At this time, Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province, seemed to have completely become an ocean of military uniforms. All the trains from the south turned into military trains, and trains of soldiers rushed down from Fengtian. These soldiers were not all the original Feng army, but also the First Army and the newly formed First Army of the National Revolutionary Army from Guangdong and Guangxi. However, now they are all wearing leather hats that are unique to foreign troops, thick yellow cotton uniforms, and have cotton shoes with excellent warmth on their feet.

The total number of troops transferred from the south is about 80,000! Including the main force of the First Army (the First Division stayed in Fengtian City), all the newly formed First Army. Although most of these troops have received certain military training, they have no experience in fighting in a snowy climate like North Manchuria. Therefore, while Jiang JShi purchased a large number of military supplies suitable for use in cold conditions from Japan through the relationship of Japanese consultants. On the other hand, he also dispatched experienced veterans from the Feng army to the army from the south to serve as temporary instructors, imparting some experience in combat under severe cold conditions, and allowing the troops to master some cold resistance skills as much as possible.

At the same time, the troops' weapons and equipment have also been upgraded. Thirty-six Meiji 38-year-old 150mm howitzers were sold to the Northeast Anti-Russian Army by the Japanese. Jiang JShi drew a group of officers and soldiers from the original Fengtian Army artillery units and the First Army artillery regiment, and used these cannons to form an artillery regiment directly under the headquarters... There is currently no direct troops of the National Government Military Commission! This shows how strong the Japanese support Jiang JShi, the Northeast King!

In addition to providing weapons and equipment, a military advisory group led by Japanese Army Major General Muto Shinyi also came to Harbin to help Chiang JShi command the battle against Russia. Unlike what Chang Ruiqing, the commander-in-chief of the anti-Russian army, expected, Chiang JShi's determination to resist Russia seemed to be extremely determined, and the Japanese seemed to want to use Chiang JShi's hands to weaken the strength of the two Belarus commanders, Semenov and Horvat, so that Japan could completely subdue them.

So when Yang Jie, the headquarter representative sent by the Military Commission, who had just surrendered from the Yunnan Army, walked into Jiang JShi's headquarters in Harbin, he found a strong atmosphere of war. He also saw a communications soldier busy withdrawing the telephone line. Officers also rode horses to receive orders, and then rushed out to pass the orders. Everyone had a serious expression and a little nervous expression. Yang Jie was shocked: "Is Jiang JShi's headquarters moving forward? Is he really going to lead troops to attack the Russians in Qiqihar? It seems that he has not come in vain this time!"

He and Jiang JShi were old friends. He was a classmate as early as the Zhenwu Academy in Japan. Later, during the Revolution of 1911, he served as the commander of the Shanghai Army with Jiang JShi. This time he refused Chang Ruiqing's favor and came from Xu Chongzhi to the Northeast to join his old classmates. He was worried that Jiang JShi only knew how to hold the Japanese and did not have the courage to go to war with the Russians. Now it seems that this worry is unnecessary. As long as Jiang JShi can fight the Russians with real swords and guns and win, the title of a national hero will not be able to escape, and there will always be a giant in the National Government system in the future.

At this time, an officer hurried out from the war room of the headquarters. Yang Jie recognized at a glance that he was his old classmate Wang Bailing from Zhenwu Academy and the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer School. He was now the chief of staff of the Northeast Anti-Russian Army. He hurriedly went up and greeted, "Brother Maoru, are you going to fight a big battle here? Where is he? Where is he?"

Wang Boling also recognized Yang Jie and greeted him with a smile: "Brother Geng Guang, why did you come to Harbin? Aren't you in the Yunnan Army?"

Yang Jie shook his head with a wry smile. He said to Wang Bailing: "Brother Maoru is now in the northeast, and he has long been no longer concerned about the drastic changes in the southwest, right? The Yunnan Army and Guiyang no longer exist! Zhu Yizhi and Deng Zhongyuan captured Kunming and Guiyang in early December. Tang Jiyao ran away to Vietnam. Liu Shixian was captured alive by Chen Jitang's 7th Division officers and soldiers, and now he is in jail in Guangzhou! Gu Pinzhen and Wang Wenhua all accepted the number of the new army of the National Revolutionary Army. They were stationed in Sichuan and could not return to their hometown. As for me, my father passed away a while ago, and he has been at home and has just come out to serve the National Government. He is now the headquarters representative of the Military Commission and is here to inspect the Northeast for anti-Russian army."

The Military Commission will promptly inform the Northeast Anti-Russian Army Headquarters of the Northeast. However, Wang Bailing has no time to read these messy briefs? The dispatching and deployment of more than 100,000 troops in the Northeast must be passed by the chief of staff! So he just knew about these things, and he took Yang Jie's hand and walked towards Jiang JShi's office.

"By the way, Maoru, is this an introduction letter issued by the Military Commission, or is it the handwriting of the Vice Chairman Chang Ruiqing." Yang Jie took out an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Wang Bailing.

