Professor Karl and Field Marshal Reichenau failed to reach a consensus on the issue of peace. The British submarines did not track this civilian convoy, which safely entered the port of Colombo in Sri Lanka.

Reichenau had traveled all the way from Germany to China, and not just to watch the show. After disembarking, Reichenau went to a hotel in Colombo city with Professor Karl. On the way, Reichenau pondered the arrangements for this trip. Hitler had exhausted his diplomatic channels and surprisingly established contact with the Chinese Civilization Party through the Hungarian Communist Party. As a member of the Fascist Alliance, Hungary still allowed its domestic Communist Party to exist and even exert influence, which Reichenau found quite fascinating.

The car stopped at a seaside hotel with a distinct Portuguese style. As soon as Reichenau got out of the car, he could tell from the standing posture and movements of the personnel at the hotel entrance that they were people who had undergone strict military training. In other words, the Hungarian Communist Party had indeed fulfilled its mission.

Upon entering the hotel, the lobby was largely empty. A waiter led Professor Karl and Reichenau to a reception room on the second floor. inside the living room, two Chinese men were standing by the window chatting. Hearing the two enter, they turned around. Professor Karl was delighted and stepped forward, saying, "Professor Zhao, long time no see."

Reichenau's gaze swept over the gentle and scholarly Zhao Tianlin, then settled on the tall man beside him. This man was not of military background, but his bearing commanded Reichenau's attention. Zhao Tianlin chatted with Professor Karl for a moment before introducing everyone. "Secretary Li, this is Mr. Reichenau."

"Mr. Reichenau, this is the Secretary of the Southern Bureau of the Chinese Civilization Party, Li Runshi."

Hearing the name Li Runshi, Reichenau's expression remained unchanged, but he felt a bit disappointed internally. The intelligence department of the German Ministry of Defense collected internal intelligence on major countries around the world. In the intelligence introducing the Chinese political model, the Chinese "Secretary" was considered a role combining a political affairs official and a personnel official. However, the role of a political affairs official in China was different from that in Europe and America. Under China's republican system, officials were not elected but started their careers as civil servants.

Reichenau did not dislike such a system, but Li Runshi was not an early cadre of the Civilization Party, nor had he worked alongside He Rui for a long time. Reichenau believed that Li Runshi could not represent He Rui's attitude. As for Zhao Tianlin, Reichenau didn't care at all. Although Zhao Tianlin was very famous in the academic field, he had left the He Rui administration very early and was at most a scholar with a deep background.

Both Professor Zhao Tianlin and Professor Karl could speak several languages, and Professor Karl's Chinese was quite good. However, in this informal meeting, both sides used their own interpreters.

Professor Karl asked the first question, "Is there any possibility of peace talks between China and the Allied Powers?"

Li Runshi replied, "Any country that opposes colonialism, imperialism, and racism, whether it is an industrial country or not, whether it is a capitalist country or a socialist country, is a friend of China."

Reichenau was somewhat surprised by the view that China did not care about capitalism or socialism. But after thinking for a moment, Reichenau determined that He Rui did not mind cooperating with capitalist countries; it was just that many European countries now called themselves socialist. For example, France called itself a socialist country rather than a capitalist one. That was why He Rui seemed politically left-leaning.

Hearing Li Runshi's answer, Professor Karl felt a wave of regret. In terms of colonialism, imperialism, and racism, Germany occupied all of them. Although Professor Karl hoped for Sino-German cooperation, this hope was obviously dashed.

Just as Professor Karl fell silent, Reichenau asked, "How will China proceed after liberating Asia and Africa?"

Li Runshi looked at Reichenau with interest before replying, "The World People's Liberation Army, which has already been formed, will liberate the people of Europe from Fascist rule."

Reichenau had heard of the World People's Liberation Army. The German General Staff had various names for it in their collected data; some considered it a Chinese puppet army, others thought it was a "Homecoming Legion" composed of traitors from various European countries. Still others believed it was an organization similar to the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War.

Hearing Li Runshi's answer, Reichenau believed that China's goal was undoubtedly to conquer the world, so he asked, "Will the World People's Liberation Army attack the American continent?"

"The World People's Liberation Army is an armed force with the goal of liberating the whole world. What actions it takes will be based entirely on the circumstances of each country," Li Runshi replied.

Neither Professor Karl nor Professor Zhao Tianlin made a sound. It was more appropriate for them to observe the conversation between the Field Marshal of Nazi Germany and the Vice Chairman of the Military Commission of the Chinese Civilization Party.

Although Reichenau had not been explicitly authorized with anything, he was very clear about his identity, so he spoke quite casually, "Is China's strategy not to conquer the world?"

