After visiting the Soviet Union, Huang Ke launched a series of visits to many European countries, from Britain and France to Italy, but the results were somewhat disappointing, and many countries were still wary and suspicious of China.

Many European politicians have turned a deaf ear to Huang Ke's proposal to purchase industrial production machinery and introduce production technology. Especially in Britain and France, their arrogant momentum is unbearable, and the British government even received Huang Ke diplomatically and politely, without saying a word about cooperation, and when it was proposed to meet with the British Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary, the other party refused on the grounds that the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary were busy.

Huang Ke had a feeling of being greatly insulted, but it was not because of himself, but because of his motherland. As a world power with a population of 400 million, Huang Ke was treated as a third-class country in Europe, and Huang Ke was full of indignation.

After seeing this situation, the entourage felt uncomfortable, but they were helpless, and some even retreated in private.

"If you go to this ghost place and be angry with foreign devils, you might as well go back to China." "That's it, I don't think anything has been negotiated on this trip, there is nothing substantive on Lao Maozi's side, and there are basically no big European countries, so I think it is better to go back as soon as possible, and you can also save a diplomatic expense."

……

Huang Ke knew that some people complained in private, and at first, he would reprimand a few words, and then he simply drove a few people who liked to talk nonsense back to China. After that, he is reluctant to say too much, there are people who complain at any time and everywhere, this group of people can be said to be spiritual garbage makers, they often spread negative emotions, and the only thing that can stop complaining is to show them the actual results.

This time, Huang Ke set his sights on Germany. Because of World War I, Huang Ke first visited the members of the Entente in World War I, but he didn't expect his former allies to be treated like this now, and in desperation, Huang Ke had no choice but to go to Germany.

In order to visit Germany, he also transferred Zhu Jiahua, a domestic political affairs officer who had studied in Germany. Zhu Jiahua once studied in Germany and is familiar with the situation in Germany, bringing him can help Huang Ke make a choice; At the same time, Zhu Jiahua has some connections in the Weimar government in Germany, which is also much more convenient.

Huang Ke sent this request back to Guangzhou, because of the support of Liao Zhongkai and others, and Zhu Jiahua himself was willing to go to Germany, and soon after, Zhu Jiahua and Huang Ke met in Paris, France.

Zhu Jiahua is handsome, wearing a tweed black coat and a dark scarf around his neck, looking elegant and temperamental.

Huang Ke smiled and invited him to take a seat, to be honest, Huang Ke had been waiting for him here for a week, Zhu Jiahua did not pause at all, he knew that the boat was too slow, so he simply transferred to the plane.

After a few brief greetings between the two of them, Huang Ke said bluntly: "Brother Zhu, the purpose of inviting you here today must be clear to you, to be honest, our visit to Europe was a failure. Now that Germany is the only major European power, I will not say too much about the importance of this visit to discuss trade, which may affect the development of our country in the next ten years. ”

Zhu Jiahua nodded: "Mr. Huang, I understand what you mean, please rest assured, since I am here, I will definitely do my best to promote cooperation between the two countries, and you can tell what you need to do now." ”

Hearing this, Huang Ke smiled sincerely: "Okay, I won't beat around the bush." You are an expert in diplomacy and you know Germany, do you think economic cooperation between China and Germany is possible? ”

Asked this, Zhu Jiahua thought briefly and said: "I have made some inferences before coming, and my opinion is that the cooperation between China and Germany is completely feasible. ”

"Let's talk about it specifically." Huang Ke recognized his choice, and the choice to find Zhu Jiahua to help him visit Germany was not wrong.

"First of all, before the First World War, Germany had a lot of close cooperation with China for the purpose of balancing the art of balancing, and both of them gradually deepened these cooperation from their own interests, but in the First World War, the Sino-German war brought great harm to the cooperation between the two countries. One of the most serious losses was the trade between the two countries, before that, we look at a domestic statistics, by the end of the First World War, there were nearly 300 German firms in China at that time, but by the end of the First World War, there were only two left, which can be seen in the trade cooperation between the two countries. ”

"Yes, now is a good time to look for German cooperation, and I have learned that the traditional German ruling elite has always pinned its hopes on China to be its strategic ally in the Far East." Huang Ke interjected, he did have some understanding before.

