Respectfully

The ninth year of the Republic of China, the Gregorian calendar 1918 on the 1st

Lou Shengfeng, the president of the Chinese coalition government, delivered a New Year's speech on the radio.

Previously, although the government declared war on Germany and sent troops to fight on the European continent, not all voices in the country agreed with it.

"Before there was no declaration of war, a group of students took to the streets to make trouble, but now they are using real swords and guns, and another group of people are making trouble, isn't it bothersome?"

You can't blame President Lou for complaining. After Young Marshal Lou led the troops, anti-war remarks began to appear in the newspapers, thinking that it was meaningless for the Chinese army to go to Europe. To develop the national economy and revitalize the national strength, rather than to show off force to the outside world.

"The Lou family is in power and the warriors are in charge of the country. Is it really a blessing for the country?"

This kind of voice is not without market, but it has never occupied the mainstream, and more of it is the voice of young students and literati.Some people who previously "opposed" President Lou Da also changed their tone because of the Chinese Expeditionary Army's victory in the first battle in Europe, and began to fight with these people who continued to "pick".This is something that even President Lou himself did not expect.

"This, and this," President Lou Da flipped through a newspaper in the capital, pointing to two articles on it, "Didn't these two people scold me for being a dictator and ignoring public opinion before? Why are they speaking for me now? President elected by the people , put the interests of the people first? Hey!"

President Lou Da read several newspapers, and the situation in them was pretty much the same. There were those who disagreed with the government sending troops, and some who directly denounced these remarks as "traitorous".

"That's fine." Putting down the newspaper, President Lou Da breathed a sigh of relief, "Everyone agrees, I should worry about it."

Mrs. Lou happened to be reading the letter written by Lou Er Shao from Guanbei with a group of people. The content was not much, but it was written very seriously.Listing his daily life in Guanbei one by one, focusing on the situation in the school, Mrs. Lou smiled unconsciously.

This kind of letter has not been broken since Lou Er Shao went to school. It is mainly Li Jinyan's idea. It is sent every two days. The ordinary mail is too slow. Anyway, their family is rich, so they don't care about this little manpower and material resources, so they send someone directly to Beijing. , but "opened up" another channel to connect with the capital.

Mrs. Lou collected every letter written by Lou Er Shao, put it in a box, and put it away with care.

"President, Rui'er said in the letter that he won the first place in the school exam." Madam Lou raised her head and said with a smile: "The school even gave me a reward."

"My son, of course he has to fight for the first place!" President Lou stopped reading the newspaper, and simply read the letter with Mrs. Lou, "If it is placed in the previous court, he will be the number one scholar in the case."

"President, can this be the same?"

"Why is it different? They are all scholars." After a pause, "In the eyes of outsiders, I, Lou Shengfeng, are a reckless man."

"The president still cares about what's in the newspaper?"

"It's not really that much, it's just a group..." President Lou's voice faded, and the last few words were only twitched in his mouth, Mrs. Lou didn't hear them clearly.

"But what?"

"It's nothing, don't mention those troublesome things."

President Lou didn't want to talk about it, Mrs. Lou didn't ask anymore, picked up some interesting things from Mr. Lou's letter and said a few more things, and said that there was a new movie coming out, and she and Mrs. Sima made an appointment to watch it together.

"It's strange in the newspapers, and it's not real people."

"Not a real person? A shadow play?"

"No, everyone who has seen it says it looks like a painting, it can move, and the story in the myth is quite interesting."

What Mrs. Lou said was an animated short film produced by Guanbei Film Company after several months.There are no less than 30 people involved in the drawing work alone, plus other production staff. The manager of the film company once said with a smile that the energy and funds used to make this animation film are enough to make two "live-action" movies.

However, after the film was released, the response was quite good.

Based on stories from classical mythology, not only children like it, but many adults also find it strange.

Li Jinyan took Lou Er Shao to the cinema to watch a show. Even if the investment was large, manpower wasted, and the time was long, such cartoons had to be made.Once the key is identified and the industrial scale is formed, the return will be huge.

"Ruier likes movies like this?"

