What surprised Stilwell was that not only Zhuang Jihua, but also Li Zongren were both very requested, and the two of them met him together, which made Stilwell a little flattered. As a soldier, he knew very well how busy the two of them would be at this time.

"General Li, General Zhuang, I am very grateful for taking time to see me in vain." Stilwell expressed his gratitude at the right time, and then introduced his entourage: "This is my entourage Major Nepton, Lieutenant Mike, and translator Mr. Zheng Yang."

After sitting down, Zhuang Jihua smiled and said, "Col. Stilwell, the Japanese are still far away from us. They can't disturb our work."

Stilwell grinned: "General, I heard that the Japanese army on the southern front have launched an attack. I wonder what the current situation is?"

"It's still within our expectations," Zhuang Jihua said calmly, and picked up a cigarette and handed it to Stilwell. Stilwell reached out to take it. Zhuang Jihua originally did not smoke. This cigarette was developed in Nanjing. After Zhuang Jihua lit the cigarette, he said: "The Japanese army is approaching the county and is progressing quite fast. I think the six generals of Jun should be satisfied."

Li Zongren squirted out the smoke and laughed: "I will be satisfied with it if I was the one who had to do with it. In just two days, the left wing is almost at the county, and the right wing has also conquered **."

Seeing that the two of them were relaxed, as if they were talking about a war that was not related to him, Stilwell asked strangely: "General, aren't you worried at all?"

"There is nothing to worry about," said Li Zongren. "Jun Liu is very fierce. Four divisions and 100,000 people have to avoid the limelight first."

"It's right, Colonel Stilwell, you are a Chinese expert. Of course, you know that there is a saying in China. Only those who laugh at the end are laughter." Zhuang Jihua interrupted: "Col. As a neutral person, how do you view this war?"

Stilwell was silent for a while and said, "I am a diplomat and it is difficult to comment. Please forgive me, but I would like to know your views on the development of this war."

"You are too worried. Today, Commander Li and I are not treating diplomats. We are receiving foreign colleagues and communicating with each other." Zhuang Jihua smiled and shook his head and said, "You probably know. I have lived in the United States for a long time and had dates with President Roosevelt. But at that time he was the governor of New York. Although he was not a soldier, he was more comfortable than you. He never concealed his own thoughts."

"General noo.no." Stilwell shook his head and expressed his objection. He had read the materials of Zhuang Jihua before coming and knew that what he said was true: "He was not the president at that time. Of course he could speak. If you ask now, his answer was similar to mine."

Li Zongren and Zhuang Jihua exchanged glances and couldn't help laughing. Zhuang Jihua began to like this American colonel a little. He joked: "Actually, I know what you think. You think we can't fight anymore. In the past, we said we were defeated in three months, and then we said half a year. Now we said that at most there is one more year. This year is coming soon. I want to ask how long will it take to talk about next time?"

"Haha." Stilwell and the two entourage laughed. Stilwell waved his hand and said, "I admit that we made a mistake in the first place. But to be honest, the gap in strength between China and Japan is obvious. It is not easy for China to fight until now. Chinese soldiers are very brave. They are one of the best soldiers in the world."

"Well. I agree with this." Zhuang Jihua stood up and said, "The current issue is the gap in national strength. But national strength is not the only factor in determining the outcome of a war. Colonel. You have been in China for a long time. You should know that there are many examples of fighting with weak defeating strong battles in Chinese history. In fact, there are also foreign countries. Didn't Russia defeat Napoleon win the strong by weak defeating strong. During the war between the United States, wasn't Britain much stronger than the United States?"

"But the form of war has changed." Stilwell reminded: "It used to be muskets, now it is airplane cannon tanks. The number of people is useless."

"Wrong," Zhuang Jihua retorted bluntly: "Although the weapons of war have changed, the principles of war have not changed; if you have the power, you have the power but have few helpers; if you have the power, you will never leave the category of the thirteenth chapter of the Sun Tzu, no matter how the weapons change."

"General," Stilwell shook his head and said, "The Thirteenth chapter of the Grandson is something from more than two thousand years ago, and it is very far away from now."

His two escorts looked at each other, not knowing what the Thirteenth chapter of Sun Tzu they were talking about. The translator next to them explained to them softly that this was a book of military techniques written by ancient Chinese people two thousand years ago, similar to the Clausewitz War. The two of them shook their heads without regard for it after hearing this.

"General, I admire the strategies and tactics you have adopted in Nanjing, but it is a bit incredible to use books two thousand years ago to guide today's war." Nepton shook his head and said.

"Haha, some things remain unchanged," Zhuang Jihua smiled at him: "You think things from two thousand years ago are useless, but the Chinese people regard them as the highest principle. Let's talk about the Battle of Nanjing. The Japanese army violated the attack, marched, launched the Sino-Japanese War, and the Japanese army violated the initial plan.

Let’s use the initial plan to analyze the direction of the Sino-Japanese War.”

Stilwell and Nepton sat upright at the same time, listening carefully to the Chinese general whom the president called for an interview.

"The beginning of the first chapter talks about the military affairs of the country, the land of life and death, and the way of survival and death, and the way of survival and death. Therefore, we use five things to solve them and solve them, and find out their feelings: one is Tao, two is heaven, three is earth, four is general, and five is law."

