69novels Chapter 233 Hu Lieutenant's Composure
Chapter 233 Hu Lieutenant's Composure
Borrowing a route to attack Guo?
Every Chinese person knows this story!
Representative Zhou choked, wanting to say something more.
Suddenly, another officer from the Military Intelligence Bureau entered and handed Su Guiying a newly intercepted telegram.
Su Guiying glanced at it once, her eyes turning cold. She handed the telegram to Mo Lanzhi. Mo Lanzhi glanced at it again and then casually passed it to Representative Zhou.
"Mr. Zhou, please take a look."
Representative Zhou took the telegram, his face turning pale instantly. The telegram was very short, consisting of only one sentence.
The delegation should try to ascertain as much as possible about the railways, warehouses, government bond accounts, and key coastal defense points along the route, for future reference.
The signature wasn't his name, but rather a secret mark commonly used by his entourage.
Representative Zhou's fingers were stiff.
At this moment, Su Guiying spoke at just the right time, her voice not loud, but very sharp!
"Have you come to ask for passage, or to borrow a weapon?"
Fuzhou, late at night.
Only the chart light remained on in the command room.
Shen Li handed the last draft of the reply to Chen Zijun.
"Young Marshal, Shanghai has already responded according to regulations."
"Director Su also intercepted a telegram from a Chang-affiliated informant; the content was very straightforward. So straightforward that it felt like they were just playing house here!"
Chen Zijun took the telegram, read it, and then laughed.
The smile was cold.
"play house?"
"Chang Guangtou is determined not to refuse on such matters of national importance. Moreover, I was appointed by Mr. Sun as the commander-in-chief of the Southeast region. He is acting on Mr. Sun's legacy of the Northern Expedition, which gives them a natural moral high ground!"
Shen Li said in a low voice, "Young Marshal, should we detain them first?"
"No rush."
Chen Zijun folded the telegram and placed it on top of the two telegrams sent from the sea and land.
"Let's take a good look at our opponent first. Whether we chop off that hand that's reaching in or not, aren't we just looking at ourselves?"
He got up and walked to the nautical chart, pointing his finger at the red line off the coast of Xiamen, and then at the railway line from Shanghai to the north.
"The Japanese often try to break into the sea by launching a northern expedition to test the waters, while the southern representatives try to use the concept of righteousness to bargain."
"Anything is fine."
"We'll just deal with whatever comes our way."
Shen Li looked up.
"Young Marshal, what's the next step?"
Chen Zijun looked at the nautical chart, his voice not loud, but like nails being hammered into a wooden board.
"Continuing the Chronicles at Sea"
"Continue the investigation on land."
"Anyone who wants to gain benefits from the Southeast must first remember my rules, Chen Zijun's rules."
Southeast Military and Political Reception Office, Shanghai.
The tea had long since gone cold, but Representative Zhou Qiheng hadn't touched it. He was wearing a clean blue long gown, with three pages of documents pressed beside him. His expression and words were both composed.
But the few attendants he brought with him didn't have that same flair. Some lowered their heads to sip their tea, some pretended to look out the window, and a man in a gray coat kept tapping his fingers lightly on his knee.
Hu Qiankuan sat opposite him, his eyes behind his glasses were flat, and he didn't even lift the tea lid.
Zhou Qiheng spoke first.
"Lieutenant Hu, since the Young Marshal has already stated that he will not obstruct the Northern Expedition in principle, then this matter should actually be discussed further."
Hu Qiankuan nodded. "Yes, shall we stop talking about this?"
Zhou Qiheng smiled and said, "The Northern Expedition is a matter of national importance. With national affairs at hand, your army, as recognized by the late Premier Sun Yat-sen as the Southeastern Front Army, is naturally part of the National Revolutionary Government. You can't just follow your own rules and ignore the unity of the whole country!"
Hu Qiankuan remained the same, "Yes, I've taken Mr. Zhou's words to heart."
Zhou Qiheng's eye twitched slightly.
He discovered that this adjutant, Hu, was very young, but his temperament and character were exceptionally refined, giving him a sense of composure even in the face of imminent collapse.
The same applies to negotiations. Even if your representative from the South has ulterior motives, they won't say anything, but they also won't engage with you at all.
You try to pressure him with grand principles, but he just casually pushes the ball back.
The reception area fell silent for a moment.
Footsteps echoed outside, and the guards at the gate stood like wooden stakes, even their coughs were barely audible.
Zhou Qiheng simply pushed the three-page proposal over.
"In that case, I'll submit the written terms first."
