Upon hearing that He Rui would conclude his visit to Japan and return to Beijing on August 5th, the French Ambassador steeled himself and called the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He asked if he could personally welcome He Rui at the airport and discuss the matter of France declaring war on Germany.

Foreign Minister Li Shiguang did not immediately agree, nor did he immediately refuse. He told the French Ambassador to China, "The Chinese government has already downgraded Sino-German diplomatic relations from the ministerial level to the chargé d'affaires level. The Chinese government opposed the Polish government's participation in the partition of Czechoslovakia, and opposes Germany's invasion of Poland. However, it is impossible for the Chinese government to declare war on Germany simply because of France's agreement with Poland."

The French Ambassador held the receiver in silence. Over the past year, although the European public had not evaluated He Rui extensively, he was generally perceived as a man inciting war within Europe. When Britain and France were forced to declare war on Germany following the invasion of Poland, most Europeans were shocked. The few articles expressing regret all opined, "If we had listened to Chairman He Rui's suggestion last year, the war might have already ended! It might not have even broken out!"

Some in Europe were already beginning to use the term "Second World War" to describe this conflict. The French people now eagerly anticipated that China would declare war on Germany. However, the French Ambassador personally felt that while China, as a quasi-ally of France, would provide significant aid, it would not declare war on Germany before Germany declared war on China... unless Britain and France first reached an agreement with China regarding the division of post-war interests.

But the French Ambassador was burdened with heavy responsibilities at this moment; he could not simply wait. After much thought, he spoke again, "Minister Li, the fact that China will not declare war on Germany does not conflict with my going to the airport to welcome Chairman He Rui."

Foreign Minister Li Shiguang could understand the Ambassador's feelings. Finally, he said, "You may go to welcome Chairman He Rui. But as for other matters, that depends on Chairman He Rui's decision."

At noon on August 5th, the VIP waiting room at Beijing's massive airport was filled with foreigners. These people were either reporters or ambassadors stationed in China. The ambassadors of Britain, the United States, the Netherlands, and other countries had all requested to personally welcome He Rui. These ambassadors felt they might not necessarily get a chance to speak with He Rui, but the act of welcoming him upon his return was in itself a gesture of goodwill.

Sure enough, when He Rui returned and saw so many foreign ambassadors, he waved to acknowledge them. Subsequently, during the reception, he shook hands with them one by one. When it was the French Ambassador's turn, the Ambassador stepped forward and grasped He Rui's hand tightly. "Mr. Chairman, China and France possess a traditional friendship."

Hearing this, He Rui smiled. "I heard that France launched an offensive against Germany on the morning of the 5th. I wonder if this news is true?"

The French Ambassador knew the news was true. He replied, "Could I explain the specific situation to Your Excellency specifically?"

"Shall we have dinner together today?" He Rui asked.

The French Ambassador was overjoyed and nodded hastily. He Rui released the Ambassador's hand and continued to shake hands with the remaining foreign envoys.

Watching all this, reporters were already taking notes. An American reporter quickly wrote in his notebook, "He Rui looks like an emperor receiving the greetings of envoys from vassal states," before preparing to attend the subsequent press conference.

There was not much novelty at the press conference. China continued to oppose aggression. However, unlike the situation with Czechoslovakia, when the Chinese special envoy stated that the Chinese government was willing to provide military aid if requested, this time the Chinese government made no statement in that direction.

As soon as He Rui ended the press conference and got into his car, he asked, "Where is the intelligence on the French offensive?"

Someone immediately handed He Rui a report. Opening it, the markings on the map showed that at least three French corps had left the Maginot Line and were advancing toward Germany's Siegfried Line.

The defensive line had begun construction after Germany reoccupied the Rhineland in 1936 and was basically completed by 1939. The line stretched from Cleves, near the German-Dutch border, along the borders with Belgium, Luxembourg, and France, all the way to Basel, Switzerland, with a total length of 630 kilometers.

