When Captain Paul Tibbetts entered the conference room, he found that it was already crowded, and the squadron leaders of the squadrons, the captains of the various crews, the navigators, and the bombardiers were all crammed into the room of less than 600 square feet. The smell of sweat, tobacco, and an indescribable smell mixed in with the hot summer months, making the air extremely cloudy, and he snorted a few times before he had to get used to the smell.

"Everyone, please be quiet!" Lieutenant Colonel Robert Olds of the 2nd Bomber Group looked at the people who had arrived and began to speak. As soon as he opened his mouth, the room was silent, and everyone knew that in retaliation against the Japanese, this would be the first actual bombing by the Army Aviation Force. If it is only a light load of 1.8 tons, the Flying Fortress A can have a bombing radius of 1,200 miles, which is enough to bomb Nagasaki 1,160 miles away - of course, for more safety, the bomb will only be loaded with one ton - according to intelligence, there is a large shipyard of the Japanese Navy, maybe there are battleships or aircraft carriers under construction in the dock, and bombing there will be a perfect blow to the Japanese.

When dozens of pairs of eyes were staring at Lieutenant Colonel Olds, the lieutenant colonel stopped talking, and only when everyone felt that something was wrong did he say: "Gentlemen, I have to tell you the news that the mission to bomb Japan has been canceled......"

"Why?!" Thinking that the operation that had been prepared for many days had been canceled, the captain immediately stood up and asked, but this behavior was immediately stopped by Major Barney Giles. Giles, a veteran lieutenant colonel who fought in Europe and graduated from the Air Force Tactical School in Alabama, will maintain the majesty of his commander at all times.

"Gentlemen, we abandoned Japan because we wanted to attack a more worthy target!" After the crowd fell silent for a moment, Lieutenant Colonel Olds finally gave up his reason for abandoning the bombing of Nagasaki. "That's where we will bomb China!"

"What?!" As with the reaction just now, there was chaos in the conference room again, but unlike before, the whistles and shouts of the pilots began to sound in a moment. Since last week's criticism from Washington for the 'accidental bombing' of China's South China Sea Fleet, everyone in the Army Air Force has hated China - and everyone is fully convinced that it is because of the cover of the Chinese that the Japanese Navy has escaped the round-up of the entire army aviation force. Now that the decision has finally been made to bomb China, the evil Yellow Axis, everyone must of course rejoice, they have come from all over the ocean, and not only for the sake of the Japanese.

"Please be still!" Seeing that the morale of his subordinates was high, Lieutenant Colonel Olds was happy and let them cheer for a while before speaking again. "Gentlemen: China has always been the initiator and center of the Yellow Axis, and in order to deceive us, they deliberately withdrew from the Axis last year, but after we declared war on Japan, she did not follow the neutrality law, but continued to help the Japanese: last week, they successfully covered the retreat of the Japanese navy, and every day and night after the declaration of war, countless military and strategic materials and resources were continuously transported to Japan from Chinese ports and land ports.

In response, Washington had to warn the Chinese government to sever all relations with Japan and North Korea after 24 hours, and to allow the navy to inspect every merchant ship leaving their commercial ports, and the army to land on the Sino-North Korean border and supervise every land port to Korea. If the Chinese government does not accept this condition after twenty-four hours, then we will declare war on China. ”

Lieutenant Colonel Olds stopped after saying Washington's diplomatic strategy toward China in one breath, and after looking around the audience, he said again: "It is impossible for the Chinese to agree to this condition, so, gentlemen, the war against China will begin in sixteen hours." ”

The lieutenant colonel said that the war would begin sixteen hours later, and the room was filled with cheers. After everyone cheered for a while, the lieutenant colonel began to officially assign his tasks, and under the projection light with the electric lights turned off, the maps and aerial photos on the wall immediately became clear.

"The target assigned to our brigade was to bomb the Guangzhou Whampoa Shipyard and the ...... of the Guangzhou airport," introduced Major Giles. The aerial photos are very clear, and the Whampoa shipyard is right on the banks of the Pearl River. This couldn't have been better, as it was the first bombing of Guangzhou, and the navigator could easily find the Whampoa Shipyard through the Pearl River, a huge landmark. However, the airport is a bit troublesome, and it is not as easy to find as the shipyard.

"Gentlemen, according to intelligence, there are no anti-aircraft guns in the vicinity of the shipyard, and there are about fifty-four 85mm anti-aircraft guns and one hundred and forty-four 37mm Erlikon anti-aircraft guns near the airfield. Because the 85mm anti-aircraft gun had a smaller diameter, it could only reach an altitude of 23,000 feet, so it was safe for us to drop bombs at this altitude. After speaking, Major Giles smiled mysteriously at everyone before saying: "And these 85mm anti-aircraft guns are basically arranged in the south and east of the airport, if we can enter the bomb from the north and turn to the west after the bomb is dropped, then the bomb height can be reduced to the height of the 37mm anti-aircraft gun, that is, 14,000 feet." Of course, whether this is feasible is based on the accuracy of intelligence, I don't recommend taking risks, so it is recommended to drop bombs at 23,000 feet.

