British military position.
Ferguson, Jonathan and Johnson are anxiously waiting for the results of Wang Tianmu's negotiations with the Lone Army Battalion.
Seeing that Wang Tianmu had not come back, Ferguson became a little impatient. He waved his club and cursed: "These damn yellow-skinned monkeys, please don't fall into my hands. Once they are disarmed, I will not let them go." If I pass them, I will definitely make them regret coming into this world as a human being, I will definitely make them regret it, Fake, Afake Youmare.”
Jonathan was not as optimistic as Ferguson. He frowned and said, "What I'm worried about is that they are unwilling to surrender. After all, the Lone Army Battalion has already suffered a loss once, and they may not obey the orders of the National Government this time."
"No way," Johnson whispered, "How dare they disobey the leader's orders?"
"It's hard to say." Jonathan shook his head and said, "Looking at the current behavior of the Gujun camp, there is no escape route for myself, so disobeying Chiang Kai-shek's orders is also a high probability event."
"I don't think it's possible," Johnson said. "No matter how much trouble the Lone Army Camp makes, they will eventually return to the order of battle of the National Army. If they refuse to carry out Chiang Kai-shek's orders, aren't they afraid that Chiang Kai-shek will settle the score later?"
"Who knows." Jonathan shrugged and said with a wry smile, "I don't think it will be that simple anyway."
Johnson said: "God, these yellow-skinned monkeys must obey the orders of the public, otherwise they will be in big trouble."
If the issue of Lone Barracks is not handled well, all the people here, including Brigadier General Ferguson, the garrison commander, will be in trouble. But the first to be unlucky will definitely be Johnson, the Chief of Police, because of the Lone Barracks camp. The resistance has caused a series of chain reactions and is likely to detonate throughout Shanghai.
It must be mentioned here that after the Battle of Songhu, more than two million refugees took refuge in the Shanghai Concession. The sudden influx of so many refugees into the Public Settlement and the French Concession was bound to put heavy pressure on the normal operation of the Concession. Unable to find a job to earn money to support their families, most of the refugees who flooded into the concessions lived in hardship.
Throughout the winter, hundreds of refugees froze to death and starved to death almost every day.
Life is difficult, and refugees more or less always have complaints against the concession authorities.
The fact is that the Public Concession and the French Concession at this time are like two huge tinderboxes. Just a spark can detonate the two concessions and blow the foreigners in the concession to pieces. And once it happens, In this situation, the first person to be blown up would definitely be Police Chief Johnson.
Therefore, Johnson was the one among the people present who most hoped that the situation would calm down as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, Johnson's good wishes would eventually come to nothing. A quarter of an hour later, Wang Tianmu, the head of the Military Command Shanghai District, completed negotiations with Gujunying, but brought back bad news: Gujunying refused to obey Jiang's order!
Johnson and Jonathan were stunned when they heard this, but Ferguson roared angrily.
However, Ferguson only roared a few times, but he did not have the courage to start a war. The reason is very simple. Once the conflict really breaks out, whether the British army wins or loses, Ferguson will not get any good results, because if he wins , the Gujun camp will definitely massacre the hostages in retaliation. In order to calm the pressure of international public opinion, the country will definitely use the top commander of the Shanghai garrison as a scapegoat. If they lose, it goes without saying.
Therefore, Ferguson will never attack unless there is domestic authorization.
It was also at this time that Ferguson, Jonathan and others realized that they were helpless.
Are they really helpless because they suddenly discovered that the lonely military camp was inaccessible, so they resorted to military intimidation? They are not afraid of you at all! Diplomatic pressure? The lone army camp even ignored the orders of the supreme leader of the National Government and was completely useless! If we really can't think of a good way, we can only continue to put pressure on the National Government.
Jonathan turned around and told the beautiful female secretary: "Jenna, immediately call the embassies and consulates of eight countries including the United States, France, Italy, Belgium, and Luxembourg in Shanghai, and say that the National Government is perfunctory and not serious at all. Put pressure on the Lone Army Battalion, which also shows no sign of releasing the hostages, allowing them to continue to put pressure on the National Government."
"Okay, I'll make a call right now." Jenna turned around and left in a hurry.
(Dividing line)
The pressure from Shanghai soon spread to Chongqing.
The ministers from the nine countries once again came to Chairman Chiang's private residence to express their strong protest against the National Government. Wang Chonghui, who was in charge of the reception, almost had his eardrums broken by the ministers from the nine countries.
"Mr. Minister, on behalf of His Majesty the King of Italy and His Excellency Prime Minister Mussolini, I would like to issue the sternest warning to your government. If your government cannot calm down the situation satisfactorily within the next twenty-four hours, We, the Italian government, will take decisive action and give your country a brutal military strike."
"Yes, yes, sir, don't worry, Mr. Minister, we will definitely calm down the situation, we will definitely calm down."
"Minister Wang, I must remind you that the patience of the Belgian government has its limits. The lone army camp kidnapped two innocent Belgian civilians. This is a serious provocation. It is a wanton insult to the Belgian government, and it is also a violation of international law and international law." It is a blatant violation of the rules. If your country cannot resolve this matter satisfactorily, if your country cannot ensure the safety of Belgian citizens and severely punish the perpetrators, the Belgian government will take retaliatory measures."
