At three o'clock in the afternoon, An Yi came to the reception hall of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Central Government as scheduled and met with the British Ambassador to Beijing, Ji Degan.
Jiadegan is well-proportioned, personable and has a typical British gentleman style. When he saw An Yi, Jiadegan had a reserved smile on his face. After sitting down humbly, he took a document from his assistant and handed it to An Yi.
.
An Yi casually looked at the "Memo" printed in both Chinese and English on the cover, and handed it to the new confidential secretary Zhao Bohan.
Jiadegan said very politely that the British side was not satisfied with the "Investigation Report on the Furnace Room Incident" made by An Yi, and that he urgently needed a more convincing report from the Nanjing central government. An Yi felt that there was no need to explain anything, so he turned politely
Asked directly what the three additional divisions of the Burmese army and one British division on the Burmese side of the China-Myanmar border in southern Yunnan mean? Jiadegan was very surprised and said that he would call the British Foreign Office immediately after the meeting to ask for details, but in
An Yi's question cannot be answered until any confirmation is obtained.
The two did not talk to each other, and only held a regular meeting for eight minutes before shaking hands and saying goodbye.
An Yi saw Jiade Gan off and, accompanied by Liu Shoujiang, had a brief conversation with Wang Jingwei in his office.
As the deputy chief of staff, An Yi has the responsibility to report to Wang Jingwei, the chairman of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang and the executive director of the KMT, what happened on the China-Myanmar border. This will help the diplomatic and propaganda departments carry out their work and take the initiative in public opinion, so they will not hide anything from China and the UK.
The two sides were in a tense confrontation in southern Yunnan and western Yunnan, with the possibility of war breaking out. Wang Jingwei was notified of the British Air Force's frequent incursions into the airspace of southern and western Yunnan in the past few days.
Wang Jingwei's reaction was far beyond An Yi's imagination. The handsome Wang Jingwei looked very surprised and anxious. He kept rubbing his two well-maintained hands with unusually round and delicate skin. He stood up and walked back and forth for a few steps before asking.
Has Chairman Chiang been informed of the details?
An Yi said that the Yunnan side would summarize the daily movements of the Chinese and British troops on both sides of the border into brief information and send it to Chairman Chiang by telex. Chairman Chiang should be aware of the latest situation of the Chinese and British troops, but so far, he
No principles or suggestions for action have been given.
Wang Jingwei felt relieved after hearing this, returned to his seat, sat down, pondered for a moment, and solemnly told An Yi several principles for handling Sino-British relations at the current period. The content was similar to the attitude held by Chiang Kai-shek during this period, that is, try to maintain restraint.
, we must not take the lead in provoking trouble, and while making adequate preparations for military defense, we should mainly rely on diplomatic means to resolve crises.
An Yi saw that Wang Jingwei was full of rhetoric and had no interest in staying any longer. He excused himself as the dean was busy with work and said goodbye politely with a few words of greeting.
Wang Jingwei was very enthusiastic and kindly sent An Yi to the door. As he walked, he said to An Yi: I am very grateful to Mr. Ou Yaoting, Li Yongfu and other patriotic overseas Chinese in Nanyang. His wife Chen Bijun just returned from Nanyang with 300 donated by the patriotic overseas Chinese.
Tens of thousands of donations were raised for disaster relief, and he returned in triumph.
An Yi nodded tacitly. He understood what Wang Jingwei really meant when he mentioned this matter, which was that from now on, the behind-the-scenes transactions between An Yi and Wang Jingwei could be completed through the so-called "patriotic overseas Chinese" in Nanyang.
After saying goodbye politely, An Yi respectfully asked Wang Jingwei to stay, and then pointed to the concierge with a smile, where there were still more than a dozen people waiting to be received by Wang Jingwei.
Wang Jingwei made a little joke very gracefully, shook hands with An Yi gently, and turned back to the office.
An Yi walked to the stairs and saw Zhan Zhi striding up the stairs to meet him. Feeling that something serious might have happened, he immediately stopped and stood there waiting.
Zhan hurriedly came to An Yi, quickly took out the telegram and presented it, took a breath for a moment, and reported in a low voice: "At 3:30, two divisions of the Burmese Army and the Kachin Division suddenly moved toward Tongbi Pass and Nongdao in western Yunnan.
