ground, and beat them all the arrogance of their bodies.

Xiao Zhenlei said again: "This is the best, Mr. Zhu Erdian, our army does not have combat capability but deliberately drags it out, you also know the situation of the first legion, who is the composition of the second legion, don't you know?" They are all composed of strong men in Southeast Asia who have not undergone any military training, let them fight defensive wars, and under the command of the superb war command art of our army's senior generals, they can still fight and win a war, but the situation of offensive warfare and defensive warfare is completely different, if the untrained peasants can attack the German army, which is known as the world's first army, can win the battle, then what does the world need the army for? The reason why the Second Army was able to win this time was because of the super high command art of our commanders Zhang Xiaozhun, Wu Peifu and Yang Jie, on the one hand, and on the other hand, the carelessness of the German veteran Marshal Mackensen, otherwise how could they have achieved such great results, right? So this kind of victory is not replicable! ”

"From the current situation in the Eastern European battlefield, the Russian army can no longer move, since they have achieved their strategic goals, they will definitely have to stop when the troops, ammunition and materials cannot keep up, and our second army is in the same theater of operations as the Russian army, if our army makes a move, then it will inevitably affect the entire Eastern European theater, what will the Russian army think?"

Xiao Zhenlei said and got up and motioned for Zhu Erdian to go with him, and Zhu Erdian immediately got up and followed, and the two of them shared a room with a map on the wall.

Xiao Zhenlei pointed to the map and said: "Look here, our side has already negotiated with the Tsarist side, my Second Army Corps will change defense with the Russian Southwest Front, if there is another war, my Second Army Corps will capture the southwestern part of Tsarist Russia occupied by Germany and Austria, and then attack Romania in one fell swoop, at the same time, our First Army Corps will land on the Balkan Peninsula, after capturing Bulgaria, our two corps will meet here, and at that time, any military action taken by our army alone will never disrupt the deployment of the Russian army, It will only reduce the burden on the Russian army, I say so, can sir understand? ”

Zhu Erdian didn't understand military affairs, but he intuitively told him that what Xiao Zhenlei said was right, nodded and said: "Yes, President, although I don't understand military affairs, I feel that if your army completes this step, then it will definitely pose a huge threat to the allies!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei said with a smile on his face: "Therefore, our army now wants to strengthen the training of the soldiers of the Second Army Corps now, let the First Army Corps rest well, and accumulate combat strength, on the other hand, we often create friction and skirmishes on the confrontation front between the two sides, so as to create a tense atmosphere and attract more strength from the German army, which will reduce the pressure on your country, your country now needs to breathe, and needs to get nutrients from Australia, Canada and India, and our side will try to attract German forces when the army rests, Make time for your country! ”

Zhu Erdian was fooled by Xiao Zhenlei, and finally stopped being entangled in the question of continuing to fight, the two returned to the reception room to continue talking, and Zhu Erdian threw out another thing.

"President, you should know that South Yemen, the Kingdom of Oman, and Trusil Oman in the Arabian Peninsula are all within the sphere of influence of our British Empire, but your country has supported local forces to establish a state without our consent or consultation with our country, and they have signed treaties and agreements. Where do you place the British Empire? Anyway, we are still allies, is this how your country stabbed your allies in the back? In addition, Cyprus used to be leased to China by the Ottoman Empire, and before your expeditionary force said that it would be requisitioned as a transit base for attacking the Ottoman Empire, and our country agreed to your request based on the overall situation, but now your country is supporting an unknown person to establish the Republic of Turkey, and you have leased Cyprus from him. ”

"Oh, no, no, no!" Xiao Zhenlei shook his head, waved his hand again, and said: "Mr. Zhu Erdian, my country didn't know in advance that these places you said were your country's sphere of influence, but this matter is indeed what my country did wrong, I apologize again, but you have also seen that this is the situation now, my country has also signed treaties and agreements with those forces, you can't let my country break the treaty, this is not a wise move, do you think this will work, my country will make some compensation to your country in other aspects, what do you think?" ”

"What compensation?" Zhu Erdian immediately asked, he also knew that since the Arabian Peninsula and Cyprus had been swallowed by China, it was basically impossible to make China spit it out, Britain did not have the strength now, since China was willing to make compensation, then quickly agreed to settle down, and it was a little bit to be able to get it back.

Xiao Zhenlei thought for a while and said: "What my country has, your country basically has it, so let's do it, my country will give you fifty fighters for free, which is the kind of fighter plane that your country purchased before, what do you think?" ”

Zhu Erdian shook his head when he heard this: "Fifty planes is too little, great president, you must know that your country has included the entire Arabian Peninsula and Cyprus into its sphere of influence, is this huge territory only worth fifty warplanes?" I mean five hundred! ”

Xiao Zhenlei was silent for a moment and said, "One hundred, this is already the limit!" ”

"Four hundred!"

Subsequently, the two men reached an agreement with 300 fighters, and the Chinese side compensated the British side for including the Arabian Peninsula and Cyprus into its sphere of influence without authorization, and gave Britain 300 first-generation fighters free of charge to compensate for it, and the British side agreed to transfer the management of the Arabian Peninsula and Cyprus to the Chinese state, and each side took what it needed.

After the war, China discovered a large number of oil fields in the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf region, and the British even regretted their bowels after hearing about it, and knew that they should not transfer it to the Arabian Peninsula so cheaply. (To be continued......)