When Wavell and Ouyang Yun held talks in Bangkok, it coincided with the fierce battle between the British and German navies in the North Atlantic. The eyes of the whole UK were focused here, so after Churchill and Eden gave instructions to Wavell, they I forgot about it, but it was a coincidence that not long ago, the British navy sank the German battleship Bismarck in the ocean near France, killing more than 2,600 German naval officers and soldiers. The British cabinet was preparing to have a strong royal army. The navy felt lucky, so after receiving Wavell's telegram, they were immediately moved by his proposal to sacrifice the French Far East Fleet in exchange for Chinese friendship and change the passive situation of the British army in the Far East.
Ever since the French government prepared to surrender to Nazi Germany, the British regarded the French Navy, ranked fourth in the world, as the Sword of Damocles hanging above their heads. Although the French Navy now exists in name only, it is because France has surrendered to Germany. , so its large-scale Far East Fleet is still a big threat to the British,
"I think Wavell's proposal is feasible. The commander of the Far East Fleet, Jean Degoux, has always been wary of us. According to the current development trend of the situation, it cannot be ruled out that he will take refuge with the Germans or even the Japanese. My opinion and Like Commander Wavell, rather than letting it become a weapon used by the enemy against us, it is better to hand it over to the Chinese. The Japanese already control the Strait of Malacca, and the Chinese cannot play its role even if they get the Far East Fleet. Of course, they If they insist on using this to challenge the powerful Japanese navy, we have no objection, if they think that ocean-going ships are as easy to maneuver as sampans in the Yangtze River." At the cabinet meeting the next day, Eden first expressed his views on Wavell's proposal. , he talked eloquently, and his last sentence that ridiculed the abilities of the sailors in the Xuebing Army aroused everyone's ridicule,
The British are quite arrogant about the combat power of the Royal Navy. As early as a year ago, their agents sent back information about the military academy building an aircraft carrier in the United States, but it did not attract even the slightest attention from the British top brass.
Churchill then expressed his opinion: "I support the opinion of the Foreign Secretary." Then he used the topic to say: "In just one month, Britain lost Malaysia, Singapore and southern Myanmar in the Far East. Facts tell us that we alone can It is no longer possible to stop the Japanese army from advancing. Does anyone know about the war that took place in Thailand last month? The 'retaliatory action' launched by the Xuebing Army was overwhelming. In just one week, the Japanese were driven out of Thailand and forced the Thai government to switch sides. Do you think it's ironic? But this is the fact. Gentlemen, it is imperative to seek help from the Xuebing Army in the Far East. Therefore, no matter how rude the Chinese are, we can only make concessions at this time. Of course, we cannot It was a waste to become a villain. Commander Wavell's telegram mentioned that General Ouyang Yun, the Commander-in-Chief of the Cadet Army, once said privately that he was sure to rescue the British soldiers from the Singapore Prisoner of War Camp. I think this is the best condition. Yes, what do you think?"
The British cabinet at this time was equivalent to Churchill's one-word hall. No one dared to have an opinion after his words were released, so Wavell received a reply from Churchill that night.
With Churchill's support, it was supposed that the next step would be easy, but the fact is the opposite.
The first day of the meeting broke up unhappily, but the second day was a very pleasant one. On the third day, because Wavell had to wait for Churchill's reply, he delayed it by one day at his request. On the fourth day, the atmosphere at the beginning of the meeting was still sluggish. However, when we started talking about the conditions seriously, differences immediately arose.
In Wavell's words: "You Chinese are too greedy."
Of course, Ouyang Yun disagreed with this. He said directly: "Yes, I want the French Far East Fleet, but you think that a Far East Fleet alone can offset the compensation you should pay for killing tens of thousands of overseas Chinese? And exchange the lives of more than 30,000 soldiers? Oh, I forgot, it seems that you also want to take back the "Lanluga Prisoner of War Death Squadron" who have received formal training. Hey, Your Excellency, Commander, if you want to say that you are greedy, you British people are more talented. It fits the word."
Wavell's face turned red. He stood up and slapped the table and shouted: "Commander-in-Chief Ouyang, what you mean is that there is no room for maneuver."
Ouyang Yun looked at him calmly and said coldly: "The Far East Fleet only compensates. If you want to save people, you must pay a new price. There is no free lunch in the world. This sentence should be familiar to you."
"Then we don't need to talk." Wavell dropped these words, rolled up his sleeves and was about to leave.
Seeing this, Clary quickly grabbed him, and then said to Ouyang Yun: "Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, businessmen have room for bargaining when doing business. Are you too absolute?"
On the British side, Craly was Wavell's deputy; on the student army side, Ouyang Yun's deputy was Chu Tiange. Craly stepped forward to smooth things over, and Chu Tiange also stepped forward. He said to Craly: "Major General Crary, what you said makes sense, but as you just saw, it was Commander Wavell who spoke first without any reservations." Then he advised Ouyang Yun: "Brother, after all, we have a common enemy. Let’s leave some room for each other.”
Ouyang Yun snorted, and over there, Wavell was also pulled back to his seat by Clary.
Because of this incident, the fourth day of talks broke up again. That night, at Craley's suggestion, Wavell suppressed his impatience and called London again for advice. He gave London a time to call. It was eleven o'clock at midnight Bangkok time, so Churchill saw the telegram that night. Based on Craley's proposal, Wavell specifically mentioned in the telegram that the Xue Bing Army was determined to fight because the bottom line of our negotiation had been captured by the Xue Bing Army. The overseas Chinese persisted in their demands for compensation and asked whether they would give up rescuing the captured soldiers in Singapore. At the end of the telegram, also based on Craley's proposal, he attached a seemingly insignificant additional message, saying that the two sides had reached a preliminary intention two days ago. , so it attracted journalists from China, the UK, France and Thailand to come for interviews and reports. The terms of the relevant talks have been disclosed and so on.
It was this insignificant additional news that caused Churchill to be extremely dissatisfied. He sent someone to find Eden overnight, handed him the telegram, and cursed with a cigar in his mouth: "Wavell is as stupid as a pig, no, worse than A pig is still stupid. Is he just a junior high school student? He didn’t even know how to reserve a hand in the negotiation. I really don’t know how he became a general. It’s fine now. Once the relevant terms are disclosed, for the sake of people’s morale , Singapore’s captured soldiers can be saved whether they are saved or not.”
After reading the telegram, Aiden frowned and said, "But the problem is that we don't know what the Xue Bing Army wants. If the conditions they propose are simply impossible for us to meet."
Churchill paced back and forth anxiously for a while, took out the cigar from his mouth with his right hand and said: "We can only talk first, and then we will make a move depending on the conditions. Wavell, this bastard, I really want to shoot him."