On 23 October, the day when the forward units of the 11th Division of the Japanese Army officially landed in Jiaozhou Bay, US Ambassador Reinshi went through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the invitation of Zhu Erdian to meet with Long Qian, who had just returned to Beijing from Shandong.

Zhu Erdian had already received instructions from China, explicitly asking him to try to mediate the Sino-Japanese war. At a time when the British Empire was going all out to deal with the war in Europe, it was not in the interests of the British Empire that the war in the Far East took place.

The British Foreign Office seems to have forgotten that just two months ago it had connived and acquiesced in Japan's naked threats to China.

Zhu Erdian knew very well that China's military and diplomatic power at this stage was in the hands of one person, and he was by no means as face-saving as the Americans, so Zhu Erdian persuaded Rui Enshi to lobby Long Qian to seek to end the Sino-Japanese war through negotiations.

But Ryan soon returned. The subordinates reported to Zhu Erdian, and Zhu Erdian hurriedly went to the U.S. Embassy to inquire about the results of Rui Enshi's meeting with Long Qian.

Ryan spread his hands out, "I'm sorry I didn't bring you good news. Our old friend was furious when he heard that Japanese reinforcements had landed, and gave the order to attack in front of me. I'm afraid the war is going to continue. ”

Zhu Erdian desperately suppressed his anger. Rui Enshi's gloating face made him unhappy! There is no way, because of the outbreak of the war in Europe, because the war is developing in a protracted direction, and now the Americans with deep pockets have become sweets. Zhu Erdian even suspected that Rui Enshi had not persuaded Long Qian to stop the war and negotiate peace at all. He knew that the position of the United States was different from that of Great Britain, and that the United States was pleased by China's "unexpected" victory over the powerful Japan.

"Aren't the Chinese afraid to beat Shandong to pieces? That's their most important industrial base. Zhu Erdian felt that he really didn't have many cards to play.

"God knows." Reinsch took the waiter's coffee. "Authentic Jamaican coffee, you can smell it a mile away. No national leader would have ceased fighting at this time, which would have dampened the morale of the army. Isn't it? If you want to blame the Japanese, it is very interesting that the Japanese do not know the times, and it is very meaningful that the Chinese surround the Japanese and do not continue to attack, but the Japanese are too stupid. What's the use of sending a division? I can't see it at all. ”

"Is the Chinese army launching a full-scale attack?"

"I don't know. My Mandarin is very poor, and he speaks fast. But the call was to the General Staff, I'm sure of that. ”

Zhu Erdian hurriedly returned to his "territory" and analyzed the shape of the image of the ground like a general. Undoubtedly, there is a point in Reinsch's words. Chinese the tactics of encircling the encirclement but not attacking it on the north and south fronts are of profound significance, and must not be regarded as Chinese exhausted. Any general understands. The prey must be swallowed in the stomach to be relieved. Orientals are always willing to pretend to be profound. However, from Japan's standpoint, it cannot sit idly by and watch its elite troops annihilate in any case...... What now?

Jurdian now has only two friends to talk to, French and Russian. The European war tied the interests of the three countries together. He then called Kant and asked him to go with him to the Russian embassy to exchange views on the situation between China and Japan. Kant asked. Was Reinsch's mediation ineffective? Zhu Erdian said yes. Now let's look at the table after the landing of this Japanese division. If you continue to be passive. The Japanese will come to us. I know a little bit about the situation in their country, and the financial situation does not allow them to continue to be stubborn.

Britain and Japan have an alliance. However, it does not apply when China and Japan have not formally declared war. Moreover, Britain would never allow Japan to declare war on China. Both because Britain did not have the strength to interfere with China. It is also because of the fear that China will slip into the camp of the Allies.

Zhu Erdian knew that the British Empire's diplomats in Japan were much busier than he was.

The gathering of the ambassadors of the three countries was also nothing new. In the evening, the Chinese finally received a report on the battle situation, and since the Japanese reinforcements landed, the Shandong battlefield, which had been silent, became noisy again. In the Gaomi direction, the Chinese army concentrated a large number of artillery to fiercely bombard the positions held by the Japanese 29th Brigade in the northern suburbs of Gaomi, covering the infantry to attack, and the battle lasted until dark, the Japanese positions were further compressed, and four villages were recovered, and the activity area of the 3rd Division was even smaller than that of their 6th Division. In the direction of Jiaozhou Bay, the Chinese army used the restored Jiaoxian airfield to launch a high-intensity air attack on the landing troops, and about 50 planes took part in the attack, sinking one small landing craft and damaging two other warships, and inflicting heavy blows on the landing Japanese troops. The coastal defense cannon left behind by the Germans at the fortress of Qingdao was also opened, and a Japanese destroyer that accidentally came into range of the shore guns was sunk.

