Chapter 249 Is this the magnanimity of a great country?
You used to ignore me.

Have you changed your mind now?
snort!
impossible!
There is absolutely no way I would agree to this so easily.

Is it strange?

Do not!
Not surprising at all!
In order to surrender, the Italian army used its explosive strength to defeat the British army.

When asked, they found out that they wanted to surrender, but the British army did not allow them to do so.

This left the British army speechless.

Originally, Stilwell had good intentions in persuading the other side to surrender.

He even expressed his willingness to join the Allied forces.

Favorable treatment, etc.

Even the colonies were promised to remain.

The results of it?
Governor Degu refused it outright and said Stilwell was wishful thinking.

This made Stilwell very angry.

Now he is thinking about surrendering, hoping to retain his previous treatment.

dream!

"Tell the Sichuan Army to continue the attack." Stilwell thought for a moment and gave some more instructions.

"Yes."

On the other side, Governor Degu, who learned that he was refused to surrender, showed an angry expression on his face.

"Asshole, unconditional surrender?"

How could such a condition be agreed to?
By then, we will be at the mercy of others.

There is no way he would agree to such a condition.

He didn't want to agree, but his subordinates had long lost the will to fight.

To them, the war was over long ago.

Vichy France has already surrendered, so there is no need to continue fighting.

Are you going to fight for your life with just such a small amount of military pay?

"Governor, since General Stilwell refuses our surrender, we can try to communicate with the Sichuan Army."

"Ask them what price they need to pay before they are willing to accept our surrender?"

"In other words, what do we need to pay before they are willing to withdraw their troops?" a French officer suggested.

It has to be said that when it comes to surrender, the French army has a very profound cultural heritage.

He actually came up with the idea of ​​surrendering directly to the front-line troops.

However, we have to admit that this hope is still very great.

In their eyes, the Sichuan Army could be bought off with money.

What they lack the least is money.

"Then send someone to try?" Governor Degu also knew that his subordinates had no will to fight. If he rejected their proposal, the other side might surrender without authorization. These were all possible.

It would be better to send someone directly to negotiate peace.

…………

"Request for peace? We can set the terms?"

"These French troops are really shameless." Meng Fanle said speechlessly as he looked at the telegram in his hand.

"It's really shameless. If you can't win, just ask for peace. This is indeed in line with the French army." Cun Yunsheng was not surprised at all, but said with a smile.

"Commander, we must not negotiate peace." Meng Fanle showed an anxious expression on his face.

Hearing this, Cun Yunsheng signaled him not to get excited.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. This time we will definitely destroy these French troops completely, but before that, we can give them some hope."

"As the saying goes, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. Don't they like to play double standards? This time, we can play double standards with them."

"Call back and tell them that we agree to negotiate peace. Let Duan Zhenguo send someone to negotiate. My condition is 100 million taels of silver."

Hearing this, Meng Fanle was completely stunned.

One hundred million taels of silver?

Is this crazy?
Will the French army agree?
There is absolutely no way I can agree to that!
"Wait, Commander, did you never think of agreeing to the French peace talks from the beginning?" Meng Fanle was not a fool. He immediately heard other meanings from the 100 million taels of silver.

"Of course, but if he really wants to take out 100 million silver coins, we can consider it. But unfortunately, they can't take it out." Cun Yunsheng spread his hands.

"But why did you propose the figure of 100 million taels of silver?" Meng Fanle asked in confusion.

"Back then, the silver that the old Buddha paid to the French army was more than 100 million taels. I haven't even counted the interest over the past few decades. If you include the interest, 200 million is not too much."

"Considering that old guy Degu is not young anymore, don't let him get angry to the point of fainting. Just give him 100 million and let Duan Zhenguo handle it himself. I can give the rest as a reward." Cun Yunsheng explained with a smile.

Hearing this, Meng Fan was speechless.

However, he was quite surprised that Cun Yunsheng remembered the compensation so clearly.

"This is a shame for us Chinese. Sooner or later, these foreigners will have to pay us back with interest." Cun Yunsheng said with a sneer.

"Should I add one more sentence? I want those foreigners to die?" Meng Fanle said this in a flattering manner, making the smile on Cun Yunsheng's face even more intense.

"Yes."

"Okay, send a telegram to Duan Zhenguo, asking him to show his strength during the negotiations and not to lose face for our Sichuan Army. Also, ask Kang Ya to speed up the transportation of supplies to ensure that the frontline troops are not cut off from ammunition."

