Zhao Zhenzhong and others made up their minds to not be influenced by external influences and to carry out war against Japan according to their own ideas and rhythms. Therefore, the negotiations between Lin Chenglou and others with British and American personnel were also under this principle. This triggered different reactions from the negotiators of the two countries.

For Americans, it is good if the People's Party armed forces can appear on the Pacific battlefield, but it is not necessary. According to Roosevelt's instruction, as long as the People's Party armed forces can continue to maintain the state of war, restrain and attack the Japanese army, no matter whether the war occurs on the Chinese battlefield or on the Southeast Asian battlefield, the Secretary of Commerce Jones, who negotiates on behalf of the United States, is acceptable and can sign a "trade" agreement with the People's Party within the amount authorized by the president.

But for the British, the People's Party armed forces only care about their homes and are unwilling to send troops to help regain British colonies such as Myanmar, which is obviously unacceptable to disregarding "international morality". After several negotiations between British Minister Emory Emory and Lin Chenglou, Chen Zhiyuan and others, especially when they learned about the wealth and prosperity of the US Secretary of Commerce Jesse in another negotiation with the People's Party, and the British side's use of the Western Myanmar wasteland as a condition for exchange not only failed to impress the People's Party, but instead angered the Myanmar forces, causing the Dechinists to further redirect themselves to the People's Party, and they could only give up their original intentions and turn their attention to the handover of British prisoners of war.

Under the arrangement of the People's Party, more than a thousand Allied prisoners of war were transferred to Qiqihar for about half a month, and then took air force transport planes in batches from December 10, flew from Qiqihar to Lanzhou, and then from Lanzhou to Feishannan.

Although Jones, Emory and others were prepared after listening to the People's Party's introduction to the situation of the Allied prisoners of war, they could not help but be surprised when they saw the groups of prisoners of war who were as thin as skinny and in a depressed state.

"God! Seeing you, I can almost imagine what inhuman suffering the young men have suffered!" Emory exclaimed, "You have simply gone to hell!"

"Sir, you're right. We went to hell for a while, and we didn't expect there was a chance to escape from hell before!" After saluting Emory as thin as a skeleton, British Major Robert Pitty said with tears in his eyes and his lips trembling. "Without personal experience, you may not be able to imagine what kind of inhuman torture we have suffered, and how desperate we are! Not only do we have to endure hunger, we have to endure hardship under the Japanese bayonet, but they are also used as drug tests and even as subjects of dissection!"

"Damn Japanese, they are even more cruel than the devil!" Pitty exhaled heavily and shook her head vigorously. As if she wanted to eliminate all the pain in her heart, she asked with hope: "Sir, are you here to pick us up? When can we be with our family?"

Emery was stunned, then laughed dryly, and said, "Robert, you know, the Kingdom of Britain is in a state of war, and the country is not as stable as the environment here. Besides, your physical condition is not as good as the one here, especially when you are on a sea trip, you may encounter German submarines. I mean, you have been in Southeast Asia before and can adapt to the climate here. It is best to take good care of your body here first, and then wait for Winston's further decision."

Although the words were reasonable, Emory complained in his heart: The Churchill government cannot come up with the conditions that can satisfy the People's Party now, so how could the other party easily return the prisoners of war? I just hope that the agreement reached between the Americans and the People's Party is about all Allied prisoners of war, not just American prisoners of war. Otherwise, British prisoners of war will not know when they will return to their hometown!

Emory was dealing with British prisoners of war here, but Jones was shocked and speechless as he looked through the series of photos of Allied prisoners of war and Unit 731 taken out by Althorp who was randomly rushing to Shannan!

"Mr. Minister. As you can see from these photos, the Japanese devils are organized and trampling on the moral bottom line of the entire human society. They are like devils from hell, with no humanity at all!" After the past few days of running around and the sharp decline of their appetite, Althorp's pale face revealed deep fatigue, but this fatigue cannot suppress the flames revealed in his eyes. "For the shame and sorrow of Pearl Harbor, for the 'death march on the Bataan Peninsula," we must kill all the Japanese devils! Just as the People's Party armed forces have been doing!"

