Just when Skerst was in Washington to persuade Lincoln to negotiate a truce, Li Yongji, who had already led his troops to New Orleans, happened to be talking about this matter with his confidant Sun Xiangbing.

"Your Majesty, so much time has passed, why hasn't there been news from that Scrut?" Sun Xiangbing took the initiative to ask, "He wouldn't be deceiving Your Majesty and wanting to take this opportunity to escape, right?" If this were the case, we would have suffered a great loss, not only for two informants, but also for a valuable telegraph machine. ”

Indeed, in order to ensure that Skerst's rebellion could be smoother, when Skerst went back this time, Li Yongji specially arranged two white intelligence agents for him, and also brought a radio walkie-talkie.

In private, in order to ensure that the intelligence at the front could be transmitted smoothly, Li Yongji also specially dispatched three groups of intelligence personnel to Baltimore with newer and stronger relay radios, so as to strengthen the intelligence transmission force in the direction of Baltimore and facilitate the timely transmission of information in the direction of Washington.

In short, in Sun Xiangbing's eyes, Scester's person is insignificant, but the two newly trained white intelligence officers around him are very important, and compared to the two white intelligence officers, the radio station they brought is undoubtedly the most important thing.

Although the radio stations that followed Skester were all built-in miniature bombs, which not only would self-detonate when faced with violent disassembly, but could also be remotely detonated when necessary, and they were full of semiconductor components, even if they were really disassembled, they would not be able to study the reason with the technical strength of the United States, so they were not worried about safety.

But the price of the radio station is quite high, this thing is an absolutely rare artifact in this world, and losing any of them will make Sun Xiangbing feel distressed.

Therefore, he has always disapproved of Li Yongji giving such a precious thing to the unknown origin of Skerst to use, but after all, he is only a subordinate. So after expressing his doubts once and letting Li Yongji understand his concerns, he didn't say anything more.

Anyway, when Li Yongji made a decision, Sun Xiangbing could only obey, but the doubts in his heart always existed, so this time Li Yongji came to him to discuss things, and he immediately said these doubts.

The reason why he said it directly was because Sun Xiangbing understood that His Majesty likes others to speak directly. And he likes others to speak to him in the vernacular, if you are always rounding around the clouds, or speaking in Chinese, he will definitely not treat you.

Therefore, the main purpose of his current speech, especially the kind of small suspicion and suspicion deliberately shown, is to lead the other party's topic, so that Emperor Li Yongji can have the opportunity to teach himself a lesson and satisfy the other party's preaching. And rely on this to maintain a sense of intimacy with the emperor.

From this point of view, this Sun Xiangbing is not as upright as he appears on the surface, he is pretending to be doing things according to the emperor's preferences. Of course, talent is also there, which is the fundamental reason why he was able to become Li Yongji's confidant in a short period of time.

Sure enough, I listened to Sun Xiangbing's words full of little suspicion. Li Yongji smiled slightly in a very comfortable mood: "Xiang Bing, it's good to be cautious and suspicious at all times, but don't be too so." If you want to maintain a certain degree, if you go too far, don't do anything. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty taught you." Sun Xiangbing lowered his head and clenched his fists, "Wechen is indeed a little dull, but I haven't believed it for so long, Wechen is really worried, after all, intelligence officers and telegraphs are not cheap." ”

"It's only been a long time, and you can't hold your breath." Li Yongji smiled, "Skerst has to take a boat from here to Baltimore, and then take the overland route to Washington, which will take a lot of time, maybe he is still on the way."

And even in Washington, he could not convince Lincoln at once, if Lincoln had such soft ears that he could easily listen to a newly released man, then he would not be president.

In short, we should not only give them plenty of time, but also give them full trust. ”

"Your Majesty taught you a lesson." Sun Xiangbing nodded yes.

"As for Scrut." Li Yongji paused and continued, "In my opinion, this guy is a glamorous hypocrite on the surface, but in fact, he is quite timid and selfish on the inside.

He doesn't have any concept of a country or a nation in his heart, he is just selfish, a villain who only wants to win and only wants to follow the strong.