"Yes, yes, yes, the incident will be resolved satisfactorily and the safety of Belgian citizens will be guaranteed."
"Mr. Minister, the dignity of the British Empire must not be offended. This atrocity committed by the Lone Army Battalion has seriously offended the dignity of the British Empire and even more seriously damaged the international image of the British Empire. I would like to remind your government that this is by no means a simple incident. The armed kidnapping incident is a serious international political incident."
"Yes, this is an international political incident, a political incident."
"Hmph, if your government cannot take drastic measures to force the lone camp to release the hostages, our army of the British Empire will take drastic measures to carry out armed rescue. If this results in regrettable casualties, all consequences will be borne by your country. The government will bear the responsibility, and your government will bear severe retaliation from Britain."
"Yes, we must take drastic measures and the hostages will be released."
Foreign Minister Wang Chonghui endured repeated bombardments from ministers from nine countries in the reception hall.
After half an hour, when the envoys from the nine countries had finished venting, Wang Chonghui walked into Chairman Chiang's study extremely exhausted, with a face full of saliva and legs that seemed to be filled with lead.
Seeing Wang Chonghui's appearance, Chen Cheng lost his voice and said, "Minister Wang, why are you like this?"
"This is pretty good." Wang Chonghui wiped the saliva on his face with his sleeve and said with a wry smile, "Brother Ci Xiu, there are still committee members. If the situation cannot be calmed down, if the hostages are not released from Gujun Camp, I'm really worried. The Ministers of the Nine Kingdoms will tear me apart. Anyway, I am really about to lose my ability to resist, and the Ministers of the Nine Kingdoms are almost out of patience."
Chairman Jiang's face immediately darkened, he stamped the floor with a civilized stick, and said, "Everyone, tell me, what should we do now?"
Several staff present looked at the floor under their feet, as if there were flowers on the floor.
Seeing that several of his staff refused to say anything, Chairman Chiang's face became more and more gloomy. He directly named him and said, "Jiansheng, I know that you have always been resourceful and the current situation is difficult. Do you have any good suggestions?"
Bai Chongxi didn't want to say it at first, but now that Chairman Chiang called his name, he stopped hiding it and said loudly: "My suggestion is very simple. Negotiate sternly and argue with reason!"
Chairman Jiang frowned and said: "Stern representation? How can we argue with reason?"
Chairman Jiang almost suspected that he had heard wrongly. At this time, you are still here to tell me this
Now it is the ministers of the nine countries who are seeking justice from us, okay? It is not us who are seeking justice from the ministers of the nine countries!
Bai Chongxi went on to say: "In this matter alone, what the Gujun Camp did was not wrong. It was because the British betrayed their trust first, and then there was revenge from the Gujun Camp. Of course, it was wrong for the Gujun Camp to kidnap Western citizens, but this is not right. Were they also forced by the British? Without the previous betrayal of the British, the Lone Army Battalion would not have done this."
Chairman Jiang's face became darker and darker, and his last bit of patience was about to be worn away.
But at this time, Chen Cheng heard the implication of Bai Chongxi's words. Bai Chongxi's intention was to first support the Gujun Camp and calm down the grievances of the Gujun Camp. Then things would be simple. As long as the grievances of the Gujun Camp were calmed down, the hostages would be released. , shouldn’t the Gujun Camp have to be manipulated by foreign adults
To put it more bluntly, it is to let Western countries cooperate with the Nationalist Government to perform a show to deceive the lonely army camp.
As expected of Xiao Zhuge, only Bai Chongxi could come up with such an insidious and vicious move.
Objectively speaking, Bai Chongxi's move is really powerful, but it's just unethical to do so.
At that moment, Chen Cheng said: "But the problem is that the liaison team sent by the military unified camp cannot enter the Gujun camp at all, and the officers and soldiers of the Gujun camp cannot hear our solemn negotiations with the British."
Bai Chongxi said calmly: "Isn't Minister Song just in Shanghai?"
At this time, Chairman Jiang also reacted, nodded and said: "This is a good suggestion, let's do it like this."
Foreign Minister Wang Chonghui said with some worry: "This method is good, but I am worried that the ministers of the nine countries will not agree, and the British army in Shanghai will not cooperate. What will happen then?"
"Minister Wang, this depends on your ability." Bai Chongxi said with a smile, "You are the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Isn't it your strength to deceive and incite others
"What is cheating and what is instigation?" Wang Chonghui was unhappy, "This is called negotiation skills."
"Yes, yes, negotiation skills." Bai Chongxi smiled, "How to persuade the ministers of the nine countries and how to persuade the British army to cooperate depends entirely on your negotiation skills."
Wang Chonghui said: "Okay, I'll give it a try."
ps: I recommend a book by Jianghu Mao, the novel "Rebirth of the Villain Young Master". It's a very interesting book. It has everything from Starting Point to Creation.