"I didn't expect that the People's Party had not lie before, and the Japanese actually used Allied prisoners of war to do ** experiments!" Jones was full of shock and emotion. He put down the photos in his hand, looked at Althorp, and smiled bitterly, "Joseph, you have changed a lot over the years. I didn't expect that the naughty young man at the time has become a witness to history now! However, although I don't have any good feelings for the Japanese, the problems in the war must be decided by the President and the generals. You should say these words to the President!"

"Mr. Minister, I know you can't decide how the war will go, but you have the advantageous weapon of trade. In order for the young men of the United States to pay less on the battlefield, you can promote the People's Party's armed forces to increase their combat efforts against Japan through trade. Even if we pay more dollars and supplies, it is in the interests of the United States!" Althorp said seriously, "With my understanding of the People's Party over the years, in China, no other force is more heavy than Zhao and the others' strike against the Japanese devils. Compared with Chongqing, the People's Party can obviously make good use of the materials we provide!"

"Your statement coincides with Mr. President and Harry's meaning." Jones smiled meaningfully and said, "However, Mr. President also said that because we have no diplomatic relations with the People's Party, if we support it too much, it will affect the existing domestic situation in China. It may even affect the disputes between other allies, especially the United Kingdom, on the Southeast Asian issue. Therefore, in this transaction with the People's Party, I still cannot offer a price that exceeds the last transaction within the president's authorization amount, and the overall transaction volume will be about 650 million US dollars."

"Mr. Minister, those big issues need to be considered by you. I am just an American citizen and a reporter who knows something. I will give you some suggestions!" Althorp also felt that Jones was considerate and shrugged. He added, "This is not to interfere in your official duties!"

In the last transaction, the United States paid 500 million US dollars for three modified aircraft carriers, more than 2,000 F-1 fighters and the production technical materials of fighter jets. In this transaction, after several negotiations with Zou Degui, Jones finally purchased 2,000 F-2 fighters in addition to adding 1,000 F-1 fighters, with a total price of about 650 million US dollars.

If we consider the unit price, the price of the F-2 fighter jet is obviously a bit high, but in order to exchange for more than 1,000 Allied prisoners of war and follow up on the progress of the People's Party in aviation technology. It prompted the party's armed forces to increase their combat efforts against Japan, Jones was ready to sign a formal agreement with Zou Degui after reporting Roosevelt to consent. Of course, what the United States paid was not a lush bill, but converted into relevant industrial products or grain and other materials according to the list of materials listed by the People's Party.

Zhao Zhenzhong and others were also satisfied with the price given by the United States. However, there were differences in the delivery method between the two parties.

Jones proposed that the US would transport the cargo to Port Adrede in southern Australia on the grounds that the war in the Pacific was tense and the Allied ships were not sufficient. Then the People's Party sent ships and escort forces to transport them back to Chittagong by themselves. Zou Degui, who was responsible for specific negotiations with the United States, insisted that the US side should transport the cargo to Chittagong for delivery.

"Let us organize the ship and send escort forces to pick up goods at Australian ports by themselves. I'm afraid the Americans want to drag our army into Australia to fight!" After receiving the relevant situation reported by Zou Degui, Zhou Mingyuan curled his lips and said, "If we can't buy the existing aircraft carrier in our hands, we have come up with such a trick. The United States is not very smart! Lao Zhao, I think we will implement the principle of reciprocity, let the Americans organize the ship and escort forces on their own, and go to Chittagong to extract the thousands of fighter jets!"

