On Friday, July 2, 1937, on the east side of the international date change line, the ship time was 10:13.

"Call khaqq! Call Emilia Elhart! Call Khaqq! Call Emilia Elhart..." On the Itaska, the radio operator kept calling a call, that was Emilia who departed from Lai City yesterday morning.

Since Emilia sent the last signal at 8:43, the radio operator Sergeant Bellaz never heard any sound in the radio within an hour and a half, and the second-level radio operator Frank kept calling Emilia at three frequencies: 500 kHz, 3105 kHz, and 7500 kHz, but there was no response. What's more, the three high-frequency radio direction finders prepared for this navigation were all used up overnight, and no one could accurately determine where the Electrode twin-engine aircraft was flying by the flight queen. At 7:42, Emilia had reported that the plane had only 1.5 hours of fuel left and no land landing.

"Gentlemen, I want to know how bad it is?" In the captain's room of the Itasca, Lieutenant Colonel Thompson urgently met with Major Hekenner and Executive Major Baker.

"Sir, she should be somewhere nearby, within two hundred miles." CEO Baker said. Everyone was busy looking for Emilia, and Baker had time to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

"Sir, we should do a search right away and inform Hawaii," Major Kenner suggested. "Miss Emilia reported for the last time that she was on the 157-337-degree position line, and we were southeast, so she was likely in the northwest."

"But the weather forecast says that the northwest direction is filled with cumulus clouds." Put down the pen in his hand, Captain Thompson thought deeply. Emilia is a big shot in the United States, and is also the darling of the fashion and public opinion circles, and the leader of the feminist movement. It is really a very unlucky thing to lose her.

"Sir, we can ask Hawaii to send a seaplane. There is fuel for Miss Emilia on the island of Howland." Baker suggested. "We must start the search immediately. Even if... even if she landed in the Japanese."

The Japanese were the Marshall Islands, about six or seven hundred nautical miles northwest of Howland Island. Captain Thomson said something differently: "Is it possible? The Japanese are more than six hundred miles away from us..."

"Sir, this possibility exists. Don't forget that the northwest is filled with cumulus clouds. Without knowing your location, Miss Emilia is likely to decelerate northwest. Her navigator Mr. Nonan should also know that if you can't find the island of Howland, you can only try your luck in the northwest. There are many islands there. If you fly there, calculate based on the two hundred nautical miles and one and a half hours of fuel and a headwind, if you decelerate before, one and a half hours of fuel and gliding are enough for them to fly to the Marshall Islands." Major Kenner also made the same judgment, but added a lot of brains.

He looked at his subordinates deeply. He looked at Major Kenner, who was pretending to be serious. After a while, Lieutenant Colonel Thompson said, "Okay, I will order a search immediately and send a report to the Hawaii headquarters to send Carolina seaplane." At this point, he looked at his subordinates and swallowed a bit stiffly, and finally added, "I will add information about Miss Emilia's possible landing in the Marshall Islands."

‘6002-Emelia reported only 1.5 hours of fuel left and no land landing at 07:42-position is unknown-06:40-06:40-08:43-point report is 157 degrees ~ 337 degrees but no reference point for relative Howaram Island - expected to fly at 12:00 at the latest - If it is not arrived, search will be carried out. The most likely area northwest of Howaram Island - calm sea surface vertical visibility level 9 strong - expected she can glide until 10:15-possible landing in the Marshall Islands...’

At 10:18, the coast guard patrol boat Itasca sent a telegram to the Hawaii Division headquarters in Honolulu. In addition to reporting the general situation and asking the Admiralty to send a seaplane to assist in the search and rescue, the captain also added the judgment of Major Kenner and CEO Major Baker in the end, Miss Emilia may land in the Marshall Islands. Please contact the Japanese government to assist in the search and rescue.

The telegram from the patrol boat Itasca soon arrived in Hawaii. Half an hour later, the telegram arrived in the hands of Admiral Orion G. Mofen, the 14th Military Region of the US Navy.

"Japanese..." The general held the telegram and immediately frowned when he saw the last few words.

"Yes, sir, there is this possibility. We should report that Washington requests the Japanese Navy to cooperate in search and rescue." Adjutant Major Whiting had read the telegram, and he also agreed with the Itasca's judgment.

"Okay." The general nodded. He knew that Washington's emphasis on Emilia had been busy with this matter since last month. In addition, the President also specially built a runway on the island of Howland, which is only 0.6 miles long. "Send the telegram to the Admiralty and the Ministry of the Interior, Mr. President should know about this."

