Steve and a dozen ministers' trip to the patrol camp ultimately came back in vain. Faced with a veteran ruffian like Xu Rui, diplomats like them had no choice. If the situation allowed, they could use force to deter him. Even direct suppression, but unfortunately, this road is simply not feasible now.
Small countries like the Netherlands and Luxembourg do not have the ability to send troops to suppress it.
Britain has the ability to send troops, but what benefits can it bring to Britain by sending troops to suppress the patrol camp at this time? Obviously it cannot bring any benefits. If troops are really deployed from Singapore to suppress the patrol camp, they will only be able to take advantage of the Japanese. This kind of loss-making transaction will never be done by the British.
What's more, Prime Minister Chamberlain is now kidnapped by his own policies.
The core of Chamberlain's appeasement policy was to condone the German-Italian-Japanese Axis Alliance and later lead this disaster to the Soviet Union. Therefore, at this juncture, it was absolutely impossible for the United Kingdom to easily take advantage of the situation.
Some people may ask, what does the suppression of concession patrol camps have to do with the Japanese
Of course it does matter. Since most of Shanghai has become the territory of the Japanese, if the British mobilized a large number of troops to Shanghai at this time, they would be sleeping soundly next to the Japanese bed. Can the Japanese agree? It's possible that the patrol camp was not suppressed by then, but Britain and Japan started fighting first. That would be a petty loss.
Although France has troops stationed in the French Concession, its total strength is only one regiment. If it really takes action with this small force, let alone suppressing the patrol battalion, the patrol battalion will in turn suppress it on the spot in the blink of an eye! Today's patrol battalion is no longer the patrol battalion it was when it faced off against the Royal Gurkha Infantry Battalion.
The current patrol camp not only has 6,000 people, but also has the same beautiful equipment!
The attitude of the United States has always been very ambiguous, and the U.S. military is pitifully weak and has extremely poor combat effectiveness. It can be said that it has no sense of existence in the world. What's more, the U.S. government has been clamoring for glorious isolation for fear that Britain and France will The country dragged him into the quagmire of world war, so there was no hope.
After such an analysis, there is really no way to deal with the patrol camp.
The envoys from various countries stationed in Shanghai dispersed one after another and went back to their homes to find their mothers.
However, it is completely foreseeable that tomorrow morning, newspapers and magazines controlled by Western countries will be full of crusade against the patrol camps. Shocking words such as barbarism, ignorance and backwardness, disregard of rules, and renunciation from the civilized world will definitely appear in large numbers in newspapers and magazines. In the magazine, it was just a chat.
Xu Rui had anticipated such a situation, so he seemed confident. To put it bluntly, China had nothing to lose. No matter how bad the situation was, it would not be worse than it is now. But Western countries are different. In the dead silence on the eve of the war, no one except Germany dared to act rashly.
Steve did not return to the embassy, but came to the concession building.
Steve was still angry until he entered Jonathan's office.
Seeing Steve rushing in angrily, Jonathan, Ferguson and Johnson, who were gathering to discuss countermeasures, quickly got up to greet him. Jonathan also asked his female secretary Jenna to pour Steve a cup of hot coffee. After drinking a cup of coffee, his expression finally softened a little.
Johnson asked in a low voice: "Your Excellency, Baron, the negotiations are not going well?"
"It's more than just unsatisfactory." Steve said angrily, "This guy Xu Rui is simply incompetent!"
Jonathan immediately said: "If it doesn't work, we can only put pressure on the National Government."
"Are you stupid?" Steve said angrily, "Xu Rui is an idiot, do you think he cares about the pressure from the National Government?"
It is an open secret that Xu Bu is the commander of the patrol battalion.
The news was leaked by the Japanese, and the purpose was simply to sow discord between the Concession Industry Bureau and the patrol camp.
"**?" Ferguson immediately suggested, "Why not try to get the Soviet government to put pressure on you?"
"It's useless." Steve exhaled a thick breath and said with a groan, "The Soviet minister in Shanghai had already sent a note to Yan'an, but Yan'an replied that the patrol camp is an armed force of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in our concession and has nothing to do with them. They also said that Xu Rui was not transferred to the Songhu area at all, and they don’t admit it, so what can you do?”
Ferguson was furious when he heard this: "Isn't this lying with your eyes open?"
"No, they are just telling lies, so what can you do?" Steve said, "You can't deploy troops, you can't use force to suppress them, everything they say is false."
At this time, Steve no longer longed for his grandfather's era.
When Steve was very young, his grandfather often held him and sat on his knees, telling him about his glorious military exploits. His grandfather once told him that as long as the British Empire built a gate along the coast of China, With artillery, the Chinese emperor could be forced to cede territory and pay indemnities for peace, and every British soldier participating in the battle could gain infinite wealth.
