"The consuls of Japan, Britain, and the United States have been in frequent contact during this period. Given that the British are deeply involved in the war in Europe, the Japanese have recently been pressuring the British to give up their interests in China. Britain has tried to get American support to maintain its garrison in the Shanghai International Settlement, but the United States has not supported this. The British can no longer hold out. According to Phillips, the British garrison in the International Settlement will be completely withdrawn in the near future."
"What?" Ning Zhiheng was shocked upon hearing this. Although he knew that this day would come sooner or later, he still felt a sense of urgency as the moment approached.
The British have a long history of stationing troops in China, spanning nearly a century. The fact that they have actually decided to withdraw this time shows that the British are indeed finding it difficult to continue.
"In other words, the British finally gave in to the Japanese!" Ning Zhiheng couldn't help but sigh.
Huo Yueze nodded and said, "That's right. Moreover, Phillips said that the Japanese strongly demanded that the British cut off China's transport routes in Burma and stop transporting various supplies to the Chinese government during this meeting. The British are considering it."
Phillips also obtained some classified intelligence. After comprehensive assessment, he believed this was merely a bellwether. He concluded that Britain would gradually relinquish some of its Asian interests to avoid direct conflict with the Japanese. Therefore, it was highly likely that while withdrawing its troops, Britain would agree to the Japanese demand to cut off our Yunnan-Burma supply line. He urged us to prepare in advance.
Upon hearing this, Ning Zhiheng sat up straight immediately, his heart tightening; this was definitely the worst news imaginable.
Myanmar's transportation route is currently the only transportation route for the Chinese government to receive international aid and exchange goods. It is also a vital artery for the economic and trade activities of western China and for replenishing the military equipment of the national army.
This transport route connects Myanmar's Central Railway with the Yunnan-Burma Road in China, starting in Yangon, the capital and port city of Myanmar, and ending in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province.
In other words, most of this transport route was within Myanmar, which was a British colony. If the British compromised with the Japanese and ordered the Myanmar government to cut off this transport route within its borders, it would be tantamount to cutting off China's only transport channel connecting it with the outside world.
Despite the fact that Shanghai's smuggling channels have been established for so long, it must be said that due to various reasons such as security and transportation, they can only remain an invisible transportation channel and will ultimately be unable to grow into a major force.
Moreover, it involves large investments and high risks, and cannot transport weapons. In particular, in terms of scale, it is far from comparable to the previous Guiyue Highway and the current Yunnan-Burma Highway.
Therefore, the Burma Road was the true supply line for the Chinese government. If the Burma Road had been damaged, it would have been a very serious blow to the entire war effort.
"This matter is too important. If things develop as Phillips says, then he will owe a huge favor. According to his information, when will the British withdraw their troops?"
"At most two months, or even sooner!"
Ning Zhiheng stood up abruptly and paced back and forth in the room, his mind racing. He believed Phillips's assessment: the British Empire was no longer what it once was, and it was foreseeable that it would be forced to back down by the Japanese. Moreover, Phillips must have had sufficient intelligence to support his prediction, making it highly credible.
“I will report this matter to headquarters immediately. If we can respond as soon as possible, we can minimize the losses.” Ning Zhiheng looked out the window and said softly, then turned to Huo Yueze, “During this time, you need to communicate more with Phillips and report any situations in a timely manner. In this critical period, we need to pay more attention to the international environment. This is very important to us. Diplomats like them have access to a lot of international intelligence, which is an advantage for them.”
Huo Yueze quickly nodded and accepted the order: "Yes, I will try my best to communicate more with these partners with diplomatic backgrounds and collect more international intelligence."
That night, in the early hours of the morning, in the communications room of the Tan mansion, Ning Zhiheng edited the telegram, handed it to Zuo Rou for coding, and watched as the telegraph operator sent the important intelligence they had just received to headquarters.
After receiving confirmation from the other party, Ning Zhiheng checked the time and said to Zuo Rou, "Take them away!"
Zuo Rou was taken aback when she heard this, but she quickly realized that Ning Zhiheng wanted to use the radio alone. She couldn't help but be surprised. She knew that Ning Zhiheng was cautious, but he had never hidden anything from her, especially in telecommunications. He had given her all the call signs and wavelength channels of all his contacts, and she kept the corresponding codebooks by herself.
This was the first time he had used the radio alone, and it must be to contact a very important person, so important that even she couldn't participate.
Zuo Rou knew the importance of things and didn't want to be negligent, so she immediately took all her men away from the room. Ning Zhiheng stayed in the communications room, sat in front of a radio, put on his headphones, adjusted the radio channel, and searched for the wavelength. After he finished, he looked up at the large clock on the wall to calculate the time. He had paper and pen in his right hand to record the time at any time and began to wait for the other party's radio signal.
Contact with the underground party organization could not be done through subordinates, not even Zuo Rou. Therefore, Ning Zhiheng had to do it himself. Every day at 12:30 a.m., he had to receive radio waves on time.
The agreed time passed quickly, and no telegram was received today. This was normal; the underground party organization would only communicate with the shadow party when it felt necessary. Ning Zhiheng put down his headphones, returned the radio channel to its original position, and got up to leave the communications room.
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