Chapter 763: Stirring up Qingbo

On the river, small boats rushed forward desperately. w.9 Read trying to rush to the Lady Marywood and rescue those who fell into the water.

"Boom, boom..." After the Japanese sank the Lady Marywood, they stopped slaughtering the crew members on the lifeboats. They just used machine guns to force the lifeboats to come towards them.

As for the small boats of the Central Army that tried to rush over, they were not polite. There was a burst of bombardment towards them, and countless small boats were covered by Japanese artillery fire as soon as they left the dock.

Without any preparation or defense at all, the boat was sent flying in random directions. Countless Central Army soldiers screamed and were overturned from the boat, unable to even get out more than ten meters.

The Japanese army mobilized more than ten gunboats this time in order to completely and completely sink the Lady Marywood. Even for this reason, they even relaxed their defense of Nanjing.

"Boom, boom, boom..." The sound of artillery continued to roar, and the Japanese artillery fire had begun to move forward. It was blasting towards the pier. Even Chen Cheng, Dai Li and others had to leave the pier under the pull of their men.

Watching helplessly the soldiers who were rushed into the boat fled in all directions. This ineffective operation was declared a failure. Lester and others on the river were trembling and pulled onto the boat by the Japanese army.

"I protest! I protest that you violated the agreement and opened fire on the unarmed cruise ship! This is a violation of the Geneva Convention and your agreement with the British Empire! This is a provocation! It is a massacre! It is..."

As soon as he stepped onto the Japanese gunboat, Lester started roaring angrily like a lion. Unfortunately, these Japanese soldiers basically didn't understand English, and no one cared what he said.

After yelling for a while, Lester was interrupted.

"I'm sorry, we opened fire because some of you violated our agreement." A Japanese officer who spoke half-baked English came out, looked at Lester and said coldly.

"Some of you actually brought out the commander of the Central Army in Wuchang City. We were very humanitarian in rescuing you. You took advantage of our kindness and did things that harmed us. You know

, I can regard your behavior as participating in the war, and I have every right to kill you!"

The Japanese officer's words immediately silenced Lester. He couldn't say a word. Lester had actually suspected this problem from the beginning.

But it is still uncertain. Secondly, Japan has a precedent of choosing to attack even though it knew it was an American warship. Lester subconsciously felt that the Japanese did the same thing this time.

But when the Japanese officer said this, Lester was shaken.

"I'm sorry! In my opinion, what you said is all nonsense. Unless you can produce strong evidence, I will present this matter to the Parliament of the British Empire. As the attackers, you must compensate us for our losses.

And apologize for this and punish the relevant responsible persons..."

Leicester still had a tough talk and kept talking to the officer. This may have become a habit of the British. Even if they are in trouble, they will keep stating their rights.

Subconsciously, they still think that they are the "empire on which the sun never sets." But they don't know that the sunset that belongs to them has already set. They are no longer the empire that they used to be able to dominate the world.

"You can talk to my commander about these matters." The Japanese officer was obviously extremely impatient. He waved his hand to Lester and said, "Now, all you have to do is stay on my ship.

I will ensure your safety, but if someone tries to do something dangerous then we will deal with it as an emergency!"

As he said that, the Japanese officer waved his hand and several Japanese sailors rushed up. Lester knew that whatever he said was in vain, he grunted reluctantly and left the deck under the escort of the sailors.

Most of the remaining crew members of the Lady Marywood were rescued. Except for some unlucky ones who were shot, most of them were taken from the lifeboats to the Japanese gunboats.

At the same time, all the headlights on the gunboat were turned on. The water surface illuminated was sparkling. They were looking for any fish that had slipped through the net. They were also looking for anyone trying to hide and escape.

The fishing boats that had been requisitioned earlier were also launched, and the Japanese troops began to launch a landing operation on the wharf of Wuchang City. Headlights were set up on the shore, and countless fishing boats spread out on the water.

Web search.

After the defeat on the shore, the morale of the Central Army seemed to have plummeted. Even the basic defense was gone. Chen Cheng and others withdrew to Wuchang, and there was chaos inside the city.

Chiang Zhongzheng did not know whether he was alive or dead, and they had no intention of commanding the battle. Chen Cheng and others were like this, and the officers and soldiers below were even more in a mess.

