Chapter 1036 Grand Ceremony (Part 2)
Such a celebration is not a lasting success, but it is absolutely unprecedented. It has never been before, and it may be difficult to see the strongest, hostile country on this planet in the future, to pay tribute to their once-dead warriors in a country.
The tiger lies in the Far East has achieved the highest glory for his soldiers and for those heroes who have sacrificed for his country in this country of thousands of years of history.
This heavy glory is believed to allow those heroes to rest in peace...
——The New York Times. Front Page, May 25, 1940
Under the leadership of the guard of honor, Tu Tiger slowly held the wreath and walked towards this magnificent monument. He did not use anyone's hand. He believed that only the wreath he gave himself was enough to express his highest respect to these soldiers who had passed away.
He slowly placed the wreath on the base and carefully organized the sacrificial banners on it. He took two steps back and solemnly gave a standard military salute to the monument.
Afterwards, the chairman of the United Government, Lin Sen and Prime Minister Yan Zhengqing slowly carried the wreath to the base of the monument. They delivered the wreath and gave a solemn and scrutinized salute to the monument.
Then, under the leadership of the guard of honor, Churchill, Stalin, Hull and others slowly climbed to the base of the monument. Their wreath was held by the guard of honor.
After placing the wreath, he also gave a tribute to Yan Zhengqing and others.
After them, Gerhardt and his team climbed to the monument. These were all planned. After all, Stalin, Hull and Churchill were all leaders in their respective countries.
Gerhardt and others are just special envoys, and their identities are a little worse than that. So their rankings are relatively low.
"Hello~~" a loud shout sounded, and all the guards of honor raised their guns in their hands in a flash! Then there were thirty-six salutes in the square.
The people around the monument had no impatientness. They stood upright in the morning light and were like javelins. The military salute was meticulous and they looked at the monument with a solemn expression.
"Libi~" With a shout, the ceremony was over. As everyone was about to walk down the pedestal and start talking, Hull suddenly said to Lin Sen.
"Chairman Lin, before I came to China, our President, His Excellency Roosevelt, specially brought me a gift to express his respect for these soldiers who fought bravely for the people and freedom..."
As he said that, Hull's accompanying official came up with a box. Hull took the box, opened it with his own hands and lifted the red silk inside.
But he saw that there was a stone brick in the box, so Hull's accompanying officials picked up the box and placed it on the table brought by the guard of honor. Hull stroked the stone brick and said.
"This is a stone cut from the Statue of Liberty, with President Roosevelt's handwritten inscriptions and signatures. President Roosevelt hopes that this gift can express his respect for these warriors..."
This stone brick was indeed cut from the Statue of Liberty. Roosevelt specially cut it overnight when he learned that Hull and the others were going to attend the Wehrmacht celebration.
Subsequently, the stone brick was engraved with the president's inscription and his autograph and sent to Moscow and handed over to Hull.
"Your sacrifices for freedom and justice will be remembered by us and history. Your achievements will be remembered by the rest of our lives, and your heroes will last forever!
——The 32nd President of the United States of America: Franklin Delano Roosevelt”
"Thanks to President Roosevelt for the gift..." Lin Sen was moved for a moment when he looked at the stone brick and stroked the clear patterns on it.
The text above is written in Chinese and English. The Chinese signature is: Luo Ruici, the 32nd President of the United States of America.
Even though the president did not come to China, he expressed his respect in his way. This respect allowed the coalition government and all the people present to slowly slide towards the United States on the scale of negotiations.
"We cannot find an English stone. You know, we cannot go back to English for the time being..." At this time, British Prime Minister Churchill stood up, and his entourage officials also took out a box.
The box contains a piece of carved jasper.
"This is the lucky stone of Canada, and it is also the best gift God has given to Canada - Canadian Arctic Jade." Churchill said. He took out the carving of the Arctic Jade and handed it to Lin Sen. This Arctic Jade is not as big as that stone brick, but it also weighs three or five pounds.
Lin Sen was solemn, because Yan Zhengqing whispered that the chairman, this kind of jasper is an extremely precious jade. It is produced in the Arctic Circle and is the best texture among Canadian jaspers. Among Canadian jaspers, less than 1% of the texture can be called "Arctic Jasper".
