After hesitating for a moment, Admiral Wavell picked up the wine glass and gently touched it with Yang Zhen and said: "Yang, although I hate drinking and rarely drink, your words clearly moved me. I think we We should not just toast to these two things, we should also add a victory that we all look forward to, and look forward to our joint victory over our enemies." As a soldier, Wavell is obviously not as politician as Hopkins. Admiral, with the simple custom of soldiers, Yang Zhen accepted these words happily and took the lead in drinking the wine in the glass. Seeing Yang Zhen drank the wine in the glass without any hesitation, General Wavell also I can only bite the bullet and drain the wine in the glass in one gulp.
However, Admiral Wavell may be used to drinking fruit wine made from grapes such as brandy, or low-alcohol wine such as beer, and is obviously not suitable for the strong Chinese liquor in the cup. Although There was only half a cup, but even half a cup made him feel very uncomfortable.
Seeing Admiral Wavell looking a little sad, Yang Zhen smiled and quickly served him a bowl of fish soup, letting him suppress the alcohol in his heart before saying: "Admiral Wavell, how do you feel about this wine? Let's talk about it." The strong liquor from Northeast China is no less than Russian vodka."
In response to Yang Zhen's knowing question, he drank a few sips of fish soup to suppress the smell of alcohol from rising up on the spot. The embarrassed Admiral Wavell smiled bitterly and said: "Your Chinese wine is simply too spicy. It's better than our British wine." The Scotch whiskey is much spicier. This is not wine, this is alcohol. I'm sorry, I haven't drunk such a strong drink in many years."
Looking at General Wavell with a wry smile on his face, Yang Zhen said with a smile: "Admiral Wavell, this glass of wine is a daily drink for us Northeasterners. As the saying goes, the quality of wine is like the character of a person. The strong nature of wine shows that our Our character is as strong as this liquor, and we would rather break than bend. The Chinese people's habit is that no one can force us to do things we cannot do ourselves."
After that, Yang Zhen poured half a glass of wine for General Wavell and said: "General Wavell, the strategic cooperation between our two armies is just like when we drink at the wine table, we must respect each other." Only when you drink can you have fun, right? If both parties are playing tricks on each other, forcing the other party who doesn't have that much alcohol capacity to drink bravely."
"Then what we drink this time will only bring displeasure to ourselves. We are drinking to be happy, not to knock each other down or drink too much. If we deviate from this theme, then I think our drink will be There’s no need to keep drinking, right? Although we Chinese like to share wine with others, we can also drink it ourselves when necessary.”
Yang Zhen raised his glass and said: "Admiral Wavell, I hope we can be sincere friends instead of sitting here with the purpose of taking advantage of each other. If you treat us as sincere friends, I hope you drink this glass of wine." , if you don’t want to drink anymore, I won’t force you.”
"One of the great advantages of me is that I never force others, especially at the wine table. I never force others to drink. Again, I don't want our celebration dinner to be unpleasant. , I forgot to say one more thing, I only drink with friends or brothers who I can trust on the battlefield and leave my back to him."
"Today, we are about to face a common enemy. Admiral Wavell, can we safely leave our back to you during the battle, instead of simply just wanting to use each other? I think we We are now comrades in the trenches and should trust each other."
"Admiral Wavell, the fact that we Chinese can make spirits that are no less than vodka shows that we Chinese are not any different from the Soviets in nature. Our weakness over the past hundred years is due to the disunity within the Chinese people." , once the Chinese people are truly united, the fighting power they unleash will not be lost to any other nation."
"I have always firmly believed that once we Chinese people wake up, they will have no less blood in their bones than anyone else. Didn't your Western giant Napoleon once comment that the Chinese are a sleeping lion, and once they wake up? It will make the whole world tremble."
"Now this crisis facing the whole nation has ignited the spirit of defense passed down by our ancestors, but we thought we had lost it. General Wavell, I look forward to becoming friends with you, but it does not mean that we must We have to do things for you that we simply cannot do.”
"What we should do is join hands to defeat our common enemy. We should take a longer-term view. General Wavell, you are our senior in the military community. I believe you are that kind of person." Those who have a long-term strategic vision are not people who care about the gains and losses of one city or one place. As military leaders, we should not chase the meager profits in front of us, but should pay more attention to long-term investment."
After saying these words, Yang Zhen raised his wine glass and looked at Admiral Wavell in front of him. After he finished speaking, everyone at the table invariably focused their attention on Wavell. Hopkins, in particular, was looking at both Yang Zhen and Wavell with ulterior eyes.
Hopkins knew very well the true intention of General Wavell, the commander-in-chief of the British Army in India, to come to the Northeast at this time. Moreover, under the coordination of Harriman, who had just been transferred to the Soviet Union, the United States in the Anti-Japanese War The military observation group also tried to stand up for the British, whether it was trying to force or making demands, hoping that the Anti-Japanese Alliance could follow the British's ideas and cooperate with the British's actions in Southeast Asia.