"Once the supply is completed, launch an attack immediately and capture Hanoi for me."

"Also send a telegram to Jingxia Yuta and tell him that he can take action now."

Cun Yunsheng had been thinking about the French Indochina Navy for a long time, and for this reason he had been living frugally and collecting money everywhere during this period.

Especially those Siamese gentry were confiscated, which brought in a lot of money.

Two hundred million yen in exchange for so many warships, this deal is definitely a good deal.

"Also, ask Mr. An and the others to look for the descendants of the Li family in Annan. They can choose the candidates themselves. The only requirement is that they are obedient." Cun Yunsheng reminded again.

"Yes." Meng Fanle knew what Cun Yunsheng meant and immediately assured him.

…………

Duan Zhenguo was confused when he received the telegram. He was studying the map, thinking about how to reach Hanoi as quickly as possible.

As a result, he received a telegram from Cun Yunsheng asking him to go to negotiate.

"Let me negotiate? I don't know how to negotiate."

He is a military commander and has no idea what negotiation is. Why are you asking him to go to the negotiation for no reason?

"Captain Duan, since the order from your superiors is to ask you to go to negotiate, you must have your superiors' considerations. Anyway, we have the advantage now, and the French army dare not refuse." Zhao He said with a smile.

"No, do you know what conditions our superiors have given?" Duan Zhenguo asked back unhappily.

"What conditions?" Zhao He really didn't know, so he said with a confused look on his face.

"One hundred million taels of silver, do you think the French army will agree?" Duan Zhenguo said helplessly.

This condition is obviously aimed at causing the negotiations to fail.

If that's the case, then why even talk?
There's no need to talk about it.

This is what Duan Zhenguo doesn't understand.

And how to talk about it?

"I've heard from others that when big countries negotiate, they naturally have the magnanimity that big countries have. You should maintain that magnanimity." Zhao He scratched his head. He had never experienced any negotiation, so naturally he didn't understand what negotiation was. However, he had read many books and eventually thought of a phrase, magnanimity.

Duan Zhenguo was stunned. How magnanimous a great country can be?

How can he be magnanimous? There is no other way. Soldiers are bound by their duty to obey orders. Even if Duan Zhenguo is reluctant, he still has to bite the bullet and go to the designated location for negotiations.

The French army, upon receiving the Sichuan Army's announcement that it was willing to negotiate, was obviously stunned for a long time.

Originally they just wanted to give it a try.

If that doesn't work, find a way to mobilize the Japanese 4th Division.

Even if it costs a huge price, we must convince the Japanese 4th Division that they cannot continue like this.

result!

The Sichuan Army was actually willing to negotiate.

"Are they willing to negotiate?" Governor Degu was also surprised. At present, the Sichuan Army took the initiative and he never expected that the other party would accept negotiations.

"I told you that these yellow monkeys are short-sighted. We will settle the score with them after we have recovered." Governor Degu sneered.

The other French officers all agreed with this.

"Then send people over to negotiate, and increase the recruitment of natives. We need more soldiers. We can contact those guerrillas and tell them that as long as they agree to surrender, we can guarantee their safety." In the past few days, Governor Degu has been summing up the experience and lessons.

He found that the biggest problem of the French army was insufficient manpower. If they had enough manpower at the time, they might be able to surround the Sichuan Army.

But relying on the natives was totally useless, so he decided to negotiate with the guerrillas.

If they could surrender, and let these guerrillas deal with the Sichuan Army, the French army could reap the benefits.

As for the price the French army needs to pay!

It's nothing more than some weapons and equipment in stock.

"Yes."

At the front line, a place with beautiful scenery, Duan Zhenguo had no time to appreciate the surrounding environment, but was thinking about how to negotiate next.

Do not!
In other words, how should he maintain the magnanimity of a great country?

In fact, he was not optimistic about taking Annan.

Because there are many guerrillas here, even if we take them down, it will take a lot of effort to manage them in the later stage.

"If you are willing to withdraw from Cambodia, we are willing to pay you 10 million francs in compensation." As soon as they met, the French representative stated his conditions with full sincerity.

In the eyes of the French representatives, this condition is absolutely sincere.

Ten million francs is a considerable sum of money.

Their commander would never earn that much military salary in his entire life.

As a result, Duan Zhenguo was seen baring his teeth and speaking fiercely.