"Conquering the world is meaningless. Everything established by various so-called great conquerors has vanished like smoke. Judging from the experiences of these people, they were nothing more than a group of armed bandits. Only the spread of civilization can truly influence humanity. Just like the current world, it is not about one side destroying the other, but about completely ending colonialism and establishing a more advanced and reasonable world order on this basis. The war between the two sides is not a dog-eat-dog fight between colonialists, but a struggle between liberation and colonial oppression."

Li Runshi's answer made Reichenau feel a bit bored. He stopped mentioning such grand matters and turned to more specific content. "Does China consider the German national movement to be China's enemy?"

Reichenau's question improved Li Runshi's evaluation of him slightly, so he replied, "China does not designate any country or movement as an enemy. In China's analysis, regarding the inherent needs of any movement, is it anti-imperialist and anti-colonial, or is it striving to achieve imperialist hegemony and colonization? Taking the German national movement as an example, we believe that the German national movement is, to a considerable extent, the German people seeking a solution to economic problems, which belongs to the endogenous needs that any country has.

"However, regarding the means adopted by the German national movement and its staged development, it ultimately chose racism and imperialist means, which we oppose. But choosing racism domestically does not necessarily require war to resolve. But since Germany chose the imperialist route and launched an unjust war, China must oppose it."

Reichenau did not care about a future war between China and Germany, so he asked, "Why does China not agree with Germany's strategy?"

Li Runshi replied, "Germany's strategy has no possibility of success, so of course we will not agree with it."

Reichenau frowned; this was the most arrogant criticism he had ever heard. Before Reichenau could say anything more, Li Runshi continued to explain, "At this stage, Germany cannot accurately position itself at all. If Germany is defined as a powerful industrial country, then this industrial country's raw materials and markets are controlled by foreign countries. For example, Britain can blockade Germany's shipping lanes at any time.

"If Germany is defined as a threatened country, Germany's neighbors all believe that they are threatened by Germany. This makes Germany feel strong malice because it cannot achieve security and mutual trust with neighboring countries. Since Bismarck established Little Germany, Germany has been in such a position. It has never been able to solve this.

"If it were only a military threat, Germany's military power would be sufficient to deal with it. But Germany's economic problems have never been solved. If Germany wants to develop its economy peacefully, it will face hostility from neighboring countries. This is because Germany has an export-oriented economy and adopts a mercantilist stance, which really will suck its neighbors dry..."

Hearing this, Reichenau's brows furrowed. Especially when it came to the part about mercantilism, Reichenau felt that Li Runshi's accusation was too excessive, so he simply interrupted Li Runshi, "Does China think that Germany shouldn't earn profits?"

"It is not that Germany cannot earn profits, but what is the cost of such profits? If Germany could solve the problems caused by profit-seeking, then countries would not only not oppose Germany making money, but would also support it. However, the policies adopted by Germany so far have failed to solve this problem.

"If this problem cannot be solved, it will only intensify contradictions. Intensified contradictions will increase the risk of war. War brings destruction. It destroys the results of Germany's hard work and the established political direction in one day.

"Mr. Reichenau, since our country believes that Germany's strategy cannot solve the problem, we naturally cannot agree with it. And Germany has already taken a very extreme route at this stage. If Germany is allowed to continue like this, the people of the world will suffer very painful losses, which is why we are waging war against Germany."

Faced with such an accusation, Reichenau was very unhappy. He asked coldly, "Doesn't China blame France?"

As soon as these words came out, Reichenau also realized that he was being a bit emotional. Although he was not an expert on Chinese issues, he at least knew that China did not agree with the Anglo-French Versailles system and did not agree with the Anglo-French exploitation of Germany. After Germany declared war on China, the General Staff held many meetings to study China, where some of He Rui's views on Germany were introduced.

Among them, He Rui's evaluation of the hyperinflation that occurred in Germany around 1923 made Reichenau appreciate him very much. Although He Rui was a foreigner, his analysis made Reichenau, a German, feel that he had grasped the pulse of the issue. The internal cause of Germany's hyperinflation was that a large number of German war bonds were due, and the inhuman German upper class reneged on their debts through hyperinflation.

However, Reichenau was a high-ranking German officer after all, and the people who reneged on the debts protected the interests of the upper class like Reichenau. So Reichenau did not make any evaluation verbally.

Reichenau felt that his political level might be inferior to Li Runshi's, so he looked at Professor Karl. Professor Karl then took over the topic, "Mr. Li, do you think there is a possibility of adjustment in Germany's current strategy?"