Hewan Town launched a large-scale attack, and the ground artillery fire was quite fierce. More than twenty British fighter planes were put into combat. Huanqi had to order his two local garrison brigades to withdraw from Ruili and retreat to Zhefang, Longchuan and Yingjiang lines.
The coordination team dispatched by the Military Commission was at a loss, but strictly prohibited our fighter planes from Baoshan Airport from taking off to fight."
An Yi's face changed suddenly. After reading the message from Zhan Huanqi, he gritted his teeth and said, "It's true! The despicable British... ordered Xia Jian to make all preparations to meet the enemy! I will go to see Dean Wang right now and tell him
He will inform you of the latest situation and we will go to the staff headquarters together when he returns."
"yes!"
An Yi turned around and walked towards Wang Jingwei's office. Several secretaries at the door and outside, as well as a dozen celebrities from all walks of life, saw An Yi leaving and returning. They all stood up and greeted him respectfully.
An Yi nodded to everyone, without saying a word, directly opened the door of Wang Jingwei's office and interrupted the conversation between Wang Jingwei and the two ministers:
"I'm sorry, Mr. Ministers, for a little delay... President Wang, the British and Burmese troops quietly assembled three divisions and more than 20 fighter planes twenty-five minutes ago, that is, at 3:30 this afternoon.
, launched a violent surprise attack on the Nongdao and Wanding lines in western Yunnan. The border troops in western Yunnan were caught off guard and were forced to withdraw from Ruili and retreat to the Longchuan and Yingjiang lines. An Yite came to report that the frontline military situation was urgent. This
Just go back!"
The two ministers stood up in fright, their faces pale. Wang Jingwei stared blankly at the door where there was no one there, and suddenly loudly ordered to the secretary Chen Chunpu on the side:
"Quick! Get me through Nanchang Jie Gong's office phone..."
An hour later, several channels of the Southern Sichuan Radio Station interrupted all normal broadcasts and announced earth-shattering news to all walks of life across the country:
Three divisions of the British-Burmese coalition forces and more than 20 fighter planes launched a brutal and despicable surprise attack on the three border areas in western Yunnan. They have occupied Ruili and Wanding counties in Yunnan Province, and are currently exchanging fire with the security forces in western Yunnan.
The famous broadcaster Song Minxi used an extremely indignant voice to expose the despicable act of British imperialism in waging an undeclared war, and reported the situation of four heavy divisions of the British and Burmese troops oppressing the front line in southern Yunnan. He gave a detailed report to the soldiers and civilians across the country, and finally sadly
The central government and the Central Military Commission are required to respond quickly, and call on the military and civilians across the country to fully support the just resistance of the Yunnan Army soldiers and drive the invaders from the sacred land.
The whole of China was boiling. People felt disbelief at first, and then angrily took to the streets and held grand protest marches and rallies. From Pingjin to the north, to Guangzhou to the south, to Shanghai in the east, to Chengdu, Xi'an and other places in the west, millions of people
In just two hours, people from all walks of life spontaneously took to the streets and launched a massive protest march. British embassies and consulates in various places were once again surrounded by angry people. The loud and angry condemnation was mixed with bricks.
Stones flooded the consulates.
Seeing that the situation had escalated rapidly, Chiang Kai-shek quickly issued an emergency order in Nanchang. Troops and police from various provinces and cities rushed to the British consulates in China to take over the security work. At the same time, he ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to urgently meet with the British Ambassador in Beijing to lodge a strong protest.
Ask the other party for a clear explanation.
An Yi had just rushed back to the staff headquarters, and before he had time to conduct a war simulation on the map, he was urgently summoned to Nanchang by Chiang Kai-shek. When he got off the plane, it was already dark. Ge Jingen and Deng Wenyi, who came to pick him up, repeatedly warned An Yi that he must maintain his attitude.
Be calm and must not contradict Chiang Kai-shek at this time, let alone issue uncontrollable military counterattack orders without authorization.
An Yi smiled faintly and looked very calm, so calm that Ge Jing'en and Deng Wenyi were deeply worried. Seeing that An Yi didn't answer or make any statement, the two looked at each other worriedly and fell silent.
