Lu Ming was one of the first people in Shanghai to learn about the outbreak of the September 18th Incident. The international press corps he belonged to had hundreds of news items and all kinds of news spread every day, true or false.
When he heard the news, he was completely stunned and could hardly believe his ears.
He first deceived himself, thinking that this might be fake news, but he soon came to his senses. He knew clearly that the Japanese had formulated the 520 plan last year, so why didn't he believe it?
The Japanese just played a trick. One year and three months later, the plan was still implemented.
Sure enough, an hour later, Times reporter Thomas received a faxed photo showing Japanese soldiers with loaded guns attacking the "Beida Camp" in Shenyang.
He was sweating profusely and knew that he had done an unforgivable mistake. Neither he nor Sheng Youde should have made any gentlemanly promise with the Japanese.
They did not inform the young marshal of the evil 520 plan, nor did they report it to the Nanjing government.
Obviously, they were deceived by the Japanese.
On the surface, Colonel Kawama, who planned the 520 Plan, was punished and was dismissed from the military and transferred to the reserve force. However, the September 18th Incident launched by his colleagues Ishihara Kanji and Itagaki Seishiro almost completely adopted the 520 Plan. There are slight changes in details.
On September 18, 1931, a day that will forever be recorded in history, the Japanese Kwantung Army brazenly launched an attack on Shenyang with a force of multiple divisions.
On September 19, 1931, Zhang Xueliang spoke to the Tianjin Ta Kung Pao reporter at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital and said again: "I have already ordered our soldiers not to resist if they provoke the Japanese soldiers. Therefore, our troops in the Peking University Camp have already ordered the collection of ordnance and stored it in the warehouse. ”.
After receiving the order of non-resistance, the Shenyang defenders automatically laid down their weapons. The Kwantung Army occupied Shenyang almost without a fight, and also occupied key places such as the Northeast Army's arsenal and airport.
A few days later, gunshots rang out across the Northeast. Although the defenders in various places also received orders from the Marshal not to resist, the bloody Northeastern people still stood up to resist the invasion of the Japanese Kwantung Army.
Lu Ming jumped into the car and ran all the way to the Liuyuan Garden, but saw that the gate of the Liuyuan Garden was closed.
Lu Ming was about to drive in and honked the horn frantically, completely losing his usual lazy and leisurely image in Liuyuan.
The security guard of Liuyuan recognized Lu Ming's car and hurriedly opened the gate, but he was a little confused. Master Lu never drove his car into Liuyuan before. He usually parked his car in the parking space at the door. Did he get into trouble today?
The car went straight to Sheng Youde's office.
At this moment, the first news was broadcast on the radio. Sheng Youde was listening attentively, the muscles on his face were trembling from time to time, and he was grabbing the table with both hands.
"Damn Japanese devils, a bunch of liars!" he cursed angrily.
The news on the radio news was very brief. It only reported that the Japanese Kwantung Army had attacked Shenyang. The specific details were unclear.
"Uncle, we were deceived." Lu Ming opened the office door and said in a deep voice.
Sheng Youde sat slumped in the armchair, with an expression of disbelief still on his face.
"Old man, do you think the Northeast Army can resist the Kwantung Army?" Lu Ming asked.
"Resist? Well...hasn't an order of non-resistance been issued?" Sheng Youde said angrily.
"I really don't understand why there is such a ridiculous order!" Lu Ming widened his eyes and said in confusion.
"I think the young marshal may not want to have a head-on conflict with the Japanese. He wants to control the situation, and then the Republic of China government will come forward to negotiate with the Japanese to resolve the dispute." Sheng Youde thought for a while and said.
"What nonsense is there to resolve disputes? The Kwantung Army created trouble with the intention of occupying the Northeast and expelling the young commander." The information Lu Ming received from the press group was relatively comprehensive.
"It's impossible that the young commander doesn't understand this. We were wrong. We should have told the young commander about the plan last year." Sheng Youde said regretfully.
Lu Ming did not speak, but he was thinking in his heart, if they had told the young marshal the evil plan last year, could this war have been avoided?
Difficult! Even if the Marshal knew the Japanese plan in advance, he might not have a good solution. The Japanese had planned it for a long time, and launching a war of aggression against China was already their national policy.
Sheng Youde called several old business friends, unified their opinions, and immediately began to send a telegram to the Nanjing government to express their attitude.
The Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce firmly opposes the aggressive actions of the Japanese Kwantung Army, demands the Nanjing government to lodge a solemn protest against the Tokyo government, and must not give in to the Japanese invaders militarily.
Sheng Youde also sent a telegram to Japan, asking them why they did not keep their promises.
These telegrams were not coded and were all sent in clear text. The Shanghai business community and Sheng Youde personally expressed their attitude to resolutely resist Japan. The more people who know about it, the better.
After a while, Sheng Muyi and Yuan Ziyuan also arrived. The four people who knew about the 520 plan gathered together again. The mood at this moment was difficult to express.
Sheng Youde and Lu Ming looked serious. Sheng Youde motioned to Sheng Muyi and Yuan Ziyuan to sit down and wait for a reply from the Nanjing government.
