Republic of China game

Page 374

"Then we..."

"Order the Zhenming, Fengxiang, and Haguro to take two light patrols and four destroyers to the Kalamian Islands and enter the Sulu Sea. I must intercept the China Aircraft Carrier!"

"Hay!"

Chapter 0597 Conciliatoryism ([-]) The requirements of the backstage

British Embassy in Wuhan.

In this bustling city that will soon become the sole capital of the Republic of China, the British Empire's embassy is still stubbornly located on the site of the former public concession in Hankou District.Instead of moving to the East Lake District of Wuchang, which is closer to the National Government Chairman's Palace and Executive Yuan, like the embassies of the United States, Germany, France and other countries.

Ambassador Lampson got off a Rolls Royce somewhat tiredly, took the briefcase handed over by the First Secretary, and strode into the embassy, ​​which embodies the grandeur and splendor of the British Empire everywhere. .A dozen or so Indian asan who acted as gardeners and servants saluted him respectfully.But the old Sir Lampson didn't even look at them, just walked towards the living room with his head down, looking a little preoccupied.

In the living room, there was already a middle-aged man in a dark blue rear admiral uniform waiting for him.The officer was Rear Admiral Charles Forbes, the new commander of the East Fleet of the British Navy.Since the outbreak of this war between China and Japan, the British Empire has begun to increase its military strength in the Far East.A huge fleet of four battleships and battlecruisers, including the HMS Hood, considered the most powerful battleship in the world, was dispatched to Singapore, the eastern fortress of the British Empire.At the same time, this young and promising senior general, who was very optimistic about the British Navy's senior management, was also dispatched to serve as the commander of this fleet.However, the commander of the Far East Fleet did not stay in the impenetrable fortress of Singapore these days. Instead, he flew to Wuhan in a hurry to meet Sir Lampson, the British ambassador to China. What envoy title.

Seeing Rampu Pig walking in with a blue face, Major General Forbes smiled and said, holding a bottle of whiskey: "Hey, sir, what makes you look like this? Is it because of the current war? This unfortunate accident The war is getting bigger and bigger, and it will almost affect the territories of the British Empire. Do you know? During this period of time, the Chinese in Malaya are so happy that the Chinese restaurants there are full of guests, and everyone is excited Discussing the strength of their mother country, it seems that they are about to become the masters of Malaya..."

Lampson sat down on the sofa wearily, and the Indian servant brought him a glass of whiskey. During this time, His Excellency the Ambassador's drinking capacity was getting bigger and bigger.He smiled wryly: "General. They are about to become the masters of Malaya, and maybe French Indochina, and Lanyin and Burma... Do you know that in the thousands of years of Eastern history, most of the Here, this empire is the master worshiped by these small countries in Nanyang! And we British have only been here for two or three hundred years! This empire has risen now, and what Emperor Napoleon said may really come true. God Ah, I've witnessed the revival of this empire in the past few years, we think we are about to lose the Far East! To be honest, if China in the future just wants to get back what they lost, I am already very grateful Already!"

Seeing this stable-looking jazz in his sixties spouting pessimistic opinions, Forbes just smiled, and he asked lightly: "I heard that the Western world is ready to take concerted action to curb China's invasion of Southeast Asia. ambition, and bring this war to a just end?"

Sir Lampson just sneered: "When was there a consensus in the Western world? China can rise so fast, and it is not supported by the United States and Germany, two important members of the Western world? There is no German industrial technology, no Americans With strong funds, this ancient empire will have to struggle for at least 20 years to achieve what it is now. And now these two countries are still supporting China! Especially the United States, although they participated in the joint protest, they did not agree to blockade the Philippine Islands, now We, the French and the Dutch are playing villains, while the United States is playing angels! These damn upstarts first helped Germany revive in Europe, and then supported China in Asia. I really don’t know what they want to do!”

Forbes listened carefully to Lampson's complaints, and smiled deeply: "Sir. In my opinion, what the Americans want is to smash the old world order, and then establish a new order in which the United States sets the rules of the game. Maybe China and Germany is the hammer they used to smash the old order. What the British Empire needs now are two chains that can hold these two hammers firmly. Do you think it is possible for the defeated Japan to act as one of them? What about one?"

Lampson was a little surprised. What is the special mission of Major General Forbes?Is it to examine the performance of Chinese naval aircraft carriers in the South China Sea War, or something else?Perhaps those old guys in London have seen the need to contain China. Although China itself is an important pawn to contain the Soviet Union, it cannot be too indulgent to China's expansion, especially their ever-expanding navy.And what can the British Empire use to contain China's naval power?It is obviously not enough to rely solely on the ongoing conference on restricting naval arms. It seems that the Japanese navy that has just been defeated is really the best choice, but there are also some problems.He shook his head slightly: "General. From what I know about Japan, this country is actually more dangerous than China! Because their expansion ambitions are bigger and more urgent than China. Please imagine that almost 7000 million people are crowded in a few On the island of volcanoes and earthquakes, there are no rich resources and not enough arable land. What is their way out except to expand outward? You know... Japan is also an industrialized country. And their process of industrialization is accompanied by continuous expansion and aggressive wars."

