On November 19, 1917, the political and military leaders of the Allied powers met in La Palo, Italy, and created a body with a grand name, the Supreme War Steering Committee of the Allied Powers. The establishment of this body has historically proved to be significant, more practical than any previous Entente conference - it not only achieved agreement on the Russian question, but also had an important impact on the establishment of a new world order after the war.

The initiator of the meeting was France, but the actual moderator was the United States. The cause was, of course, the Russian Incident, and the Entente felt a great threat, and the venue of the meeting was initially chosen in England, but Italy suffered a severe defeat in the war in October, and the German-Austrian army (a German army with only four and a half divisions in total) broke through the Italian lines, and the Italian army was captured, missing, and killed more than 250,000 people, and the cabinet was dismissed. In order to cheer up the crumbling Italy, U.S. President Wilson set up the conference in Italy, which was unanimously agreed by the leaders of the Entente powers, and President Wilson telegraphed Beijing and strongly requested Long Qian to attend the meeting in person to finally solve the Russian question. After careful consideration, Long Qian agreed to Wilson's request, took Defense Minister Feng Guozhu and Foreign Minister Tang Shaoyi, and went to Italy on the cruiser "Qingdao" purchased from the United States.

Larger fighting on the Russian front, including the section of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, which reported only a meagre 109 casualties in October, including 21 in the rear in the fighting with Ukrainian militants, has ceased since the party called for an armistice. For an army of hundreds of thousands of people in a state of war, this casualty is completely negligible.

While Long Qian's warship was still sailing in the Red Sea, on November 9, three Russian troops sent by General Kirilenko, the newly appointed chief of the General Staff of the Central Committee of the Buenos Aires Party, walked to the Kurland Line, the northernmost point of the German army, holding white flags, and conveyed to the German army the request of the new Russian government to hold armistice negotiations with Germany. The two sides agreed to hold high-level talks in Brest-Litovsk. A week later, representatives of the two sides gathered at the negotiating venue, with Trotsky being the Russian plenipotentiary and the German being Foreign Minister Kurman and General Hoffmann, Chief of the General Staff of the Eastern Front.

At the request of the Russian side, the two sides adopted strict secrecy measures for the Brest talks.

But the secret is meant to spread. After arriving in Italy, Long Qian brought news of the German-Russian talks to the leaders of the Entente. Although they are not as clear as the Chinese in details. But the Brest talks have already been confirmed. He was outraged by the news that Russia would cede its western territories in order to free up its hands to solve its internal problems and consolidate the new regime. For this reason, the conference expelled the Russian representative, the Russian ambassador to Italy, on the basis of the proposal of France and Britain, and the Russians were formally "expelled" from the Entente.

The presence of an envoy in Italy at such an important meeting is in itself coping. Russia's determination to withdraw from the war was clear. Perhaps the party still wanted to reap some benefits from the Entente. But their actions have crossed the red line, and the Entente will definitely not tolerate it anymore.

The Rapallo Conference immediately telegraphed Petersburg on behalf of the Entente, questioning Russia to negotiate with Germany behind the back of the Allies. Russia was asked to clarify this. Two days later, Petersburg called back to admit part of the truth, all explanations were no longer important, and the new Russian regime was clearly ready for a moment's errand.

The meeting decided to immediately terminate all aid to Russia. The next step is to look at further countermeasures. The British and French hoped best for the Chinese expeditionary forces in Ukraine and Poland to intervene militarily and march to Moscow and Petersburg to eliminate the Brux. But it was categorically rejected by China. Not to mention the uncertainty in politics, there are huge difficulties in talking about military affairs alone. Marshal Feng Guozhu made a secret report to the leaders of the Entente at a special meeting, and most of the military leaders of the Entente had heard of Marshal Feng Guozhu, who defeated Japan, and his fame was the greatest among Chinese generals, even surpassing Wang Mingyuan and Ye Yanbing. Although Feng Guozhu was eager to embark on a military adventure in Russia, he explained to the military leaders of the Entente the difficulties faced by the expeditionary force and the possible consequences of a war against Russia, in accordance with the tone set at home, and China's policy toward Russia was that it was better to support the opponents of the Brucella than to intervene militarily directly. As for China's expeditionary force, since the Russian army is already seeking peace and has no will to fight, the current strength and situation of the expeditionary force do not allow it to continue to exist, and it has to gradually return to China. Feng Guozhu stressed that this was by no means a betrayal of the allies, but a last resort.

Britain and France immediately expressed their opposition to the retreat of the expeditionary force, especially Clemenceau, and when he heard that China had decided to withdraw the expeditionary force, he had a feeling of impending disaster. It will take about three or four months from now until the main force of the US military is assembled in Western Europe, which is a crucial period for the Germans. If the German army blatantly ignores the eastern front and transfers troops to the western front, they can complete the deployment in one and a half to two months at most, and under the current situation that the western front is evenly matched, what will the German side look like with 80~1 million well-trained and experienced troops? Clemenceau couldn't have imagined! He even immediately thought of a terrible picture, Paris was occupied, France was defeated, the British army was driven back to Mishima, and the American army had no place in Western Europe to negotiate peace with Germany to end the war!