"Yes. Sir." With the general's order, the telegram was sent to Washington again. At 19:00 ET on July 2 (12:30 ET), the telegram was being transferred to the Admiralty Department. At this time, the Secretary of Navy was no longer the self-righteous Admiral Standley. Instead, General William Daniel Lexi (Lee Hai) who was highly appreciated by the president.

As an old acquaintance for more than ten years (Roosevelt was once the assistant minister of the Admiralty), General Leach certainly knew the president's intentions, but the naval battles that were more than 10,000 kilometers apart were not so easy to organize, even in Hawaii, Guam, and the Philippines. In addition, the opinions of the army and the navy were different again. Marshal MacArthur, a Philippine federal adviser who obtained trust and resources from the president and Congress, believed that the Navy could prevent the Chinese team from landing in Manila, and the rest could be handed over to the Army, to be precise, the Land Airlines. He threatened that only a thousand B-17 bombers could blow the Chinese guys up to the sky. He would wait for the Chinese guys to surrender to him, just like thirty-six years ago, in Dagukou, Tianjin.

Not to mention the Navy Department, even the Army Department does not like this domineering and arrogant maniac, but in the Western Pacific, the Philippines is indeed an extremely important stronghold. MacArthur was able to make the Filipinos obey him and use the 100 million US dollars allocated by Congress every year to form a Philippine army of about 800,000, which is indeed a great help to the war. However, the problem now is that if the navy does not participate, even if the Philippines has 1,000 B-17s or other better flying bombers, the China-Japan Navy will not guarantee that its ammunition and fuel input will not be cut off by the Chinese and Japanese navy. If the naval fleet enters the Philippines, there will be a Krabi Navy base that cannot be built in a short period of time, as large as Hawaii, which is enough to accommodate the entire fleet.

If this is the case, the fleet will still start from Hawaii or take the Central Pacific. That is, advance along the route of the Marshall Islands Mariana Islands Philippines; or go to the South Pacific, that is, Australia New Guinea Philippines. In short, although the range of many Navy ships exceeds 5,000 kilometers, the propulsion still requires an offensive axis.

If there is the assistance of the British, the best route is of course the southern route. This can be used to take advantage of Australia's ready-made resources. The navy only needs to send in to Australia with bundles of cash, but the problem is that due to the numerous interests in China, Britain does not want to participate in this war. Five minutes ago, General Leach's subordinate Major General James Richardson, had introduced the results of his negotiations with the British Navy. The UK does not want the US Navy to enter the Singapore Port, and it is more clear that it is unwilling to put pressure on China and Japan with the United States.

"Gentlemen, the Japanese are expanding their docks..." After the staff spoke, Major General Theodore van Wilkinson began to speak. "Although they did not lay their keels, this is also a matter of vigilance; and China's Dalian Shipyard, we do not know that this newly built shipyard has multiple large docks."

"Then send someone to understand!" General Lexi ordered. "We must understand everything about our opponents and find out their flaws. The current evidence shows that they want to replace quantity with quality advantages, and Tianjin and Yamato classes are the products of this idea. The eighteen-inch artillery and the displacement of more than 60,000 tons all show that they want to build multiple such giant battleships. In the nature of the Japanese, perhaps not only four battleships were launched but six to eight."

The general had his own guess, but this guess was deeply touching. As the staff whispered, Major General Richardson said: "General, the Army has a suggestion: to sink this battleship before it was launched."

"How to sink?" General Lexi asked interestingly.

"Sink it with a bomber." Major General Richardson said his idea from the Philippines. "The battleship Tianjin was built at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai, while the Shanghai was built at the Nanjing Shipyard. If the b-17 bomber was barely available, but if there were a thousand bombers, the bombing effect would be very significant. General MacArthur believed that they should be sunk in front of everyone and the Chinese on the day they were launched, as well as the cruisers and destroyers built by the Guangzhou Shipyard. They should also be sunk."

"So, Douglas hopes to declare war on China on the day the Tianjin was launched?" General Lexi narrowed his eyes and thought about MacArthur who loved to cause trouble, as if he was thinking.

"Yes, sir." Major General Richardson replied. "A battleship like this is already very troublesome, six to eight are even more troublesome. Bombing only one second will strengthen defense. So it is better to bomb two at the same time and sink them all in the dock. If the Chinese lack super battleships, they will surrender after we destroy the Japanese Navy."

"Does Douglas want to attack?" General Lexi suddenly laughed. He felt that he didn't want Douglas's style.