"Impossible. This is our request. You must pay compensation of 100 million taels of silver, equivalent to 5 million taels of gold, and at the same time recognize the restoration of the Khmer king."

The French representative in charge of the negotiations was immediately shocked when he heard the 100 million taels of silver.

"Asshole, asshole, this is absolutely impossible. We can't agree to such a condition."

If we agree to this condition, it would be no different from selling out our country.

If Marshal Pétain of Vichy France knew about this, they would all be hanged.

"Don't admit it? It doesn't matter, then just keep fighting. Let's talk after the fight." After saying that, Duan Zhenguo turned around and was about to leave.

He suddenly realized that this so-called great magnanimity of a great country could never be learned.

What a bullshit magnanimity of a great country.

What you can’t get on the battlefield, can you get it just by talking?
Isn’t this nonsense!

Therefore, when Duan Zhenguo saw that the French army would never agree to this condition, he turned around and left.

"This is not your sincerity in peace talks." The French representative was a little flustered and said dissatisfiedly.

"Hmph, what is there to talk about? I think this kind of negotiation is a pure waste of time. If there are any problems, let's solve them on the battlefield." Duan Zhenguo turned his back to the French representative, said this, and left.

The French representative behind him was dumbfounded. What a negotiation.

Didn’t we all discuss this?
You make an offer and we counter.

And then grind slowly?

There is no one like you!

How can we talk when there is no room for negotiation?
"Commander, you are amazing. You have deeply understood the essence of negotiation. This is the magnanimity of a great country. So this is the magnanimity of a great country." The officers who followed Duan Zhenguo did not speak a word during the whole process.

It was not until they left that they began to exclaim in praise.

They are also very curious about what the magnanimity of a great country is.

As a result, Duan Zhenguo's performance made them fully understand that this is the magnanimity of a great country.

"What the hell is the magnanimity of a great country? I don't know. I just know it's a pure waste of time." Duan Zhenguo said angrily.

"Let's go back first and prepare the troops for a continued attack. It's nonsense to rely on negotiations to get something that can't be obtained on the battlefield."

"Ah? You really don't want to talk about it?" The subordinates were confused.

"Nonsense, do you think I can go back on my words?" Duan Zhenguo said, and strode away.

The French representatives were completely confused.

Are you really not going to talk about it anymore?
I originally thought that the other party was trying to lower the price!
Who knew it would be real?

no way!
He had no choice but to report the situation here to Governor Degu and let him handle it.

After reading the telegram, Governor Degu was stunned at first, and then he slammed the table in anger.

"Bastards, these damn yellow monkeys, bastards, bastards, bastards."

"One hundred million silver? Why don't they just go and rob it?"

Even if the whole of Annan was sold, it might not be possible to extort 100 million silver coins.

Nor is it!
If you really work hard to search, there is still hope.

But by that time, I'm afraid there would be no need for the Sichuan Army to attack.

They themselves will be brought to collapse by the guerrillas who attack everywhere.

"Your Excellency Governor, what should we do now? The vanguard of the Sichuan Army is very close to Hanoi. If we don't agree, they will reach Hanoi in just a few days." The officer next to him said in embarrassment.

"I understand. What did the Fourth Division say? When will they send reinforcements? Didn't they remind him that we are allies now?" Governor Degu asked.

Upon hearing this, the officer in charge of communicating with the 4th Division looked embarrassed.

"They said that due to the serious non-combat casualties, they needed some time to rest and recuperate. They also proposed that if they really couldn't hold the city, they could withdraw to Hanoi and help us defend the city together."

Hearing this, Governor Degu was stunned and then fell into thought.

Because he felt it was a bit weird.

But I can’t tell what’s so strange about it.

It is not impossible to assist in the defense of Hanoi.

After all, they were more than 30,000 elite Japanese troops.

With their joining, we can cooperate with the navy of Haiphong Port.

If you really can't hold it, you can use the navy to retreat to the southern region.

After thinking for a while, Governor Degu looked at Lieutenant General Morden who had remained silent.

"Lieutenant General Morden, what do you think?"

Governor-General Degou had mixed feelings toward the colonial army commander-in-chief who was inclined towards Free France.

"Your Excellency Governor, I suggest that we surrender to General Stilwell. We still have the opportunity to join the Allied forces. Moreover, with our joining, the strength of Free France will be strengthened. They will definitely agree." Lieutenant General Morden spread his hands and said expressionlessly.

(End of this chapter)