I would also like to say that according to intelligence, the Chinese Air Force has been equipped with a small number of radars, but these radars are only deployed at the mouth of the Pearl River and in the eastern cities of the estuary. If we do not enter from here, but far from Macao and enter the mainland from the west of the estuary, then only the radar deployed in Guangzhou can detect us. Because of the early models, these radars have a very limited warning time, and intelligence shows that it will not last more than fifteen minutes......"

Major Giles's briefing was soon over, but everyone could perceive that there was much more information about the bombing of Canton than about the bombing of Nagasaki in Japan, especially the disposition of the enemy's anti-aircraft guns, which obviously gave the pilots infinite confidence.

The meeting ended quickly after Lt. Col. Olds told everyone to get a good night's sleep, but at the Army Headquarters at No. 1 Victoria Avenue in Manila City, the meeting was still going on. Lieutenant General MacArthur, who, like all Army pilots, hated Washington's apology to the Chinese for last week's 'accidental bombing', which he considered unforgivable. Fortunately, after a week, Washington changed its mind - of course, the most important reason for the change of mind was that the Chinese navy felt that their super-battleship was not safe in Shanghai, so it planned to launch it early, and then the outfitting would be carried out at the safer Tianjin or Dalian shipyards.

"Gentlemen, we're going to beat those dogs. Mother-raised! "MacArthur spoke with a bit of a swagger, but this was familiar to the army generals, and only the admirals present, especially Admiral Hessbend Kimmmel, the commander of the Pacific Fleet, who had just succeeded Admiral Bloch, were not used to it." The harder we fight, the faster they surrender. I don't think anyone will forget that I promised Mr. President that the children would be able to go home at Christmas......"

"General, I have to interrupt you." Hearing MacArthur say that the war was ending at Christmas, Admiral Kimmmel, who had a rigid and conservative personality, finally couldn't help but speak. "As far as I know, even if the Chinese and Japanese navies are completely destroyed, Chinese will hold on, and they are not as lacking in resources and ...... as Japan. I think the soldiers would be very upset if they knew they couldn't go home for Christmas. ”

"No, you are wrong, Mr. Admiral." MacArthur's gaze swept over Kimmel's epaulettes, unimpressed. "The Chinese are a bunch of cowards. As long as the navy destroys their fleet, they will surrender as they did more than thirty years ago, of course, they will resist, but only in a few places, and the armies in these places will have to guard against the Russians......"

When it comes to the Russians, MacArthur gets to the point – what does it matter that he has always believed that he foiled a long-planned conspiracy in Moscow in the 1932 'Legion March' and that the evil rulers there hated him for it? In order to defend the sacred liberal democracy of the United States, even if the Bolsheviks hatched such a conspiracy a hundred times, he MacArthur would destroy them all and make those people pay the price in blood.

The meetings in Manila were endlessly ripped off by the megalomaniac MacArthur, and in the capital, the Mandarin Hall, which had received an ultimatum from Stuart Leiden, an old friend of the Chinese people and ambassador to China, a few hours earlier, was deserted. Ding Wenjiang, the secretary of the Ministry of Soil, had already gone crazy several times -- as an outsider, he did not know that most of the people in the cabinet had known that this would be the outcome, and in his opinion it was a deliberate aggression by the Americans. It was all a hoax from the beginning, but it wasn't until the American army was ready that they tore the mask on their faces, revealing their hideous fangs.

Ding Wenjiang was too emotional just now, so he became dying at this time. Weng Wenhao was distracted, tilting his head and looking at the roof. He regretted and was a little excited about the Americans' actions: the regret was that it was precisely because of his informing that the Americans decided to issue an ultimatum to China, and it was obvious that they would not agree to the launching of the battleship Tisendowei; And the excitement is because the torturous days since coming to power are finally coming to an end. No matter what the Inspector's Court chooses tomorrow, what he can and should do will soon be over.

He was curious about how he would write about himself in the future history books, but no matter how he wrote it, he had no regrets when he thought that he was working for the welfare of 60,000 people. Freedom and democracy are priceless, and if Mr. Xiaomin can be sacrificed back then, then why should he cherish his reputation and life?

Ding Wenjiang, Weng Wenhao, Wu Jingchao, Jiang Tinghuang, Xu Xinliu, Ma Junwu, Guo Bingwen, Jiang Menglin, Zhang Dongsun, Luo Longji, Kong Xiangxi, Song Ziwen ....... After a long silence, Wu Jingchao, who was still by Weng Wenhao's side, coughed twice and said: "Gentlemen, the discussion has also been discussed, there are only a few strategies, and the most important thing now is the decision of the Inspectorate tomorrow, if they refuse to accept Washington's ultimatum, then the result will be a declaration of war; Once the Americans declare war, we don't have much room to turn around......"