Speaking of this, Lampson looked at Forbes seriously, and said helplessly: "In the past 30 years, the goal of Japan's expansion and aggression was China. After this fiasco, they will definitely choose the direction of expansion again! And European countries' The eastern colonies are likely to become their new expansion targets."

Forbes was a little surprised by this conclusion. In fact, he will go to Okinawa to inspect the port immediately after his visit to China. According to friends in the Navy Department, Japan seems to want to lease the port and part of the land in Okinawa to the United Kingdom to build a base... …and the Admiralty was very interested in the proposal.Their interest is not the Okinawa base itself, but Japan's sincerity in surrendering to the British Empire.After all, Japan is also a "small power" with a certain industrial foundation. At present, their industrial indicators are comparable to those of China. If they can abandon the development of the army and focus on the navy, they should be able to maintain a force that is enough to contain the Chinese navy. mighty fleet.

Of course, China can still expand into Southeast Asia with its powerful army.Occupy French Indochina, Burma, Siam, and perhaps all the way to Singapore along the Malay Peninsula.However, this situation was not fatal to the British Empire.Because Singapore will be built into a fortress that is difficult to attack from sea and land!Myanmar, on the other hand, can give up when necessary. As for India... On the India-Myanmar border is the unpassable Savage Mountain, where the British will build the Imphal Fortress to prevent the Chinese army from expanding into India.In this way, the most essential part of the British Empire can be preserved, and perhaps by abandoning Burma, sacrificing Siam and France's interests in French Indochina to appease China and let them shift their expansion goals to the north.

As for the Japanese mutiny, it seems that the Admiralty, Downing Street and Whitehall have never considered it?

Major General Forbes said with a look of surprise: "With a small defeated Japan, dare to betray the British Empire? Aren't they afraid of being completely annihilated by the wrath of the empire? Mr. Ambassador, I really don't understand why you came up with such a conclusions? Perhaps you should write a detailed report and send it to Whitehall to show them Japan's unreliability."

Lampson said coldly: "I will write such a report to remind Whitehall of Japan's expansion ambitions." Then he drank the whiskey in the glass: "But I still support the British-Japanese alliance, because we are in Asia. There is no choice."

……

When the British Empire began to ponder whether to use the iron chain of Japan to tie the hammer of China, which could smash the old world order, Luo Yaoguo went to the American embassy as a guest.

In the living room of the American embassy, ​​the American ambassador to China, Nelson Johnson, was laughing and chatting with Luo Yaoguo, and at the same time looked at this young, rather shameless chief of the Chinese army's general staff, with mixed emotions in his eyes.

To be honest, the United States does not have any bad feelings towards this emerging Asian power now, or it should have a good feeling, although the United States itself has the "Chinese Exclusion Act" to restrict the inflow of Chinese.However, the current China is still very much in line with the "values" of the United States. It is a republic that is moving toward democracy, a huge market that is open to American capital, and a frontier to contain the expansion of the communist Soviet Union.If China is not so big and the population is not so large, Nelson Johnson believes that China and the United States will be able to form a stable and long-term alliance. Of course, the day when China and the United States are far away from the day when there will be conflicts of interest.

"Mr. Johnson, this is the home port of our navy, including the military port, fort, airport, and barracks. Everything here is open to American friends. For you, not only is there no secret here, but the entire Chinese navy has no secret. "Luo Yaoguo pointed to an open map and introduced: "The delegation of the US Navy can go wherever they want and meet anyone they want."

What he is saying now sounds like a loyal lackey of the United States of America!Uh, in fact, right now he, Hu Hanmin, Chiang Kai-shek and other KMT bosses are running dogs, traitors, compradors, and spies of US imperialism... This fact is known even by the children in the Soviet area!

"Oh." Hearing Luo Yaoguo's confession on behalf of the national government, Ambassador Johnson nodded as if he didn't care, and said casually: "Marshal, then I would like to thank you and China for your kindness on behalf of the US Navy delegation. "As he spoke, he tried again: "Where do you think the end point of this war will be?"

Luo Yaoguo replied with a smile: "We just want to get back what was paid to Japan in 1895 and 1901."

"1895 and 1901?" Jason was a little surprised, he straightened his back and stared at Luo Yaoguo: "You want Taiwan, the Penghu Islands, and almost 7000 million taels of silver in compensation?"

