At Xingzhou Pier, more than 30,000 Chinese have successfully boarded the ship, which made Tan Kah Kee and others feel a little relaxed and no longer so nervous. Fei Cuilin had already joined them, and those Chinese who had been temporarily incorporated into the volunteer army were asked to surrender. Guns were drawn out in preparation for boarding the ship, and the defense of the dock was completely left to the Xinghua Volunteer Army and Jewish cadets.
Lin Jiangshi, Hu Tiejun and Cui Lin originally asked Tan Kah Kee to get on the boat first, but the latter refused. He said in an unquestionable tone: "I'm with you!" Everyone stood together, drinking from a kettle. Dripping water to moisten his throat, Chen Zilin suddenly came to report that General Bai Sihua, the commander-in-chief of the British forces in the Straits Settlements, wanted to see him and asked to see President Chen by name.
"It's too hard, get ready for something soft!" Cui Lin sneered, advising Tan Kah Kee: "Ignore him!"
However, Tan Kah Kee prepared to meet and asked if Thomas, Johnny and another division commander should be handed over to Bai Sihua.
Lin Jiangshi muttered: "I'm afraid they may not be willing to go back."
Cui Lin smiled: "I think so. President Chen, since you insist on seeing Bai Sihua, then listen to his opinion. If he just comes to ask for people, then just give them back. Let's go, I will accompany you. .”
Bai Sihua and a dozen of his men saw Tan Kah Kee under the hateful eyes of the volunteers. The British are really thick-skinned. They were stared at by thousands of eyes along the way, but they could still keep their expressions unchanged and behave like a gentleman. .What makes Cui Lin incredible is that when he asked Tan Kah Kee to ask the Chinese to give up a large ship, he actually used an ordering tone.
"*His head was kicked by a donkey?" Cui Lin was furious on the spot, walked two steps forward to Bai Sihua, stared at him coldly, and said in English: "Commander Bai, are all British people so shameless?"
Bai Sihua was furious and yelled: "Who are you? I'm talking to Chairman Chen, what's the matter with you? Commander Bai? That's ridiculous! If you don't know English, don't talk nonsense!"
Cui Lin's English is indeed not very good, otherwise he wouldn't have made the "Commander Bai" joke. Bai Sihua teased him about his poor English, which made him even more angry. He yelled: "Who do you care about me? I want to escape for my life." , then please beg me respectfully, Yang, if you need help, please return this virtue!"
"you--"
"What are you? You've pissed me off. I'm going to shoot you right now! What? You still dare to do it?" Cui Lin aggressively stared at Bai Sihua's men who wanted to carry guns, with a look of contempt on his face.
Bai Sihua's face turned livid with anger. He licked his lips and said to Tan Kah Kee: "President Chen, there is an old saying in your country that rabbits bite when they are anxious. Do you really want to push us to a dead end?"
When Cui Lin heard this, he became even angrier. He raised his eyebrows and was about to refute. Chen Kah Kee was worried that he would really kill Bai Sihua and cause the trouble to get out of hand. He took his arm and said: "Captain Cui, let me have a talk with him. The overall situation is over. It is determined, and it is not advisable to grow branches out of the knot.”
Cui Lin glared at Bai Sihua, with such cold eyes that the latter did not dare to look at him. Seeing that Bai Sihua was avoiding his gaze, he snorted coldly and took a few steps back to stand next to Tan Kah Kee. He said in his heart: What a fool, you have killed so many overseas Chinese. We can't just let this matter go, we have to find a way——
Tan Kah Kee has decided to compromise. First, the Xuebing Army has prepared enough boats for this big rescue, and there is really no problem in freeing up one; secondly, the big rescue operation is now half complete. If it fails because of this, then It's not a good deal. He said to Bai Sihua: "General, when things have come to this point, I don't need to hide anything from you. It is indeed difficult to free a ship, but there is no problem in taking hundreds of people with it. However, This requires the consent of Consul General Mitterrand and Colonel Grant. Our ability to prevent this evacuation depends on the help of the U.S. government. We are only civilians, and it doesn't matter even if we are discovered by the Japanese, but you are soldiers ——General, you should understand the difference between the two."
