When the news of Japan's initiative to sue for peace was conveyed to the diplomatic departments of Britain, France, the United States, and other countries, the ambassadors of various countries to China rejoiced, believing that the disaster that had occurred in Shanghai had finally passed.

All kinds of coercion and temptation made Chiang Kai-shek very difficult.

After listening to the aggressive remarks of the ambassadors, Chiang Kai-shek hesitated and had no choice but to order an enlarged meeting of the National Defense Conference to discuss whether to accept the mediation of Britain, France, the United States, and other countries.

In the conference hall on the third floor of the Zichao Building of the Nationalist Government, the atmosphere of discussion was extremely intense, saying that Japan had the desire to reduce the scale of the war, and that at this time, with the help of the mediation of Britain, France, the United States, and other countries, it could win a period of peace, which could be used to reorganize armaments in the hope of fighting again.

In the early stage, it was mainly the military and government representatives who debated the pros and cons, and the main generals of the army stressed that the strategic advantages they have achieved so far cannot be given up in vain, otherwise there will be endless disasters; For its part, the government has repeatedly stressed that the treasury is empty and can no longer sustain huge military spending.

Later, the bigwigs of the Kuomintang Central Committee also enthusiastically joined in the group, and many bigwigs stressed that the armies of various local factions should be unified and reorganized, otherwise rushing to the front line would only be sent to death in vain, so they could agree to the request of the Japanese and wait until the formation and training were completed before going to war.

Some people also complained that military spending was too large, and that the central government could no longer sustain itself as Songhu's fiscal and tax areas fell into the flames of war, and cited the Ministry of Finance not rewarding Wu Ming's new Second Division in time as an example, saying that if the war continued, the central government would fall into the brink of bankruptcy.

In short, the enlarged meeting of the National Defense Conference caused a mess, but fortunately, several bigwigs sitting on the rostrum did not express their position.

Chiang Kai-shek's face was very ugly, and he nodded to Qian Dajun, director of the first division of the chairman's chamberlain.

Qian Dajun stood up knowingly and announced the dismissal of the meeting, but the many bigwigs who were arguing fiercely in the conference hall still did not give up, and the argument gradually turned into mutual abuse, and official affairs also turned into private grievances with the meaning of calling each other, which made the huge conference hall noisy endlessly.

After a long time, the clever people looked back, the bigwigs on the rostrum were gone, and then looked at the people who were still scolding below, and suddenly felt bored, and rationally chose to go back to their respective homes to find their own mothers.

Chiang Kai-shek took a big man to the small conference room on the fourth floor and sat down one after another. The waiters came and went, serving tea to the bigwigs, and put it lightly, for fear of breaking the solemn atmosphere in the conference room.

Chiang Kai-shek sat in the middle, looked around and left, and the bigwigs of the party, government, and military basically came, including Kuomintang veterans Zhang Jingjiang and Sun Ke, Kuomintang vice chairman Wang Zhaoming, party affairs leaders Chen Lifu and Chen Guofu brothers, as well as Lin Sen, chairman of the Nationalist Government, Song Ziwen, chairman of the Bank of China, and other important officials.

There are more people in the army, from He Yingqin to Qian Dajun, Chen Bui, Lin Wei, Xu Yongchang, He Yaozu, Yang Jie and other senior members of the Military Commission, as well as Feng Yuxiang, commander of the Third Theater who rushed back from the Shanghai front. Bai Chongxi, the No. 2 person in the Gui family, was also sandwiched between everyone.

Chiang Kai-shek leaned forward slightly, poked his head out, and said: "The situation has been gratifying since the development of the Songhu war, but at this time, Japan has asked Britain, France, the United States and other countries to mediate, and we cannot help but respond, so let's discuss."

Chiang Kai-shek looked at Lin Sen, chairman of the Nationalist Government beside him, bowed his head slightly, and asked politely: "Mr. Changren, I don't know what your opinion is?" ”

Although Lin Sen has always been regarded by the outside world as the "seal" of the Nationalist Government, and many people do not attach importance to this "respect of one country" and think that he is just the face and puppet of the central government, Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Meiling have always treated him with courtesy, and their welfare benefits are comparable to those of Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Jingwei.

