Shadow Spy

Chapter 234 The Scene of the Reception

On Saturday, November 11, the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai received domestic news. The day before, Congress officially passed the revised Neutrality Act, which abolished the arms embargo clause and allowed belligerent countries to purchase arms in the United States in cash, but they had to transport them themselves. .President Roosevelt immediately signed it and announced it for implementation.

Since the maritime power and shipping capabilities of Britain and France at that time far exceeded that of Germany, they were actually allowed to sell weapons and supplies to Britain and France to support Britain and France in their fight against Germany.

Li Junhao, who learned the news, knew that in this case, China's navy was basically finished, its shipping capacity was far inferior to Japan's, and China's ports were basically occupied by the Japanese army, making it impossible to transport purchased military supplies back to the United States; in this way, Later, the revised U.S. Neutrality Act was actually beneficial to Japan.This means that China's war of resistance will be more difficult.

However, it is good news for the current Shanghai Concession. Diplomats from various countries, led by Britain and France, have a more friendly attitude towards the United States; Japan also quickly showed goodwill to the concession, and the Japanese-occupied areas outside the concession have been relaxed. The restrictions on the entry and exit of food and materials increased the activity of commerce in the concession.

Li Junhao also felt it personally. He felt that the sense of being monitored had disappeared after the murder of Akagi Chiyuki. It seems that the Japanese side gave up this behavior, probably because they were unwilling to damage the current relationship with the United States.He felt a little pity about this. He originally wanted to find a chance to fight back, but now he has no goal.
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At noon on Sunday, the U.S. Consulate General held a large-scale reception at the International Hotel to welcome the Far East Situation Observation Group from China.The reason for the delay of a few days was decided after discussing with the observation group, so that they could rest for a while after more than 20 days of sailing.

The diplomatic trends of the United States have always attracted the attention of various countries. This time, with the amendment of its domestic neutrality bill, the enthusiasm of various countries has increased. Many more politicians and business people from various countries took the initiative to participate in the reception than before.

As a powerful figure in the current public settlement, Li Junhao certainly cannot be absent. Moreover, he is now the chief figure of the US military in Shanghai, and his actual status has surpassed that of Lieutenant Colonel Kelton, the military attache of the Consulate General.

In this case, he was supposed to be the number one military officer attending the reception, but what he didn't expect was that Colonel Bao Ruide, the embassy attaché who was supposed to be waiting in Chongqing for the observation group's visit, actually appeared again!

Li Junhao himself didn't care about Bao Ruide's move, but Consul General Ayres was very unhappy, thinking that his approach was a bit overwhelming and did not give him a good look throughout the whole process!
When Ruide Bao appeared at the reception accompanied by Lieutenant Colonel Kelton, Lieutenant Colonel Cole, the commander of the Fourth Marine and Land Regiment who had followed Li Junhao, ran to his side again, and the 15th step should have been passed. The regiment commander Lu Pu did not go over, but still stood beside Li Junhao with Xie Jinyuan, the deputy commander of the 327th regiment.

Rupu's performance made Li Junhao look at him with admiration, especially since he had obviously lost weight in the past few days, which made him guess the mentality of the regiment commander - he needed to work up!

As for bringing Xie Jinyuan, who has a special status, to the reception this time, Li Junhao has a purpose, which is to announce to all walks of life in Shanghai that the former commander of the "Eight Hundred Warriors" is now his. Who has any ideas? , just hold it in for me!

His goal was achieved. The Japanese diplomats who attended the reception with Japanese Consul General Miura Yoshiaki and Deputy Consul General Kishii Eiichi opened their eyes wide when they saw Xie Jinyuan's appearance, but no one dared to come over and say anything!
Xie Jinyuan was a little excited, not because he could attend the most high-end cocktail party in Shanghai, but because after more than two years, he could stand in front of the world as a soldier!
Although he and his men are now under the command of the US military, from recent times, Commander Panson is a staunch anti-Japanese element. All the current arrangements are aimed at confronting the Japanese head-on in the near future. This is very important to him. Talk about it, it’s extremely important!As for whether there will be criticism, he doesn't care at all. Resisting Japan is the first priority; moreover, his current situation is also approved by the Kuomintang government.Among the guests attending the reception, most of them did not know Xie Jinyuan, but after asking about him, they found out that he was the leader of the eight hundred warriors who defended the Sihang Warehouse. They immediately flocked to him, especially the ladies and ladies. Who doesn’t love heroes!However, this made Xie Jinyuan, who was just 34 years old this year, embarrassed - the women were so enthusiastic!

Of course, there were also a lot of people coming for Li Junhao, definitely more than Consul General Ayres and Colonel Bored who came all the way to "steal the limelight"!
After the cocktail party started, Li Junhao still had the same style as before. He went to eat first. Filling his stomach was the most important thing. If someone came to talk to him, ok, let's eat together.

It was only at this time that Lieutenant Colonel Rupp, who was trying to lose weight, reluctantly went to Bao Ruide's place with a glass of red wine to avoid being tempted.

In the middle of the reception, the handsome blond Peter Luce, the German military attaché in Shanghai, who was dressed in a cool and slim-fitting military uniform, came over, followed by a tall and thin soldier in a traditional blue military uniform who looked very retro.

Unlike others, Li Junhao sat at the long dining table in a grand manner, drinking beer while feasting on the steaks, seafood, etc. in front of him. He felt that two more people were coming over. When he looked up, he saw that the two soldiers in different military uniforms should be Military attachés from other countries—since he became an assistant military attaché and later a deputy military attaché, he had been busy and had not attended any social activities at all, so he did not know the two of them.

"Hi, Lieutenant Colonel Pantheon, I am Peter Luce, the German military attache." Peter Luce, who came over with a glass of red wine, said in fluent English, "This is the Italian military attache Colonel Sac Netto."

"Hello, colonels!" Li Junhao stood up politely and gave a military salute, "Please sit down, the steak this time is good." He gestured.

Luce and Neto laughed when they looked at the young lieutenant colonel in front of them. One of them was 36 years old and the other was 38 years old. They were worried about their fate in Shanghai every day. How could they be as free and easy as the other!However, the two of them did not refuse. They both pulled up chairs and sat down, taking a piece of steak and tasting it.

Watching Li Junhao finish a steak and pick up a beer, Luce put down the knife and fork in his hand, picked up the red wine, and said: "Lieutenant Colonel Panson, although I really want to communicate with you, Colonel Neto has something important. I want to ask your opinion about something, can you talk about it?"

(End of this chapter)