The battle report did not mention the casualties of the Japanese army, nor did it mention the land attack and defense of the two armies in the direction of Jiaozhou Bay.

At about ten o'clock in the evening, Jurdian received an urgent telegram from China, signed by Sir Gray, saying that he had received reliable information that the Chinese were in close contact with the Germans to discuss the specifics of joining the Allied war. Gray severely rebuked Zhu Erdian's inaction in the telegram, asking him to use various connections and forces from all sides to find out the Chinese's cards, and not to allow China to join the Allied camp under any circumstances.

This telegram puzzled Zhu Erdian. While he was in Beijing, he didn't get any news about the diplomatic negotiations between China and Germany, but London did, where did the news come from? Is it the damn German trade group?

Zhu Erdian Yan zhòng suspected that this was the Chinese in the old suspicion. But Sir Grey's instructions must be carried out, taking advantage of various connections? Yes, Zhu Erdian has reliable friends in Chinese politics, especially the Beiyang system, and has a lot of connections, but those in the Beiyang system who have been marginalized will not know about such a heavy decision.

This telegram kept our lovely British ambassador up at night. If that becomes a reality, all the concessions and assets of the British Empire in China will be completely lost, Hong Kong will definitely not be saved, and even India will be threatened.

Calmly and accurately judging the shape shì in various situations is the mark of a good political and military strategist. But the reality is that there will always be deviations. Or overestimate the strength of the opponent, or underestimate the opponent. After the Chinese Army "effortlessly" defeated the Japanese Army, Zhu Erdian suddenly committed "Sinophobia". He estimated the strength of the Chinese army, believing that the Chinese could even start a war on the northern and southern fronts, attacking Vladivostok on the northern front and French Indochina on the southern front. It did not occur to him that the number of divisions to have and the use of how many divisions were completely different concepts, and that the difference between having a reserve and calling up a reserve and going to war was enormous. Otherwise, why did the Japanese Army only send one 11th Division to Shandong to fight the fire?

Zhu Erdian, who paid attention to collecting military intelligence on the Chinese army, lightly calculated the strength of the Chinese army, and they already had more than 50 divisions (Zhu Erdian believed that the brigades of the Chinese army were equivalent to the divisions of the British army), while the Shandong battlefield only invested less than 20. They still have a lot of strength that they haven't used. And. It is not ten years ago that China has established a well-established reserve system, and even if it is implemented after the founding of the People's Republic of China, five years means that five batches of highly trained soldiers have retired from active duty and returned to their hometowns. After these people are recalled, the size of the Chinese army will be doubled! And also. Won't the Chinese army expand its recruitment? Time of war. Up to three months. A peasant who has never touched a gun can become a basically qualified soldier, how many peasants are there in China?

The more Zhu Erdian thought about it, the more scared he became. The next day, after breakfast, he immediately sent someone to invite Yuan Keding to Dongjiaomin Lane.

Yuan Keding is Yuan Shikai's eldest son, and he is also the most enthusiastic of Yuan Shikai's adult sons. is completely different from his second son who has a good reputation in the cultural circles of the capital. Yuan Shikai has been closed since the establishment of the Mengshan Army. On the surface, he completely bid farewell to the political and military worlds. But Yuan Keding was very active, first elected to the House of Representatives, and then entered the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives in 1912, built his home in Beijing, and also funded the "Jinghua News", which was very active. He had close contacts with the upper echelons of the capital and the Beiyang family such as Xu Shichang, which played the role of Yuan Shikai's hope.

An hour later, Yuan Keding came.

"Dear Mr. Yuan, I'm so glad to see you. Is Ling Zun good? Zhu Erdian greeted with a fluent Beijing film.

"My father is well. Thank you, Mr. Ambassador, for your question. I wonder what is the urgency of Mr. Ambassador? ”

"The situation is urgent, so I won't go around in circles. For the sake of my friendship with Ling Zun, please be sure to tell the eldest prince directly. Zhu Erdian said.