"In addition to dragging our naval forces into Australia for combat, the United States and Britain are probably more interested in using our maritime power to escort the relevant routes! After all, the route from the southern Australian port and transporting materials to the Soviet Union through Iran and the route to Chittagong, Shannan, can basically be considered overlapping before arriving in the southern Indian waters." Zhao Zhenzhong analyzed, "If our naval forces attracted the attention of the Japanese Navy on the Indian Peninsula and the east sea 75 degrees east longitude, then the transportation line from the United States and Britain to the Iranian port through the Arabian Sea will be safer!

More than 650 million US dollars of supplies are enough for us to transport them for a while, and during this period, the United States and Britain will inevitably increase the transportation volume of goods to Iran! Even after the transportation of this batch of supplies, the United States will purchase additional fighter jets to use our maritime power to maintain this disguised escort!"

"With the Americans' wealth and wealth, this is really something that can be done! But we are just being suckers by them and use them for nothing?" Zhou Mingyuan said unwillingly, "Or let us raise the price point as a escort fee? Or lower the price and let Americans deliver goods to their doorstep?"

"Our navy cannot always cruise near the sea, and always go to the ocean to explore more. Take this opportunity to let Lin Yuntao, Bao Sheng and others organize aircraft carrier formations, plus the ocean submarine force, and hone more in the Indian Ocean! After gaining more experience, in the future, fight with the Japanese fleet at sea, and you will have a greater chance of winning!" Zhao Zhenzhong touched the stubble on his chin and said happily, "You might as well let Degui point out to Jones the intention of using my maritime power to escort, and raise this price code again! Let the Americans pay for the training of my maritime power, why not?!"

"Then pull out the remaining two large-tonnage aircraft carriers and the main fleets of the fleet and grind them out! As long as a small number of fast ships are left in the northern waters of the Bay of Bengal, plus land-based fighter jets and submarine forces, it can be guaranteed to be safe!" Zhou Mingyuan nodded in agreement, but joked, "What do you say is the name of the US Secretary of Commerce? You have to call it Jones, and you also went to Shannan to negotiate with our shopkeeper Zou. Even if he is not 'poor', he will probably have to lose a few more layers of skin this time!"

After receiving the instruction of Zhao Zhenzhong, Zou Degui immediately raised written objections to the delivery method before signing a formal agreement with the United States, and specifically pointed out the intention of the other party to use the Navy of the People's Party and demanded that the relevant transaction prices be raised.

"In the usual transactions, we can send fighter jets to southern Australia, or cross the Panama Canal and send them to relevant ports on the east coast of the United States. Then you should also deliver relevant materials to Chittagong!" Zou Degui said firmly, "If you want to use our naval power, you must show sincerity and pay the corresponding price. Don't hide other thoughts behind the transaction! Otherwise, we would rather give up this transaction and continue to seize allied prisoners of war!"

"General Zou, I am only responsible for negotiating trade affairs with your party and returning prisoners of war. I don't know what you said about using your party's navy, and I cannot reply to you immediately. I need to know the relevant situation from Washington." After listening to the translator's remarks to Zou Degui, Jones frowned and said again. "As for whether to pay the consideration for your navy and how much it will be paid, it must be decided by Washington."

"Then I'll wait for the minister's reply." After Zou Degui finished speaking, he stood up and left his seat, shook hands with Jones, and said, "Let's talk about this first today!"

"As long as Washington's instructions are instructed, I will meet with General Zou again as soon as possible." Jones said, "I hope we will reach a formal agreement at that time!"

In fact, as the US Secretary of Commerce and came to Shannan to negotiate with the People's Party, Jones was not ignorant of Roosevelt's intentions.

Roosevelt decided to help it by "trading" materials with the People's Party. This inevitably involves maritime transportation issues. However, in early December, although the United States' huge production capacity had moved towards wartime tracks after the Pearl Harbor incident, it had not yet become a large number of ships available. The existing maritime transportation forces of the United States not only assumed the heavy responsibility of transporting combat materials to the Allies, but also had to transport materials to the United Kingdom, Australia and other Commonwealth countries, and provided the Soviet Union with Iran to fight against Germany, and there were no extra ships for transporting to Shannan.