Therefore, as long as we can stay strong and let him see that there is more to be gained by following us, he will definitely serve us hard.

From the present point of view, we are the biggest gainers of this war, and he is fully aware of our strength, so in his mind, we must be the strongest in this world.

Let's take a look at the alliance between the Northern Federation and the South, after this war, they are all greatly damaged, and we have taken the opportunity to cut off so much land, and the British and French are also eyeing each other, so whether it is the North or the South, it will not be enough to be a good backer in the future, and it is naturally understandable that he is now switching to us. ”

"Of course Weichen believes that he really defected to us." Sun Xiangbing frowned and said, "Weichen just doubts his ability, and doubts that he can convince Lincoln to really get the North United States to agree to peace talks." ”

"Scester's just a pawn." Li Yongji continued to explain with a smile, "The most important purpose of my chess move is to insert a high-end traitor in the United States of America, as for lobbying Lincoln and speeding up the speed of peace talks between the North and the South, it is just incidental, whether it succeeds or not, it will not hinder us."

In other words, in fact, even if Scester did not lobby for it, with the current strength and state of the two sides, it was doomed that the war would not go on, and the peace talks would be a matter of time before and later, and the difference was a matter of being a little earlier and a little later. ”

"Your Majesty." Sun Xiangbing said, "I know that President Davis in the South really has the intention of peace talks, but that Lincoln, don't you say that he is a person with a resolute personality and a lot of perseverance in doing things?" Is he willing to negotiate peace? ”

"Perseverance is not stubbornness." Li Yongji smiled, "With the situation of the Northern Federal Government, he won't be able to support it for long." ”

"But it will definitely be supported for longer than the South." Sun Xiangbing continued, "Now that the north has begun to implement the ticket supply system, the authority of the central government is increasing day by day, coupled with their population base, if they really make up their minds to continue to consume, without our support. I'm afraid the south can't stand it. ”

After a pause, Sun Xiangbing continued: "Your Majesty, now that we have ceased war with the United States in the north, and we have also withdrawn our troops to New Orleans, and the contradictions between General Johnston and the central government of the Confederate States have intensified, this has caused the entire western theater of the United States in the south to be empty again.

On the contrary, it is the United States in the north, they also have a well-formed James River Army in Evansville, once they take the opportunity to move west, the Southern Alliance will definitely not be able to resist, and the situation will deteriorate rapidly!

If the situation worsens. As a result, the entire western theater will once again fall into the hands of the United States in the north, and then the government in the south will be completely out of play, and the United States in the north can still regain reunification, which is not in line with the plan we formulated to split the United States. ”

"The kind of scenario you're talking about is really possible, and it seems to be feasible." Li Yongji shook his head, "But it's a pity, that's just wishful thinking, even if the Northern Army does that, it is impossible to really recapture the west." It is even more impossible to defeat the South and reunite at this time. ”

"Why is that?"

"Fundamentally, the Northern Army no longer has the strength to wage a full-scale war." Li Yongji said, "Based on the current situation in the Northern Federal States. Let them defend with all their might, or launch an offensive locally, that is possible, but if they launch that kind of invasion of the west again. And then swallow the situation of the entire Southern Alliance, they will definitely not be able to do it, just a logistical problem. The Northern Army will not be able to hold on.

Moreover, even if the Western Theater of Operations is the weak link of the Southern Alliance, this weakness is only relatively speaking, and it refers to the problem of discord within the Alliance Army.

The reason why the Southern Army dared to fight among themselves was because there was no threat from foreign enemies, but once the Federation Army re-advanced westward and threatened Johnston and Hood, they would temporarily put aside their prejudices and join forces again to deal with foreign enemies first.

Don't forget, the one we support, Joseph. Johnston had an army of 400,000 at his disposal. Bel. The combined forces of Hood and Pemberton also have more than 200,000 troops, and as long as they don't really fight, even if they don't move, the James River Army of the Northern Army will not be able to achieve much success, not to mention, we still have a regiment left in Memphis.