After waiting for almost an hour, the Ministry of National Defense of the Nanjing government sent a telegram, fully agreeing with the attitude of the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce and its president Sheng Youde, but the government still advocated resolving the incident through negotiation.
"You still need to negotiate? There is nothing to talk about. The young marshal's home has been occupied by others." Yuan Ziyuan said angrily.
"You don't understand that Nanjing can only advocate negotiation and consultation. Although Northeast China has changed its flag, it is still in charge of the young marshal after all, and the central government cannot completely replace it." Sheng Youde sighed.
"Then we have to fight first and then talk. We can't fight or not fight. We must rely entirely on negotiation. Doesn't that make it clear that people will be bullied?" Sheng Muyi also looked indignant.
"It's not that we don't fight, it's that we can't beat them." Sheng Youde said painfully.
"How could they not be defeated? Doesn't the Northeast Army have five or six hundred thousand people? I heard that the Japanese only have a strength of twenty to thirty thousand people, and they cannot defeat one ten against one?" Yuan Ziyuan asked doubtfully.
"You don't understand the mentality of the Japanese. They just figured out that the Northeast Army did not dare to resist, so they dared to launch an attack. The young marshal once fought a battle with the Soviets and was defeated. In the end, the government came forward to negotiate a settlement.
As for the remaining problems, the young commander may have thought that he could do the same thing this time." Sheng Youde sighed.
"The Japanese are more ambitious than the Russians." Lu Ming said suddenly.
"Then what can we do?" Sheng Muyi asked.
"Send someone to send that 520 evil plan to the Nanjing headquarters. At least let the head of the government know the true intentions of the Japanese. They must not treat this matter as an ordinary conflict. The other is to launch diplomacy and ask Britain and the United States and other countries to come forward.
Put pressure on Japan to completely curb the signs of Japanese aggression." Sheng Youde thought for a while and said.
Sheng Youde then sent telegrams to friends in Britain, the United States, France, Germany and other countries, hoping that they would come forward to persuade the government to put pressure on Japan.
Sheng Youde directly stated the reason. If European and American countries allow the Japanese to invade China, it will greatly damage their interests in China, and may even end up burning the flames of war on themselves.
Lu Ming was also thinking about how to report this matter to Frank, but he still wanted to wait until the matter was further clarified before sending a telegram to Frank.
That evening, the Japanese side sent a call back, saying that the incident was a private act of the Kwantung Army and had not been approved by the country. Even the Japanese military did not know about it in advance, let alone the government departments.
The call also emphasized that the emperor was angry at the actions of the Kwantung Army and had ordered the government to come up with a plan to control the situation in Northeast China.
"A bunch of liars, a bullshit emperor, what he told is also a lie, I will never trust the Japanese again in my life." Sheng Youde threw the telegram to the ground and stepped on it.
Lu Ming believes that Sheng Youde's judgment is correct. September 18th will definitely not be an isolated incident, but may very well be the prelude to Japan's aggressive war against China.
Before returning to China, when Mr. Frank was discussing the Far East issue with Lu Ming, he mentioned the "Tanaka Memorial" and told him that the memorial stated that "if you want to conquer China, you must first conquer Manchuria and Mongolia; if you want to conquer the world, you must first conquer China."
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The origin of this incident was the "Oriental Conference" held by the Japanese government in Tokyo from June to July 1927.
The meeting discussed and determined the specific plan to invade China, formulated the "Outline of China Policy", and drafted a secret memorial to the emperor by the then Japanese Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tanaka Yoshiichi. This is the infamous "Tanaka Memorial"
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The Emperor had long been aware of the Japanese government's wishful thinking about its attempt to invade China, and his feigned anger was just a show.
However, Japan did not lie this time. They did not know that the Kwantung Army would launch an attack on the Northeast Army.
The Japanese military was aware of it in advance and sent a senior officer to the Kwantung Army to inspect. The so-called inspection did not mean to stop it, but to consider the pros, cons and timing of launching a war.
Ishihara Wanji and others used deception tactics to get the officer sent by the military drunk, and arranged military operations in private as usual. At about 10 o'clock the next night, they brazenly launched an attack.
The young marshal who was in Peiping for medical treatment at that time suddenly became confused. He didn't know why the Japanese launched a sudden attack. He thought it was a misunderstanding and that perhaps negotiations between the governments could be used to settle the matter.
In order to prevent the conflict from escalating, and based on the idea that it is better to resolve enemies than to make enemies, the young marshal issued the famous non-resistance order to the Shenyang garrison. As a result, the black hat of "non-resistance general" became a major stain on his life.
If the Northeastern defenders had resisted with all their strength, whether they could have repelled the Kwantung Army's attack and even wiped out a division of the Kwantung Army with superior force can only be a hypothesis.
There are no assumptions in history, and even war chess reasoning cannot lead to correct conclusions.
The Northeast Army did not resist and lost the Northeast, but the general public did not agree.
The gunshots of September 18 inspired the bloody spirit of the people of the entire Northeast, and the people of the Northeast awakened. They sang the song "On the Songhua River" and embarked on the long journey of the fourteen-year Anti-Japanese War.