The pier was occupied by the Japanese army in just a few moments, and they even took advantage of this time to dig out a series of fortifications. Subsequent soldiers were continuously sent to the pier in Wuchang City by fishing boats, and soon more than a brigade group gathered on the pier.

of military strength.

Chen Cheng, who returned to the headquarters, was in a state of confusion. He knew that if something went wrong with Chiang Zhongzheng, many people in Wuchang City and even Chongqing would be destroyed.

However, the most urgent thing is that the pier cannot be occupied by the Japanese army. Someone has already run in to report that the pier was successfully landed by the Japanese army due to the chaos just now. Now the Japanese army is constantly increasing its troops and trying to launch an attack on Wuchang City.

"Order all ministries to guard the pier! All reserve teams are moving toward the pier." Chen Cheng took a deep breath. Everything has happened. No matter how much he thinks about it, it is just a fantasy.

But if the Japanese army really invaded, then I and others would definitely die.

"Electricity spread throughout the country, and the Japanese army disregarded the agreement and brazenly tore up the agreement and launched an attack on the British cruise ship. And taking advantage of our unpreparedness, they launched an attack on the Wuchang City dock. We strongly condemn this! We have also filed a complaint with the League of Nations, requesting the British Empire and the United States

The United States and others will assist..."

"This order is issued in the name of the Chairman. At the same time, we call on all walks of life across the country to actively resist Japan and expel the Japanese invaders from China!" After all, Chen Cheng was called the "little Chairman", and he naturally had two hands in his actions.

At this time, it was important to stabilize people's hearts. All the orders he issued were in the name of Chiang Zhongzheng. It created the illusion that Chiang Zhongzheng was still in Wuchang. It was extremely important whether Chiang Zhongzheng was dead or alive.

The adjutant received the order and went down to convey it to the troops. All the reserve teams in Wuchang City also began to take action, and the troops who had withdrawn from the front line continued to fight towards the dock.

But without fire support, they were unable to make much progress under the Japanese artillery fire.

"Boom, boom, boom...chu, tug, tug..." The sound of gunfire and explosions resounded throughout Wuchang City. The Japanese troops at the dock roared strangely and fought with the Central Army.

Relying on their own firepower and the newly built fortifications, the Japanese army was able to withstand the counterattack of the Central Army. Although the attempt to attack Wuchang City was interrupted, all units were forced to shrink.

But at least they are holding this front now, although several positions are in danger. However, the Central Army that rushed up was immediately suppressed by the firepower of the Japanese gunboats.

Then the Japanese army recaptured it, and the Japanese army on the other side was not idle either. They continued to transport troops to the dock through confiscated fishing boats, and the two sides immediately became evenly matched.

Amid the shouting and fighting, the sky gradually became dim.

At this time, the news about the Japanese attack on the British merchant ship Lady Marywood had spread throughout the world. The angry Chamberlain was interrupted during dinner and received the news that his merchant ship had been sunk. Chamberlain immediately reported to Ribbentrop

A telegram was sent.

Ribbentrop was extremely nervous after getting Chamberlain's telegram. He first found Hitler to report the situation. Then he found Hiro Oshima and asked him to explain what was going on.

Oshima Hiro was not as nervous as Ribbentrop imagined. He took the secret message from the military and handed it to Hitler.

"According to the information that our Shanghai agency has investigated, these British people are not trustworthy. They said they wanted to pick up five pastors, but in fact they wanted to pick up Jiang Zhongzheng, the chairman of the National Committee!"

At this point, even if the matter is not like this, Oshima Hiro can only say this.

"We received the news too late. The Tenth Army responsible for attacking Wuchang launched the attack without having time to report. Because if Chiang Zhongzheng escapes, our Empire of Japan's strategy in Wuchang will lose half of its strategy for no reason..."

Hitler was not a fool. How could he not know that Japan should have received the news a long time ago. Otherwise, how could a small front commander decide such a thing?!

It must have been a decision made by the Japanese military, but since things were already like this, Hitler had no choice but to admit it.

"Oshima, I can only temporarily accept your explanation. But if there is no evidence, then Japan must be responsible for this." Hitler was a little angry.

He doesn't want to directly confront Britain yet. He wants to deal with the Czech Republic, then Poland, and finally France. But before the previous goal is achieved, Hitler does not want to directly conflict with Britain.

A skinny camel is bigger than a horse. Even if Britain declines now, it is not yet time for Germany to attack easily. Moreover, Britain and France are of the same body, and they both have a garrison in Maginot.