The maritime transportation force is already stretched, and the US Navy's surface combat force is insufficient due to previous losses and the fact that new ships have not yet been put into service. After communicating with General Jin, Roosevelt thought about Churchill's fear of the People's Party's armed forces in previous telegrams. He then paid General Jin's advice and wanted to take the opportunity of transporting materials to understand how far the other party grew. In Roosevelt's view, if possible, the United States could pay some price in money and materials in exchange for the People's Party Navy to undertake the escort mission in the Indian Ocean, and thus accelerate the Pacific and even Europe war process.

"It seems that the People's Party is very concerned about its own naval power. It even said that it would rather give up the transaction if it does not raise the conditions!" After receiving a telegram from Jones, Roosevelt frowned and asked, "Harry, do you think we promised them?"

"Mr. President, if we don't agree to them, we will not only not get advanced fighter jets to supplement the needs of combat, but also allow more than a thousand Allied prisoners of war to be detained in Shannan, which will have a very adverse impact on the Allied." Hopkins analyzed, "By next summer, our newly produced ships, especially the motherships that the navy urgently needs, will be able to join the navy in batches, but before that, we still need external forces to make up for the shortcomings in maritime transportation and escort. It is worth paying a little price to win time! Of course, the price of this increase must also be mastered well and cannot be raised too high!"

Before the Pearl Harbor Incident, according to the plan approved by Congress, the United States should have eleven Essex-class aircraft carriers under construction, but due to various problems, only five were actually under construction. After the Pearl Harbor Incident, the U.S. Congress agreed to add two more aircraft carriers of this class. In addition, the Navy added ten orders in August 1942, the Essex-class aircraft carrier construction plan reached as many as twenty-three!

Although the first aircraft carrier, the USS Essex, was launched at the end of July 1942, it is still in the sea trial stage and has not yet been added to the active service. As for other subsequent aircraft carriers of the same level, they will have to wait until next year to launch the water. It can be said that from now until a large number of ships are in service next summer, it is the time when the US Navy is in trouble. At this stage, it is undoubtedly very necessary to use external forces to make up for its own shortcomings!

"Then let Jones negotiate with the People's Party within the original quota to encourage the other party's maritime forces to maintain the safety of the Indian Ocean route." Thinking of the considerable number of ships under construction and some of them were completed, Roosevelt chuckled and said, "It is really worth using some materials to exchange for the stability of the existing structure of the Indian Ocean and even the Pacific Ocean in the next six months! By next summer, if there are more ships, we will not have to worry about it!"

With Roosevelt's reinstruction, Jones' trip to Shannan became much more pleasant. After renegotiating with Zou Degui, the two sides finally reached a relevant transaction at a total price of 800 million US dollars. Of course, the price increased, and the contents in the agreement increased a lot.

The most important ones are two: First, the People's Party must go to the southern Australian ports to extract relevant materials, and all the maritime losses or war losses that are exported along the way will be borne by them; Second, before April next year, the People's Party Navy will undertake the escort task between the southern Australian ports and the southern Indian waters to ensure the safety of Iran's routes.

After signing the agreement, Jones congratulated Zou Degui: "General Zou, this is an unprecedented transaction. It was just more than four months of escort, and Guiyi easily earned such a great benefit! I deeply admire your ability in business negotiations!"

"Mr. Minister, I feel that the risk is too great. We suffer a lot of losses!" Zou Degui shook his head and sighed, "If the cargo is transported by himself, we will all be our own. If our ships suffer losses while escorting our ships will not compensate you! You must know that we have sent two aircraft carriers and more than ten warships. If we encounter a sea storm or the main fleet of the Japanese, then we will suffer losses! After all, you have made a lot of money!"

Seeing Zou Degui shaking his head and sighing repeatedly, Jones was speechless for a moment! (To be continued! ~!
Chapter completed!