The journey of several kilometers was quickly completed. Chiang Kai-shek was waiting for An Yi's arrival in the camp office. Seeing that there was no anger or excitement on An Yi's face as he had imagined, he couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He waved to An Yi to sit down and asked immediately.
: "How are you going to deal with it?"
An Yi actually smiled: "Principal, you should ask the military and political officials of Yunnan Province. General Zhu Peide, General Zhan Huanqi and General Lu Han are all good candidates. Now that the British and Burmese troops are attacking the front line in western Yunnan, what are they doing?
How can you overstep your authority and make rash judgments?"
Chiang Kai-shek spoke loudly: "General Yizhi and I exchanged several telegrams repeatedly. The British and Burmese troops attacked fiercely. Longchuan was also lost half an hour ago. This Zhan Huanqi, I thought he was good before... How can I be prepared at all?"
Don’t do it either?”
"Principal, you can't blame Zhan Huanqi. An air force squadron of the students and an air force brigade of the Yunnan Army are both at Baoshan Airport and Dehong Airport. If it hadn't been forcibly blocked by the coordination group sent by the Central Military Commission, I believe the British and Burmese troops would not have been able to leave by relying on ground advancement alone.
So fast. Another thing is that the Yunnan Army has not fought for many years. The only two divisions of the 38th Army with actual combat experience are stationed in the east and northeast of Yunnan. The Third Division is in Dali, and one of the Hunan Army that supported Yunnan last year.
The mountain brigade and an assault brigade of the Guizhou Army are still stationed in Dehong. They will not be able to pull up for a while. Zhan Huanqi should be able to stabilize his position when he recovers. Why do you think there are two well-equipped troops in western Yunnan?
The security division, plus the two brigades of the Hunan Army and the Guizhou Army that have been staying in western Yunnan as reinforcements, as well as several garrison regiments in Baoshan, Shidian, Tengchong and other places, are more than enough to protect themselves." An Yi replied calmly.
Chiang Kai-shek was quite surprised: "It's rare that you have such confidence in Zhan Huanqi?"
"The principal should know that Zhan Huanqi has been one of the students' main assistants since the beginning of the Northern Expedition. During the pacification of the Guangxi rebellion and the Central Plains War, although Zhan Huanqi did not directly lead his troops to participate in the war, he did a lot of combat planning and logistical support work behind the scenes.
. He was strict in running the army and trained well. He almost copied everything from the model camp to his Yunnan security forces. Although his security forces had not experienced any war in the past few years, the troops did not slack off in their arduous training and held military training every year.
A highly targeted exercise. The weapons and equipment of the three divisions under his command have been updated since last year. Therefore, the three security divisions under his command are still combat effective. Almost all those defeated today were local security groups. His main force did not suffer anything.
Big losses, the best is yet to come." An Yi answered in detail.
Chiang Kai-shek nodded thoughtfully: "You mean... Zhan Huanqi deliberately showed weakness to the enemy?"
An Yi smiled: "The principal's eyes are as bright as a torch!"
"Don't do this to me! Come and tell me." The suspicion was confirmed, and Chiang Kai-shek's eyes lit up.
An Yi immediately told the truth about the combat proposals he had instigated and which were approved by Zhu Peide, Zhan Huanqi and Lu Han:
"Principal, last week it was made clear that when the British 17th Division in India arrived in Yangon and quickly moved north, the students had speculated on the direction of the British army's attack. To put it more arrogantly, the students never believed that the British and Burmese troops dared to attack in southern Yunnan.
Provocative, because everyone in the domestic and foreign military circles knows that the 26th Army guarding southern Yunnan only has a new designation, but the troops are the battle-hardened divisions led by Yang Bin, Xia Jian and Gu Changfeng. They fought in the Songhu War and the North China War.
, the British will not fail to see the performance of this unit, and they also know that this unit is ahead of the current domestic armies with sophisticated equipment, and the two divisions of the 26th Army have more than 25,000 people.
Not counting the security forces of the six reinforced regiments in the Southern Yunnan Region, there is also the Fourth Air Force Regiment at Simao Airport that has been established for nearly half a year, with thirty-eight new fighter jets. It is impossible for the British to not understand these situations, and Southern Yunnan is complex.
With the mountainous terrain and crisscrossing rivers and streams, the British did not dare to attack us in this direction. The only remaining direction was western Yunnan.