No matter what Huang Zhengzhong thought in his heart, he couldn't enter the expeditionary force.

At the same time that Mu Dan, Zhu Jingxing, and Guan Limin joined the army, there seemed to be some minor episodes in the diplomacy between China, the United States, and Britain.

After the establishment of the Expeditionary Force, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted the United States and Britain to inquire about when it would be possible to fight in Burma and when the relevant American aid equipment would arrive. Unexpectedly, the reply of the American side was to wait for a while, while the British side was ambiguous about the time of the invasion of Burma.

Huang Ke expected this, originally the British did not want the Chinese expeditionary force to enter Burma, the reason is naturally also worried that the Chinese will seize their interests after stationing, plus the British idea of valuing Europe over Asia, so on the issue of Burma, they are not very anxious.

It was not until the beginning of this year that the Japanese swung north from Thailand to attack Burma, and the British troops stationed in Burma were unable to withstand it, that they thought of discussing with the United States and requesting Chinese troops to fight in Burma.

However, the Japanese attack slowed down, and Churchill and the British began to think about delaying the date of the expeditionary force entering Burma again and again, and saw that China's lifeline, which relied on foreign aid, was cut off by the Japanese army.

Although he had expected this attitude towards Britain and the United States, he was still a little surprised when Foreign Minister Soong Ziwen came to report.

The Japanese have already begun to attack Rangoon, and they have not sent troops at this time, when will they wait?

"The Americans have always valued Europe over Asia, and in terms of military aid, our China has received less than one-twentieth of the United Kingdom's military aid. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was worried that the expeditionary force fighting in Burma would seize their interests in Burma, so he kept asking the United States to reduce its aid to China. Marshall and others in the United States also pursued this strategy. Song Ziwen sighed.

Huang Ke rubbed his temples and said, "What does the United States say about aid?" Now that the aid line has been cut off, they can't sit idly by, right? So what else does the so-called allies do? ”

Song Ziwen saw that Huang Ke was a little angry, he handed over a document and said: "We have raised this issue with the US side. President Roosevelt proposed three new routes to aid China, the first of which was to transfer from Alaska to the Soviet Union and then to Chinese mainland; the second is transshipment to China through Central Asia; The other is through India, by transport plane over the Himalayas, to the southwest of China. ”

Song Ziwen went on to explain: "Of these three routes, the first one has the lowest transportation cost and is relatively fast in time; The last one, although close, is more difficult. The problem is that the first two need to be negotiated with the Soviet side, after all, it is necessary to use them through them. ”

Huang Ke waved his hand and said: "Focus on talking about the third line with the Americans, Stalin will not agree to the first two." Now that they had signed a non-aggression pact with the Japanese, and with the fact that Japan had attacked the United States, they could no longer afford to care about the Soviet Union. For them, we no longer have a role for them to contain Japan. In the same way, we have a long border with the Soviet Union, and there are countless wars in the history of the two countries, so our strength is bound to be a threat to them. ”

Song Ziwen was a little unwilling, and he continued to try: "The Soviet Union is now our ally after all. China, Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union were also proposed by President Roosevelt, and I think there is still room for negotiation. ”

"China, Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union?" Huang Ke snorted coldly after hearing this: "For us, this is to be allies with a tiger and two wolves. The tiger of the United States wants to be the world boss and stuck China's neck everywhere in aid. The two wolves, the Soviet Union and the British, are also eyeing us. Now it is only because of the anti-fascism that we are united, and we have to do it on our own. ”

After a few complaints, Huang Ke returned to the topic, and he asked Song Ziwen: "This time you came back from the United States, did you bring back any other news?" Is there anything new on the American side? ”

Song Ziwen nodded and said: "This time, the US side proposed that in order to show its sincerity in cooperation and the smooth progress of the joint operation, the US side proposed whether it could send a chief of staff of the Chinese theater to assist in matters related to the war against Japan. ”

Huang Ke nodded: "Yes." In terms of joint operations, it is necessary for the United States to send a chief of staff for joint operations. However, it should be stated that in the Chinese theater of operations, including Burma and Southeast Asia, the command is still on our side. ”

"This is natural, the commander-in-chief is the supreme commander of the Chinese theater, and from any point of view, you are the supreme commander of the Chinese theater." Song Ziwen said.

Huang Ke didn't answer his words, since Gu Weijun retired and Song Ziwen served as the foreign minister, he and Song Ziwen have more partners at work, and there have been more differences between them. Originally, the personal relationship between the two was okay, but recently it has decreased a lot.

After talking about things at work, Song Ziwen got up and walked out. Huang Ke wanted to stop him and talk to him again, but the words never came out.

……

After arriving at the expeditionary force, Mu Dan, Zhu Jingxing and Guan Limin were awarded the ranks of major and captain respectively, and Mu Dan joined the army as an assistant professor at the Southwest Associated University, so his military rank was one level higher than Zhu Jingxing and Guan Limin.