All in all, the Northern Army was bleeding too much, the Southern Army was exhausted, everyone was exhausted, and outside, the British and French had not yet fully exerted their strength, and even we were still a threat, and Lincoln would not continue to fight as long as he did not have a brain pump. ”

"And what if that Lincoln is a brain pump?" Sun Xiangbing asked, "The northern government is now Lincoln's word, and Lincoln alone has the final say on any decision." What if Lincoln really refuses to give in, and has to fight hard to defeat the South?

You must know that this kind of situation of reckless military force and all-out foreign affairs is not without precedent, and the former United States is counted, but the current United States is not easy to say. ”

"You're not wrong with that." Li Yongji nodded, "That's why I want that Scrut to go back and act as our spy, so that we can know more clearly about the real intentions of the Northern Federal Government."

Let's put it this way, if the northern government has the intention of peace talks, then we can leave as soon as possible, but if Lincoln is still fantasizing about reunification and insists on continuing to fight, then we don't mind giving him any more hardship. ”

"Do you mean that our expeditionary force will fight the Federation again?" Sun Xiangbing asked.

"That's right." Li Yongji said, "Don't forget, the banner of our army is the Chinese Expeditionary Force, or the Eastern Legion, not the Wehrmacht or the Praetorian Guard, to put it bluntly, we are a private mercenary army belonging to the Eastern Bloc, not a national army!"

The reason why I became a private mercenary in the first place, not in the name of the national army, was to guard against this!

When the time comes, we can say that in the old days, we fought against the Federation Army to serve the Chinese Empire, and now although China and the United States have ceased war and no longer serve the Chinese Empire, we have also become free again.

At this time, we can choose to continue to serve the Confederate government and become their mercenaries, and then we can continue to fight against the Northern Army?

In this way, no one can say that the Chinese government has betrayed its promise, the reputation of the Chinese government has been preserved, and we do not have to be restricted by any armistice treaty at all. ”

"But in this case, we must find a nominal employer, which is the government of the Southern Union." Sun Xiangbing said, "Will the Alliance Government agree to hire us?" As far as I know, they've always been quite hostile to us. ”

"This time and that time." Li Yongji said, "In the past, the Southern Army was hostile to us because we forcibly occupied New Orleans, Memphis and other cities. Although we took it back from the federal army, these cities were all subordinate to the southern government in the past, and if we don't give them back, of course they complain and suspect us, no, the Chinese government behind us has some intentions.

But now it's different, we have used practical actions to return all the ground we have laid to them, although whether they can really get it back, it depends on their own ability, but our approach obviously relieved them.

In other words, by the time we returned our territory, the contradictions between us and the southern government were already less serious, and the southern army and the northern army were now in the stage of stalemate, and neither could help the other at present.

Then, if we are willing to take the initiative to disclose the information of the help to the south, and ask for a little less payment, I believe they will still be able to agree. ”

"Does that mean we're going to stay here?" Sun Xiangbing frowned and said, "We don't want to return to China immediately, but we want to stay here until Lincoln makes a choice?" ”

"Yes." Li Yongji narrowed his eyes, "We do want the Northern Army now, or Lincoln, to make a choice first, and then make our response to his choice, which is a preemptive strike."

However, this kind of waiting will not take long, I will not wait for him indefinitely, and I don't need them to really make arrangements.

I just need to know Lincoln's true intentions, know what Lincoln really wants, and as long as we know his intentions, we can make corresponding countermeasures in advance.

For example, if we know that Lincoln does not want to negotiate peace now, but is preparing a plan to continue the attack on the South, then we will join forces with the Southern government first, sail north to Baltimore in the name of Southern mercenaries, and directly attack Washington, sign an alliance with Lincoln, and use the most forceful means to force the Northern Army to cease the war!

If, on the other hand, Lincoln had already intended peace talks, and was going to send someone over in the near future, then we would not have to go so far, and we would have to wait a little longer, and wait for their envoys to come and sign an armistice with the Southern government, and then we could leave with peace of mind.

All in all, it was enough for me to know Lincoln's current strategic intentions, and that was one of the purposes for which I sent Schorst.

So, we do have to stay here for a little longer, but not for a long time, as fast as a month, as slow as three months, and then we can actually go home! (To be continued......)