Luo Yaoguo nodded, and said with a wry smile: "This request is very reasonable. After all, our country has suffered huge losses in this war, so we should get some compensation." Having said that, he frowned and looked at Jason: "We It is a poor country and owes a lot of money to the United States, and China is now facing a huge threat from the Soviet Union and communism, as well as serious social problems in China. I think you have been in China for these years, and you know this country How unfortunate are the poor, so every copper coin is very precious to us."

Jensen was taken aback. From Luo Yaoguo's words, he already understood that the national government would turn its energy to the north and domestic issues after ending the war.It seems that these Chinese do not want to expand their already strong enough navy. If that is the case, the friendship between China and the United States will be strengthened.Is it just that the Japanese will accept the truce conditions of ceding land and paying compensation?Now they don't seem to have lost everything, do they?Moreover, the Japanese have informed the US embassy in Tokyo of their armistice conditions. According to reliable sources, this condition has also been supported by the United Kingdom!

Thinking of this, Jensen thought about it and said: "Your Excellency, Marshal, I learned about Japan's conditions from the State Council. Their truce condition is that Japan completely withdraw its troops from Manchuria, including the Kanto Prefecture and the Manchurian Railway, all handed over to China; After withdrawing troops from Taiwan Island, Taiwan will be jointly administered by China, the United States, Britain, and Japan, and will be demilitarized, but the Penghu Islands can be returned to China. And as far as I know, the British side is ready to support Japan’s conditions.”

"Hehe, so these Japanese devils hooked up with Britain!" Luo Yaoguo sneered from the bottom of his heart, if it was the United States who wanted to stand up for Japan, it would be a little troublesome, and the United Kingdom really shouldn't be taken seriously, the British Empire is already in decline. It is also impossible for Japan to start a war with China.However, the US imperialists still have to hold on to the thigh right now. As long as there is the support of the US, reparations may not be obtained, but there is still no problem in swallowing Taiwan.

Luo Yaoguo was silent for a while, looked up at Jason and asked solemnly: "Mr. Ambassador, can you tell me if the US government is interested in this plan? Maybe our two countries can consider jointly managing Taiwan Island."

"Oh, no, no, no." Jason smiled and shook his head: "We, the United States, have no interest in Taiwan Island, and the ownership of Taiwan is a matter between China and Japan."

Luo Yaoguo breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. After this trial, he was basically sure that the United States would continue to favor China in this war.But the American ambassador in front of him will not suddenly invite himself to the embassy for coffee on a sudden whim. The United States must also want to get something from this change in the East Asian situation.

Luo Yaoguo took a sip of his coffee, collected his thoughts, and then said slowly: "Mr. Johnson, after defeating Japan, the threat to our country will mainly come from the north, that is, Soviet Russia and communism, and from the current international situation. Look, these two are also the biggest threats to the entire free world. In order to deal with such threats, our country must concentrate all our energy and financial resources. After obtaining Taiwan and Penghu, the threats from the southeast can basically be eliminated, and our country can fully fight against the Soviet Union and Russia. communism."

Of course Jason could understand that the Chinese are still playing the two trump cards of Soviet Russia and communism. In fact, as long as they continue to hold high the signs of anti-Soviet and anti-communist, the Western world, including Britain, will not do anything to them.And the reason why Japan will be unlucky this time is probably inseparable from the fact that they have gotten closer to Soviet Russia in the past few years.However, the instructions given to him by the U.S. State Department were not limited to urging the Chinese Nationalist government to oppose the Soviet Union and the Communist Party.

"Your Excellency, Marshal, I understand your country's vigilance against the Soviet Union and communism. After all, Soviet Russia has followed the aggressive expansion route of the Tsarist Russian Empire and occupied more than 100 million square kilometers of China's land. In 1921, they were not yet stable internally. In 1927, they sent troops to occupy the Mongolian region of China, and launched the Middle East Road War in [-]." Johnson spoke slowly, and his tone seemed to be full of sympathy for China's misfortune:

"However, in modern times, the aggression against China started from the United Kingdom. They used the criminal opium trade to grab huge wealth from China, and they also took Hong Kong away from China by launching the Opium War. To this day, they still occupy Hong Kong, and It also owns concessions in China’s Shanghai and Tianjin. I think as a rising power, shouldn’t there be such a country within a country that only colonial countries have?”

Luo Yaoguo hesitated for a moment. He knew that what Jason said in the end was definitely not out of friendship or justice towards China, but the conditions for the United States to continue to support China. It turned out that the United States wanted China to challenge the hegemony of the British Empire!