Johnson said: "Your Excellency, Baron, can this matter be settled like this? Are the patrol battalions allowed to implement military control over the concession, and are they allowed to turn the central and western areas of the concession into anti-Japanese battlefields? Is the British Empire going to abandon the concession? Benefits? This is a tax income of over 50 million pounds a year!"
Steve sighed and said, "I'm afraid this is the only way."
After a pause, Steve continued: "You were not here just now, and you didn't see Xu Rui's fierce eyes. This guy is really anxious, and he really wants to fight the Japanese. If anyone blocks him, he will Who are you worried about? You don’t want to stay in the dungeon of the patrol camp for a while, do you?”
Ferguson and the other three immediately fell silent upon hearing this.
To put it bluntly, the strength of the patrol battalion is far greater than the British military presence in Shanghai.
Ferguson sighed: "The patrol battalion is already full of wings. If there is a fierce battle with the Japanese army in Shanghai, the battlefield may not be limited to the Chinese areas. The Central Area of the Concession, the Western Area of the Concession and even the French Concession may become battlefields for repeated battles between the two sides. , I’m afraid what Western countries can do is very limited.”
Jonathan said: "What I am most worried about is that after the patrol camp is wiped out, the Japanese troops will stay in the concession. Isn't this how the northern and eastern areas of the concession were occupied by the Japanese? What if there are still two areas in the central and western areas of the concession? The French Concession also fell into the hands of the Japanese, and then Shanghai, an international metropolis, became a forbidden area for the Japanese."
There were originally four districts in the Shanghai Public Concession. In the first stage of the Songhu Battle, the North District and the East District of the Concession became battlefields. In the end, the National Army was defeated, and the Japanese army took control of the North and East Districts of the Concession. Now, it is their turn again. The Central and Western Districts of the concession have become battlefields, and will the entire public concession fall
Steve snorted softly and gritted his teeth and said: "First of all, in the name of the Concession Industry Bureau, I will make a statement that the two sides will never be allowed to fight in the Central and Western Districts of the Concession. Otherwise, it will be a formal declaration of war on the British Empire! Then, I will immediately report it to the cabinet. A letter of love, requesting the cabinet to issue a formal statement warning the Chinese and Japanese governments not to cross this red line."
"Is it useful?" Ferguson shrugged and said, "At least Xu Rui won't care about our warning."
Jonathan also agreed: "Three months ago, we personally released the devil Xu Rui from King Solomon's bottle. Now it is difficult to lock him in again."
"You have to try it to know whether it works or not." Steve said, "Do you have a better way?"
Ferguson shrugged his shoulders and immediately shut his mouth. Of course, they couldn't have a better way.
At this time, Jenna suddenly walked in and reported: "Mr. General Director, there is a Miss Helena who claims to be the Associated Press war correspondent in China. She wants to do an exclusive interview with you. Can she come in?"
"Associated Press?" Jonathan frowned and said, "Just say I'm not here..."
"Wait a minute." As soon as Jonathan finished speaking, Steve waved his hand and said, "If the Associated Press can also speak out together, it will be a greater shock to the Japanese government. After all, Japan still has to import steel, wheat, etc. from the United States. For bulk commodities such as crude oil, if the Japanese don’t sell our face, they should sell America’s face.”
Jonathan nodded and said, "Okay, let her come in."
(Dividing line)
At the same time, Nakamura Agency.
Kage Sasaki is also accepting a special interview with Asahi Shimbun.
Kinjiro is the chief reporter of the Asahi Shimbun's press team stationed in China. He is considered a well-known figure in the entire Japanese journalistic community. The 100-man killing competition between Mukai Toshiaki and Noda Takeshi was through him. It made the front page of Asahi Shimbun and caused great repercussions in Japan.
"Your Majesty Colonel, I just heard a shocking piece of news." Jinjiro opened his notebook on his knees, prepared to record it, and said, "The patrol camp carried out an investigation on the central and western districts of the public concession. Military control, is this true? If this is true, what impact will it have on the imperial army’s control of Shanghai?”
"You asked a very good question." Shadow Zhenzhao put his hands on his knees and replied with a stiff expression, "The imperial army will never sit back and watch the patrol camp's barbaric behavior that blatantly tramples on international law and blatantly ignores international diplomatic conventions. If necessary, the Imperial Army will take resolute and just actions to maintain the sanctity and inviolability of international law."
Jinjiro looked stern when he heard this, knowing that Kage Sasaki was building momentum for the Japanese army to enter the concession.
As a reporter from the Asahi Shimbun, Gejiro certainly knew that the Seventh Division and the Twentieth Division were urgently gathering and would arrive in Shanghai within half a month at the latest. However, the public concession and the French Concession were always a problem. If the Japanese army Without being able to enter the public concession or the French Concession, Xu Rui's patrol camp cannot be fundamentally wiped out.