Listened to Joseph. Johnston's three-point request for righteous words, for some reason, Li Yongji only had an urge to laugh.

The reason is simple, when Joseph. When Johnston made those requests, Li Yongji suddenly had a sense of déjà vu, the illusion of seeing the press spokesman of the Red Republic in his previous life.

Isn't it, Joseph. Johnston's demands, on the surface, seem to be righteous and quite serious, but in fact, the words reveal a kind of weakness, which is a typical tone of lust and inwardness.

In other words, they are afraid of themselves, so although they make solemn demands, in fact, I am afraid that even they know that these demands may not be agreed to by their own side.

How can I say it, Li Yongji now feels that he is a big villain, he went to someone else's house to rob something and wanted to leave, and people suddenly proposed at this time, you can go, but give me back the things, saying that these things have been mine since ancient times, it is not right for you to do this, and I want to solemnly condemn your banditry behavior......

Obviously, from the other party's standpoint, their request seems to be normal, but from his own standpoint, Li Yongji will spit out the meat in his mouth so easily unless he shows his brain, so in the end, in addition to feeling funny, he still feels funny, because he knows that no matter whether he spit it out or not, the other party can't do anything about himself.

This feeling was very cool and funny, so since he thought so, he did it, and sure enough, in front of Joseph. Johnston's face burst out laughing.

Li Yongji's attitude made Joseph. Johnston was also stunned for a moment, if it weren't for the fact that when the other party talked to him, he used English directly, and did not let the translator do it for him, he would have to wonder if the level of translation was limited and he translated his words wrong.

"What I said. Is it that funny? "Joseph. Johnston simply asked, "Is there something wrong with my expression?" Or did you not understand the meaning of what I was saying? ”

"No, no." Li Yongji smiled and waved his hand, "I actually understood the meaning of what you said just now, but how to say it, it just feels funny, well, it's really funny." ”

"What's so funny?"

"Hahaha, I can't tell, it's funny. It's funny, hahaha. ”

Seeing that Li Yongji continued to laugh in that belly, Joseph. Johnston suddenly understood something, and his face became gloomy.

Because Joseph. Johnston wasn't a fool, he couldn't get to where he is now, so he now understands that the other party is laughing at himself, laughing at his own inadequacy.

Seriously, Joseph. Johnston hates the Chinese. It was, and it is, even more, because in his opinion, the role of China's representative. It is the aggressor, the bully who invades the United States.

Actually, Joseph. Johnston's idea was also the mainstream idea of Americans at this time. Not to mention that the United States of the North, which had just been beaten badly, did not have a good feeling for the Chinese, and even the Southern Union countries, which considered themselves allies, actually did not have the slightest good impression of the Chinese.

Because from the perspective of both the North and the South. Most of the people think that this war should be regarded as a family affair within their own brothers, but the Chinese are absolutely right outsiders, and these outsiders come to intervene at this time, that is, outsiders come to take advantage of the fire to rob, and it is strange that these people, whether they are northerners or southerners, can have a good feeling.

But unfortunately, when the brothers on the north and south sides were fighting, the south was weak at the beginning and urgently needed foreign aid, so even if they knew that the Chinese were uneasy and kind, there was no other way at that time, but in line with the idea of one more helper and more strength, let the Chinese also participate, and even allowed the British and French to participate.

What I did not expect was that the foreign Chinese were so violent, beating their opponents by dividing them by two, and then taking the initiative to negotiate peace with the other side without their own consent, and also taking away from the other side what was originally their own home, which naturally made the Southern Alliance countries feel quite unhappy.

Sometimes Li Yongji put himself in his shoes, if he was a high-level member of the Confederate State, he would be quite unhappy when he heard that the helpers he invited actually took an unauthorized truce at a critical time and took away a large amount of territory from the United States.

Yes, although the South has established itself as a Confederate State of America, in fact, from the very beginning, under the banner of opposing the Lincoln government, they have not given up on the intention of separatism in the United States.

That is to say, although the Southern Army established a provisional government, which on the surface seemed to split the country, their ultimate goal was to overthrow the Lincoln government and replace it with a new government, and they did not want to engage in secession, and the original United States became two countries.

In other words, in this so-called Civil War, although the Northern government insisted that the Southern Army was a puppet government and a rebel army to divide the country, the Davis government in the South never recognized this.

From the very beginning, the Davis administration in the South did not recognize itself as a rebel army to divide the country, but believed that it was still part of the United States, and they only opposed Lincoln, opposed the Republican Party, opposed the abolitionist bill, but did not want to divide the country.