"Firstly, the five southeastern provinces maintained a friendly and neutral stance towards the Northern Expeditionary Army and did not obstruct it."
"Secondly, the Zhejiang-Jiangxi-Jiangsu transportation line was opened to facilitate the transfer of troops heading north."
"Thirdly, the Northern Expeditionary Force was allowed to purchase food, medicine, and some military supplies as needed."
Hu Qiankuan picked it up, glanced at it, and put it down.
"Is there anything else?"
Zhou Qiheng stared at him.
"Aren't these three enough?"
Hu Qiankuan said calmly, "Whether it's enough or not is not up to me to decide. But I have to collect them all, right? Our young marshal is very busy, and we can't keep bothering him with just one or two items at a time."
"Furthermore, Mr. Zhou, what is the standard for 'no obstruction'? How will this open transportation route facilitate the transfer of troops? What exactly does 'on demand' mean?"
Zhou Qiheng paused for a moment.
"Military situations are constantly changing, so we naturally need to be flexible. You can't go to war with an abacus!"
After listening, Hu Qiankuan actually nodded. "Hmm, Mr. Zhou makes a good point!"
That makes sense?
and then?
That's it?
What I want you to say is, do I have a point? Do you think I don't know that what I'm saying makes sense?
What I need is your reaction, your attitude!
Just as Zhou Qiheng was about to speak again, someone strode in from outside the door. It wasn't an adjutant, but a messenger from the Military Intelligence Bureau.
He handed a telegram to Hu Qiankuan and whispered, "Telegram from Fuzhou. The Young Marshal has instructed that the representatives be seated first, the conditions be accepted, and a written reply will follow."
Zhou Qiheng raised his eyebrows. In such a quiet conference room, and with us sitting opposite each other, do you really think I'm too old to hear you?
"Your young marshal is quite composed..."
Hu Qiankuan laid the telegram flat and explained in a deep voice, "The Young Marshal is on the front line of coastal defense, and the main force of the Japanese Taiwan garrison's guns are still pointed at the waters off Xiamen. If Mr. Zhou is willing to wait, it's to save face for the nation. If he's not willing to wait, we in the southeast have no choice..."
Upon hearing this, the expressions of the two attendants behind Zhou Qiheng changed.
Good guy.
Our Southern National Revolutionary Government certainly wanted to take advantage of the legacy of our late Premier Sun Yat-sen to gain some benefits, not to suffer a cold knife.
Your adjutant Hu, however, managed to strike without drawing blood.
You treat the Northern Expedition as a matter of national importance, but my actions in the southeast against the Japanese navy are not a lack of loyalty to the country.
Fuzhou, temporary coastal defense command center.
The chart light was still on.
Chen Zijun stood by the table, holding Zhou Qiheng's three written demands in his hand.
Shen Li stood to the side, his expression somewhat strange.
"Young Marshal, Qi Heng's writing this week is quite straightforward. Friendly neutrality, open transportation routes, procurement of provisions as needed. All three sentences sound reasonable. But every single one of them is an attempt to empty our coffers!"
Chen Zijun scoffed.
"That's right. 'Friendly neutrality' means, in plain terms, that you can't get in my way, and if anything goes wrong for me, it's because you're not cooperating."
"Opening up transportation lines, in plain terms, means you have to clear the way so I can use it whenever and however I want. If you don't give it to me, then you are deliberately obstructing the Northern Expedition."
"Purchasing rations on demand, in plain terms, means that I say how much I need, and you have to buy it for me. If you don't, it means you're not supporting the Northern Expedition. But it doesn't say what they'll use to buy it or how they'll buy it. Even if they're holding military stamps that are harder than toilet paper, you still have to accept them..."
"This cunning scheme is so elaborate that even Marshal Zhang of the Fengtian clique has heard about it in Fengtian!"
Hans stood on the other side of the chart and touched his nose.
"Young Marshal, this is also called a condition in Europe. The only difference is that some people will hide the knife under the tablecloth first."
Chen Zijun slammed the telegram on the table. "The problem is, I prepared a whole table of food, but they couldn't even be bothered to lay out a tablecloth."
No sooner had he finished speaking than another urgent report arrived from the coastal defense observation station.
Shen Li opened it and took a look.
"The Iwami is making a slow right turn, and a light cruiser is swerving 200 yards out. It is still outside the red line."
Chen Zijun didn't even look up.
"Continue to provide updates..."
Which round is it?
"The seventh round."
"Keep sending them. If they're willing to jump into the pit, should I stop them from burying them?"