Wang Boling took it with a smile, and stuffed it into his pocket without looking at it: "Brother Geng Guang, I think you will stay in the Northeast from now on. Guangzhou is the world of Chang Ruiqing Baoding Group, and we non-commissioned departments are not allowed to be used. The Northeast is the territory of our non-commissioned department. With Brother Geng Guang's talent, army commander, and division commander are not a problem at all."

Yang Jie was stunned by his words. When he thought about it carefully, it seemed that this was the case. In Guangzhou, the Japanese non-commissioned officers had the best people, but they were the principal and the head of the Whampoa Military Academy Army Branch. Most of the senior officers in the army were from the Baoding Department... It seems that Chang Ruiqing could not escape the old routine of classmates and fellow villagers!

He sighed in his heart, and walked into Jiang JShi's office with Wang Bailing in three steps. He saw Jiang JShi holding his arms and graduating from Japanese non-commissioned officers, standing together, facing a military map on the wall, talking in a low voice.

"...The main attack was to Chen Mingshu's first army. This army is the old foundation of the Guangdong Army, with strong combat effectiveness and good equipment. The officers are of good quality. Most of the middle and senior officers are from the martial arts halls in Baoding and Shaoguan, and most of the lower-level officers are from Huangpu, which is much better than the Fengtian Army and the New First Army. This is our first battle to come to the Northeast and we must win! Moreover, our opponent this time is the foreign team, and we are fighting a national war, which is different from Chang Ruiqing's civil war in the pass. As long as we can win, even if our prestige is established, it will be much easier to reorganize the Fengtian Army and govern the Northeast."

Jiang JShi was discussing military affairs with his two subordinates. This was not the first time he said similar words, but every time he repeated, his eyes still shone. He seemed to be very excited, as if he had defeated Belarus and won the crown of national heroes.

Of course, his current good feeling is not without reason. Our newly released Northeast King is not a battle of uncertainty this time!

Through the notification from the Japanese advisor and the Military Commission, he already knew that the Japanese would soon fulfill the "Japan-Russia (Soviet Russia) Secret Agreement and sent troops to occupy Russia's Binhai and Sakhalin Prefecture... The Japanese representative in Ufa had submitted an ultimatum to Kolchak, demanding that the Belarusian army withdraw from China's Heilongjiang Province within 48 hours! Otherwise, as a firm ally of China, the Japanese Empire would have to fulfill its ally obligations! Since the Japanese were about to take action soon, the tens of thousands of Belarusian troops in Qiqihar should have retreated, right? This victory seemed to be easy to achieve. However, Jiang JShi did not intend to let go of the Russian invaders easily. Now he needed a great victory that was enough to attract the attention of the world to establish his prestige and become a giant that could compete with Chang Ruiqing!

...

Chang Ruiqing is now sitting in the office of the Premier of the National Government of the National Government at the Guangzhou Agricultural and Forestry Experimental Farm. The functions of this National Government are slightly larger than those of the Executive Yuan in history. In addition to the military-related ministries under the jurisdiction of the Military Commission, all departments of the National Government, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are part of the State Council. Today, Chang Ruiqing came to the State Council to discuss diplomatic matters with Premier Chen Duxiu, Vice Premier Xie Chi, Foreign Minister Wang Zhengting, and a Chairman's Office in his seventies and nearly eighty years old, Wu Tingfang and others.

Wu Tingfang put a handwritten letter from Hong Kong Governor Situ Ba in front of Chen Duxiu. His expression was both distressed and helpless. He just shook his head and said, "Mr. Situ Ba has tried his best, but Whitehall still insists on the position of taking the Beijing government as the only legal government in China and does not recognize that our National Government is qualified to represent China. However, Mr. Situ Ba also proposed a compromise solution. He asked us to negotiate with Beijing, and a delegation of personnel from both the north and the south will form a delegation to Paris to attend the meeting. I think this is the only way. If Prime Minister Chen agrees, Mr. Sun has no objection. I can go to Beijing to discuss this matter with Cao Runtian."

He is probably the oldest diplomat in China at present, and he is also a Chinese MP of the Hong Kong Legislative Council. He has some influence in the British and has a good personal relationship with Hong Kong Governor Stubb. But this time he was disgraced and had a shameless fuss with the British. He was dejected when he spoke.

Chen Duxiu glanced at Xie Chi. Vice Premier Xie was Sun Yat-sen's agent in the State Council, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has always been controlled by the Kuomintang. So this time the errand was not done, and Xie Chi's face was not good. He faced Chen Duxiu's gaze and said calmly: "Mr. Sun will not agree to let the Beiyang government attend the Paris Peace Conference! Premier Chen, I think you guys should not have any objections to this, right?"

Chen Duxiu did not answer Xie Chi's question positively, but turned his attention to Wang Zhengting and said lightly: "Cousin Ru, what do you think? Apart from participating in the Paris Peace Conference, are there any other ways to quickly break the diplomatic dilemma and let the National Government be recognized by the great powers?"