"He didn't say that." Major General Richardson laughed, "but he said, don't reason with the **** monkeys. They will be grateful to us if they beat them hard."

With a smile, Admiral Lexi thought about the time node that MacArthur mentioned. Tianjin and Shanghai were keels laid out from one after another last year. This means that the launch time of the two battleships will be very close. It is even possible that the Shanghai ships will be earlier than before. After all, Nanjing Shipyard is a military shipyard, and it was built by Hengboli Steel Company more than 20 years ago. Of course, Jiangnan Shipyard is not bad either. These two are China's top shipyards, followed by Dalian Shipyard and Tianjin Shipyard. The two ships laid out from the second half of last year, which means that they will be launched at the end of next year or at the beginning of next year, that is, no more than June 1939 at the latest.

I thought that the other party had a main gun of more than 18 inches, while the one side had only sixteen inches; I thought that the other party used titanium alloy as armor, while the one side only had ordinary nickel steel armor; the most important thing was that I had reached retirement age at that time. With the current strength of the navy, 80% of the decisive battle with the Japanese Navy hoped to win, and the war was completely over after the decisive battle.

As his mind turned around, Admiral Lexi finally nodded and said, "Then let's set the plan according to this time."

The Army and Navy have always been full of conflicts, but this time the General unconditionally agreed to the Army's request, and the time set by MacArthur as the start of the war. Seeing the directors, they looked at themselves in surprise. Admiral Lexi smiled and said, "I just don't want to face four giant battleships at the same time. Just like the plane is best to be eliminated at the airport, the battleship is best to be eliminated at the dock. Gentlemen, we can set the specific start of the war around Christmas in 1938. Because the Chinese warships will be launched at this time."

"Yes, General!" After Lexi determined the timeline, his subordinates began to feel a sense of urgency, which meant that the war was only one year, five months and twenty-eight days away.

"General, Hawaii sends a telegram..." After knocking on the door, the adjutant took the telegram sent in from outside and handed it to General Lexi.

"Marshall Islands." Admiral Leachi couldn't help but feel moved when he read it at the end. He then asked Major General Wilkinson, Minister of Intelligence, "Theodore, how much do we know about the Marshall Islands?"

"We know nothing, General." Wilkinson shrugged regretfully, "The Japanese are best at hiding themselves. No one has ever been there since the Marshall Islands were taken over by them, and no one knows what they did on it. There were several times when our seaplanes tried to pass through the place, but the Japanese were very alert. They pointed at the approaching plane to warn to shoot..."

"Now maybe there is an excuse for reconnaissance." Admiral Leach handed the telegram to Major General Wilkinson.

"Oh, God." Major General Wilkinson, who saw that Emilia was missing and thought of her huge influence, whispered. He asked strangely, "Is it just a scout of the Marshall Islands?"

"Do you want to occupy it?" General Lexi asked with a smile, things seemed to be getting more and more interesting.

"Why can't you occupy it, sir? The war is about to begin!" Richardson also held Major General Wilkinson's point of view. "If the Marshall Islands are occupied by us, then the Pearl Harbor fleet can support the Philippines faster. Assuming Guam exists, we don't need to spend much time in Mariana."

"But the war is likely to break out early," the general said of his concerns. "We are not fully prepared, at least the Philippines does not, and it will take at least one year to expand the base there. It is best for the Navy to take a year to make various adjustments."

"Sir, the Chinese have no intention of declaring war. If China does not declare war, the Japanese will probably not declare war." Major General Wilkinson said his judgment, and he emphasized again: "The Marshall Islands are very critical. It is like a bone stuck in our throats."

"Your opinion is..." The general looked at Harold Stark, Colonel Royal Ingersoll and others, who had been digesting the information brought by the start of Christmas in 1938, which meant that the entire combat plan would need to be adjusted again.

"It is necessary to consider separate Japan and China." Colonel Ingersoll of the Operations Planning Bureau nodded. "I believe that this Chinese government will not start a war. They are all thinking about peace talks. Even if they have a covenant with the Japanese, they are more likely to submit this issue to the League of Nations, and then... and then after the result they will protest again until we bomb the mainland of China."

After all, Ingersoll is a consultant to the Planning Bureau who has studied the situation of China and Japan. As a result, the others in the conference room nodded. Seeing this, General Lexi finally nodded and said, "I will report this matter to the President."

