On the fifth day after the German mission left Qingdao and returned to Germany, the consuls of Britain and France in Qingdao jointly sent a diplomatic letter to the East China **, proposing that they hope to engage in bilateral trade negotiations with the East China **, eliminating trade barriers and obstacles between each other, and expanding the scale and economic exchanges between East China politics and Britain and France.

At the same time, the two countries also stated that in view of the great disasters brought to the Far East and caused significant losses to the relevant countries in the Far East, in order not to repeat the same mistakes, Britain and France made suggestions, hoping to hold an international conference aimed at negotiating and determining the distribution of interests in the Far East, norms of conduct among countries, and to ensure peace and stability in the Far East. It is planned to invite relevant countries in the Far East to participate. I specifically asked whether East China ** is interested in participating in such an international conference.

After receiving the diplomatic letters from both countries, the Foreign Affairs Committee immediately reported them to the Executive Yuan. After reading them, Wang Yunpeng smiled and said, "What does Britain, France mean to send us this diplomatic letter?"

Xiao Jianjun said: "What else can it mean? Isn't it just that I can't beat it, so I negotiated, make friends, and do business well in the future. This is also a normal operation of imperialism."

Xu Jichao said: "It is understandable to ask for bilateral trade negotiations, but what is going on in convening an international conference? What kind of international conference is held?"

Xia Bohai smiled and said, "Because we can't be suppressed by force alone, and Britain and France are afraid that our unlimited expansion in the Far East will affect their interests in the Far East, so they hope to hold an international conference and formulate international rules to limit our behavior."

Wang Yunpeng nodded and said, "That should be almost the same, so what should we do? Should we attend this international conference?"

Xia Bohai smiled and said, "Of course we should participate. Although the purpose of Britain and France is to formulate international rules to limit us, we can also take advantage of the opportunity to participate in such international conferences to formulate international rules that are beneficial to us. War is a continuation of politics. Competition between countries is not entirely resolved by war, but more by formulating rules. Therefore, we must learn these ways of playing in the future."

Xu Jichao said: "But it is not easy to hold an international conference these days. The preparation time will take at least 1 or 2 years, or even longer to be able to complete it."

Xia Bohai said: "That's what Britain and France should worry about, so we'll wait, and we can talk about trade first, which is also beneficial to us."

Wang Yunpeng also nodded and said, "That's right, if we sign a trade agreement with Britain and France, it will be of great help to our economic development and will be more useful than a trade agreement with Germany."

Xia Bohai also said: "Let's leave this matter to the Commercial Committee, but thank you for your hard work, Director Wang is watching it a little bit."

Wang Yunpeng said: "This is nothing, it's my job."

At this time, Xiao Jianjun said: "Now that Germany's visit has ended, so our military operation to attack Chifeng should also be carried out. This military operation should have been carried out two months ago, and the plan has been completed, just waiting for approval by the Military Commission."

Xia Bohai nodded and said, "I think it's OK. If you finish this battle earlier, the matter in the Northeast can come to an end, so that Lao Qin can come back soon. To be honest, we will face a complex diplomatic situation in the future, which requires Lao Qin's wisdom."

Xiao Jianjun said: "Okay, I will issue an order to the northeast immediately."

The military operation to attack Chifeng was the follow-up of the Jinzhou War. On the one hand, Chifeng was used as a barrier for Jinzhou to block the invasion of the Mongolian separatist forces in the Jinzhou area; on the other hand, it was also an important step for East China to extend its forces into the Mongolian region, and it was also the last war for East China in the Northeast. Unless it was the People's Army occupied Chifeng, the Mongolian separatist forces were unwilling to fail and continued to be enemies with East China.

At this time, Wang Yunpeng said: "There is another thing. It is already late May, and some areas of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River have experienced floods. It seems that the floods this year are even bigger than last year. We have done a lot of preparations for this flood, and we can start to carry out disaster relief now."

Xia Bohai nodded again and said, "Well, this matter is very important. According to the information we have, this flood was very famous in the old time and space. It actually lasted for 5 years. The affected areas included the entire middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Among them, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces were the most severely affected, with the total number of people suffering from disasters reaching about 50 million. In short, it was a large-scale natural disaster in modern Chinese history. Of course, this was related to the failure of the Qing court to rescue disasters. Natural disasters are often associated with man-made disasters. Moreover, this disaster relief operation was a social welfare activity carried out after we won the Far East War. It was also a great opportunity to expand our reputation. In the past, we mainly safeguarded national interests in wars, and this time we wanted to let the people know that we can also play a major role in daily social life. I think after this disaster relief, no one will doubt our ability to replace the Qing court."