"Mr. Johnson, the Chinese people can feel the friendship of the United States to us from your proposal. Recovering all concessions including Hong Kong is indeed our next goal."

Jansen nodded with a smile: "I think China's goal will definitely be achieved in a very short period of time. In addition, the positions of our two countries at the London Restricted Naval Conference need to be coordinated. This South China Sea war has been sent to the whole world. The world's naval powers have shown the value of aircraft carriers." He paused for a while and said with a smile: "The era of battleships is gone forever, so we estimate that in the next stage of negotiations, aircraft carriers will become the focus of debate."

"The United States will propose to reduce the number of battleships and increase the construction quota of aircraft carriers. The United States wants to build an aircraft carrier with a gross tonnage of 20 tons, and hopes that China can propose a request of 15 tons."

Luo Yaoguo shook his head in doubt: "Isn't 15 tons of aircraft carrier too much for China? And we don't have that kind of financial resources to maintain such a huge fleet."

Chapter 0598 Conciliatoryism ([-]) The Appeasement Policy of Britain and the United States

"Your Excellency, Marshal, I don't think you fully understand what I mean." Ambassador Jansen nodded with a smile, and explained: "The United States just wants China to request a 15-ton aircraft carrier at the Naval Armaments Limitation Conference. It’s not about you building or owning these carriers.”

"Oh!" Luo Yaoguo nodded, and he understood the intention of the United States in a blink of an eye.The Americans want China to take the lead in provoking a new round of arms race in the construction of aircraft carriers, so as to eliminate Britain's maritime hegemony based on battleships.Although the United States is still in an economic crisis, their economic aggregate and industrial base still far exceed that of the United Kingdom. If Britain and the United States start to reduce battleships and build aircraft carriers at the same time... it will be a heavy financial burden for Britain, and For the United States, it is instead saving underutilized shipyards and steel mills.Of course, China is the villain who provokes the arms race and destroys peace, and the United States is still the angel who saves the world.

But what about being a villain?Anyway, the British Empire has not been around for a few years... Just when Luo Yaoguo was about to agree to the conditions of the United States, there was a bang, and the door of the living room was slammed open.

Luo Yaoguo turned his head, only to see a lieutenant colonel in a blue US Navy uniform walk in, hurried to Ambassador Johnson, leaned over and whispered something in his ear.Jason's face changed drastically, and he waved the naval attaché to leave.

"Your Excellency Marshal." Ambassador Jansen took a deep breath and calmed down his seemingly uneasy mood: "Now the US Navy is confronting the Japanese fleet trying to enter the Sulu Sea in the waters near Palawan Island!"

……

The long and narrow Palawan Island is like a dam that blocks the sea, separating the South China Sea from the Sulu Sea.In the northwest of Palawan Island is the South China Sea, which is undergoing a sea-to-air war, while Palawan Island is part of the US-owned Philippines, and the Sulu Sea in the southwest of Palawan Island is the sphere of influence of the United States.However, the width of the territorial waters of the United States is 3 nautical miles. In theory, both the Kuomintang's First Air Fleet and the Japanese Combined Fleet can now enter the Sulu Sea from the straits at the north and south ends of Palawan Island.

But that's just theory!At least for the fleet commanded by Lieutenant Admiral Kobayashi, the width of US territorial waters should be flexible.

Two "flat deck" destroyers aggressively blocked the Japanese fleet including a battlecruiser, an aircraft carrier and a heavy cruiser.Moreover, they kept playing the signal semaphore that this is the territorial waters of the United States, so leave immediately, which made Commander Kobayashi a little upset.

On the bridge of the battlecruiser Zhenming, Kobayashi looked anxiously at the sky. The sky had gradually darkened, and it would be dark in a short time. At that time, the Chinese aircraft carrier could use the cover of night to escape at their speed. disappeared without a trace.

"Has the Nagato not responded yet?"

Gritting his teeth, Kobayashi Chizo turned around and asked the chief of staff and Kawako Shiro beside him.The two "flat deck" destroyers are of course not a problem. If they can be fought, Kobayashi is sure to resolve the battle within a few minutes, but... that will mean the end of the history of the Japanese Empire!

Right now, Japan has been overwhelmed by the newly revived China. If you go to provoke the United States, the world's largest industrial power, then China's population will be added to the US's weapons, as well as the powerful navies of the two countries. , no matter how you look at it, the country will be destroyed.

So Kobayashi can only wait, waiting for the results of diplomatic negotiations.But what favorable results can diplomacy negotiate?The current attitude of the United States is clearly in favor of China, otherwise they can prohibit the ships of China and Japan from passing through the waters near the Philippines.This seems to be true neutrality. Where is the reason for allowing the Chinese fleet to pass and not allowing the Japanese fleet to pass?What a bully!