At 19:40 ET (13:10 ET), Washington Admiral Claude A. Swanson, Secretary of the Washington Admiralty, drafted a telegram to the commander of the 14th Military Region of the U.S. Navy, and also forwarded it to the commander of the U.S. Fleet, Commander of the U.S. Pearl Harbor Naval Aviation Base, Commander of the U.S. Coast Guard, and Commander of the Air Force Base. The content of the telegram is as follows:

‘0002-Call all naval equipment to search and rescue Miss Elhart in any possible sea area-19:40’.

Washington's instructions were like this, and Hawaii certainly did not dare to neglect it. A large search and rescue was carried out as it had happened in history, with nearly 10,000 soldiers busy with one woman. Beijing in East Asia also made a woman. After several days of negotiations failed, a grand memorial service was held at Yenching University.

Countless wreaths filled the auditorium. Zhang Huizhen, who died four days ago, had a smile on her face and stayed in the black and white photo frames forever. This is not a special photo taken, but a girl's longing for a beautiful future. In the solemn mourning hall, the photo of her bright smile before her death broke everyone present.

After taking the train all night, female students from Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shanghai, Shanxi and Tianjin couldn't help crying after hearing Zhang Huizhen's mother's wail. This beautiful woman she didn't know seemed to be their fellow sisters. Female students were crying, and many male students were also crying silently, but more people were gritting their teeth and enduring the anger that was about to burn their hearts.

Parents, classmates, and teachers came to the stage to speak one by one. They recalled Zhang Huizhen's daily details, denounced the authorities' barbaric law enforcement and neglected human lives. The sadness in the auditorium was even more serious. After Hu Shi finished his brief speech, Lu Zhiwei, who was hosting the memorial service, dragged his heavy steps and walked up to the rostrum step by step. He stood straight on the rostrum, his face drooped, his head drooped deeply, and the muscles on his face were twitching. There was a solemn in the auditorium, and more than two minutes of silence made all the participants breathless. Suddenly, Lu Zhiwei said in a hoarse and sad voice: "I...I can't speak! Because here..." He beat his chest desperately with his fists, "...It seems like there is a large stone that makes me breathless! But I believe that not only me, but everyone here felt the same pressure!"

Lu Zhiwei's words made Hu Shi, who had just finished speaking, feel displeased. He asked his classmates to believe in the law, wait patiently for the authorities to handle it, and wait patiently for the results of the marble trial, but Lu Zhiwei obviously didn't think so.

Another silence that was suffocating enough, and the students could feel his sorrow when they looked at the principal standing on the podium.

"The deceased has a kind heart. She pursues truth, goodness, and beauty, but she is destroyed by fake, ugly, and evil!" Lu Zhiwei's voice was blocked, and tears filled his eyes, which once again made all the girls in the audience cry. "She... yearns for a beautiful state, yearns for justice, friendship and happiness, but she gets darkness, injustice and cruelty.

The authorities explained to me that this was just an accident, but in this world of tyranny, this kind of tragedy is inevitable. Even if death is to give us a depressed death, a dark death. We cannot seek justice! We have nowhere to seek justice! We cannot seek justice! We..." Lu Zhiwei pointed at his hand, but trembled. After a while, he said with his lips squirming and said, "Because this is a depressed and imprisoned world, each of us is shrouded in darkness and tormented by fire. Today, we lose Zhang Huizhen, tomorrow we may lose Wang Huazhi, Yao Kean, and..."

Lu Zhiwei finally couldn't help but burst into tears. Yanjing has survived in the cracks for more than ten years. Every male student is his son, and every female student is his daughter. Now that a daughter is dead, how can he not be heartbroken?

Lu Zhiwei cried on the stage, and the male and female students in the audience, and Chinese and foreign teachers also cried in grief. Even the old principal Situ Leiden was crying. He did not think that Lu Zhiwei was exaggerating Wang Huazhi, Yao Ke'an, Huang Zheng... These seven students were prosecuted by the Beijing Inspectorate for arson, intentional injury, and illegal possession of firearms for arson, and illegal possession of firearms. Although the school came forward to hire a lawyer, the situation was not optimistic and the sentence was certain. The leader Wang Huazhi and others were punished for several crimes and sentenced to more than ten years.

In the auditorium where the mourning sounds were everywhere, a student wiped away his tears and suddenly shouted: "Severely punish the murderer, patriotic behavior is not guilty!"

His voice was so small in the crying sound, but just two short sentences penetrated everyone's hearts. After a slight pause, more students shouted in a mess: "Severely punish the murderer, patriotic behavior is not guilty...', the voice became more and more neat and higher, like the rolling thunder in summer. (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!