British prisoners of war marched towards the POW camp under the photographs of a large number of reporters. Some reporters went north with the POW team, while others went south to Yangon. Originally, one could take the railway to Yangon, but now the railway section to Yangon was suspended due to the war. Reporters found a local traditional means of transportation, a light small bamboo sedan chair carried by two people—a litter. Carried by locals, they went straight to Yangon.

On March 13, the garrison in Yangon was in a state of panic. Although there was still a British brigade and more than 20,000 British Indian troops here, capable of resisting for a few days. However, none of the defenders wanted to fight to the death here. If it weren't for Commander Lieutenant General Macbeth not giving an order to evacuate, the defenders would probably have run away.

Lieutenant General Macbeth received reporters in the headquarters. Unlike those subordinates with anxiety in their expressions, Lieutenant General Macbeth looked quite calm. Hearing the reporters ask, "General, what do you think of the possible Battle of Yangon?"

Lieutenant General Macbeth waved his hand and answered decisively, "We are ready for battle. This is Yangon, and also the Verdun Fortress of the East!"

Verdun was a famous battlefield during the European War, also known as the 'Verdun Meat Grinder.' The Verdun Fortress never fell under the fierce attack of the German army. Lieutenant General Macbeth called Yangon the Verdun Fortress, and the reporters felt from the literal meaning that Lieutenant General Macbeth wanted to live and die with Yangon.

The reporters who came this time had stayed in China for at least a few months and had some familiarity with the Chinese army, believing that the Chinese army would not kill innocents indiscriminately. So they waited in Yangon to interview the siege.

Waiting from March 13 to March 15, big news came. He Rui held a press conference in the Chinese capital. At the press conference, a reporter asked He Rui about his opinion on Lieutenant General Macbeth. He Rui waved his hand, "I haven't heard of this person. This time, at the request of the traditional friendly country Burma, we sent troops to suppress bandits. The British bandit gang resisted stubbornly and was annihilated one by one by our army. If the British bandit gang continues to entrench on Burmese land, we will uphold the attitude of eliminating evil thoroughly and destroy them all. In addition to destroying the British bandit gang in Burma, we will also destroy the British bandit gang in India, and restore the Mughal Empire, Maratha Kingdom, and Dravidian Kingdoms of India! This day will definitely come, and I am very confident about it!"

As soon as these words came out, the news effect exploded. The next day, *Le Figaro* published the news with the headline "India, the Next Burma?".

As for British newspapers, they were even more uncompromising: "China Declares to March into New Delhi", "War Escalates, Battle Sweeping South Asia May Erupt".

No matter how dangerous the newspapers said the war situation was, the war in reality did not break out. On March 18, the captured British troops had been sent into China.

On March 24, after the Chinese army entering the West Bengal region of India struck the local British colonial government, police stations, and tax system, they began to withdraw with the captured British, Indian upper class, and 'Zamindar landlords' responsible for local tax collection in India, returning to the Assam region.

On March 27, the Chinese army withdrew from the West Bengal region.

On March 28, the prosecution team of the Asian International Tribunal ended the on-site evidence collection and announced their departure from the evidence collection area north of Yangon, returning to Shanghai.

On March 31, the prosecution team of the Asian International Tribunal entered China.

On the same day, Lieutenant General Macbeth drank black tea leisurely in the headquarters in Yangon. According to reconnaissance, when the prosecution team of the Asian International Tribunal completely left the evidence collection area, the Chinese army also began to move north. The evidence collection area was located within 50-100 kilometers north of Yangon. That is to say, compared with half a month ago, the distance between the Chinese and British armies changed from 50 kilometers to 100 kilometers. Yangon was temporarily safe.

On April 1, the new Soviet Ambassador to China Molotov arrived in the Chinese capital. The next day, according to the process, Molotov went to the National Assembly Hall to present his credentials to the President of the Republic He Rui.

Presenting credentials is a diplomatic activity. When a head of state wants to appoint or recall a diplomatic representative stationed in a foreign country, he must notify the head of state of the receiving country in writing. This document is called credentials.

Credentials are the official documents sent by the head of state to the head of state of the receiving country when a country sends or recalls an ambassador or minister. It is divided into credentials of dispatch and credentials of recall. Credentials of recall are generally submitted together when the new ambassador or minister presents credentials of dispatch. Diplomatic envoys can generally perform their duties officially only after presenting credentials.

Molotov was born in 1890, the same year as He Rui. Not only that, Molotov became the Secretary of the Central Committee of the AUCP(B) at the age of less than 30, and was a loyal comrade of Comrade Stalin. Sending him to China as an ambassador had a profound meaning.