After reading these basic details, He Rui closed the file. Given the French Army's current combat power, they were completely incapable of breaching the Siegfried Line. Even if given another year, the Anglo-French Allied Forces would not be able to break through the Siegfried Line. Moreover, the Allied Forces were currently still being assembled; Britain and France were establishing a joint command and transporting troops, equipment, and supplies. Transporting these materials across the narrow English Channel would take a month.

Counting on Britain and France to launch a counteroffensive would take at least a month.

That evening, the French Ambassador arrived at He Rui's residence, No. 7 Renmin Road. Dinner was already prepared. During the first half of the meal, He Rui quietly listened to the Ambassador's speech. The French government was planning to get something for nothing, hoping China would join the Anglo-French forces in attacking Germany, yet mentioning no specific benefits. They promised a great deal, but it was all empty words.

Hearing this, He Rui understood the situation clearly. Only then did he speak, "China will dispatch five fighter groups to France to provide escort for the evacuation of our nationals. We hope to receive the assistance of the French government. If we encounter various threats during the evacuation, this air force will strike at fascist forces."

"Five groups? 500 fighter planes!" The French Ambassador's eyes lit up, and he emphasized the number with delight.

Fearing the Ambassador might be too excited and willfully misinterpret his words, He Rui was forced to emphasize, "These five aviation groups will not accept the command of the Anglo-French Allied Forces."

The French Ambassador had no intention of causing confusion. He hurriedly explained, "I will certainly convey this to my government. Additionally, my government's Minister of Commerce is about to arrive in China. The purpose of his trip is to purchase military equipment in China, focusing on aircraft and artillery."

"Let him speak with the Chinese Ministry of Commerce," He Rui replied, seemingly treating it lightly. But the French Ambassador knew very well that these words were not light at all. If Germany confirmed an arms trade between China and France, they would have every reason to declare war on China.

On August 15th, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce handed President Roosevelt the British orders from the last few days. The U.S. Congress had passed the Two-Ocean Navy Act and a conscription bill to expand the army by 900,000 men. To equip these American GIs with weapons, even if American military enterprises ran at full load, it would not be enough. Presidential envoy Hopkins began to organize the American industrial chain, converting many civilian enterprises to military production.

British military enterprises had begun to expand production in 1937, the year before last, but capacity remained insufficient. Therefore, Britain placed a portion of its orders with the United States.

Roosevelt's greatest hope was for the war to expand quickly, weakening the rule of Britain and France, which would create a strategic situation favorable to the United States. Thus, Roosevelt did not care about earning this bit of money. However, when he scanned the statistical table, he was slightly surprised to find that the volume of these imports was very small. For such a small amount of money, the Commerce Secretary shouldn't have brought it to him.

The Commerce Secretary then said, "Mr. President, as far as we know, the orders Britain has placed with China are at least ten times those placed with the United States."

Roosevelt remained calm and did not speak. He knew his Commerce Secretary would certainly provide an explanation. And this explanation would be more impactful than the current content.

"Mr. President. Up to now, the Chinese government has borrowed 500 million pounds from Britain, and Chinese private entities have borrowed around 700 million to 1.2 billion pounds from Britain. What the British side needs now are intermediate products for weapons production, not final finished goods. For example, Britain does not lack arsenals to produce bullets, but it lacks the gunpowder to produce bullets. In recent years, Rockefeller has had deep cooperation with China in the fields of oil and heavy chemicals. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce began negotiations with Britain last year; China can use these intermediate goods to repay its debt."

Roosevelt understood that China was snatching business. It was obvious that China had indeed grabbed business in the more than half a year since the Munich Conference. But Roosevelt did not care. Even if China owed Britain 1.5 billion pounds, that was only 6 billion US dollars. From the perspective of the First World War, this amount of money was nothing.

"Has Britain decided to import these products from China?" Roosevelt asked.