"I don't quite agree with Beihai's point of view, I still have the same view as before: the declaration of war by the United States does not mean that we also have to declare war." Jiang Ting, a diplomatic scholar who had just taken over Gu Weijun's post, said. "Most of the representatives of the Inspectorate are old-fashioned and tend to be modest. We can tell them that if we also declare war on the United States and sever diplomatic relations, then there will be no chance for peace talks at all, and this war will have to be fought to the death. Besides, not declaring war is not the same as not resisting! We are only doing this in self-defense, and the more we do this, the more sympathetic the whole world will be to us and see clearly the aggressive nature of the United States. I think these arguments are enough to convince the people in the Inspectorate if the ultimatum is not passed. ”

"How to deal with domestic public opinion without declaring war, and what to do with the student marches?" Minister of Culture and Culture Jiang Menglin suddenly asked. He is in charge of the Ministry of Education, fully aware of the impulsive characteristics of students, perhaps there are many students who yearn for freedom and democracy, but there are even more students who are devoted to protecting their families and defending the country. If the Cabinet does not declare war, all the student work done in the past year will be in vain.

"It's not that we don't resist, we just don't declare war." Jiang Tinghuang once again affirmed his point of view. "The students don't understand international law, they just worry about the government's lack of resistance. As long as we are really resisting the aggression of the Americans, then how can they have an opinion? ”

"I think it's a good idea." Kong Xiangxi snorted, "You can fight when you want to fight, and you can make peace when you want to." Isn't it said that it is more difficult to fight than to fight? That's the strategy. ”

"Brother Yong is wrong, what I said on the phone just now is that I can keep my talents." Guo Bingwen, who had read the telegram, said, "He also sent a draft to Ta Kung Pao, hoping to suppress the public opinion of those main battles." ”

"Okay, let's stop talking." Weng Wenhao, who has been reluctant to give up, came very abruptly. "Tomorrow, the Inspectorate will question, just go with me. The deputies accepted the ultimatum or did not accept it, declared war or did not declare war. Results will be available by 3 p.m. tomorrow. Let's adjourn! ”

After receiving Situ Leiden's 24-hour ultimatum, Weng Wenhao immediately summoned the cabinet members in Beijing to discuss countermeasures. Discussion and discussion in the final analysis still depends on the Institute of Suspicion, so everyone discussed for a while and did not have the intention to talk about it anymore, at this time, seeing Weng Wenhao say that the meeting was dismissed, the seat that got up immediately sounded, and in less than three minutes, even Ding Wenjiang, who was dying just now, left quickly.

"Prime Minister, the current situation ......" After everyone left, Wu Jingchao remembered an extremely important matter. I think the Praetorian Guard still needs to be more vigilant. ”

"Beihai is too worried." Weng Wenhao and Wu Jingchao thought completely differently, he said: "If Yang Jingcheng wants to make a coup, he did it a year ago, why wait until today?" I don't think he's going to do anything this time. ”

"It's hard to say." Wu Jingchao didn't agree with Weng Wenhao's idea at all, and only said: "Yang Jingcheng has always said that he abides by the law, but when he listens to his remarks by chance, he feels that this person is becoming more and more like a knife, cold and shining, extremely sharp." ”

"Hehe......" Hearing Wu Jingchao say this, Weng Wenhao also smiled, and he said: "I can't imagine that you can also see Yang Jingcheng's things in Beihai, aren't you afraid of poisoning?" ”

"I just...... I just heard some of them by chance. Wu Jingchao was choked by Weng Wenhao, and he didn't care. He continued: "Don't take it lightly! ”

"What if you don't take it lightly?" Weng Wenhao walked up in the Wenhua Hall with his hands on his back. "Do the Janissaries listen to us? Don't listen! Do the tax police listen to us? Don't listen either? Not to mention other armies, even the Beijing Police Department is not all under the jurisdiction of Lu Xian. As we all know, if negotiations with the United States fail, our cabinet will definitely fall, and who will be on our side?

Now the only thing we can rely on is the rules that Yang Jingcheng and those people set earlier. If he chooses a coup d'état, it means that the things he got before were all coaxing, and he has been manipulating the political situation since he became a wilderness, and I think he disdains to do such a thing that defies the world's condemnation. ”

"Virtue?" Wu Jingchao read this word, of course he knew that the virtue that Weng Wenhao said was completely different from the benevolence, righteousness and morality that ordinary scholars say. The virtue that Weng Wenhao said is the virtue that Yang Jingcheng said. What is the virtue that Yang Jingcheng said? It is not gentleness, not compassion, not equality and mutual respect, but the courage of a martial artist, the faith of ignorance, and the promise of a gentleman. Since Yang Jingcheng wants to start a sect and establish the foundation for his theory of the reincarnation of civilization, then he will not break the promise he made before, so the coup d'état will never be his doing.

basically agreed with Weng Wenhao's judgment, but Wu Jingchao was still worried: "Even if Yang Jingcheng doesn't make a coup, I'm worried about those people below him." What if someone can't help but jump out? ”

"Beihai, since Yang Jingcheng can be virtuous, then why can't we?" Weng Wenhao said silently. "Since we believe in freedom and democracy from the bottom of our hearts, we should dedicate our lives to it." (To be continued.) )