After presenting credentials, as one of the only two countries that formally recognized China at this time, He Rui invited Molotov to have a meal together. If it were a formal occasion, He Rui and Molotov could only talk about official business. As a private banquet, although the two also talked about official business, they could be completely open.

Both were 36 years old this year, which was somewhat cordial. Molotov said frankly at the beginning, "Chairman He, some articles in *Red Star* and *Labor* do not represent the views of the Central Committee of the CPSU."

He Rui nodded slightly but said nothing. *Red Star* defined the Sino-British war as 'a dog-eat-dog war of imperialism.' Although many committee members in the CPSU certainly thought so, this did not represent the collective view of the Central Committee of the CPSU. If the Central Committee of the CPSU expressed its position directly and offended the He Rui government, it would damage the interests of the Soviet Union.

*Red Star* wrote such articles not for He Rui to read, but for the Comintern to read. As the leading core of the Comintern, if the Soviet Union did not publish the views of the Comintern, it would be equivalent to not doing proper business.

How to choose and how to communicate is a very skillful job. Since Molotov brought the message personally, it was considered to show Comrade Stalin's attitude, and it was also an explanation to He Rui.

Afterwards, the two chatted while eating, and talked about the domestic economic construction of China and the Soviet Union. Agricultural problems had plagued the AUCP(B) since the Red Army era. Molotov himself was in charge of diplomacy and did not manage agricultural problems. However, Comrade Stalin had his own views on China's land reform, so Molotov naturally wanted to ask He Rui for advice.

"The biggest problem of China's agriculture is insufficient land per capita. A family of four with one hectare of land is considered a very good family. Many people and little land is the biggest contradiction in Chinese agriculture. But China has a large population, which leads to the advantage of smooth sales channels for agricultural products. The per capita land in the Soviet Union is one hectare. In Russia, it is not uncommon for a farmer to own 5 hectares of land. Farmers having a lot of land is the advantage of the Soviet Union. But because of the small population, lack of sales channels, and excessively low grain prices, these are the characteristics of Soviet agriculture."

Even if Molotov didn't understand agriculture, he agreed with this dialectical materialist view and couldn't help nodding slightly.

"Through land reform, our country averaged land use rights, realized sufficient assets, and solved the rural debt problem. Now we are transforming part of the rural population into an industrialized population through intensive breeding and developing China's small commodity economy. This will reduce the number of Chinese agricultural population, and the increase in industrial population will increase the demand for agricultural products, which in turn promotes agricultural production efficiency."

"Many people think China is a capitalist country, not a socialist country." Molotov did not hide it either. So far, the Soviet Union's evaluation of He Rui himself believed that He Rui was magnanimous and would not avoid problems.

"Market economy and capitalist country are not the same thing. China chooses to develop the economy through a market economy. With China's industrial development, China will become an industrial country within the next 30 years. After entering the industrial age, even if the small commodity economy does not completely disappear, it will at least become insignificant in China's economic structure. Due to social development, the proportion of state-owned economy, collective economy, and public economy in the national economy will also undergo huge changes."

Molotov was a bit unsure how to answer due to He Rui's bearing. As a politician, one must aim to solve immediate problems first. In this regard, whether it was Comrade Stalin or Comrade Trotsky, it was the same.

He Rui's attitude towards the future, especially the smooth and natural attitude when He Rui talked about things in the next 30 years. If it were in the CPSU, it would be considered very unserious.

But Molotov had absolutely no intention of underestimating He Rui, because He Rui's achievements so far were enough to prove that he had strong ability to solve short-term problems. This was not an ability that people with high ambitions but low abilities could possess. So Molotov asked, "If I want to ask Chairman He to make some suggestions for Soviet agriculture, what are your views?"

"The Soviet Union is carrying out industrial construction, and the appearance of the price scissors between industrial and agricultural products is inevitable. If the Soviet Union can build an intensive breeding industry based on local agricultural output and increase the purchase price of feed, farmers' income will increase, and their production enthusiasm will also increase a little. However, intensive breeding has high risks, large investments, and requires many supporting technologies. Also, there are issues like meat storage equipment and refrigerated transportation. The temperature in the Soviet Union is relatively low, and cold storage etc. require much shorter time annually than in China. In this regard, there are some advantages."

Molotov was stunned. He could hear some expert flavor from He Rui's words. But this answer exceeded the Soviet agricultural economic policy. Judging from now, it had no reference significance. However, Molotov also rated He Rui a little higher because of this, so he asked, "Chairman He, if *Pravda* invites you to publish some articles in it, I wonder if Chairman He is willing to accept the invitation?"

He Rui would not refuse anything that could expand China's influence. Even knowing that the articles published in Soviet newspapers were more of a diplomatic gesture by the Soviet Union, He Rui accepted readily.