"What does this mean? War is the most important thing for a country. It is related to the survival of a country. It must be carefully considered. How to consider it? It must be based on five

Consider, the first is Tao. In China, the word Tao has many explanations, which are explained as the reason for launching a war, and can also be explained as the reason for carrying out war. If this reason is upright and open, the people and the leaders of the country can work together to face difficulties together. At present, in the Sino-Japanese War, Japan invaded our country, our people are united as one and one with one moral and shared the same hatred of the enemy, so for us, we have the first one; for Japan, they are invaders and robbers, have you ever seen robbers? When it is favorable, they scatter in a rush, and when it is defeated, they can scatter; now they are in a smooth manner, so they can still gather people's hearts, but as the war progresses, the losses will increase, and they will shake and divide. So we have the upper hand on this one..."

Zhuang Jihua analyzed one by one. At first, Stilwell was a little dissatisfied and held the mentality of listening, but as Zhuang Jihua's analysis deepened, he was very surprised.

"With the truth, there are many helpers, but there are few helpers; what is it about? It is diplomacy. Japan launches a war and will inevitably be condemned by the international community. The facts have proved that this is true. Japan violated the nine-nation conventions and the League of Nations agreements, bombed the British ambassador's cars, and bombed the US ships, and acted so recklessly. There is an old saying in China that it is not that the time has not come; then the United States and Britain will naturally settle accounts with him."

"It's right," Li Zongren interrupted: "The so-called national strength is only an element of the victory of the war. Japan's actions have blatantly violated international laws. Britain and the United States are now taking measures to indulge it, but they do not know that this is shooting itself in the foot."

"Why did General Li's judgment come from?" Stilwell asked. He was a little wary. The Chinese government wanted Western forces to support him. He was hyping up for this, believing that if Japan succeeds in China, then Japan's next move is Nanyang.

"Japan's actions from China and the weakness of the United States, Britain and France have allowed Germany to see the weakness of the United Kingdom and France clearly. Hitler will take the opportunity to expand in Europe. For example, the requirements for the Czech Republic and Poland will gradually challenge the bottom line of Britain and France, and will eventually provoke a European war. Once the European war breaks out, the power of Britain and France in the South China Sea is empty, Japan will inevitably advance south. Will the United States still be out of the matter? So today's indulgence on Japan is that tomorrow's war will give the green light."

"No, no, general," Stilwell shook his head and said, "You are wrong. France built the Maginot Line, and the power of Germany is much worse than that of Britain and France. He has no power to launch the European war. Moreover, Japan's purpose is to conquer China. He has no need to go south and be enemies of the powerful British and American navies? Unless they are crazy."

Zhuang Jihua looked at Li Zongren with a little surprise. He didn't expect that Li Zongren could see this step. He had so many talents in the Party and the country, and he was very impressed.

"Col. Stilwell, would you like to make a bet with me?" Zhuang Jihua asked with a smile.

"Oh, what bet is the general wanting to make?"

"The development of the war will be carried out like General Li."

"Yes, I'm willing to make this bet, but what is the bet?" Stilwell asked in a lot of interest.

"Just bet on a bottle of whiskey." Zhuang Jihua said lightly: "When the Northern Expedition, General Li won the Soviet Union's gallon consultant and once he hit a ball of brandy, I will beat you a bottle of whiskey in the future."

"noo, no, general, I must win, unless the Japanese are crazy." Stilwell did not believe that the Japanese would start a war with Britain and the United States. The gap in strength between Japan and Britain and the United States was as big as the gap between China and Japan.

"General, I just heard your overall view of the war, but I want to know what you think of the Battle of Jinpu Road." Stilwell felt that Roosevelt's request was not met.

"There are two consequences in this battle. One is that we eliminated the Japanese army in large numbers but did not defend Xuzhou; the other is that we eliminated the Japanese army in large numbers and also defended Xuzhou." Zhuang Jihua said solemnly, but Stilwell felt that he seemed to say nothing. One is to defend Xuzhou, and the other is to fail to defend. Isn't this nonsense?

As he was speaking, a staff officer came in and whispered a few words in Li Zongren's ear. Li Zongren nodded. After the staff officer left, he said to Stilwell and Zhuang Jihua: "Itagaki is out."

"Qingdao?" Zhuang Jihua asked calmly.

"Yes, Qingdao. But it's not him, there's another one, the number is the 16th Division, and it logs in Yantai."

This was beyond their expectations. The Japanese army actually invested two divisions in Jiaodong, and Han Fu was probably running faster.

Stilwell was initially surprised by their calmness, but soon he realized that it seemed that the Japanese army's actions were as expected, and his confidence in the Battle of Jinpu Road suddenly increased by three points.

However, Zhuang Jihua didn't want to talk to him anymore. The Japanese army landed in Jiaodong twice as much as they expected. What impact would this have? They had to make an estimate immediately.

"Col. It seems that our conversation has to be temporarily stopped. Welcome to visit Xuzhou next time. We will talk in detail later." Zhuang Jihua stood up and said goodbye to Stilwell.

Stilwell didn't care: "Thank you very much, I will stay in Xuzhou all the time. I want to see the whole process of this battle."

"Very welcome." Zhuang Jihua said lightly, and Li Zongren shook hands with Stilwell and said goodbye.
Chapter completed!