The reason why Yu Hanmou did not fight in the northern Guangdong battlefield for more than half a year was because the Japanese South China Front changed its offensive target.

The Japanese invaded the Guangzhou-Kowloon region last summer, went directly to Vietnam in the fall, and now are preparing to attack the Leizhou Peninsula and Fuzhou -- nothing more than to open up the southern coastline, occupy Southeast Asia, and carry out a complete naval blockade of China.

Because of this, the frontal battlefield in Guangdong became quiet, and the Nationalist army even had the leisure to run to encircle and suppress the Communist guerrillas. Last year, the 186th Division of the Nationalist Army entangled more than 3,000 local armed forces to launch a siege on the guerrillas in the Dongjiang area, and only about 100 of the two guerrillas in the Dongjiang region were left after breaking through the siege.

Although the Sino-Japanese war had long since entered a phase of stalemate, it became fierce again in early 1941.

This was due to Germany's successive victories in the European theater, which stimulated and encouraged the Japanese government. At the end of 1940, the Japanese army began to adjust its war policy toward China, making the decision that "the China incident must be quickly resolved", trying to end the war in China in the autumn of 1941, and turning all its energy to Southeast Asia and the Pacific theater.

After New Year's Day, the Fifth Theater was the first to break out in battle.

The Japanese North China Front dispatched more than 50,000 troops to attack southern Henan with the main force of the 11th Military Commission, and the Chinese side was commanded by Li Zongren to start the Battle of Southern Henan.

By this time the War of Resistance had been fought, the commanders who had a little brain had already adjusted their thinking. Li Zongren fought very well this time, adopting the tactics of luring the enemy into depth, frontal defense, and flank attack, and successfully turned the Japanese army's offensive into an armed parade.

However, soon the Japanese army will attack Zhongtiao Mountain, alas, the battle of Zhongtiao Mountain was fought miserably, and from Lao Chiang to the front-line generals, they were simply collectively demented.

Wei Lihuang is still playing that old-fashioned corps defensive battle, and even calls the Zhongtiao Mountain defense line "Oriental Maginot Noir", he is not unlucky. Not to mention these, when the two sides were about to fight, Lao Jiang actually sent troops to suppress the Communists, and the Fourth Army, known as the "Iron Pillar of Zhongtiao Mountain", was almost all transferred from the battlefield.

The internal contradictions of the national army were not mentioned, and regardless of adopting a passive defensive posture, the "Eastern Maginot Line" in Wei Lihuang's mouth did not even strengthen the ferry fortifications, allowing the Japanese army to easily cross the river. The funniest thing is that the Chinese troops, as the defending side, actually ran out of food after being surrounded, and the soldiers were so hungry that they couldn't lift their guns.

Even the food is not well prepared, and you dare to call yourself the "Oriental Maginot of the East"?

After this battle, the Chinese side directly lost six generals - a total of one general, two lieutenant generals, and three major generals.

Alas, it's a bad thing to bring up, so let's talk about something interesting.

On January 2, the Japanese War Department announced that since the start of the Sino-Japanese war, the Chinese army has suffered 3.5 million casualties and the Japanese army has suffered 100,000 casualties.

The Nationalist Government was not convinced by this, and issued a communiqué on January 4 to counter: Since the Anti-Japanese War, nearly 1.8 million Japanese prisoners have been killed and wounded.

These two sets of data are really ......

When Zhou Hexuan and Ke Li flew to Chongqing, it was already February 6. Lao Jiang decided to meet Curry on February 8, and quietly called Zhou Hexuan to Yunxiu Tower on the 7th.

"Mingcheng, thank you for your hard work!" Chang Kaishen took Zhou Hexuan's hand and sat down quite affectionately.

Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "The contribution is not enough." ”

Chang Kaishen's hard work is naturally the reopening of the Yunnan-Burma Highway last year, so he paid more and more attention to Zhou Hexuan.

Chang Kaishen said with emotion: "(Ju) Yiqiao has already explained to me the process of your mission to the United Kingdom, and I didn't expect that Mingcheng could fly an airplane, and he is really a civil and military all-rounder." ”

"It's just a reluctant meeting," Zhou Hexuan asked, "I don't know what the president summoned me?" ”

Chang Kaishen said: "Mingcheng has just returned from the United States, what is Roosevelt's attitude?" Hu Shih was vague in the telegram, I want to hear your opinion. ”

Zhou Hexuan said: "The United States is definitely willing to help China, but their eyes are first on Europe, and it is impossible to tear up their faces with Japan for the time being." ”

"Is it possible to get a $300 million loan?" Chang Kaishen asked.

"I'm afraid not." Zhou Hexuan could only smile bitterly, and at the same time, he was completely speechless at Lao Jiang's lion.

Chang Kaishen is really whimsical, he was discussing an alliance with Britain last year. Britain has been practicing tai chi, and it is speculated that as long as the United States is willing to form an alliance, then Britain is also willing to form an alliance with China.

So Chang Kaishen contacted the United States to discuss the alliance, and thought about the requirements after the alliance.

First, Britain and the United States will provide loans to China to help China maintain foreign exchange and fiat currency, and the total amount of this loan will be at least $200 million to $300 million.

Second, the United States sold 500 to 1,000 fighters to China every year on credit, and handed over 200 to 300 fighters to China by the end of 1940. In addition, Britain and the United States should provide China with other weapons and equipment, and the specifications and quantities of equipment should be resolved through negotiation.

Third, Britain and the United States should send military, economic, and transportation missions to China to help China establish a Far Eastern cooperation agency, and the members of the missions should be hired by China as advisers.

This is simply living in a dream, and Lao Chiang is extremely optimistic about this, believing that Britain and the United States will provide large-scale assistance to China. He wrote in his diary that day: "This (China-Britain-United States) Far East Cooperation Program is one of the most important documents in the history of China's diplomacy. ”

Chang Kaishen showed this plan to Song Ziwen with great interest, and Song Ziwen poured cold water on his head, thinking that 200 million or 300 million US dollars was too much to borrow, and it might be difficult to achieve it for a while. At the same time, the United States should be asked to send financial experts to inspect the situation of China's fiat currency and discuss relief measures with domestic experts. The strategy of cooperation between China and Britain and the United States in the Far East should be implemented step by step, and should not be rushed for a while.

This was the background of Currie's 1941 visit to China, where Currie was not only Roosevelt's administrative assistant, but also Roosevelt's senior economic adviser, whose primary duty was to inspect China's fiat currency.

Chang Kaishen asked: "Then how do you think we should negotiate with the United States now?" ”

Zhou Hexuan said: "The Lend-Lease Act is being discussed in the US Congress, and it will definitely be passed depending on the situation, so we might as well find a way to do it." ”

"What is the Lend-Lease Act?" Chang Kaishen obviously hasn't received the news yet.

Zhou Hexuan explained: "Britain has collapsed financially and has no money to buy American arms. As a result, Roosevelt was pushing for the Lend-Lease Act, and the United States provided military supplies to other countries through lend-lease, loans, and exchanges. ”

Chang Kaishen was immediately overjoyed: "This bill is good!" ”

Of course, China has no money and can only pay on credit, anyway, let's talk about the arms.

Zhou Hexuan said: "In principle, the United States is not responsible for the transportation of military supplies provided by the Lend-Lease Act, which requires us to rent some ships in the United States. ”

"It's all trivial." Chang Kaishen waved his hand and said.

Zhou Hexuan said: "As for the borrowing, I think it is still feasible, but the amount cannot exceed 150 million US dollars. ”

Chang Kaishen nodded and said, "I know, this negotiation revolves around the Lend-Lease Act and borrowing." ”