Yuan Keding was a little confused, "What situation do you not know?" You're the most well-informed person in Beijing. ”

"Is your country ready for an alliance with Germany and Austria?"

"You ask this?" Yuan Keding hesitated.

About a week ago, the Foreign Ministry submitted an analysis of the war in Europe to Congress. Gu Weijun, the hot-after assistant minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, personally explained the report to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, and the core content was twofold: First, it was judged that the European war would fall into a protracted situation, and neither side could win quickly. The second is a diplomatic countermeasure in the event that Japan attacks China in an attempt to expand the war. Japan was a member of the Entente, but China was a neutral country. In the face of the fact that China's neutrality cannot be guaranteed, China should consider the choice of diplomatic direction in the interests of its own interests.

The Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives is a decision-making advisory body and has no decision-making powers. However, the constitution stipulates that important matters such as the establishment of diplomatic relations, the severance of diplomatic relations, the declaration of war, and the formation of alliances must be approved by the National Assembly, so a series of special committees have been set up to find something for the legislators to do. This report took on an unusual significance on the premise of the decisive victory of the Wehrmacht in the Shandong Campaign. Originally, the pro-German forces in the parliament were relatively strong, and Germany had always played the role of an ally before and after the establishment of the Mengshan Army, so when the Entente disappointed China, the voice of joining the Allied powers naturally rose again.

Of course, the discussion in the House of Representatives has not yet been finalized, and the procedure is still very long. Moreover, there were many members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies who opposed the alliance with Germany and Austria. Now that it has been determined that the European war will be protracted, it is even more impossible to form an alliance with Germany and Austria. In terms of resources, in terms of transportation, Germany and Austria are not superior, how can they form an alliance with them?

The National Assembly has strict discipline and cannot disclose undecided discussions. Since the inception of Congress, two members of the House of Representatives and one Senator have been punished for violating the ban, and a Senate member of the Senate who disclosed plans and investments in the railroad construction program has been disqualified and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Therefore, Yuan Keding hesitated in the face of Zhu Erdian's inquiry, and it was difficult to answer.

A bad answer is the best answer. Zhu Erdian, who had already received the answer from Yuan Keding's face, was anxious, and after a few words of greeting with Yuan Keding, he "kicked out" Yuan Dagongzi from the British Embassy under the pretext that he had urgent matters to go out.

Yuan Keding walked out of the embassy and prepared to stop a taxi to go home. Dongjiaomin Lane is the place with the highest concentration of taxis, because this fashionable and fast means of transportation is not yet affordable for ordinary citizens.

Without waiting for Yuan Dagongzi to stop the taxi, a gray Taishan Pai sedan that slowly drove past him stopped beside him, and the window rolled down, revealing Jiang Yun's delicate childlike face, "Oh, it's Mr. Yuan, please get in the car, I'll take you to your destination." ”

Yuan Keding became nervous. If he is afraid of anyone here in Beijing, Jiang Yun is definitely one. Yuan Shikai secretly instructed him several times to minimize unnecessary contacts, the spy power in Long Qian's hands is beyond your imagination, that is, in this Yuan family's mansion, I don't know how many secret agents of the General Security Bureau! Be cautious in everything you say and do!

"Don't dare to disturb General Director Jiang's official business." Calming down slightly, Yuan Keding bowed his hand to Jiang Yun.

"Not an intrusion. I was just passing by. "The car had stopped, and the door to the back seat had opened.

Yuan Keding had no choice but to sit up.

"Looks like you're going to the British Embassy. Ambassador Zhu Erdian and Ling Zun used to be good friends, have they been in touch recently? ”

"Nope. My father was not in good health, and he generally did not see guests or associate with others. Yuan Keding decided to report truthfully, "Just now Zhu Erdian came to me and asked if my country was ready to form an alliance with Germany. ”

"Oh? What do you say? Jiang Yun became interested.

"I didn't say anything. This kind of major matter is for the president to decide, how do we know? ”

"Ha, the British can't sit still. By the way, where are you going? ”

"Go home."

"Send Mr. Yuan home first." Jiang Yun commanded the driver softly.

The driver didn't ask Yuan Keding's address, and turned a corner directly. Yuan Keding felt even more chilled, there was no doubt that he was under the surveillance of the General Security Bureau, and this discovery confirmed his father's worries. (To be continued......)