Wavell looked in the direction of his finger, his gaze passed over the face of a British soldier, his right foot rose and fell, turned his head and said, "Wouldn't it be better to ask them what they are doing, and directly ask Commander-in-Chief Ouyang for confirmation?" ”

Because of this episode, the first question Wavell asked after meeting Ouyang Yun was related to this.

Ouyang Yun's answer was: "They are now volunteers of our Cadet Army!" ”

The word "volunteers" translated into English is "volunteers", which means very clearly, and Wavell's face becomes more and more ugly. Because there were only about 3,000 British soldiers who escaped from Ranluga, Wavell didn't pay much attention to it at first. His plan was that if the Chinese were too demanding, then I would not want these people - he thought that he had seen Ouyang Yun's temperament clearly, and he knew that it was impossible for the Dao to take advantage of this "miser" for nothing. And now, after seeing these British soldiers with his own eyes, he has changed his mind. The current British army in India is really lacking in elite soldiers of this appearance. This was secondary, and the most important thing he valued was the overall change that these British soldiers might bring to the British army in India when they returned.

Before starting the formal talks, Wavell calculated that after the more than 3,000 British soldiers returned, a single soldier could be promoted to be at least a squad leader, calculated at 3,000, and given a certain amount of time, then he would have at least 30,000 more elite soldiers of this kind under his command. And with these 30,000 elite soldiers, he will be much more comfortable in the next defensive battle against Burma.

Wavell was really stimulated, Ouyang Yun's calculation succeeded, and before the talks began, he had already occupied a great initiative. As for the matter of the apology, because Churchill had already given instructions, Wavell now promised to make a public apology in front of Chinese, Thai and French reporters after the results of the talks were reached.

The British apologized in good faith, and the next step was to discuss matters related to reparations. At this time, Wavell kicked the ball and directly rejected some of Ouyang Yun's requests because he did not have the right to decide, which also made the first meeting between the two unhappy.

That evening, Clarley rushed to Bangkok.

Clarley benefited a lot from Hanoi during this time, and through watching the Cadet Training Corps train the French Restoration Army to steal divisions, he learned a lot of advanced training methods and operational concepts, and he also became more and more respected for the Cadet Army, and has quietly become a "pro-China element". Therefore, when Wavell wanted him to help deal with Ouyang Yun's unreasonable demands, he in turn persuaded Wavell to agree to the conditions of the Cadet Army, believing that this would leave a good impression on the Chinese and lay a good foundation for the two armies to deepen cooperation: "The rise of the Cadet Army is already an ironclad fact, and I am sure that in time, the Far East will be the world of the Chinese." The commander-in-chief, taking advantage of the fledgling army to make friends with them, is definitely conducive to the long-term existence of the empire in the Far East. ”

After listening to Clarley's words, if he didn't know him very well, Wavell almost suspected that this henchman had been bought by the Chinese. The same remarks from Clarley's mouth gave Wavell a different feeling, he nodded and said: "I admit that the Cadet Army is indeed very strong, as evidenced by the soldiers of the Ranluga prisoner of war camp outside who have undergone their short training, but this Ouyang Yun's appetite is too great, with my understanding of Prime Minister Churchill, he will definitely not agree." ”

"Not necessarily, Your Excellency, have you forgotten the letter I wrote to you? I can see that the Chinese are serious. The French Far East Fleet is an ornament to the French, and it falls into the hands of the Germans, so we might as well hand it over to the cadets. With the Far Eastern Fleet as a base, it should be able to feed the Chinese, right? ”

"Clarley, do you have a basis? The Japanese occupied the Strait of Malacca, the French Far East Fleet is now a decoration, what do the Chinese want it for? ”

"Shall we test it tomorrow?"

A full man doesn't know that a hungry man is hungry, and the British, who have the strongest navy in the world, will certainly not understand Ouyang Yun's anxiety for large ships. In order to obtain the French Far East Fleet, Ouyang Yun was really ready to help the British go deep into Singapore to rescue more than 30,000 prisoners of war.

The specific process of the meeting on the second day will not be detailed, and outsiders can feel the obvious change, which is in stark contrast to the unhappy break up the day before yesterday - when the meeting ended that day, Ouyang Yun and Wei Wei walked out of the conference room with smiles on their faces. In the evening, Prime Minister Shinawatra held a welcome reception for both sides of the talks in the name of the Thai government. Moreover, more than a dozen generals of the Lanluga POW death squad were invited to the reception and toasted Wavell and Clarley as subordinates.

Back at their lodgings that night, Wavell and Clary had another deep conversation. Because he had already determined that Ouyang Yun was indeed fighting the idea of the French Far East Fleet, and this could only be achieved through them, Wavell was in a much more relaxed mood and his mind became more open (in fact, he thought that he had grasped Ouyang Yun's weakness and his appetite was lost). He said to Clarley: "Since the Chinese are determined to win the French Far East Fleet, then we may really consider rescuing Singaporean prisoners of war." ”

Clarley didn't know if he could do that. He had more contact with the cadets and had a better understanding of the way of thinking of the cadets. In today's talks, they certainly set out the bottom line of the student army, but their own bottom line was also exposed. Therefore, he felt that the Far Eastern Fleet alone was not enough to achieve two goals. Moreover, he had other expectations for what the talks would ultimately achieve, so after thinking for a while, he asked, "Commander-in-Chief, does the Cabinet have any clear instructions on what the final outcome of the talks will be?" ”

Wavell was in the mood when he heard the words and replied: "I don't say it explicitly, but I think that the officers and soldiers rescued from the Lanluga prisoner of war camp will definitely have to come back." ”

Clarley smiled wryly: "That's another condition. ”

"Conditions? What kind of conditions are these, they are all troops of our British Empire. ”

"But didn't you feel it at today's reception? That Major Willie, he wanted to stop talking. Commander-in-Chief, I'm sure that the Cadet Corps must have done something, otherwise Willy would definitely not have that kind of attitude. ”

Wavell was stunned for a moment, and then thought about it, remembering that when he walked past Willy and their queue, none of these guys actually saluted him, and the old man understood something, his face became serious, and he said solemnly: "If this is the case, then the Chinese don't want to get the Far Eastern Fleet!" At this point, I will not budge! ”

Clary shook his head and reminded kindly: "Commander-in-chief, in that case, today's situation will be completely ruined again." Or shall we ask the Cabinet for its opinion? ”

Wavell had already learned Ouyang Yun's toughness the day before yesterday, and when he heard this, he was stunned for a while, and sighed: "It seems that this can only be the case, I hope the cabinet can give a good suggestion." ”