Forcing them to launch an attack on Germany is not what Hitler wants to see now.

"Both you and we need evidence, at least we need evidence that can confirm what you said." Hitler said solemnly to Oshima Hiroshi: "This is your commitment to us, and it is also our commitment to Britain."

Hiro Oshima nodded, and then saw that Hitler had no intention of continuing the conversation, so he left on his own. After Hiro Oshima left, Hitler sighed.

"These Japanese..."

Half an hour later, Chamberlain in London received a telegram from Berlin. In the telegram, German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop explained in detail the fact raised by Japan that "Chiang Zhongzhi tried to escape on a British cruise ship."

At the same time, it was stated that "Japan promises that they will provide evidence, otherwise Germany will be responsible for its commitments" and so on.

The United States did not comment immediately after receiving the news, but cautiously sent an inquiry message to the United Kingdom first. The United Kingdom itself was very worried, and there was a quarrel in the parliament.

Therefore, Chamberlain just sent a reply saying that there seemed to be some inside story about this matter, and he would not speak directly about it now. He would inform the United States after he had solid evidence.

Although there is constant intrigue between Europe and the United States, when it comes to the interests of the entire white race, both sides will stand together.

This time, Japan directly attacked the British cruise ship, and it was after they had promised. This shocked the United States, which was already extremely wary of Japan.

"Your Excellency, I think we should be able to agree to the battleship purchase project that the National Defense Force has been asking us for." Washington, in the White House conference room.

Secretary of Commerce Daniel C. Roper said solemnly to Roosevelt: "We are not ready for war now, not only us but also all the people. We all need time, and our interests in the three eastern provinces have received serious threats."

"Japan does this, so who can guarantee that once they invade the three northeastern provinces, they can guarantee our interests in the three northeastern provinces?!" Daniel C. Roper glanced at everyone and continued: "You know, Japan is extremely lacking in resources...

"

Everyone was silent. In fact, there had been endless debates about the sale of large battleships to the three eastern provinces. Roosevelt himself wanted to sell, and Morgan and several ministers were willing to sell.

But the current situation is that isolationism is extremely prevalent throughout the United States, and some congressmen use isolationism as their political selling point. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to gain complete support.

And now that the U.S. economy is gradually improving, isolationism is becoming more prevalent. This issue is not easy to pass, and requires taking great political risks.

The bigger reason is that the "Washington Naval Treaty" at this time clearly stipulated that the production of battleships for backward countries was not allowed. Even the sale of 20,000-ton battleships had to be notified to the treaty countries and obtained approval.

This is because the main forces of all countries in the world at that time were combat ships. In order to protect their own advantages, they signed such an agreement and formed a technical barrier.

In fact, at this time, the tactical thinking of most countries was still stuck in the era of big guns and giant ships. It was not just Japan, but every country.

Until 1942, battleships were the main force in the world, which is why Japan produced Yamato and Musashi. Until the middle of World War II, the British still used biplane carrier-based aircraft, and although the United States had the foresight to build aircraft carriers

But in fact they did not focus their main attention on aircraft carriers.

The rise of aircraft carriers was only taken seriously after their strategic role was discovered in World War II. Speaking of this reason, it is very funny. The United States was because of the attack on Pearl Harbor, which caused the main force of its battleships to be bombarded in a mess.

Although it could be repaired and reused after being salvaged, the United States almost relied on aircraft carriers for more than half a year to conduct operations. It was precisely because of this that the United States first discovered the role of aircraft carriers in naval battles.

Afterwards, they stopped the research, development and production of large battleships. In the end, the US battleship research and development and production stopped at the Iowa-class battleship, while the 65,000-ton Montana-class battleship to be developed was stranded.

Japan's use of aircraft carriers to attack Pearl Harbor was a helpless move. The United States had powerful defensive forts at Pearl Harbor and a large number of battleships. If it used battleships to attack, it would only be courting death.

So Japan had no choice but to resort to an aircraft carrier attack.

Moreover, the Japanese engines were not good, and the bombs they were equipped with at that time were 250kg. This resulted in the warships sunk by the Japanese being salvaged, and they could be repaired and used.

"Battleships are unlikely. After all, the "Washington Treaty" is there. This is what we signed. Although Japan withdraws, we still have to abide by it." Little Morgan shrugged and said to everyone: "I heard that the National Defense Forces
To be continued...