"Well, I like it." Second Young Master Lou likes to smile in front of Li Jinyan, and his face looks more and more like Young Marshal Lou. It always reminds Li Sanshao of Young Marshal Lou and his rare smile. Then I shook my head, thinking what!

"Brother Yan, tell them to make more movies like this, okay?"

"it is good!"

Li Sanshao felt that perhaps Mr. Zou Xiao's laboratory should be encouraged to continue the research on TV sets.European and American countries had mass-produced television sets in the 20s, which is only about ten years away.Huaxia even sent troops to World War I, and the TV came out a few years earlier, so it's not bad, right?

Even if there are not many entertainment programs, it is good to show a few cartoons or broadcast news programs.

"Brother Yan?"

When Li Jinyan was distracted, the film was over, Lou Er Shao sat quietly for a while, but Li Jinyan didn't come back to his senses, so he had to call him.

"Brother Yan is thinking about something."

Holding Lou Er Shao's hand, when he walked out of the theater, Li Jinyan explained some concepts of TV to him in simple language, Lou Er Shao listened carefully, and Li Jinyan believed he could understand.However, Li Jinyan was dumbfounded by the conclusion Lou Ershao drew after he understood it.

"Brother Yan is going to open a new factory again?" Lou Ershao was very serious, "Is it the same as the broadcasting company?"

"..." It's a good thing that the child is too smart?

Back at the Marshal's Mansion, Second Young Master Lou was sent back to his room to rest. Uncle Dumb brought Li Jinyan a new piece of information, which was sent by Situ Mao. After knowing the content, Li Jinyan remained silent for a long time.

The Japanese really went to the Philippines to rob?Also harvested a lot?And plan to continue this robbery business and carry it forward?

Sure enough, people with normal brain circuits will never be able to guess what the Japanese scorpion is thinking.

But this is a wake-up call to Li Jinyan. The Japanese scorpions have tasted the sweetness from the Philippines. It is hard to guarantee that they will not take up the idea of ​​China. .

To clean up the Japanese mess, you don't have to do it "personally"... Li Jinyan rolled his eyes, and it was obvious that he thought of some kind of self-serving idea.

Two days later, both Young Marshal Lou on the western European front and President Lou Da in the capital received Li Jinyan's telegram. Pass the telegram directly to Song Wu who is sitting aside and looking at the map.

"give me?"

"kindness."

Song Wu couldn't figure it out, so he had to take it. After reading it, his expression changed.

"What do Po Jun think?"

What do you think?Song Wu put down the telegram, should he say that his cousin is "eclectic" or "whimsical"?

Huaxia submarines disguised to attack American merchant ships, and then blamed Japan?

Feasibility is not impossible, but is it a little bit more difficult?Furthermore, before he left, the Dalian Shipyard and the Jiangnan Shipyard had only built three submarines, and they hadn't been launched into the water for sea trials, so he had to undertake such a "difficult" task?

"Changfeng thinks it's feasible?"

"kindness."

"It's difficult."

"What charades are you two playing?"

Young Marshal Ma was walking in, and he frowned when he heard these specious words.

Lou Xiao and Song Wu both concealed the telegram. It's not that they can't trust Young Marshal Ma, but it's a big matter. Once leaked, they will cause a lot of trouble. Those Americans are "next door" to them.

Xiao Xiao winked at Lou Xiao, Song Wu gave a haha ​​to Young Marshal Ma, just at this time Adjutant Ji came to report, a foreigner named Markov brought a batch of supplies, saying they were going to give to Young Marshal Lou, but He was stopped by the Americans over there.

"what happened?"

The few people didn't care about other things, walked out of the room quickly, passed through the widened traffic trench, and saw a long queue of fifteen trucks.

A team of Chinese soldiers and a dozen or so American soldiers were confronting each other by the side of the truck. When they saw Marshal Lou and his party, the door of the truck opened immediately, and a young man with two beards jumped out of the car.

"Markov?"