Lin Sen has always been content with the position of head of state, and has never dictated the affairs of the government, political parties, and the army, and this time is no exception. After thinking about it for a while, Lin Sen shook his head and signaled that he would not express his opinion

Seeing that the Führer did not express his views, Chiang Kai-shek asked others to share their views.

The first to speak was Bai Chongxi, deputy chief of the general staff, who stood up, his tall body erected among the people, unique among the leaders, and his voice was loud and excited:

"According to information from Tokyo from the intelligence department, Japan has moved to a wartime system, and many divisions and regiments are being reorganized, and these units will be put into the battlefield of our country one after another in the future. From the perspective of politics, economy, military and national mobilization, the gap between China and Japan is huge. Therefore, the longer the war drags on, the more unfavorable it will be for our country. ”

"Now that the situation on our side in the Songhu area is slightly better, the Japanese army will immediately make peace, which is really ill-intentioned. I suggest that taking advantage of our superiority, we should order all units to take unified command at this time, intensify the offensive, drive the Japanese troops out of the Songhu area at an early date, and use the favorable situation of Songhu to force the Japanese side to negotiate with us......"

Bai Chongxi's remarks are very insightful, analyzing the gap between the two countries from various levels of China and Japan, as well as the grasp of the current fighters.

Lin Wei stood up: "Deputy Chief of Staff Bai's words are reasonable, the Japanese army in North China has invaded Pingjin and most of the territory of Hebei, Suiyuan and Chahar have ignited the flames of war, and a full-scale war between China and Japan is inevitable. Now that the whole country of Japan is mobilized, it will be very difficult for us to resist once they use warships to send a large number of troops into the Songhu battlefield

"Therefore, at this time, we must resist diplomatic pressure, take advantage of the victory to pursue the attack, and annihilate the Japanese troops entrenched in the Shanghai area in one fell swoop, in order to occupy the strategic initiative and win precious time for the next stage of anti-landing operations."

Yang Jie nodded in agreement: "Since our army now has the advantage in the Songhu battlefield, our army should seize the time to attack and solve the Shanghai city and the landing Japanese army in one fell swoop." Once the opportunity is missed, with Japan's massive increase in troops on the Songhu battlefield, our army's superiority will be in vain......"

Several bigwigs of the Military Commission have expressed similar views one after another, saying that there are iron laws of war, and if they blindly retreat, they will only boost the arrogance of the Japanese army.

Seeing that so many people echoed him, Bai Chongxi was proud, straightened his chest, and glanced at Chiang Kai-shek.

Chiang Kai-shek's brow furrowed. Bai Chongxi's appointment in Nanjing was a compromise move by Chiang Kai-shek in order to balance the various factions, on the one hand, he used him to divide power with He Yingqin, and on the other hand, he also had the intention of acting as a hostage to control the Gui faction, which was conducive to mobilizing Guangxi soldiers and horses to go north to resist the war.

Now Bai Chongxi's suggestion has been echoed by many people, and Chiang Kai-shek can't help but be secretly vigilant.

Chiang Kai-shek half-squinted, observing Bai Chongxi's every move, and secretly wondered in his heart whether Bai had made any small moves in the Military Commission and the General Staff Headquarters recently. But if you think about it carefully, it is absolutely impossible, there is He Yingqin and Chen Cheng pressing, and there are Huangpu generals below, he really has no chance.

Forget it, let him take advantage of his tongue

Chiang Kai-shek's eyes turned again, He Yingqin made a straight face, saw Chiang Kai-shek's gaze sweeping over, and quickly lowered his head, not wanting to express his position on this matter.

On the one hand, He Yingqin is a non-commissioned officer in Japan, and he is inextricably linked with Japan, the last Battle of Songhu and the three-three years of the North China War of Resistance He signed a treaty with Japan to lose power and humiliate the country. On the other hand, he also wanted to wait for Chiang Kai-shek to make a decision after he had expressed his attitude.