Such a large piece of Arctic jade has a very considerable value. Looking at the text and signatures on it, I believe that this piece of jade will become priceless in the future.
"Only representing the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, we express our highest respect to the Chinese soldiers who have sacrificed their lives in pursuit of justice and freedom in history!
——Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, the 58th Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”
"We have felt your respect and sincerity. Here I would like to express my gratitude to you on behalf of the United Government and all government affairs and military personnel of the Defense Forces!"
Lin Sen excitedly put the Arctic jade back into the box and said to Churchill: "I believe that we will become good friends with the British Empire! Let's work hard for this!"
At this time, Stalin also stood up and put a box on the table in awe and said, "This is amber, a special product of our Soviet Kaliningrad Prefecture, and the inscription on it expresses the respect of the Soviet Supreme Committee to the deceased soldiers!"
Lin Sen took the box, but his hand sank. When he opened it, he saw that it turned out to be a huge piece of natural amber. Just now, he held the weight of the box. Lin Sen felt that the amber weighed at least five kilograms.
"The heroic warriors fight for freedom and justice, and those sacrifices that have been passed away will not pass away because of your disappearance. Your names may not be known, but your achievements will last forever!
——All members of the Supreme Committee of the League of Soviet Socialist Republics are here to express their respects.”
"Thank you and the Supreme Committee for giving these soldiers the glory. I believe our friendship will be as mentioned above!" Lin Sen was a little immune now, but he couldn't help but tremble in his heart when he thought that Russia, which once looked down on China, had expressed this way for a moment.
At this time, Gerhardt couldn't sit still. He looked at Hull and the others with his gifts, gritting his teeth for a long time and couldn't speak.
He saw the expressions of those coalition government officials and the generals of the National Defense Forces in his eyes and was anxious. If things continue like this, the negotiations will definitely be detrimental to Germany.
"What do I have to do..." Gerhard murmured to himself, while Franz, beside him, sighed: "What can we do?! We came in too hurry and didn't think of preparing any gifts for this ceremony. Where can I find gifts for now..."
Gerhardt didn't say anything, he lowered his head and looked. At this time, he saw the Iron Cross on his chest.
This is a Class Iron Cross, an honor that Gerhard, who once participated in the First World War and performed bravely. He has always cherished this honor and has brought it with him to attend various formal occasions at any time.
In this negotiation, he was facing the tiger of the National Defense Force. According to the information, he knew that the tiger admired the warrior who had made great achievements. He took the medal by Gerhardt with him and hoped that this symbol of courage would add points to his impression when he formally met him.
But now this medal seems to have other uses...
"Chairman Lin Sen, because we were in a hurry, we didn't know we were going to attend such a ceremony, so we didn't prepare any gifts..." Gerhard walked towards Lin Sen, took off the first-level iron cross on his collar and slowly placed it on the table.
"This is the commendation I received for my heroic performance during World War I - the First Class Iron Cross. I think this symbol of courage should also be awarded to those soldiers who fought for their own country."
Gerhardt paused and said, "I now give this medal that proves my courage to this monument to express my respect for these soldiers who have passed away!"
As he said that, Gerhardt saluted a German military salute to the monument with great sternness. Hull and others on the side looked at each other and couldn't help but nod.
The German diplomat, named Gerhardt, was so quick to react and was very good at using the weapons in his hands. Indeed, for the Warriors, there was no better gift for the medal to prove courage.
In contrast, stones, gems and amber seemed a little insignificant under this medal. But Hull and others wisely chose to shut up instead of continuing to fight.
Because they had seen a glimmer of light flashing in the eyes of the tiger and his father, it was obvious that the tiger did not want its grand ceremony to be covered with shadow due to their open and secret struggles.
Therefore, Hull and others applauded wisely and expressed their gratitude for Gerhart's gift. Although the three of them wished they could kill the German diplomat now.
"Thank you for your gift, as you said, this is a symbol of courage!" Lin Sen took the medal solemnly and said, "Thank you!"
Chapter completed!