Chapter 474

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

The old man's gaze fixed tightly on Chen Cheng, and he said excitedly: "Cixiu, tell me the relevant details again, word for word."

Chen Cheng organized his thoughts, and the scene of yesterday's negotiation surfaced in his mind.

"At that time, Governor Smith, representing the United Kingdom's London side, proposed a very sensitive hypothesis."

"He asked, if one day the Japanese were no longer satisfied with French Indochina, but instead marched west to invade British Burma, British Malaya, and even British India, what would be the attitude of the Xia Guo government?"

Hearing this, the old man hurriedly asked: "How did you answer?"

Chen Cheng lowered his head somewhat embarrassedly: "This kind of major matter concerning the national system, I didn't dare to make a decision and express my position at the time, I could only laugh it off."

The old man immediately flew into a rage, slamming the table and cursing: "Damn it! At such a time is precisely the opportunity to seek benefits, how could you not say anything?"

"However, Lv Weiyue clearly expressed his position." Chen Cheng quickly added.

"Tell me quickly!"

As Chen Cheng narrated, the two seemed to return to that conference hall in Kunming.

Lv Muzhi was then leaning against the back of his chair, saying very confidently: "Mr. Governor, our Xia Guo has an ancient saying, called 'The bandit may come, I too may go'."

"At sea I dare not boast, but on land, wherever the Japanese run, our Youth Army will pursue and kill them there; you can rest assured on this point."

"It's just that, sending a large army on an expedition to a foreign land, the expenses of feeding men and horses and ammunition consumption are all astronomical figures."

Governor Smith was obviously well-prepared: "General Lu, the Great British Empire will not forget the contributions of friends. Regarding the loan of twenty million pounds sterling, the London side is considering granting a certain reduction."

"The preliminary amount, we can set at five million pounds sterling. What do you think?"

After hearing this, Lv Muzhi was somewhat dissatisfied: "Five million pounds sterling? Governor, are you sending off a beggar? At this price, you can go ask the Central Army! But you can't move my Youth Army."

Chen Cheng glanced sideways at Lv Muzhi......

"You must understand, the entire Great British Empire has a total population of 438 million, and just one Indian colony accounts for 350 million of them."

"Plus British Burma and Malaya, the colonial population is only more, not less. What is the annual output of these places? What are Britain's interests in Asia?"

"Simply astronomical figures! The British cannot lose these colonies, especially India."

"The Japanese are now reaching into French Indochina; that is testing you. The day they invade British colonies is not far off."

"If Xia Guo is to send troops to help you preserve these interests, just speaking of preserving Burma, I demand exemption of a loan of ten million pounds sterling. As for protecting other places, the price must be increased. Not a single copper coin less, and we will be powerless to help."

The recollection ended abruptly. Inside the official residence in Hankou, the old man listened with his mouth agape, saying nothing for a long while.

One must know that one pound sterling can be exchanged for four US dollars, so ten million pounds sterling is forty million US dollars.

And one C47 Transport Aircraft costs less than one hundred thousand US dollars, while one famously named Sherman Tank costs only thirty-something thousand US dollars.

"Ten million pounds sterling... this kid really dares to open his mouth."

The old man calculated quickly in his heart, and soon understood.

This loan of twenty million pounds sterling was originally ten million for the Youth Army and ten million for the Central Army, each person half.

If truly reduced by ten million, wouldn't Lv Muzhi's share not require repaying a single cent?

"Damn it! No wonder it's ten million. After all this fuss, this kid is sticking his own debt onto himself!"

The old man cursed with his mouth, but immediately started scheming in his heart.

At present, the Japanese do not have the capability to launch a counteroffensive, so the Central Army does not need to worry about the domestic frontline battlefield.

Sending troops into Burma can protect the Burma Road and also offset the debt.

Such a good thing absolutely cannot be monopolized by Lv Muzhi alone.

"Cixiu, you immediately go draft a troop establishment table. We must also prepare a 'Xia Expeditionary Force' belonging to the Central Government."

"Tell the British: the Youth Expeditionary Army demands ten million pounds sterling, while our Central Army's Expeditionary Force only needs five million pounds sterling!"

Chen Cheng hissed: This is starting to engage in involution!

While the old man and Lv Muzhi were engaging in involution, the French Army and the Thai Army were already locked in fierce combat.

At the border between French Indochina and Thailand, the flames of war had already spread across mountains and fields.

The battlefield was on the western borderlines of Laos and Cambodia. The Thai Army launched a full-scale offensive against the French Colonial Army.

Governor General De Gu of French Indochina could truly not sit still this time; he personally came to the frontline to supervise the battle.

The fatal thing was that Governor De Gu was a naval officer!

