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Volume 1 On the Songhua River Chapter 448 Japan¡¯s Sue for Peace

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    Chapter 448 Japan seeks peace

    Chairman Chiang¡¯s ambiguous attitude left Tang Qiuli puzzled. The old man seemed to be trying his best to avoid a question: Will Japan continue to expand the war?  Or should we just stop the invasion of China?

    When Tang Qiuli learned through other channels that Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Konohashi, led by a large diplomatic delegation, had arrived in Shanghai, all his doubts and confusions suddenly became clear, and he clearly caught the Chairman of the General Committee.  With his thoughts and pulse, he also understood the real reason why Chairman Chiang tolerated the Japanese army's repeated actions in North China, but only in Shanghai did he use his family wealth to fight the Japanese army to the death.

    The Military Commission headed by Chairman Chiang considered that fighting in Shanghai would be more convenient than fighting in the far northern plains. All military supplies for the Central Army came from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, which was traditionally controlled by Chairman Chiang.  And it can avoid the Japanese army with superior mobility. The water network in the south of the Yangtze River is the natural nemesis of the Japanese mechanized troops.

    Moreover, Shanghai is an international metropolis with foreign concessions. A war here is very likely to cause interference from major powers. If the fight is good, a glorious peace may be won through foreign mediation, thereby thwarting the Japanese army's ambitions in North China. This pair of relatively  It is extremely powerful for a weak China.

    At that time, Chairman Chiang pinned his hopes on the sanctions imposed by the great powers to intervene to stop Japan's aggression. He has never given up this idea. The battle in Songhu was a last resort after the Japanese were too forced to do so. The purpose of "fighting" was to  If we can have better "talks" in the future, I am afraid we still hope to have a decisive battle in Shanghai, which will easily trigger the intervention of the international community. And given China's national conditions at the time, it was impossible to allow Chairman Chiang to stand still in Shanghai and watch the Japanese troops deploy at will in Shanghai¡ª¡ª  Public opinion and the princes will really suspect that the central government in Nanjing has a tacit understanding with Japan.

    At that time, the League of Nations was going to hold a "Nine-Nation Convention" meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on November 3 to discuss the Sino-Japanese War. Chairman Chiang pinned his hopes on the League of Nations meeting, which was the key to the Battle of Songhu.  The second phase was at a critical juncture, and he made it very clear in a speech at the Nanjing Military Commission.

    Chairman Chiang Kai-shek said: "The Nine-Nation Convention Conference of the League of Nations has a great bearing on the fate of the country. I ask the frontline troops to make greater efforts to support the Shanghai battlefield for another period of at least ten days to two weeks, so that they can win the battle in the international arena.  Shanghai is a very important economic base for the government. If it is abandoned prematurely, the government's finances and materials will be greatly affected. "

    It can be seen that Chairman Chiang Kai-shek at the time was not optimistic about the prospects and outcome of the Songhu Battle. He used the word "supportive" until the League of Nations came forward to speak out, because Shanghai had too many interests of the great powers in China.  , he did not believe that those great powers could sit back and watch the Japanese monopolize their interests in China.

    As a result, the outcome of the Battle of Songhu was a victory that surprised him. The Japanese army never took action again, and its power in Shanghai was uprooted. At the same time, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Konohashi arrived in Shanghai again and expressed his intention to seek peace.  It can be judged that on the one hand, Japan failed in Shanghai and suffered heavy losses; on the other hand, it was frightened by the Nine-Nation Convention Meeting of the League of Nations and was afraid of international sanctions, so it had to come to the negotiating table.

    In the eyes of the General Chairman, the deterrent power of the League of Nations is greater than the victory of the Chinese defenders in the Battle of Shanghai. Under such circumstances, negotiating with Japan can take advantage of the right time, place and people, and seize more initiative  Right, Tang Qiuli knew too well that the so-called "international intervention" was purely a fantasy. Appeasement was prevalent in Europe at that time, and Britain and France acquiesced to Hitler's Germany occupying the Sudetenland. Western powers would never fight against the great powers for the sake of China, which has been extremely weak for a century.  Japan, at the threshold, turned against China and took advantage of China's fire.

    The Japanese's current attitude of suing for peace conceals their sinister intentions. It is to buy time for the next larger-scale attack. At the same time, it is also to paralyze the National Government, especially Chairman Chiang.  The fierce and arrogant Japanese were overjoyed to be able to take the initiative to seek peace, thinking this was an unprecedented event in a century.

    From the late Qing Dynasty to the early years of the Republic of China, they were not forced to sign alliances with foreign powers, but were beaten to the point of confusion. After looking for teeth everywhere, they were forced to sign various agreements that were humiliating and humiliating the country. But this time, the Japanese took the initiative  Suking for peace was an unprecedented victory in military and diplomatic history. Nanjing's senior officials were celebrating, but they failed to see through the Japanese intentions.

    Zhang Zhizhong and the few senior generals in the government on the front line in Shanghai were worried about this. They may not be able to understand the complicated and confusing international situation, but based on the experience gained from bloody battles with the Japanese, they instinctively felt that the matter was not going to happen.  It's so simple. How could the Japanese be willing to give up just because they lost a battle?  And there are millions of soldiers in North China and Chen.

    Tang Qiuli had no idea about the Japanese¡¯s intentions.At the beginning of the war against China, they believed that as long as they attacked China's newly established industrial zones and military and political centers, and at most invaded China's coastline, China would definitely surrender. How could China retreat to the backward areas in the southwest if it had the ability to do so?  Can it fight Japan?

