Because of the collapse of the Huhai Coal Association, of course, there will be no more appeals or fines, so at 12 o'clock at noon the next day, the Concession Committee announced that it would officially confiscate all the assets of the association and 48 merchants in the concession!

The coal case is over, and the determination of the Ministry of Industry Bureau to take full control of all the affairs of the concession is very clear, but anyone or organization who really understands the current power structure of the concession understands that these are actually the personal will of the current deputy general director and deputy consul general of the United States, Mr. Pan Sen!

In the previous series of incidents, this Mr. Pan Sen's strong desire to control the affairs of the concession was vividly expressed, whether it was the Japanese, the Green Gang, the White Russian gang, the tobacco merchants with various backgrounds, etc., all those who stood in the way were kicked away!

In fact, at this time, many people were sure in private that the fall of No. 76 was done by this Pan Sen, but there was no evidence, and no one said anything about it.

Of course, the Japanese should also be able to guess, but for many reasons, they can't turn their faces with the concession because of this incident, besides, those traitors led by Li Shiqun are all dead, and they have no use value, and they can't get anything in return for their heads, so what's the point!

No one thought that this Mr. Pan Sen actually knew the future trend of this world for a long time, so he had the courage to toss, and even the Japanese who are currently so arrogant that they don't give face! ——

This day was April 9, 1940, and at noon, the Ethnic Affairs Committee really confiscated all the assets of the Coal Association in the concession, which caused a huge sensation, but it was immediately covered by the next news!

At five o'clock in the afternoon, the news from Europe shook Shanghai!

Because of the time difference, China is seven hours ahead of Germany in Europe, so the news at this time is only half an hour behind what is happening in Europe.

At 4:20 a.m. on April 9, German time, the German envoy in Copenhagen handed over an ultimatum to the Danish government, demanding that Denmark immediately accept "German protection" and reply within one hour.

At 5:20 a.m., the German envoy in Oslo delivered another ultimatum to the Norwegian government to the same effect. By this time the German fleet had advanced into the main Norwegian ports and had launched an attack on Denmark by sea and land.

The Danes put up almost no resistance, the navy did not fire a single shot, the army suffered only 20 wounded, and four hours later accepted the German ultimatum and announced its surrender, but the Norwegian government replied: "We will not give in!"

The real Great War in Europe begins!

——

The news of the European war shocked all walks of life in Shanghai, especially those expatriates, for a time everyone in Western Europe was in danger, and the expatriates of various countries were completely divided!

Of course, the German and Italian expatriates are in the minority, and the British, French, Australian, New Zealand, South African, Canadian, Norwegian and other expatriates who have declared war on Germany are the majority.

At this time, thanks to the increase in the level of security in the concession, the number of police and soldiers on duty on the streets has doubled, and the riots that have just shown signs of appearance have been forcefully suppressed.

Subsequently, at 6 o'clock in the evening, Li Junhao made a radio speech on behalf of the Ministry of Industry and Bureau of the Concession, proposing: Europe is Europe, Asia is Asia, and the Huhai Concession is a safe haven for all Europeans and Americans in the East! As the manager of the concession, he did not allow anyone to disturb the peace here, and whoever took the initiative to provoke and cause strife was the enemy of the concession......

Perhaps the name Pan Sen was too powerful in the Huhai Concession at this time, and the signs of chaos that had just appeared in the concession were stopped!

This result made the German and Italian consulate staff breathe a sigh of relief, and they were very satisfied that the concession was now in the hands of a strong American! When the consul generals of the two countries exchanged views on the European war with Japanese consul general Yoshiaki Miura, they repeatedly instructed each other to restrain and prevent the Japanese side's dissatisfaction with Pansen and the impulse to retaliate, because this Pansen's control of the concession was beneficial to the interests of the Axis powers.

Although Miura Yoshiaki was dissatisfied with this Pan Sen's anti-Japanese behavior, he also understood the thoughts of the two allied consuls, and could only promise that he would definitely convey this to the country, and restrain the Japanese forces in Shanghai and Haihai not to have another head-on conflict with the concession.

——

To the military of various countries, it was surprising that it was not France that Germany attacked first, but Denmark and Norway, and the result was completely different, Denmark surrendered within a few hours, without even formal resistance; Norway, on the other hand, was tough with Germany and declared war directly on Germany!

However, almost no one would have thought that Norway would repel the German offensive, and its fall should only be a matter of time. Of course, if the British and French armies had been fully involved in the war at this time, the outcome would not have been known.

Only Li Junhao knew that although Britain and France had no luck at this time, and the army, navy and air force were very active and tried their best to rescue Norway, they only delayed its demise.

In the course of the subsequent war, I believe that all Chinese wondered why the Anglo-French alliance did not take the initiative to attack the German mainland, but painstakingly attacked the German invasion fleet and sent troops to land in Norway to participate in the war, as if they did not understand what "encircling Wei to save Zhao"!

At this time, there are several groups of people in the United States who are excited, and the flames of war are igniting, of course, it is not a good thing, but the young "prophets" they support have once again proved their reasoning and judgment, which is super great news!

The newly appointed Deputy Secretary of State, Nelson Ayers, slapped the table at a State Department meeting with his head tilted, angrily scolding those who did not believe the message he conveyed, but no one dared to talk back!

Even Secretary of State Cordell Hull, who had not taken the matter seriously because of his hesitation, couldn't help but regret that he hadn't listened to this old friend. I have been the Secretary of State for almost seven years, and I have to be slapped in the face by my deputy! That being said, as a sane and excellent politician, of course he does not blame Ayres, but instead becomes interested in the little guy who can accurately predict the situation in Europe in the Far East!

And on the Hawaiian Islands, far from the mainland, the middle-level department heads of the Naval Intelligence Bureau were scolded by the director of the bureau - the Far East intelligence officer "Eastwalker" in the bureau had already accurately predicted the war situation and sent it to the headquarters, but no one paid attention to it!

(End of chapter)