Wang Yunpeng said: "The first thing to do for this disaster relief is to establish a unified command center. I think the command center is the best in Shanghai, and Li Songchen will serve as the commander-in-chief of this disaster relief."

Xu Jichao also nodded and said, "I think it's OK. Shanghai's geographical location is indeed the most suitable material transportation and preparation for disaster relief. It is the most suitable location for the disaster relief command. Moreover, Mayor Li Songchen's ability has shown in recent years is enough to serve as the commander-in-chief of disaster relief. However, this disaster relief mainly depends on the power of Qingdao. Most of the materials may still need to be supplied by Qingdao. In addition, disaster relief cannot be separated from the participation of the army, so the coordination work must be done well."

Xia Bohaidao: "A coordination group is established in Qingdao to be responsible for the transportation and preparation of disaster relief materials. Lao Xu, you, will be the leader of this group. If you have any questions, it is directly raised at the Executive Yuan meeting. It is best to send a dedicated person to the military."

Xiao Jianjun said: "Most of the Army is still in the Northeast, and the reorganization plan of the Army has not been determined yet. I think the Navy and Marine Corps will be responsible for this disaster relief work. After all, ships are required to rescue floods. The Navy and Marine Corps have their own advantages in this regard. I think it is better to let Luo Yue serve as the deputy commander-in-chief of the disaster relief work and be responsible for this disaster relief work with Li Songchen, so that it can also coordinate the military's work."

Xia Bohai said: "Yes, that's what it means to decide."

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The battle to attack Chifeng was still under the responsibility of the Jinzhou Command, because this was part of the Jinzhou War. The bandit army attacking Jinzhou was stationed in Chifeng. Therefore, only by capturing Chifeng could it be considered that the bandit army attacking Jinzhou was completely defeated.

In addition, Chifeng is located in Zhaowuda League, Inner Mongolia and is adjacent to Zhuosotu League. Therefore, by capturing Chifeng, the People's Army can successfully invade the Mongolian region and expand its power to Mongolia.

Of course, there is basically no military difficulty in this battle, because the bandit army and the Mongolian army have suffered heavy damage in the Jinzhou War, the bandit army has basically been wiped out, and the Mongolian army has also suffered heavy losses. Of course, even if the strength of the Mongolian army has not been damaged, it is also in the grassland that is conducive to cavalry combat, it cannot be an opponent of the People's Army. Bi Jing has now entered the relatively mature weapon era, and machine guns are the most effective weapon to deal with cavalry.

The only thing to be wary of is the invasion and attack tactics of the Mongolian cavalry. It is estimated that this is the best tactic that the Mongolian cavalry can adopt. If the commander of the Mongolian cavalry, Tao Ketaohu, and Bai Yin Dalai were not stupid, it is not difficult to deal with such tactics. It is enough to strengthen the alert on the way to march. The Bijing People's Army also has cavalry and warrior chariots, and they are not afraid of head-on battle with the Mongolian cavalry.

The real difficulty is that after the war, Chifeng was about 240 kilometers away from Jinzhou and about 160 kilometers away from Chaoyang County, the starting point of the attack. Such a distance will cause great difficulties in the transportation of materials after the war, because the troops stationed in Chifeng need to transport supplies from Jinzhou, but the army cannot protect every material transportation. Therefore, the Mongolian cavalry did not have to engage in head-on battles with the People's Army, and only needed to attack the materials transported to Chifeng after the People's Army captured Chifeng.

After consulting with others, Ouyang Longxing, the commander of the Jinzhou Command, decided to adopt the most primitive method, which was to establish a stronghold along the way from Chaoyang to Chifeng to ensure the transportation of materials.

The distance between the strongholds is 20-30 kilometers. Each stronghold is not large in size. It is just a fortress-like building with a side length of 40-50 meters. The guard wall is made of sand bags and fenced wood. It is about 3 meters high and about 1.5 meters thick. A beacon tower is built. The garrisoned forces of each stronghold are an army company and a cavalry platoon, plus two 60 mortar teams and two general machine gun teams, with a total force of 180-200 people.

Building such a stronghold does not require much resource consumption. It can be built in only about 10 days when manpower and materials are sufficient. Although the defense of such a stronghold is not strong, it is still sufficient to defend against troops like the Mongolian cavalry, because the firepower of the Mongolian cavalry is not strong and the offensive power is insufficient. As long as the ammunition is sufficient, the troops stationed at the stronghold can withstand 1,000, and even more attacks by the Mongolian cavalry.
Chapter completed!