"The Chinese government has reached an agreement with Britain and France. China's debt to these two countries can now be used by Britain and France to purchase war materiel in China. Since the prices offered by China seem to be lower, both Britain and France currently tend to buy from China. Overall, China wants to be a super-sized Japan!" the Commerce Secretary said unhappily.

Roosevelt did not answer. His intuition told him that He Rui did not seem to be that shallow. But Roosevelt could not figure out He Rui's specific objective. At least He Rui had once again expressed the view that China would not expand its territory or colonies through war, an attitude that had won the appreciation of the public in both Britain and France.

After talking with the Commerce Secretary, Roosevelt spoke with Secretary of State Hull. The U.S. Embassy in Poland was located in Warsaw. Although they didn't know how the war was going elsewhere in Poland, the embassy in Warsaw had already sent a telegram stating that German forces had surrounded Warsaw on the 15th. This was enough to prove that Poland had effectively been defeated.

Poland had 1.1 million troops, a number larger than the scale of the United States Army even after its current great expansion. Moreover, these 1.1 million troops were all trained units. Many of the 800,000 troops the U.S. was currently drafting into barracks had not even completed basic military training. If Germany were to invade U.S. soil, the American military would only suffer an even worse defeat.

That night, President Roosevelt played with his secretaries until midnight before falling into a deep sleep. The President slept well; given Germany's naval power, it was absolutely impossible for them to land on U.S. territory. The German army that could annihilate 1.1 million Polish troops would certainly turn Europe upside down. America's opportunity was coming!

While President Roosevelt was sleeping soundly, Moscow received an urgent telegram from Germany. Stalin's attention these past few days had been basically focused on the war. But the German advance was too rapid, and the Soviet Union couldn't figure out what was happening.

When he received the telegram, Stalin was exhausted and preparing to rest. Upon learning it was a telegram regarding Poland, Stalin immediately woke up and hurriedly read it. The content from Berlin was very polite: "If the Soviet Army does not send troops into the area 'east of the German sphere of influence' soon, a political vacuum will form there..."

After reading it, Stalin confirmed that Germany was sending a message to the Soviet Union based on the secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, reminding the Soviet Union that it could make its move.

This news did not bring Stalin joy; instead, it made the General Secretary feel uneasy. Even if the current Soviet Red Army turned out in full force to launch a surprise attack on Poland, it could not achieve the results Germany was seeing right now. According to the Soviet Red Army General Staff's wargames, a Soviet offensive would take at least two months to reach Warsaw.

For a moment, Stalin suddenly thought of He Rui's judgment regarding the outbreak of war between the Soviet Union and Germany: "If the Soviet Union and Germany share a border, the probability of war breaking out is 100%."

Stalin felt extremely worried at this moment. He Rui's judgment was not unusual. If a buffer zone existed between the Soviet Union and Germany, the probability of war between the two countries would be greatly reduced.

So Stalin convened a Politburo meeting. At the meeting, the Soviet Politburo members all believed that creating a buffer zone was a good choice. But the members also raised a question: "Will Germany accept the establishment of a buffer zone?"

Stalin couldn't be sure. In the first few days of the invasion, Germany had urged the Soviet Union to "play its part" through Ambassador Schulenburg in Moscow. The second half of this long telegram provided Moscow with a detailed suggested statement for sending troops.

The Soviet Politburo members did not know about the secret pact. After discussion, they all concluded that if the Soviet Union did not send troops, Germany would occupy all of Poland. Germany occupying all of Poland would be very disadvantageous to the Soviet Union.

If the Soviet Union supported a new Polish government in eastern Poland at this time, this Polish government would face continued attacks from Nazi Germany. At that time, would the Soviet Army engage the German Army?

After some discussion, Stalin discovered that many Politburo members were inadvertently revealing the nationalist sentiments in their hearts. The territory of eastern Poland was originally land the Soviet Union was forced to cede after the Polish-Soviet War of 1921. The commanders of that campaign were Tukhachevsky and Stalin. Taking back this land would wash away Stalin's failure.