The fact that college students are granted the treatment of officers when they join the army is specially approved by the Ministry of National Defense is also a method to attract the vast number of young intellectuals to join the army enthusiastically.

Mu Dan was assigned to the translation room of the expeditionary force headquarters, and Guan Limin worked as a translator at the division headquarters under his jurisdiction. Among the students of Southwest Associated University, the proportion of translators is the highest, because the expeditionary force is in urgent need of translation talents, and the students of Southwest Associated University are just giving full play to their strengths. But there are also a few who go to the front-line combat units, and Zhu Jingxing is one of them.

Zhu Jingxing took the initiative to ask to go to the front-line combat unit, in addition to the fact that he was a Chinese language major and was not proficient in English, another important reason was that he did not want others to know.

Of course, before they were assigned to specific units, they were all together to receive basic military training for recruits. From the earliest formation and target shooting, these student soldiers had to start learning in the same way.

The training site of the recruits is not far from the Southwest Associated University, so every weekend, Huang Zhengzhong will come to their training camp to visit them. The camp is closed to the public on weekdays, but it is open one day on weekends when the trainees choose to go out on this day.

Huang Zhengzhong came to the camp as usual to ask them to go out to eat. Although he had a lot of friends at school, he had left so much in the army this time that he had to come to the barracks of the army to find these classmates on the weekend.

Today, as usual, Huang Zhengzhong came to the camp and went to eat with Mu Dan, Zhu Jingxing, Guan Limin and others. In addition to these people, Huang Zhengzhong also brought Xue Yizhen, a female classmate of the same grade.

Xue Yizhen is a classmate of Huang Zhengzhong in the same grade, and she is a well-known talented woman and beauty in the Department of Foreign Languages. Originally, she also signed up for this conscription, but the expeditionary force recruited very few female soldiers, and when she signed up, the recruitment quota for female soldiers was full, so she could only regret it.

Originally, Huang Zhengzhong and her went to the countryside to perform dramas a few times, and they were not very familiar. After many people joined the army, they became more connected with each other.

This time, I came to see the students who were in the army, and Xue Yizhen had to come with him after hearing about it. There was no way, Huang Zhengzhong had to bring him over.

In the morning, Huang Zhengzhong and Xue Yizhen were waiting for them at the gate of the camp. About half an hour later, Mu Dan and the others walked out of the camp, Huang Zhengzhong saw it and beckoned to each other, and after Mu Dan and the three of them saw it, they walked over to this side.

"No wonder my left eyelid has been jumping for the past few days, it turns out that our talented girl is also here." Guan Limin and Xue Yizhen are more familiar, and they joked after they met.

"Hey, Guan Limin, look at Senior Mu Dan and Zhu Jingxing, they look mighty in military uniforms, but you still wear a pair of glasses, you are still thin and weak, can you carry a gun when the time comes?" Xue Yizhen was also unceremonious, and damaged Guan Limin a few words.

"Okay, okay, you two don't have to fight anymore. Let's go over there and get some food. Today I still have a treat, and I invite you to eat beef hot pot. Huang Zhengzhong pretended to pat the bulging wallet in his waist and smiled.

After hearing this, Mu Dan waved his hand and said, "Zhengzhong, I'll come to this meal, you've invited it several times." ”

"Don't save money for him, when this person was in school, I don't know how many times I and Brother Limin have carried the black pot for him, I think I want to slaughter him a few more times." Zhu Jingxing said with a smile.

Guan Limin on the side also echoed: "That's it, otherwise I really feel that I have suffered a loss." ”

"Back to the black pot? What is it? Xue Yizhen didn't understand what they meant, so she asked casually.

"That's when Brother Zhengzhong often ......" Zhu Jingxing was just about to speak, but Huang Zhengzhong quickly stopped him when he saw that his troubles were about to be exposed: "That's still my treat, let's go, let's go!" ”

Huang Zhengzhong said, covering Zhu Jingxing's mouth, and a group of people left with a fight.

When I arrived at the restaurant, after ordering hot pot and some dishes, everyone rolled up their sleeves and ate. Everyone who eats hot pot on a hot day is sweating profusely, but it is still good to take the opportunity to make up for the meat.

When they were eating with round bellies, they talked about their respective assignments to troops. When they learned that Zhu Jingxing gave up his position as a translator at the division headquarters and took the initiative to ask to go to the combat unit, Huang Zhengzhong and Xue Yizhen opened their mouths in surprise.

Mu Dan said: "Jing Xing has lofty ambitions, and I admire him the most." ”

Zhu Jingxing waved his hand and smiled: "I just don't think I'm very good at foreign languages, unlike Senior Mu Dan and Brother Limin, so I want to go to the combat army." Hey, otherwise the translation will be wrong, wouldn't it be a joke? ”

Everyone naturally knew that his words were rhetoric, and Huang Zhengzhong felt that there must be other reasons.