Usually commanding warships he was somewhat of an expert, but in this muddy jungle battlefield, he was suddenly at a loss.

In the sky, the fighter planes of France and Thailand were entangled with each other.

On the sea surface, the navies of both countries also erupted in a naval battle in the Thailand Bay area.

The battle was fought exceptionally fiercely. The French Army overall lost the war and became the defeated troops under the Thai Army.

But in terms of naval warfare, the French Army achieved victory.

The French Navy flagship, the ten-thousand-ton cruiser "Lamotte-Picquet," displayed the residual might of an old strong power, using a single-digit number of ships to repel dozens of Thai vessels.

Under fierce artillery fire, a two-thousand-ton class Haiphong ship of the Thai Navy was directly sent to the seabed, and the flagship "Thonburi" was also battered until thick smoke billowed, forced to retreat.

On land, the French Army ultimately suffered a crushing defeat.

Because the number of tanks was truly too few, plus those twenty old Renault Infantry Tanks broke down every few days, the French defensive line was defeated step by step by the Thai Army.

The Thai Army even deployed the Elephant Corps to attack the French Colonial Army.

The French Colonial Army, composed of local natives, upon seeing the Thai elephants over three meters tall in groups, were all scared and fled in defeat.

Thai Prime Minister Lawan received the battle report in Bangkok, his face showing both joy and anger.

Lawan came from the Ministry of the Army, established a military government in Thailand, and could be said to be extremely ambitious.

The "Pan-Thaiism" he proposed aimed not only at seizing border territories of Laos, Cambodia, and Burma.

Even Yunnan of Xia Guo was a strategic target he was slowly plotting against! (During the actual War of Resistance, 【Japan】 invaded Yunnan twice, intending to seize Dai-inhabited areas, causing thousands of casualties to our army.)

Lawan was furious over the Navy's disastrous defeat: "The Army won, but the Navy lost! Every Navy commander is a vase who drank foreign ink! Remove all incompetent Navy commanders!"

"Order the Army to continue pursuing eastward and reclaim all lost territory!"

"Completely break the French spine, and let them know who the true master of this land is!"

The Thai Army's mad advance made the situation across all of Southeast Asia even more unpredictable.

In short: the entire Indochina Peninsula was a complete mess!

Far away in the Hanoi Japanese Army headquarters, Lieutenant General Nakamura Akito, commander of the Fifth Division, was made numb by a stack of urgent telegrams on the table.

The French Army ran off to fight the Thais, leaving the rear security almost entirely to the Japanese Army.

The Guerrillas under the Zhongnan Yixin Society seemed to pop up from underground, their scale stunningly large.

These Guerrillas were not only appearing and disappearing like gods and ghosts, their equipment had also become exceptionally fine, often using Siden Submachine Guns to strafe Japanese Army patrols and strongholds, and firing several grenade launcher rounds at Japanese Army strongholds.

Harassing the enemy when they stationed, striking when they tired......

General Nakamura looked at the dense red ambush dots on the map, his eyes dimming and his head swelling; if this continued, one Division of his would not be enough!

News of the French Army's defeat and the Thai Army's pursuit arrived just in time, making General Nakamura even angrier: "Eight Gua! The French...... are completely unreliable!"

The frontline was fighting, the rear was in revolt, and the Fifth Division seemed to have fallen into a huge quagmire.

It was November; the rainy season in Southeast Asia had long passed, the climate relatively dry, and the temperature turning cool.

Lv Muzhi inspected the troops at the Kunming Expeditionary Force headquarters, preparing to advance south.

Camouflaged tanks and armored vehicles lined up neatly, motorcycles and bicycles strictly awaiting battle.

Soldiers of the Youth Expeditionary Army wore forest camouflage uniforms, shouldered Semi-Automatic Rifles, eyes like torches, watching Lv Muzhi on the inspection platform.

Sun Liren stood at the front of the column and shouted loudly: "Commander, please give the order!"

Lv Muzhi waved his hand toward the south: "Southbound!!!"

Twenty thousand Youth Expeditionary Army troops advanced in two routes: one from Nanning southward along the Guangxi-Vietnam Railway Line, one from Kunming southward along the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway, invading the Indochina Peninsula.

The news spread, and countries were in an uproar, all offering comments.

Free France: Support Xia Guo in punishing the guilty and avenging the people! General Lu is truly a hero of the age, strike the Vichy French Army!

United Kingdom: General Lu is truly a lighthouse of peace in the East!

United States: Urge all parties to exercise restraint, do not harm United States enterprises and overseas Chinese merchants.

Zhongnan Yixin Society: Sincerely welcome! Unite all forces that can be united!