After more than three years of bloody battles, more than 200,000 French officers and soldiers were killed and wounded, and countless property was damaged. Clemenceau, who was resolute, would not allow such an outcome, "Dear Mr. President! That great army of yours must not withdraw from the battle lines! Never! Even if they don't attack, as long as they stay behind the battle line, they will contain a large number of Germans, and the Germans on the Eastern Front must not be allowed to be transferred to the Western Front! Never! Clemenceau expressed his determination with two "never."

Long Qian said coldly to the old French man, "My Minister of Defense has made it clear the situation facing my army, and I must not put my army in a desperate situation!" We must not be sorry for my 700,000 soldiers who fought bloodily for the interests of the Entente! God can prove that they have done their duty, both in Romania and in Poland! ”

"Please calm down. Two honorable leaders, "Wilson hurriedly came out to stop Long Qian and Clemenceau's confrontation, and no one could blame the Chinese expeditionary force's cousins, although they had only been in Russia for a year, but their cousins were impeccable. It is precisely for this reason that the French pinned their hopes of containing the German army on the Chinese, "for our sacred cause, especially when the figure of the goddess of victory has been seen!" Time, it only takes three months! "Wilson has apparently communicated with Clemenceau and sat his ass on the Frenchman's side." Dear Mr. President, I totally understand your military concerns, although I am not as proficient in military affairs as you. In my opinion, as long as your army stays in its original positions, it is a threat to the Germans. In this case. Will the Germans pour all their might into your army on the Eastern Front? On my way here, I consulted General Pershing for his opinion. He is my chosen commander of the US forces to go to Russia. His opinion was that Germany would never attack the Chinese army with all its might! Because from their standpoint, they had to transfer the main forces of the Eastern Front to the Western Front! Dear Mr. President, What do you think? ”

Wilson's analysis is reliable, and Long Qian's military aides also believe that it is unlikely that the German army will take the initiative to attack, but the variable lies in the Russian army, "Dear Mr. Wilson, I agree with your analysis of the German army, but the Russians are unpredictable, and the Bu Party urgently needs to control the domestic situation, so it has to take the initiative to seek peace with Germany, and our army has become an obstacle to achieving its goal...... Mr. President, just look at the map to understand, how long our logistical supply line is, didn't General Pershing think about it? ”

Pan Xingxing replied, "I fully understand the concerns of the Chinese generals about the supply lines, but now a situation has arisen in our favor, that is, the former Tsar Xià, who fled to Siberia with the help of your army. In addition, in southern Russia, armed factions openly opposed to the Cloth Party also appeared, and as long as these forces were controlled, the Chinese expeditionary force could ensure the tranquility of its rear roads without investing a large number of troops. This is a political issue, and I think President Long must have thought it through. ”

It is said that the vast majority of American generals are actually qualified politicians, at least this Pershing General is. No wonder Wilson chose him as commander-in-chief of the U.S. forces, "It seems that General Pershing has done a lot of hard work on the situation in Russia." There is an old Chinese saying that 'easier said than done', and what can be established theoretically may not necessarily work in practice, even more so militarily! We probably know more about Messrs. Nikolai and Kornilov than you do, dear General Pershing. Long Qian said slowly.

"At least that's a scenario worth considering, isn't it?" British Prime Minister George Lloyd stood up, "I fully agree with my French friends that the Germans cannot be allowed to divert their main forces on the Eastern Front in any case." As long as we achieve this goal, it will be worth it no matter what the cost. Isn't it? He glanced meaningfully at Wilson.

"Yes." President Wilson understood what the British meant, but he relied mainly on himself to satisfy the appetite of the Chinese, "Mr. Long, we may wish to have a detailed discussion on this issue, and I think we can find common ground for our common interests and common goals." ”

"I agree with Mr. President, it can be studied." Long Qian set the tone.

The Rapallo meeting focused on aid to China. The premise is that China does not reduce the front-line strength of the expeditionary force and undertakes the task of containing the German army in front of it, and if the German army attacks the Chinese army with the main force, the Chinese army can adopt a flexible posture to respond to the attack. But if the Germans retreated, the Chinese would need to take strong action to contain them and prevent them from moving to the Western Front. China, in turn, was "authorized" to take a qiē action in Russia, and a qiē operation was possible on the premise that it was conducive to containing the German army in order to gain time. This is tantamount to "assigning" Russia to China.

The Entente promised to provide China with $10 million a month for free war expenses starting in December 1917, a proportion of which would be borne by the United States, Britain, and France. All the supplies that have been shipped to Russia have been transferred to China. In addition, China's technical assistance package (including a large amount of patent licensing) proposed by China at the Beijing Conference was also approved, with the United States taking the lion's share.

This is the second benefit that China has gained since joining the Entente camp, and its significance is enormous, as Long Qian has always valued technology and capability over economic aid. With the rapid progress of industrial construction, technical barriers are becoming more and more obvious in front of China, and it is impossible for China to obtain these vital technologies without the European war.

Long Qian signed the secret agreement of the conference on behalf of China.

The Rapallo Conference also approved a proposal for the establishment of a global coordinating body after the war to stop large-scale wars. Americans fully agree with this proposal. However, Britain, France, Italy, Canada and other countries were not too enthusiastic, but they did not oppose it either. (To be continued......)