Corridor outside the door.

Ma Jue asked in a low voice, "Brother Feng, do you think Mr. Zhou can convince Prime Minister Churchill?" ”

"I'm afraid it's difficult," Wang Rizhang shook his head and smiled bitterly, and then added, "Maybe a miracle happens, Mr. Zhou is in a relaxed mood today, he should have a detailed plan." ”

Ma Jue said: "Yes, Mr. Zhou has always been very capable. What do you think he was talking to Churchill? ”

Wang Rizhang said: "Maybe he is conveying President Jiang's secret instructions and preparing to reach some kind of agreement with the British government." ”

"An agreement that betrays China's interests? No way. Ma Jue was surprised.

Wang Rizhang laughed and said: "What other interests can China sell to Britain?" I want to sell it, but I also want Churchill to look at it. As a special envoy sent by China to visit Britain, it is not shameful that he has betrayed the country, but that he has nothing to sell. ”

Ma Jue was speechless for a moment, and what he said was too direct.

The two stood outside for more than ten minutes when the office door suddenly opened.

I saw Churchill personally send Zhou Hexuan to the door, smiled and shook hands: "Zhou, if the damn Germans don't come to disturb, I invite you to come to my house for dinner on Sunday." You can talk about literature and art, as long as you don't mention the Yunnan-Burma Highway. ”

"Let's look forward to the weekend holiday for the German pilots." Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.

"Goodbye, my friend." Churchill waved his hand.

Churchill still attached great importance to Zhou Hexuan, and his fame and influence aside, his astonishing international analytical skills alone were enough to amaze him. A few years ago, the two discussed the future situation in Europe, and Zhou Hexuan's "predictions" all came true, as if Hitler was implementing Zhou Hexuan's plan step by step.

In Churchill's eyes, Zhou Hexuan was not a literary scholar, but a great expert on international issues.

Wang Rizhang and Ma Jue followed Zhou Hexuan out of the prime minister's residence, both of them full of doubts, eager to know what happened in the office just now.

Finally, Wang Rizhang couldn't help but ask: "Mr. Zhou, Prime Minister Churchill was very happy just now, did he promise not to close the Yunnan-Burma Highway?" ”

"Of course...... No way. Zhou Hexuan said.

Ma Jue glanced at Zhou Hexuan: "When is it, you are still joking with a lot of fun." ”

Zhou Hexuan explained: "I just talked about the old days with Churchill, and when I met old friends, we had a good chat. ”

Wang Rizhang didn't believe this kind of nonsense, and said tentatively: "Is there something in the general seat to discuss with Ying?" ”

Zhou Hexuan said: "You are the prison sent by President Jiang, and it is impossible to hide it from you if you have a secret discussion." ”

Wang Rizhang couldn't cry or laugh: "Is there a prison army like me?" Until now, I don't know the real plans of you and Soza. ”

Zhou Hexuan suddenly stopped and said to the two: "What Churchill and I discussed in the office is not suitable for you to know, so there is no need to inquire again." Now we just have to wait, wait for news from home, wait for Britain to act. As for whether the negotiations will succeed, it is all up to God's will, and I have made every effort. ”

……

Churchill's invitation to dinner did not materialize because Mussolini gave him a big gift, and hundreds of thousands of Italian troops marched into North and Northeast Africa, while the British defenders in the region were less than 100,000.

The Battle of Britain had just begun, and the war in North Africa had begun again, and Mr. Churchill, who did not want to be a pastemaker, was so anxious that his lips were blistered with blood in the face of leaky dilapidated houses. He held a national defense meeting overnight and quarreled for several days, but in the end he still did not come up with any valuable battle plan.

Fortunately, this time it was Italy who faced it, and the subsequent development of the war situation made Churchill laugh off his dentures.

At the beginning of the war, the three Italian armies launched an offensive with overwhelming superiority, while the British had only one division on the front. The British had to retreat continuously, relying on fortifications to gain a foothold, while the Italians lost their chains during the attack.

The two sides fought for several months, and the battle turned into a counteroffensive by the British army, which crushed the Italian army, and then Rommel appeared as a firefighter.

Perhaps Italy existed to make the brutal World War II comedic.

When Hitler blitzkrieged France, Mussolini feared the defeat of Germany, so he wisely declared his neutrality. It turned out that the French army was weak, Mussolini immediately took advantage of the fire to loot, and 18 full-strength Italian divisions were beaten back to their hometown by 6 broken French divisions. So much so that when France surrendered to Germany, the French army still occupied part of the territory of Italy.

Just 10 days before Zhou Hexuan's arrival in London, Marshal Balbo, who had served as Italy's aviation minister, was shot down by his own naval anti-aircraft guns. Mussolini felt humiliated by this own goal, so he declared that His Excellency the Marshal was extremely brave, and personally piloted the plane to fight the British Air Force until he was killed.

When the North African battlefield reached a stalemate, Italy brazenly sent troops to Greece despite Hitler's opposition, completely disrupting the strategic plan of the German army. At the start of the war, Greece's 500,000 soldiers were on vacation because they were going home for the autumn harvest. Mussolini believed that with the strength of 3 divisions, Greece could be occupied in half a month. As a result, 21 divisions were dispatched to fight for nearly half a year, but they were stunned, and the Greek army counterattacked into Italy proper, and successfully forced Greece to join the camp of the Central Powers - Greece and Germany had good relations before.

Let's talk about the North African battlefield, 250,000 Italian troops were chased by 35,000 British troops, and they were killed in the Italian colonies. When Churchill asked how many Italian soldiers had been captured, the British commander Auchinleck triumphantly said: "I can't count, about five acres (acres) of officers, 200 acres of soldiers." ”

……

In late July, the Germans were still carrying out a frenzied bombing, not only bombing British military installations, but also bombing all the maritime ships they had detected.

Lao Jiang's bitter meat plan is still being implemented, and Japan suddenly came with an assist-

On July 26, Japan put forward the concept of the so-called "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere". At the beginning of August, the Konoe Cabinet officially announced the "Basic National Policy Guidelines," which basically aimed to dominate the entire East Asian region, including Southeast Asia and the Soviet Union's Far East territories, with Japan and China as the basic base.

The British government could only pretend not to see this, in fact Churchill was very troubled, and he feared that the Far East would become a second North African battlefield.

At this moment, even more terrible news came - the British army in Hong Kong intercepted a secret telegram, which was sent by Gao Zongwu to the military commander. The telegram showed that Chiang was ready to surrender to Japan and promised to cede all the Chinese territory occupied by the Japanese army, and the two sides appeared to have entered the stage of substantive negotiations.

Churchill was shocked and hurriedly informed the US government of the situation.

Before Roosevelt could react, the French press suddenly reported the news that China was negotiating with the German government and was ready to join the fascist camp as a vassal state of Japan.

Not to mention Churchill at this time, even Roosevelt was about to go crazy, and immediately called Hu Shi for questioning.

Hu Shi was extremely angry and sent several telegrams to question Lao Jiang. Lao Chiang naturally denied it and asked Hu Shih to continue negotiations with the United States, but that tone convinced both Hu Shih and Roosevelt that China was really ready to surrender.

Public opinion in China exploded, and Chang Kaishen had to stand up and explain, saying that those rumors were all a conspiracy of the Japanese, and he would never be able to sue for peace with Japan.