Seeing that all the voices were in favor of continuing the war, Wang Zhaoming, vice chairman of the Kuomintang, jumped out in anger, pointed at Bai Chongxi, and loudly reprimanded: "Bai Jiansheng's words are purely misleading the country and the people."

Wang Zhaoming waved his shirt, Sven gestured at his cuffs, looked at Bai Chongxi angrily, and said hatefully: "Japan is strong, our country is weak, although our army has a temporary advantage, but fundamentally speaking, we can't win against the Japanese. China's economic center of gravity is in Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang and other places, and now a war, trade is stagnant, many taxes cannot come up, and the government's finances are in a tight strait. Now even the bonuses for rewarding meritorious men have not been paid for a long time, and you still have to fight."

Wang Zhaoming's white face burst with green muscles: "This time, Britain, France, the United States and other countries took the initiative to mediate, and Shanghai, as the largest commercial port in East Asia, has strong interests, and they are more anxious than us. At this time, we accept mediation, and we can still get Austrian aid from the great powers, and if we refuse, in addition to offending the countries of Europe and the United States, we will not want to get help from them in the future. The government is isolated and financially bankrupt, what are you going to fight with? ”

Wang Zhaoming's hoarse reprimand immediately aroused the support of government officials.

Bai Chongxi raised his head and sneered: "It's purely a scholar's pedantic opinion, fighting a war is a war, and I'm afraid of that, what else is there to talk about killing the enemy and serving the country?" Yu Crisp surrendered"

Xu Kan, Vice Minister of Finance, had a cold face, threw an account book directly on the table, and snorted coldly: "If you mention the war again, where will the money come from?" ”

Chiang Kai-shek nodded and looked at Feng Yuxiang: "Brother Huanzhang, you just came back from the Songhu battlefield, what is your opinion?" ”

Feng Yuxiang sneered in his heart, you must know that Lu Dao's troops in Shanghai are all descendants of Chiang Kai-shek, and he, the commander of the Third Theater, can't even mobilize a single soldier or a shot, but now he comes to ask his opinion, which really makes Feng Yuxiang hate it a bit, but he can't help but answer.

Feng Yuxiang thought for a moment and said to Chiang Kai-shek: "I was not in favor of an armistice, but when it comes to the European and American powers, no one dares to guarantee that refusing to mediate will lead to serious consequences...... Therefore, I listen to my brother in this matter."

Chiang Kai-shek turned to the Chen brothers: "Guofu, Lifu, what do you think?" ”

Erchen glanced at each other, and Chen Guofu stood up: "It is a fact that our army has achieved a temporary advantage in the Songhu battlefield and the treasury is empty, and what Mr. Zhaoming and Brother Jiansheng said is reasonable...... Of course, Japan can use mediation to take a break and mobilize troops, but we can also use mediation to win the assistance of Britain, France, the United States, and other countries, as well as the sympathy of the international community."

"Well, Guofu's words are very much in line with my heart"

Chiang Kai-shek clapped his hands happily and looked around: "I think mediation is acceptable...... This time, our side has the advantage of partially and accepts the emphasis of Britain, France, and the United States to suspend it, on the one hand, to demonstrate the justice of our war of self-defense, and on the other hand, we can take this opportunity to seek international peace assistance. Japan can mediate, and we can use mediation."

At this point, Chiang Kai-shek put on the appearance of a corporal of Lixian and asked everyone: "What do you think?" ”

Everyone glanced at each other, Chairman Jiang had already spoken, what else could others say?

Wang Zhaoming, Xu Kan and other lords and factions immediately agreed, and others such as Bai Chongxi, Yang Jie and others also closed their mouths in amusement.

Lin Wei frowned, and wanted to raise his hand to speak, but Chiang Kai-shek had already stood up: "Since everyone has no opinion, let's dismiss the meeting."

After the meeting, Chiang Kai-shek asked Wang Ching-wei to serve as ambassador plenipotentiary, who was fully responsible for handling the armistice between the Japanese and Nationalist armies in the Songhu battlefield and diplomatic mediation, and on the other hand, actively sought assistance from Britain, France, and the United States.