"Yes, respected Lou, I finally see you." Markov looked a little embarrassed, and his clothes seemed to have not been changed for a few days.It is by no means an easy task to transport this batch of materials to Cambrai without losing a whole load of materials.Whether enemy or friendly, either side may intercept supplies.But Markov did it anyway, and his double identity as a liar and a spy, coupled with a network of connections in Europe, helped a lot.

"Lou, these are all explained by Li." Markov doesn't care if his words are heard by Americans. His current identity is a guy who can sell his soul to Satan for money, and "serves" for the Chinese people for money. It's nothing.

While speaking, a list was handed over to Marshal Lou.

"Food, medicine, and blankets, God, I want one of those things called sleeping bags." Markov said a bit exaggeratedly, but when he learned exactly what the fifteen trucks contained , I really want to run away with the cargo.If he hadn't known that the consequences of doing so would be quite serious, and stopped in time, there would be no such person as Markov in Europe at this moment.

Second Sister Xu's knife has always been sharpened very sharply.

When Young Marshal Lou received the supplies, the American soldiers on the opposite side didn't hold back much, obviously they didn't take this young Chinese general seriously.

In their concept, white people are the best, and people of color are inferior!

"Lieutenant." Marshal Lou slowly raised his head, his eyes were as cold as ice, "Are you a soldier?"

Perhaps these dozen or so American soldiers were really unlucky, and this scene just happened to fall into the eyes of John Pershing, who was visiting Cambrai.General Pershing attached great importance to the "performance" of the US military at Cambrai.Not only because the U.S. military was on the front line in Europe for the first time, but also because of the previous battles of the Chinese army.

The same expeditionary force, American soldiers, should not be inferior to the Chinese!

Perxing strode over, saluted and greeted each other with Young Marshal Lou, and asked what happened.Young Marshal Lou's voice was very cold, "Your Excellency Pershing, I hope that what we fight together is a qualified army. At least they must understand discipline."

Young Marshal Ma didn't say anything, but looked at Perxing's expression full of sarcasm.

Perxing's expression did not change, but his gaze became sharp.

"Your Excellency, please watch your tone!"

"Your Excellency, you'd better understand what happened just now." Song Wu said, "After that, let's discuss the issue of tone."

After several people left with the supplies, Pershing turned to ask the people present what happened sternly. Markov, who delivered the supplies to Cambrai, had long since disappeared.

As a qualified "spy", he must be able to hide himself at any time, or successfully "disappear".

Fifteen trucks are also part of the supplies,

Markov can find ways to send things to the front, but it may not be able to guarantee that the fifteen empty vehicles will not be requisitioned.Among the drivers, a few were intelligence agents arranged by Second Sister Xu to keep an eye on Markov and the convoy.The rest are hired French, just to "cover people's eyes and ears".

After delivering the goods and getting paid, they all chose to leave.

A middle-aged French man, holding a box of cans and flour, said gratefully: "Your Excellency, you are so generous, God bless you!"

Even with the supplies from the United States, the life of the French has not improved much. The prices of food and other necessities are still high.The same goes for other local options.

After the supplies arrived, the logistics department began to get busy again, as were the army doctors and medical soldiers. The wounded and some German prisoners of war needed treatment.The pilot who was captured before also woke up,

"I don't understand German, and I pretend I don't understand English." While changing his dressing, grinning, the young man said, "I didn't say anything to the Germans when they asked me!"

The young man's arm was seriously injured, and he also had some problems walking. It was impossible to fly a fighter jet into the blue sky.There was still a smile on the face wrapped in gauze.

"I didn't want to live, but my brothers rescued me anyway. This life was given by my brothers. Even if I can't fly, I can still do ground work, dig trenches, and shoot guns!"

Seeing such a smile, no matter how hard-hearted a man is, his eyes will become sour.

Boxes of food were distributed to various units immediately, some of the medicines were distributed, and the rest were concentrated in the "field hospital".

This place was originally the frontline headquarters of the British army. After the Chinese army took over the defense, it was widened and refurbished and turned into a field hospital.After the previous battle, most of the wounded in the Chinese army were treated here.

In addition, the command room opened up is equipped with sand tables and maps, and there are two radio stations, one of which is dedicated to domestic contact.

