Chapter 39 Breakfast Meeting

"First of all, here, whether as the representative of the empire or any upright man with a conscience, I must remind all countries that the large-scale use of poison gas in the Manchuria battlefield is outrageous! And it is a violation of the Hague Rules of Land Warfare. I hope that all ambassadors and public envoys will put pressure on China's political axe to publicly declare the cessation of the use of this inhumane and international conventions!"

In the banquet room on the third floor of the Imperial Hotel in Nanjing, after two requests for advice to His Majesty the Chinese emperor have not received an accurate reply from last night to now, Ito Hirofumi, who has come to Nanjing, did not give up the purpose of this trip. Almost after the first request for advice from His Majesty the Emperor did not receive an accurate reply, he In a private name, the ambassadors and minister of the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary, the Netherlands and the Netherlands were invited to participate in the "breakfast party" held by him.

Although the ambassadors and minister of the nine countries understand that this "breakfast meeting" is actually a time when they hope to put pressure on China with their strength, no one refuse to participate. On the one hand, for the ambassadors and minister of various countries, the situation on the battlefield has been extremely chaotic since this war that has made all military experts fall through their glasses. As soon as the dispute broke out, their attitude was very clear.

China says that the two countries must stop the war immediately. At the bottom, the war must not be extended to the customs, especially the Yangtze River. However, they hope that the two countries will restrain their attitude towards the war rather than hope to restrain their attitude to the war.

And that gave all the soldiers a headache, like a chaotic Northeast battlefield, the middle [***] team, which they originally thought was overpowered, actually gained three completely different advantages on the three battlefields in the most unfavorable combat environment from the beginning.

In Fengtian, they successfully put the Naimu Xidian Corps outside Fengtian City, and covered it with uninterrupted shelling, dispelling their hope of occupying Fengtian City. In the Tieling area, they also fully surrounded the three main forces of the Japanese army. In Dalian, in the weakest link of the [***] team, they also fought. People admire it very much.

Just yesterday, they even pulled out a part of the army and anniversed the two divisions of the Japanese army in one day. It was not impossible to completely anniper the Yalu River Army.

At this time, the army now called the "Imperial Guards" used military actions on the battlefield in five days, which made the envoys of various countries have to re-examine the new empire with 1.6 million troops. Yesterday, the [***] team suddenly put poison gas into use on the battlefield, which also shocked each of them. .

No one knows what poison gas is. They just got the report of the field observers stationed in Japan and China. The report of the observers in China is very simple. It only mentions that the Chinese used a powerful new weapon on the battlefield and relied on such new weapons to break through the Japanese military defense line. They can be stationed in the commanders of the Japanese army. The observers reported a large amount of "intelligence", a brand-new weapon that changed the course of the war, poison gas, which was first thrown into the battlefield by the Chinese.

And in the Chinese official report, it is also mentioned that "with the help of some kind of weapon, our army was able to break through the military defense line in a few minutes." Through all kinds of gossip and vague reports in newspapers, everyone knows that China now has a powerful weapon. Although the gossip deliberately renders the cruelty of this weapon, Chinese people who have not seen it with their own eyes are still full of longing for this weapon, especially thinking It is even more pleasant when they can be used on foreigners.

"When the dead fog rises, there will be no more creatures where the dead fog floats!"

This is the report that diplomats received from this [***] observer. After receiving this report, they had proposed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Empire that China had violated the Rules of Land Warfare in The Hague and used gas shells, but Minister Liang's answer almost made them pass.

"Dear Minister ***, according to the information currently available to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Imperial Guards have never used gas shells in this operation. The Imperial Guards used chemical cigarette cans, not gas shells fired by cannons. According to the provisions of the Rules of Warfare, only the use of gas cannons are prohibited. Play it! ......"

Then there was another explanation, explaining the meaning of shells in English, French, German, Russian and Japanese, which was completely sophistry. However, in the face of China, which has a certain secret weapon, the missions of various countries did not insist. For them, what they were more curious about was hoping to get the secret of this secret weapon. .

"Count Ito, if I remember correctly, your country has received an explanation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Empire, hasn't it?"