Of course Bai Sihua understands the difference. The Chinese are only civilians in name. The US government helps civilians escape from war zones. Even if the Japanese army notices it, there is no excuse to cause trouble. But they are different. As soldiers, if they are discovered by the Japanese army, then the Japanese army will
They can forcibly board a ship, and even use this as an excuse to detain an American evacuation ship. They do hope that the United States and Japan will go to war, but the question is, are the Americans willing? "I have already asked Colonel Grant, and he asked me to come to you.
"President Chen, I know you are in a difficult situation. Please consider that the British Empire has taken care of you for so many years, please help me," Bai Sihua said, finally lowering his arrogant head.
Cui Lin sneered: "Isn't it enough to do this earlier? Why are you pretending to be a big braid?" He thought to himself: "If there are only a few hundred people, hehe, we can find an opportunity to win! Well, we can take them to Guangzhou.
Let’s have a public trial! Not bad!”
Tan Kah Kee quietly reached out and tugged on his trouser legs, and said thoughtfully: "This matter still needs the permission of Consul General Thomas and Colonel Grant. You can wait here for a while, and I will ask them."
Bai Sihua looked at the Chinese team who were boarding the ship and found that there were at least tens of thousands of people who had not completed boarding. He nodded and said: "Okay, please!"
Cui Lin accompanied Tan Kah Kee to the pier. After leaving a certain distance away from Bai Sihua and others, he said to Tan Kah Kee: "President Chen, agree to them, but the number must be controlled. What a fool, you killed so many of us.
, we must seek an explanation. The blood of our countrymen cannot be shed in vain. No matter who he is, as long as he gets on our ship, whether to kill or behead him, it is not up to them!"
Tan Kah Kee turned to look at him, with a cunning light in his eyes, and said softly: "Captain Cui, this time we can think of working together."
Cui Lin was overjoyed and said: "President Chen, do you think so too?"
Tan Kah Kee nodded and said: "Anyone who offends our great Han Dynasty will be punished no matter how far away! I have not forgotten this sentence!"
"Our commander-in-chief also said this."
"Is it Commander-in-Chief Ouyang Yun?"
"yes!"
"I have admired Commander-in-Chief Ouyang Yun for a long time, and I have long wanted to go to Guangzhou to pay him a visit. Well, thanks to your Xuebingjun this time, otherwise, the consequences would be disastrous."
As soon as Tan Kah Kee, Cui Lin and others returned to the dock, they were surrounded by Lin Jiangshi, Zhang Liangfeng and others. Tan Kah Kee asked Cui Lin to explain to them, and he went to find Thomas and Grant. About twenty minutes later, only the Chinese were left.
More than 10,000 people had not boarded the ship, and Bai Sihua was already impatient. Accompanied by Cui Lin, he returned to the place where they had just met and gave a positive answer - he could take up to 300 British officers and soldiers with him.
But there was a prerequisite: they had to hand over their weapons and dress up as American expatriates. Finally, Tan Kah Kee said to Bai Sihua: "General, have you offended Consul General Thomas, good Colonel Grant? They have quite criticized you.
?!"
Bai Sihua was slightly embarrassed. He thought about it seriously and said, "Three hundred people are just three hundred people, but since we are pretending to be American expatriates, please let us stay with the Americans. This is our only request!"
Tan Kah Kee smiled slightly when he heard this and said: "No problem."
Cui Linze curled his lips slightly and said in his heart: "This Bai Sihua is not stupid. He knew that we might plot against them, but he would never have thought that the US Marines who protected them were actually our people. Hehe, you are a despicable British guy.
, you just wait to go to Guangzhou for public trial!"