When Wang Zhengting, the foreign minister, looked helpless when he heard Chen Duxiu's problem. At present, the only Soviet Union is recognized by the Guangzhou National Government in the world! In order to obtain widespread diplomatic recognition, he, the Foreign Minister and the consuls of the great powers in Guangzhou, had held many negotiations, and his mouth was almost broken. However, the attitude of the great powers did not relax at all. Not to mention old imperialism such as Britain and France, even the United States and Japan, even the United States and Japan, had a good relationship with the National Government, clearly stated that recognizing all the treaties signed by the Qing government and the Beiyang government and all external liabilities is a prerequisite for Guangzhou to obtain diplomatic recognition and an international practice... As for some provisions in those treaties that China believes are not fair, they can be modified through negotiations. However, the National Government should first recognize the legitimacy of these treaties!

The Kuomintang figures, including Xie Chi and Wang Zhengting, actually agreed with this view put forward by the great powers. But Sun Yat-sen did not agree. Wang Zhengting knew that Mr. Sun also agreed with it in his heart, but because of the firm opposition of another major shareholder of the National Government, Chang Ruiqing, he ignored it. Thinking of this, Wang Zhengting forced a smile at Chen Duxiu: "Premier Chen, strength is the backing of diplomacy. Compared with the great powers, we

After all, China is a weak country... Those unequal treaties were signed because the enemy was strong and we were weak. Our national revolution was about to be won. I believe that in ten years, the country will be able to revive under the leadership of Mr. Sun, and then we will have the strength. The amendment of the treaty in diplomacy will not be a problem." Speaking of this, he looked at Chang Ruiqing, who had not spoken since the beginning of the meeting, and said, "General Yaoru, do you think so?"

Chang Ruiqing didn't agree with it and replied with a smile: "Those unequal treaties are actually locking the shackles of our China. With them, our China's development will not be fast. Even with Mr. Sun's leadership, we cannot move forward with such heavy shackles. Besides... we are developing, and the powers will not be idle and do nothing, right? They are also developing, and the development speed is very fast and faster than us! During the Russo-Japanese War, Japan only had 50,000 tons of steel production. How many are there now

Few? It's almost 1 million tons! The battleships of more than 10,000 tons were imported from the UK, but in just 10 years, they could already manufacture 27,500 tons of battle cruisers! Now they will soon get nearly 400,000 square kilometers of resources in Russia's coastal province and Sakhalin Province. I don't know what the speed of development will be like in the future! You said, can China still move forward with shackles? In that case, will the gap between China and the great powers increase or narrow in 10 or 20 years?"

He stood up and paced as he spoke, looking a little excited. He danced his hands with great momentum and said loudly: "So we must tear all the unequal treaties that tie our hands and feet together immediately! We must tear them apart immediately, and we must never have any idea of ​​what to do after becoming strong! As for strength... Minister Wang is right, that is the foundation of diplomacy. But that is only one of the foundations, not all! In addition to strength, the other two important foundations of diplomatic negotiations are interests and costs!

Although our strength is far less than that of the great powers like Britain, the United States and France, as long as we can make them feel that the price they have to pay to safeguard their interests in China will be much greater than what they have gained, we can immediately tear down the unequal treaties without paying anything."

Wang Zhengting took a breath and looked at Chang Ruiqing with his eyes fixedly: "General Yaoru, what do you want to do? Are you trying to blackmail the great powers? That's playing with fire, do you know? What if..."

Chang Ruiqing interrupted Wang Zhengting with ruthlessness. He stopped and looked at this diplomat who was a little afraid of the foreign countries. He smiled and said, "There is nothing wrong. The current situation is developing towards a place that is beneficial to us! After the end of the European War, the British and French powers will definitely shrink their global fronts. There is also the Soviet Union, which is a confidant, and they will definitely not care about us. The United States has little interests in China. It has just experienced a world war with great losses and little gains (this is what the Americans think). They cannot cross the Pacific to send troops to make things difficult for us. And Japan is about to take action to seize the Far Eastern territory of Belarus.

In the eyes of Britain, France and the United States, such behavior is tantamount to rebellion! Their relationship with Britain, France and the United States will definitely drop to freezing point, so naturally it is impossible to act as a vanguard of Britain and France's interference in the Chinese revolution... Their main energy will definitely be focused on consolidating the new territory of the Far East. You must know that the Soviet Union had just tore up the Treaty of Brest signed with its allies! So we only need to show a certain strength now and let the great powers know that our national government is not so easy to bully, so that they can unilaterally tear down the unequal treaties that oppress us, recover tariff autonomy, recover concessions, recover the sovereignty of the Yangtze River, and refuse to pay all external compensation!"

After hearing Chang Ruiqing's bold words, several senior officials in the office, including Chen Duxiu, looked at him with a skeptical look. After a while, Chen Duxiu was the first to ask: "Yaoru, what does it mean to show a certain strength when you say?"

Chang Ruiqing smiled coldly, looked at the Kuomintang-general Vice Premier Xie Chi, and slowly said: "Of course this refers to the battle against Russia in the Northeast! If our Commander-in-Chief Chiang can command more than 100,000 Chinese and 200,000 Chinese-South* teams to defeat the 600,000 to 70,000 Belarusian invasion, then how can one million troops be resisted by the invasion of 300,000 British and French coalition forces? Lloyd George and Clemenceau may send so many troops to China to safeguard their interests in China?" (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!