On August 13, U.S. President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Chinese Nationalist Government President Chiang met face-to-face for the first time since the outbreak of the Pacific War on a warship in the Atlantic.

The full text of the Declaration, consisting of eight articles, declares that the three countries will not pursue territorial or other expansion, will not recognize the territorial changes caused by fascist aggression, respect the right of the peoples of all countries to choose their form of government, restore the sovereignty of the peoples deprived by violence, enjoy equal treatment of all countries in trade and raw materials, promote the most comprehensive economic cooperation among all countries, re-establish peace after the destruction of the Nazi tyranny, freedom of navigation on the high seas, and all countries must renounce the use of force to reduce their armaments and disarm the aggressor countries.

Subsequently, Stalin, who was organizing the defense of Moscow, also made a public speech on the Soviet radio station, saying that the Great Patriotic War being waged by the Soviet Union was not only to defend the Soviet Union, but also to help the peoples of European countries who were groaning under the yoke of German fascism, and to show the attitude of the Soviet government to resist fascist aggression.

The attitude of the Soviet government was quickly echoed by China, the United States, and Britain, and the relations between the four countries became closer, and there was a great tendency to unite against Japan and Germany.

On 20 August, exactly one month after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the British and American governments extended invitations to the countries of the world, which were mainly under the aggression of the fascist countries, and invited them to send representatives to the conference of the allies of the world and the world, scheduled for 2 September.

For a time, the situation in the world was turbulent again, although the Entente countries had achieved a great and brilliant military victory in the early stages of the war. However, it prompted the major countries in the world to move towards unity, laying a huge hidden danger for future wars.

Regarding the changes in the situation in the world, the most shocking person is Chen Feng, this "Sino-US and British Joint Declaration on Dealing with Global War" does not exist in history at all, but the content of the declaration jointly issued by the three countries Chen Feng read it, and it is almost consistent with the content of the historical "Atlantic Charter", which means that it is likely that this three-country declaration replaces the Atlantic Charter.

The Atlantic Charter occupies a very important position in the history of World War II, and the objectives of fighting against fascist countries and the goal of rebuilding post-war peace for progressive democracy have embodied the general principles of bourgeois democratic politics and played a positive role in promoting the formation of the international anti-fascist united front and the defeat of the German and Japanese aggressors.

What's more. The "equal opportunities" and "freedom of the seas" proposed in the charter were very conducive to the post-war competition between the United States and Britain for the scope of power. Achieved the "leading position" in the world.

Historically, this matter has nothing to do with China at all, and China really participated in this group at the Cairo Conference in 1943, but I didn't expect that now Lao Chiang would take the lead in going abroad and joining this club. This will be very beneficial for China to compete with the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union for its status in the world in the future.

The Chinese are happy. The Japanese were not satisfied. This is the prelude to the joint resistance of China, the United States, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Australia, Canada and other countries, if these countries really unite, even the now powerful Japanese Empire will not be able to contend with it. Therefore, the Japanese government and the headquarters immediately convened a meeting to discuss the matter.

Tokyo. Prime Minister's Office.

Because Hideki Tojo met the demonic Chen Feng in this era, and the huge defeats in many battles made him lose the opportunity to become the prime minister of Japan, so the wartime cabinet at this time was still the Konoe cabinet.

As one of the few evergreens in Japan's political arena, Konoe Fumima has always been reluctant to start a war with the United States and Britain and other countries, but when the Japanese Navy and Army successes were sent back to Tokyo one after another, Konoe Fumima, like all Japanese, was excited, and his attitude towards this war also changed dramatically.

Therefore, after the news came that China, the United States, and Britain were preparing to jointly resist Japan, Konoe Fumima immediately notified Japan's major military and political officials to convene a five-phase meeting at the Prime Minister's Office to discuss countermeasures.

Since the meeting was held in five phases, the only people in the entire conference room were Mijiro Umezu, Mijiro Umezu, Miko and Shiro Kawako, Minister of the Interior Tanabe Jitsu, Foreign Minister Shigetoku Togo, and a secretary in charge of the minutes of the meeting.