Zhu Jiahua took over and said: "Not only that, cooperation between countries is based on interests. The Great War in Europe gave China and Germany a good basis for cooperation. ”

"After the First World War, Germany lost all its overseas colonies, which meant that Germany lost its cheap and stable raw material and labor markets, its dilapidated domestic economy and its extremely unequal trading position compared to other powers, which also prompted Germany to urgently need countries like China that could provide them with a large number of scarce raw materials and at the same time a large domestic market, and on the other hand, we were desperate for advanced technology and were willing and able to pay for barter trading partners, so from these aspects, In Europe, the common interests of Germany and China make it possible for the two countries to work together. ”

Huang Ke nodded with satisfaction after hearing this: "What you said is very good, and we agree on many views." But now that the Weimar government has been restricted by the Treaty of Versailles, it has become difficult to carry out foreign investment, which is a bit difficult in this regard. ”

Hearing Huang Ke say this, Zhu Jiahua smiled indifferently: "The Treaty of Versailles only restricts official investment in Germany, in fact, there is still a lot of private capital and trade, and now Britain and France are not so harsh on the supervision of the implementation of the Treaty of Versailles, and many times Britain and France are just superficially watching. ”

"Okay, you have a good idea. Without further ado, I am sure that we will be able to leave for Germany, and I am sure that we will not be disappointed by this visit. Huang Ke stood up and shook Zhu Jiahua's hand.

At the time of Huang Ke's visit, Wang Maocai led the Western and Route Armies to launch a new round of combat operations. Although the Northern Expedition had settled the situation in the country, the northwest and Qinghai-Tibet regions were still under the control of warlords.

The Nationalist Government of Guangzhou decided to take advantage of the victory after the change of banners in the northeast and issued an order to march into the whole country. Wang Maocai's Western and Route Armies bore the brunt of the attack and naturally undertook the task of marching into Xinjiang.

Prior to this, the Western Route Army had always been the easiest of the three route armies, because after the elimination of the warlords in Sichuan, the Western Route Army had achieved unprecedented expansion, and its strength had expanded to nearly 10 armies and nearly 300,000 people.

During that time, Wang Maocai also showed some hedonistic moods, and it was not until later that Huang Ke ordered the army to march into Shaanxi, and they began to move.

Although Shaanxi is also full of warlords, the most powerful is Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Army, plus part of the Ma Jiajun's team, so that oil and salt cannot enter here.

However, in Wang Maocai's eyes, these are not to be feared, he has 300,000 well-trained troops under his command, relying on the propaganda and attraction of land reform, and the combat effectiveness is far higher than that of the Northwest Army.

Soon, the Western Route Army avoided the natural danger of Tongguan and entered southern Shaanxi from Sichuan, and the 300,000 army quickly swept southern Shaanxi with the autumn wind sweeping the leaves, and marched north to force the Guanzhong Plain, and the troops approached the city of Xi'an.

At this time, Huang Ke was withdrawn because of the conflict with Japan in Jinan, and although the new commander-in-chief was Jiang Xianyun, the central government still had absolute leadership over the army.

Not long after, the Central Military Commission transferred the two armies of the Western Route Army to the Central Route Army on the grounds of rotating troops for training, and then disrupted the troop structure of the Third Route Army a lot, and Wang Maocai basically brought few old troops from the land of Bashu, but what made him happy was that Xue Boling's armored regiment was transferred to the West and Route Army, Batu's First Cavalry Division, and the Cannon Artillery Regiment of the Central Route Army were also mobilized, which made him unable to close his mouth.

The firepower of the Western Route Army has increased suddenly, and in the past, corps-level units were only equipped with a small number of artillery, but now the division level can call for artillery support, and this kind of rich battle makes Wang Maocai handy.

Before attacking Xi'an, the troops of the Western Route Army were stationed in Weinan, and Wang Maocai held a long cigarette pouch in his mouth and said to the large-scale map of Xi'an: "Damn it! The Northwest Army was defeated by Lao Tzu's firepower points, and the troops surrounded them from both flanks, and they were resolutely not allowed to let the Northwest Army run to Gansu. ”

Wang Maocai's orders as supreme commander were conveyed layer by layer, and the artillery units mobilized from the east were worried that they would not have the time to show their hands, and after the order was issued, they quickly entered the position and began shelling.

Soon, the roaring artillery rang out, and the large-caliber artillery shelled the firing points of the Northwest Army, and soon the artillery fire began to extend, completely covering the positions of the Northwest Army. After the artillery fire, tens of thousands of troops on both flanks began to move, infantry corps and armored troops began to attack from the front, under the rolling iron flow, the defenders of Xi'an City were immediately routed, and the rest surrendered one after another.

After taking Xi'an City, Wang Maocai did not stop. In accordance with the order of the Central Military Commission, he waved his army north to continue the offensive north.

Wang Maocai wanted to wipe out all the Northwest Army and then enter Xinjiang. However, Wang Maocai knew in his heart that the Northwest Army and the Ma Jiajun who fled westward were bound to unite, and they had deep roots in the local area, and it was estimated that it would be a little difficult to defeat these people.