It is precisely because the southern government is actually under the banner of national reunification that so many people follow them, because they also think that they are Americans, and fighting with the Yankees is just a different concept.

In other words, the Davis administration in the South, what they wanted was not to really divide the United States, but to overthrow the Lincoln administration and replace them with the rule of the United States, so as to repeal the so-called abolitionist decree and other orders that made them unhappy, but they never wanted to split the United States in half.

Of course, in another time and space, because the southern government finally got worse and worse, so in order to survive, they lowered their demands and gave up their territorial claims to the northern government, only hoping that the southern government would be independent and not subject to the jurisdiction of the northern government, but before that, they also had claims to the territory of the northern government, hoping for the reunification of the north and the south.

Therefore, at this time, everything for the United States. Including the original territory and so on, both the government of the North and the government of the South consider it their own, and they have the right to inherit everything in the United States.

The war between the northern government and the southern government is like two brothers in a family, who are in charge of the family and who can control the family property, and then fight with each other, but no matter how they fight, how tragic the fight is. They are all a family, no matter how they fight, everything in this family belongs to them after all.

To use a simple analogy, this war is, to put it bluntly, a civil war, a housework of insiders fighting for family property.

However, at this time, the neighbors outside suddenly broke in and came over to rob while they were fighting.

At first, it was okay, they helped one side fight the other. But after the fight, the strongest of the outsiders suddenly stopped, and stopped fighting with the side he had beaten, and took a lot of valuable things from the other party. I'm ready to pat my ass and leave.

Just kidding, everything in the house belongs to the brothers, even if the other party approves of it, but have you asked yourself?

So. After hearing about the Treaty of Smithland, the Davis government of the Confederate States was quite dissatisfied, and some even proposed to declare war on the Chinese.

Thankfully, Davis and other mainstream figures are calm enough. Knowing that it was impossible to offend the Chinese at this time, he simply suppressed these grievances, except for protesting against the Chinese government, other things were not done, as if nothing had happened, or he had heard nothing.

However, the top of the government can act as if they didn't hear or see, but the officers at all levels below are different, and they are looking at this with a rather angry mood.

In fact, when the news of the Treaty of Smithland spread, the officers of all levels of the Southern Army did not believe it at first, and then they made all kinds of inquiries, and when they found out that it was the truth, they began to be angry.

But unfortunately, the Chinese have no handle in the hands of the Union army, and it is difficult for them to find the Chinese to be angry, after all, the Chinese in Richmond have long been protected by Davis to avoid unnecessary diplomatic disputes.

The eastern part could not find the Chinese to get angry, but the western theater was different, and here, especially along the Mississippi River, there were many Chinese, so these coalition forces began to act on their own.

At first, just some company-level Union troops in Memphis, without orders from their superiors, began to attack the Chinese administrative residence in Memphis without authorization, and after being strongly counterattacked and losing part of their men in the process of retreating, the Union army was very unwilling and actually mobilized a regiment of troops to carry out a larger attack on Memphis's city hall.

After discovering these changes in the alliance army, Shi Dakai, who was sitting in the military camp at the time, was very decisive and immediately made his own response.

On the one hand, he transferred a regiment of the Second Division of the Expeditionary Force, that is, the regiment to which Chen Yucheng belonged, to quickly support the city hall in Memphis, cooperate with the police force of the city hall, and resist the offensive of the Union army, so as to prevent any accidents from the administrative officials of the city hall.

On the other hand, Shi Dakai simply pulled out all the remaining troops, including the only motorized infantry regiment, and directly pressed the Allied Army's military camp in Memphis.

In other words, Shi Dakai is responding to this matter with a stronger style, making it clear that he has a tough attitude to the end.

At that time, the situation was very critical, and the two sides were on the verge of breaking out, and although the alliance army at that time had a slight advantage in numbers, everyone knew that if they really fought, they would definitely not be able to defeat the expeditionary force.

It doesn't take much, just that motorized rifle regiment is needed to annihilate the entire Union army in Memphis, not to mention the others.

You must know that when the Allied Army was stationed in Memphis, the Allied Army often sent people to spy on the situation of the Chinese Expeditionary Force under the banner of friendly exchanges, and Shi Dakai at that time, for the purpose of deterring the other party, also pushed the boat along the river, and often organized some activities such as military camp galas, or joint military exercises.

It was through these activities that the coalition forces realized the gap between the Chinese expeditionary forces, and that the gap between the two armies was not only quite obvious, but also the discipline of the armies.

However, although the soldiers of the expeditionary force come from a complicated source, because of the abundant supplies and generous salaries, military discipline has always been strictly demanded, and the intensity of military training has always been very great. So for a long time, even if it is the original veteran oil. In this environment, he has also become a disciplined iron-blooded soldier, and he is meticulous in carrying out his tasks, for fear that he will not be fired.