    Therefore, at that time, the argument that "China will be destroyed within three months" was rampant in Japan, and the whole country believed it. When the war started, in less than 20 days after the July 7th Incident, Japan lost many troops in North China.  , suffered heavy losses. The strategic idea of ??defeating North China in one battle and then moving south to the Central Plains was not realized. The Japanese troops in North China were beaten to a huddle in the Pingjin area, without the ability to fight back.

    Afterwards, despite a large-scale increase in troops, Tang Qiuli's North China Army, with its tough attitude and superb combat effectiveness, could not be dispersed or driven away, and it tightly entangled more than a million Japanese troops in North China, unable to move. The North China War  It has reached a deadlock, with no sign of change within a short period of time.

    At this time, the Japanese base camp was extremely angry and anxious about the results that were contrary to the original judgment and calculation. Japan is an island country with limited resources. It cannot afford to compete with China, a huge country, for endurance and tenacity.  Therefore, the only way is to fight quickly and strike the clay-footed giant of China to the ground with a series of heavy punches. Only then can the war with China be quickly ended, and then compete with the Russians for Siberia in the north, and compete with the United States, Britain, etc. in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.  Western countries compete.

    The Japanese base camp tried its best to find an effective way to break the current deadlock and end the war against China as soon as possible. At this time, the navy's idea of ??fighting southward gained the upper hand. And because of the army's successive defeats in North China, the base camp acquiesced to the navy's move in the direction of Shanghai.  Hands-on planning.

    Starting from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, where China's economy and industry were the most developed at that time, we could destroy the industrial base that China relied on to maintain the war. The naval fleet sailed up the Yangtze River and cut China into two halves, the north and the south, and destroyed them one by one. In theory, the Japanese Navy's idea  It is feasible, but there is also an obvious intention to compete with the Army for credit, which is contrary to the Army's strategic vision of moving from North China to the south of the Yangtze River.

    As a result, the Japanese Navy took action, and the "August 13" Incident broke out in Songhu. On the first day of the war, the Navy was beaten to the point of vomiting blood by the Chinese Navy and lost its six-year-old bases in Hongkou and Yangshupu.  The troops stationed in Shanghai were completely wiped out and lost face. As a last resort, the navy left this mess to the army.

    The result was a miscalculation. Matsui Iwane's Shanghai Expeditionary Force was beaten to death and was unable to fight anymore. They could only hide in the open sea and wander around. The Japanese base camp felt that the situation was serious and the war with China seemed to be far away. This was something the Japanese could not do.  As a result, all the organized divisions in the country have been sent to the Chinese battlefield, and there are no troops to deploy.

    It takes time to re-recruit reserve personnel and form new divisions, so there was a scene where Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Konohashi came to Shanghai to sue for peace. This was obviously a smoke bomb to cover up the actual recruitment activities in Japan and paralyze them.  The Nationalist government relaxed its vigilance and relaxed its armaments and made a comeback.

    After Tang Qiuli analyzed the Japanese intentions, he did not mention it to anyone, including Chairman Chiang. At this time, could the old man believe it?  If someone marries a daughter-in-law and you play funeral music, you might be accused of sabotaging the peace talks. Why bother?

    He sent a telegram to Brother Qiu Sheng that the East China Army should vigorously strengthen its defenses and strengthen the training of soldiers in anti-landing operations. They can build extensive anti-landing obstacles within their own defense lines.  The Garrison Brigade Jiang Yanming deployed 12,000 troops from four regiments to supplement and strengthen the Sulu Mobile Corps, including two infantry regiments, a heavy artillery regiment, and an air defense regiment.

    The security regiments of the counties in the Taihang Mountain Base Area were immediately upgraded to supplement the strength of the Huangyadong Security Brigade, and new security regiments were formed in each county. After doing all this, Tang Qiuli was in Shijiazhuang, with the mentality of watching the Japanese clowning, and paid attention  The Sino-Japanese peace talks in Nanjing must have been exciting and exciting. The Japanese were proud, the Chinese were fooled again, the senior government officials were excited, and the Japanese took the initiative to seek peace.

    On October 2, Tang Qiuli received an urgent telegram from Nanjing, asking him to rush to Nanjing immediately to participate in the Sino-Japanese peace talks, and took up the post of deputy head of the Chinese delegation. The head of the delegation was Wang Chonghui, the then Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the National Government.  , the Secretary-General is Gao Zongwu, Director of the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and its members include General Zhang Zhi, who is currently the commander of the Shanghai Garrison, and Yu Hongjun, who was the mayor of Shanghai at the time, and a total of 16 people, including ten military representatives.

    Tang Qiuli was shocked by this telegram. He was not good at this kind of litigation and did not like it. He might have seen the ugly faces of the Japanese and killed a few of them on the spot. That would become an international  A great anecdote. Besides, what is there to talk about with those Japanese beasts?

    "We must first get all the soldiers on Chinese soil back to their hometowns, so that we can have a basis for negotiation. What's more,The Japanese don't really want to talk, they just want to buy time. They are polite on the surface but hide a knife behind their backs. Now he gets angry when he sees the Japanese. He kills one and loses one. What does he have with those guys?  What nonsense?

    Later, I calmed down and carefully considered the list of delegation members. I discovered the mystery and couldn¡¯t help but smile knowingly.

    (To be continued)
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