The speaker is the French minister Bi Shengyi. As Russia's most important hardcore ally in this war, at this time, he does not mind falling into the well. What's more, France also hopes that Russia will win this war, at least with decent peace, but now China's actions have made the original beating dying. Russia has a respite, and the same appropriate goodwill may have unexpected gains in the future.

"Moreover, it seems that your country violated the neutrality clause first. Your country first broke through the "neutrality clause" formulated by the Qing Dynasty last year to delimit the war zone, so that China's current neutral war, didn't it?"

Bi Shengyi's tit-for-tat answer only made Hirofumi Ito frown, but at this time, the British minister Zhu Erdian spoke first.

"I think it's not to talk about who has violated public international law now, but how to end the conflict between China and Japan. In this conflict, the attitude of the British political axe is very clear. Out of consideration of the interests of all countries in China, we will never accept any attempt to extend the war to the south of Shanhaiguan. Try it, especially around the Yangtze River!"

Zhu Erdian, who stood up, took a look at Ito Hirofumi. Just yesterday, when Ito left, the Japanese fleet had some changes, which made him vigilant. Britain's investment in China accounted for more than 70% of the total investment in China, and the vast majority of them were concentrated in the Yangtze River Basin. Britain could never take it. I accept any possible risks.

Moreover, now Britain must repair the unhappiness caused by the tariff problem with China. After all, now the Chinese queen was born in the United Kingdom and has a British title, which could have made Britain have an advantage that other countries could not reach, but due to the short-sightedness of some people, the Sino-British relationship has caused a sharp decline. Britain must re- Build influence in this country.

"Convoy Zhu Erdian, I think!"

Listening to Zhu Erdian's aggressive words, although Ito Hirofumi felt no less humiliating than when the three countries intervened in Liao ten years ago, he still replied in a low voice.

"Whether the war will expand to the south of the mountains and rivers and the Yangzi River must be decided by China's attitude. If China's political axe insists on expanding the scale of the war, then for Japan, Japan will have to choose some unwish military actions. In order to protect the interests of our country!"

Looking around at the envoys and ambassadors of the eight countries, Hirofumi Ito continued his speech in a slightly sad and indignant voice.

"In the war between Japan and Lucia, Japan is not only for Japan, but also for China and you. I think all the communionies are very clear about this. In order to defeat this country that wants to annex Manchuria and even go south to compete with the control of China, it has made a heavy sacrifice. Indeed, without the loans and help of Britain, the United States, Germany and other countries, our country would not have won this war, but what about the sacrifices we made? That money is not worth mentioning!"

When Hirofumi Ito used the popular words of "Westerners give money (loans) to give guns, say that I give people, and use the words that I fight against the Russians" to accuse these countries, the French just smiled. In this war, France is an ally of Russia, while Jurnet, Rou Keyi and others, but There is no reaction. In their opinion, this seems to be taken for granted. Japan needs not only their loans, but also them to weaken Russia's strategic overall situation. In this case, as an agent, Japan must obey their interests, not their own interests.

"In order to respect the interests of various countries, the empire has not hesitated to bear the dissatisfaction of the people and has always maintained a restrained attitude towards the Chinese [***] team on the battlefield. But compared with that, what are the Chinese people doing? While they were restrained, they were constantly expanding the war. They tried to annihilate a legion. I would like to ask you, if a certain country is annihilating a legion in your country, then for you, what will you choose? "Juldian's envoy!"

His eyes looked directly at Zhu Erdian, and Hirofumi Ito asked in a forced tone.

"At that time, any country will choose war, a comprehensive war. In order to maintain the dignity of the country, only war can be chosen. At that time, any idea of trying to control the scale of war is a luxury!"

"Count Ito!"

In the face of forced questions, Zhu Erdian said calmly. He clearly knew that Ito Hirofumi was just threatening. With his own mentality, if he could see the victory of this war, then they would definitely go on the war. The domestic economic environment and the sudden severe bond issuance situation. The interference of the great powers and the Russian fleet is about to cross Malacca, all of which make Japan far more eager than China to end this unexpected war.

However, as he said, even gamblers without capital can't be too tight. Otherwise, gamblers who lose all capital will make any risky attempts, which is not what others can expect.

"We have been trying our best to restore peace between China and Japan! I think there will be results soon!"

(to be continued)