Just kidding, although the current Chinese Empire is in ruins, but after all, the foundation is too thin, if you talk about treatment, where else can you compare to being a soldier? And what kind of soldiers can compare to the expeditionary force?

To put it bluntly, the treatment of the expeditionary force, even if it is not far from that of the Praetorian Guard, and. Because their own weapons are too advanced, they always beat others when they fight, but they are not in any danger, and to some extent, being a soldier for the Empire, especially this kind of expeditionary force, is even safer than any other profession in terms of safety.

You know, now you are doing things in China, whether you are a farmer or a worker. In fact, there is a risk to life, and the biggest risk is to get sick, and when the Imperial Army is sick, if you get sick. Medicine is free, and although it seems risky to fight, if you are always fighting people from afar, others will not be able to beat you. There is no danger at all, but rather a pleasure.

So, once you join the expeditionary force. The benefits are immediate, and I cherish this identity.

Once they begin to cherish it, their training in military discipline and skills and tactics will not be discounted a little, and after a long time, under the actual combat training at any cost, even rookies can become old birds, and the feeling is naturally different.

On the other hand, most of the coalition troops were actually transferred from the militia, and before joining the army, most of them were peasants, and even if they joined the army, at most they walked in line a few times and shot a few times, and even because of lack of funds, gun training was quite scarce.

Regardless of the quality of weapons or soldiers, the Allied Army is far from being the opponent of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and now seeing that the Chinese are really moving, under the threat of regimental annihilation, originally because of the anger of learning that the Chinese unilaterally ceased war with the Northern Army and plundered a large amount of American land, they quickly calmed down.

After calming down, these coalition forces remembered their commander-in-chief, Joseph. Johnston asked him to hurry up and settle the matter.

Actually, Joseph. Johnston is also quite dissatisfied with the Chinese's treachery and robbery, but he also knows the severity, knows that the Chinese are not easy to mess with now, not only militarily they can't fight, politically they also rely on them a lot, everyone can't really turn their faces, so when he found that when his subordinates began to commotion, he kept persuading his subordinates to calm down, kept restraining them, and asked them not to mess around.

But it's a pity that although Joseph. Johnston has been restraining his subordinates, but he is an airborne commander after all, and he does not have too strong binding force on the coalition forces below, and he can't control the arrogant generals below, which has been vividly reflected in the early days.

Let's talk about the previous Battle of Vicksburg, in the early stage, Joseph. Johnston asked his subordinates to abandon Vicksburg according to his wishes, concentrate their forces, and then deal with Grant's troops, but as a result, the people below did not bird him at all, resulting in the scattering of troops and allowing Grant to break each one.

If it had not been for the Chinese to appear in time and destroy Grant's legion with overwhelming force, the consequences would have been unimaginable, and perhaps the entire area along the Mississippi River would have fallen and become the territory of the Union Army.

Joseph. Johnston is a nominal commander, he can't control the people below at all, everyone doesn't listen to what he said before, and now that something has happened, he only thinks of him when he feels uneven, but he can't let it go, this is the saddest part.

Anyway, Joseph. Johnston still resolutely went out and went to the Chinese camp alone, met Shi Dakai, agreed to hand over the troublesome soldiers, and promised that from now on, the Union Army would not be allowed to leave the barracks without the permission of the Chinese, which was equivalent to the humiliating conditions of house arrest, and finally let the matter of this almost big fight be eliminated without a complete break.

However, since then, the relationship between the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the Allied Army has fallen to a freezing point, and everyone has only maintained the most basic surface peace.

"I came to this meeting with sincerity." Joseph. Johnston took a deep breath and said with a serious expression, "For a long time, I have always respected you quite a lot, so please respect us too, only by respecting others is respecting yourself, I wonder if Commander Li thinks so?" ”

"Well, yes, mutual respect is the basis of cooperation, and I quite agree with you." Li Yongji smiled and nodded, finding that the other party's expression was serious, and finally sorted out his demeanor a little, no longer smiling as unscrupulously as before, so deliberately.

Obviously, Li Yongji also realized that doing so in front of such an elder is a bit too much anyway, even if he is a robber, he must have a bit of a robber's demeanor.

"Ahem, yes." After cleaning up his mood and making his expression begin to become serious, Li Yongji said to Joseph. Johnston said, "But because of mutual respect, don't you think what you've just asked is excessive?" Or rather, when you make those demands, you are already disrespecting us in the first place! (To be continued......)