But as for Hopkins personally, he does not very much agree with the British approach. He does not think that at this time, the Anti-Japanese Alliance has the strength to send troops to Southeast Asia and travel thousands of miles to reinforce the British. Compared with the current situation, With so many troops and the Anti-Japanese Alliance facing the most powerful strategic group of the Japanese army, their current limited strength cannot allow them to stretch their arms too long.
However, the British insisted on not cooperating with Chongqing, and instead wanted this army, which was thousands of kilometers away from Southeast Asia, to send troops to Southeast Asia. Hopkins was also very clear about the British's narrow-minded and selfish approach. Hopkins personally disagrees.
For the Anti-Japanese Alliance, which is not yet strong at the moment, the first step is to strengthen its strength as quickly as possible in a short period of time to ensure that once the Japanese army invades Southeast Asia, they can attract more elite Japanese divisions in the north and cannot go south. Huo Huo Pukins knew very well what consequences would arise once the Kwantung Army, the largest and best-equipped strategic group of the Japanese army, was thrown into the Pacific battlefield by the Japanese army in the near future.
Yang Zhen's words during the negotiations did play a considerable role, but for Hopkins, what really made him determined to change the White House's thinking was that it was very important to consider the entire war against Japan. Part of the resistance requires responsibility.
However, considering the current strategic alliance between the United States and Britain, Hopkins did not raise too strong objections to this matter. After all, compared to the Anti-Japanese Alliance, the British played a more important role in the strategic layout of the United States. In the end, After careful consideration, Hopkins' inner balance still tilted towards the British side.
It's just that Hopkins, at least on the surface, still stood on a neutral position regarding this somewhat dirty idea of the British. He didn't object, and of course he wouldn't agree. In fact, he didn't know that his not taking a stand was already the biggest problem. He took a stand. As the person in charge of the Lend-Lease Act in the United States, his failure to take a stand also put a certain amount of pressure on the British.
For the British who are currently striving for American supplies, although their prime minister has a very close personal relationship with the owner of the White House, they still value Hopkins personally. At least in this matter, they I don't want to get too stiff with Hopkins.
However, after his first conversation with Yang Zhen, Hopkins, who admired Yang Zhen very much as a young Chinese, hoped that this young man could persuade the British to give up their unrealistic ideas. If this As a young man, being able to do this made Hopkins feel that he could avoid falling into a dilemma.
From Pearson's previous report in Moscow, he already knew clearly the response of the anti-union leaders to the British suggestions, and after a few days of understanding, he knew that the young commander in front of him was a fierce horse that could not be tamed at all. , if he insists on not sending troops to Southeast Asia, it will be difficult for others to convince him.
For Hopkins, General Wavell looked at the wine glass raised by Yang Zhen in front of him and understood the meaning of Yang Zhen's words. He knew that it would be difficult for him to persuade him to send troops to Southeast Asia to assist defense. After hesitating for a long time, he had already He clearly knew that the biggest task assigned by the Prime Minister before his trip could no longer be completed, and he could only settle for the next best thing.
The two men touched the glasses gently. This time, it was Admiral Wavell who drank the wine in the glass first. However, this glass of wine was exceptionally bitter and pungent in Admiral Wavell's mouth. The Prime Minister's intention Failure to do so means that the British troops in Southeast Asia can only face the pressure of the Japanese on their own.
The British, who fought on two fronts, knew very well that the Anti-Japanese Alliance refused to send troops to Southeast Asia. So with insufficient troops, the British could only focus their defense on Singapore and India. And if they wanted to defend India, the British could only attack India. The help from Chongqing forced the British to give up some of their coveted interests in some respects.
This made it difficult for General Wavell, who had just taken over as Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in India, to accept it in his heart. However, as a British Army General who came from a military family and worked hard step by step, he also knew very well that if the Japanese Putting its hundreds of thousands of well-equipped troops in the Kwantung Army into the battlefield in Southeast Asia would have disastrous consequences for the British army fighting on two fronts.
Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of Kwantung Army troops that have invested in Southeast Asia, the Japanese Southern Army troops now in Thailand and Vietnam are already difficult to withstand by the British troops in Southeast Asia. Regarding the true combat effectiveness of the British colonial troops in Southeast Asia, General Wavell I still know very well that if we can rely on strong fortifications to defend Singapore, it is already very powerful.
As for the Malayan Peninsula, which is connected to Thailand, faces the sea on both sides, and has a narrow terrain, the British can only provide diversionary resistance, because the Japanese have a powerful naval fleet in East Asia, ranking third in the world. Landing anywhere on the Malayan Peninsula will pose a fatal threat to the Malayan defenders.
It is for this reason that General Wavell insisted on transferring a Canadian brigade originally transferred to Hong Kong to Singapore to strengthen the defense strength of Gibraltar in the East, instead of agreeing with the commander-in-chief of the British forces in Southeast Asia who was about to transfer, according to the Prime Minister requested that the Canadian brigade be transferred to Hong Kong,