As the initiator and moderator of the meeting, Fumima Konoe first stood up and said: "Gentlemen, the brilliant achievements of the imperial warriors in the south are brilliant, they have rewritten the history of the empire, and they are the greatest victory of the Great Japanese Empire in the past hundred years!" ”

Then Konoe Fumima said again: "However, in the case of a smooth military advance, there are still some issues that we need to make decisions in a timely manner, such as the large number of Western leases and embassy districts on the China continent, how should we deal with them?" And how to deal with the alliance of the United States, Britain and China? ”

Foreign Minister Togo Maud was the first to say: "The western lease of China has a long history, and in China, in addition to the concessions administered by Britain, France and other countries, there are also the common concessions in Shanghai and the embassy area in Beijing, and there are still the rights and interests of the Western powers in various places. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes that it is necessary to reconsider these places, after all, there are many countries involved, and if they are not handled well, it is likely to lead to a diplomatic dilemma for the empire! ”

Senior General Umezu Mijiro, Minister of the Continent, retorted: "Your Excellency Togo is serious, in fact, since the moment the empire decided to go south, the empire's diplomacy has been limited to a limited number of countries such as Germany and Italy, and it has been completely at odds with Britain, France, the United States, the Soviet Union and other countries, and the diplomatic dilemma will not be alleviated because the empire lets go of those leased and embassy districts. ”

More importantly, these leases had in fact become a number of strongholds that threatened imperial rule in China, especially the common concession of Shanghai and the British and French concessions, which were hostile strongholds against the Japanese Empire and were also the base from which Chongqing planned to resist Japan. In order to resolve the Chinese incident, to eradicate the hostility of these concessions, and if possible, to bring them under our power, this has been the desire of the Imperial Army for many years. ”

Minister of the Interior, Osamu Tanabe: "In fact, the government also discussed the issue of the concession, and as early as July 27, Showa 15 and January 16, when the new national policy was decided, the issue of receiving hostile concessions was also raised. However, because the nature of this issue also involved the determination to wage war against the United States and Britain, it could not be implemented at that time. Now that the war has been waged against the United States, Britain and the Netherlands, the handling of hostile concessions and rights and interests can be dealt with militarily as long as the object of the war is the other country in the war. ”

The most rearly guarded Furuma concluded: "What the Minister of the Heavenly Edge said is very reasonable, since there has been a war with Britain and the United States and other countries, then there is no need for people and concerns, as long as it is beneficial to the empire, it should be boldly implemented, but how to implement it still needs a perfect plan!" ”

Umezu Mijiro said: "The plan has been formulated by the War Department, which is an aspect of the army's next stage of the war against China, and its main points are as follows: 1. Clear the armed forces of the United States and Britain in China. 2. We will keep the hostile concessions in China (including the Beijing embassy district) and the hostile important rights and interests (customs, mines, etc.) under our power, but we must pay attention to reducing the burden on China's manpower and material resources as much as possible. However, with regard to the Common Concession and the Beijing Embassy District, although they have also been cleared of hostile armed forces and brought them under the control of our power, they have not taken the form of accepting them because they are mixed with the rights and interests of friendly countries. 3. In order not to reveal our intentions, the above items should be started as soon as possible. Fourth, the exercise of belligerent rights against Chongqing should not deliberately adopt declarations or other forms, but should actually achieve practical results through the war against the United States and Britain. 5. In the rights and interests of the enemy country in China, even if the part related to the national government is to be temporarily controlled by our power as necessary, and other measures should be taken to adjust it. ”

After listening to Umezu Mijiro's plan, Konoe Fumima got up and said: "The War Department's plan is very detailed and highly executed, and now you all express your opinions, and there are colleagues who oppose the plan first?" ”

Seeing that no one spoke, Konoe Fumima continued: "Since none of you have any objections, then agree in principle to the plan of the War Department, and after the meeting is dismissed, the base camp will be responsible for the specific implementation of the plan!" Now let's talk about how to deal with the joint response of China, the United States, Britain and other countries! ”

This time it was still Shigetoku who was outgoing and spoke, and I saw that the old man was bald and said: "Dealing with the alliance between the empires should have been the business of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but as His Excellency Umezu said, since the empire and these countries are already in a state of de facto hostility, and both sides have declared war on each other, there is no longer much operability in diplomatic efforts until the war is decided, so I don't think the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has the ability to solve this matter!" ”

Konoe Fumima said: "Togo-kun is right, this matter is indeed not something that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can solve alone, the best solution is to make a military decision to victory, just as Ito Hirobumi's predecessor said to Li Hongzhang of China, when the strength is equal, diplomacy is strength, and when the strength is not equal, strength is diplomacy!" That's what a weak country says without diplomacy! ”

Umezu Mijiro said: "After the start of the war, the essence of the army's operation against Chongqing has not changed much from the past. The base camp had already assigned a new mission to the commander-in-chief of the Chinese dispatch army on August 3. The main content of the plan is to maintain the current situation in general, especially to strengthen the blockade of the enemy, to smash and weaken the enemy's intention to continue the war of resistance, and to restrain the outline of the operation against Chongqing after the start of the war. And the General Headquarters of the Chinese Dispatch Army also reported their operational plans to the base camp! ”

(To be continued......)