"The ones that are sent are all good things." Young Marshal Ma picked up a box of canned beef, opened it, dug out a piece with a dagger, and put it in his mouth. His gestures were slightly rude, but he did it with a kind of heroism. smell, "There is also that sleeping bag, but the quantity is a little less."

Marshal Long and Song Wu also nodded.

Young Marshal Lou was about to speak when he heard footsteps, and the guard announced that General Pershing was visiting.

With a blunt sound, the dagger was thrust into the table, and Young Marshal Ma snorted, "This Yankee can pick his time."

Marshal Long pulled out the dagger from the table and handed it over, "I have to see what this Yankee is doing here."

Young Marshal Ma took it, and with a bang, the dagger was sheathed.

When Perxing came to visit, it was just in time for the meal time of the Chinese army.

Ever since they broke into the German positions, the Chinese soldiers picked up their shovels day and night and started civil engineering work. Not only did they make the trenches more comfortable, but they also established a connection with the rear positions. They fought against Brusilov on the Eastern Front Excavated tunnels are somewhat similar.Food and supplies were delivered in time, and the Germans attempted several offensives to retake the position, but failed.

After the arrival of the US military, the Chinese army and the German army seemed to have discussed it, and neither took the initiative to launch an attack.

The aroma of the broth wafted with the wind. For the German army with tight supplies, this taste was quite attractive.

In a small position occupied by the Chinese army, there were two German prisoners of war. They also got a portion of broth and food called steamed buns by the Chinese.In any case, it's a thousand times better than black bread.

One of the German sergeants can also speak simple Chinese, which is said to have been learned from his father.

"My father used to work in Huaxia." The sergeant took a cigarette, and told the Huaxia officer in front of him what he had said to his colleagues, "Before going to the battlefield, my family also received a package from Huaxia. , but maybe there won't be any more now?"

The Huaxia officer did not answer his "question", but sent someone to send him and another prisoner back to the rear position.Before the new attack order is issued, the Huaxia soldiers will continue to stand here.

Perxing left from Marshal Lou's command room. The military appearance and discipline he saw along the way gave him a new understanding of the Chinese army, and he was determined to adopt stricter requirements for the expeditionary force. All in all, it would definitely make the American cowboys complain. .

The leaders of the Allied Powers were arguing endlessly over whether to continue to expand the results of Cambrai's war. The war opportunity was fleeting, and time was wasted on meaningless verbal battles.

Perhaps history has destined Britain and France to suffer huge losses in 1918, even though the entire course of World War I was being changed by the Chinese army.

At the same time, the Bolsheviks, who overthrew the Provisional Government and took power, began negotiations with Germany on the armistice.The conditions put forward by the Germans were too harsh. Among the upper Bolsheviks, only Comrade Vladimir and a few people advocated accepting the other party’s conditions, but the leftists headed by Bukharin advocated continuing to participate in the world war, and stood firmly on Vladimir’s side before. Trotsky, though he advocated an armistice, refused to accept the German conditions.

Accepting the conditions of the Germans means that Russia will lose more than 100 million square kilometers of territory, and there are still a large number of proven mineral deposits, which will undoubtedly make the Russian economy even worse.

Kirov also failed to vote for Vladimir at a meeting of central and local leaders in early January.

Although there were disputes over the signing of the armistice agreement, all the leaders of Soviet Russia quickly reached an agreement on another matter, abolishing all foreign debts owed by the tsar and the bourgeois provisional government!

Whether it was Nicholas II or Trotsky, regardless of the purpose and use of the borrowed money, the Soviet Russian government did not recognize it.

In short, aboveboard non-payment of debts.

In Li Jinyan's view, the reason why Britain, France and other countries strongly supported the White Army was not unrelated to this resolution of the Soviet Union, in addition to the issue of political status and international alignment.

The foreign debt owed by the tsarist government was by no means a small sum.

At this point, Li Sanshao handled it "very well". Even if he declared war on Germany, he didn't plan to lose the original 8000 million marks, at most he exchanged the banknotes for bread.

In short, the debt still has to be paid.