Finally, General Secretary Stalin agreed with the conclusion reached by the Politburo. On August 17th, the Polish government and the Polish High Command crossed the border and fled to Romania.

At 3:00 AM on August 17th, Molotov summoned the Polish Ambassador to Moscow, Wacław Grzybowski, and handed him a statement:

"The war between Poland and Germany has revealed the internal corruption of the Polish state. In ten days of hostilities, Poland has lost all its industrial and cultural centers. Warsaw, as the capital of Poland, no longer exists. The Polish government has disintegrated and no longer shows any signs of existence. This means that the Polish state and its government have actually ceased to exist. Likewise, the agreements concluded between the Soviet Union and Poland are no longer valid. Left without equipment and hopeful leadership, Poland has become a place filled with danger and surprises everywhere. These reasons may constitute a threat to the Soviet Union. The Soviet government, which has remained neutral until now, can no longer maintain a neutral attitude in the face of these facts.

The Soviet government also cannot ignore the Ukrainians and Belarusians living on Polish territory, who are being left to the mercy of fate and are defenseless.

Under these circumstances, the Soviet government has instructed the High Command of the Red Army to order troops to cross the border and protect the lives and property of the residents of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus.

At the same time, the Soviet government proposes to take all measures to deliver the Polish people from the war imposed on them by their unwise leaders, and to ensure they can live a peaceful life."

On August 18th, the Soviet Red Army crossed the former Polish-Soviet border. Because the Soviet Union considered at this time that Poland no longer had a government, the border was invalid. Led by local pro-Soviet figures, the Soviet Army began to advance rapidly westward.

The Polish Army originally thought the Soviet Union was coming to help Poland, so large numbers of troops fled to eastern Poland, preparing to join forces with the Soviet Army to counterattack the Germans together. Now, suddenly learning that the Soviet Army was storming in to take over eastern Poland, the entire Polish Army lost its will to fight and disintegrated completely.

The Soviet advance was extremely rapid, while the German Army slowed its advance at this time, leaving time for the Soviet Army to arrive. Only the armored units commanded by Guderian occupied a portion of the Polish territory previously promised to the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany in order to construct favorable defensive positions.

On September 5th, as soldiers of both Germany and the Soviet Union shook hands, conversed, and exchanged gifts, the German troops gave up these lands to the arriving Soviet troops and withdrew to the area assigned to Germany. With this, the Polish Campaign came to an end.

During the following month, the Soviet Union and Germany conducted exchanges regarding personnel issues. The Soviet Union obtained a significant amount of data from this. In this battle, the Polish Army suffered 66,300 deaths, 133,700 wounded, 694,000 captured by the German Army, 217,000 captured by the Soviet Red Army (including those who surrendered), and 100,000 fled to neighboring countries. The German Army suffered 10,600 deaths, 30,300 wounded, and over 3,400 missing.

This war result frightened the Soviet Union and European countries considerably. The British side believed that the German Army had successfully implemented "Blitzkrieg" for the first time, demonstrating the power of tank corps implementing deep rapid assaults in coordination with aviation, which would have a profound impact on the development of military science.

In China, He Rui gave the Military Commission an assessment report... In the implementation of mobilization and deployment measures for its armed forces, Germany adopted a policy of preemptive strikes. The German armed forces' military operations against Poland demonstrated that pre-assembled army and air force groups launching concentrated surprise attacks have a significant effect. During the war, tanks and the air force displayed immense power. In order to break through enemy defenses, rapid heavy troop groups—tank corps, tank divisions, and motorized divisions—were used for the first time in close coordination with aviation. This created conditions for maneuvering rapid heavy troop groups to outflank and encircle the enemy in the depth of their defense. This can expand the depth of the campaign offensive and increase campaign speed.

In Germany's view, this is merely the most traditional Prussian tactic of "divide and conquer" (concentric attack/Kesselschlacht) from the past 800 years. This view is correct, but the technical means of implementing this tactic are now completely different. From this moment on, warfare between modern industrial powers has opened a brand new chapter!