On July 5, the twenty-sixth year of the Republic of China, in Tokyo, Japan, two unattractive old men were quietly playing Go in a quiet cabin. One was Han Yuan, who was then the Chief of Staff of Japan with the rank of Marshal.
Prince Miyazai Jin and General Umezu Yoshijiro, who was convicted and returned to Japan some time ago.
After returning to Japan, Umezu Yoshijiro, who was supposed to transfer to the reserve service, was instead appointed Army Vice Minister because of the appreciation of Prince Kanin Miya Zaihito. Before serving as Army Undersecretary, the Military Affairs Bureau of Japan's Army Province had great power, and Nagata Tetsuzan was the Director of Military Affairs.
He was the spokesperson of the Minister of War and the core of the Army. In terms of power, the Chief of Military Affairs was greater than the Under Secretary of the Army at that time. The Secretary of War and the Chief of Military Affairs could attend parliament, but the Under Secretary of the Army was only the Under Secretary for Affairs and could only stay in the Ministry of War.
Unable to attend parliament.
After Umezu became the Army Undersecretary, he teamed up with the Minister of War, Hisashi Terauchi, and the Director of Education, Sugiyama Moto, to weaken most of the power of the Military Affairs Bureau of the Japanese Army Province. This restless Japanese, nicknamed Stone Man, also wrote to the Emperor of Heaven to devote himself to solving the problem of Japan.
The issue of the war between China and the People's Republic of China will be solved, and the issue of the North will be resolved as the situation changes.
These remarks of Umezu Yoshijiro won the favor of the Emperor of Japan and Prince Kanin Miyazaihito. Today, Umezu Yoshijiro came to play chess together at the invitation of Prince Kanin Miyazaihito.
"Umezu-kun, your chess skills have improved a lot in recent times. It seems that people have to suffer some setbacks to make progress." Prince Kanin Palace Zaihito showed a slight smile on his usually wrinkled face. It seems that he
I am still very satisfied with Umezu Yoshijiro's performance in these days.
Umezu Yoshijiro said respectfully: "This is all because of your teachings. In my humble position, I just take the medicine according to the prescription."
"Alas," Prince Kanin Gongzaihito drawled, "This is the result of your own efforts. Don't put it on my head. You just need to remember to serve His Majesty the Emperor."
"Hi" Umezu Yoshiharu lowered his head sharply to show that he was taught.
Prince Kanin Gong Zaijin picked up the tea cup and took a sip of tea before slowly asking: "Umezu-kun, what do you think of the upcoming China Incident?"
"I believe that in order to solve the current situation, the whole country must unite and go all out to defeat the Nanjing government in a short time and force them to surrender. Only in this way can the whole country be mobilized to overthrow the Chahar government and defeat Su Tong."
When he heard the name Su Tong, a murderous look appeared on Umezu Yoshijiro's usually dull face.
Seeing Umezu Meijiro's rare expression of expression after mentioning Su Tong, Prince Kanin Miya Zaihito also said sternly: "Umezu-kun, you must remember that in order to completely defeat China, you must do it with lightning speed.
And completely defeat them. Japan is an island country with poor resources and cannot support a long-term war, so our actions must be as fast as possible. Only by completely defeating China and bringing all their resources into the arms of the empire can we
It is possible to compete with Western powers for world hegemony."
"Hi"
Prince Kanin Gong Zaijin then said gently: "After a while, I plan to send you to serve as the commander of the Kwantung Army, integrate the troops and resources there, and defeat the Chahar government as soon as possible. Now Ueda Kenkichi also
It's so shameful. He only knows how to use his power for personal gain all day long, to make money in his own pocket, and to make the Kwantung Army miserable. The base camp has long had the idea of replacing him, but it has not been implemented yet. I originally and I still don't know about this matter.
I didn’t want to tell you so soon, but I still said it, just hoping you would be prepared, do you understand?”
Listening to Prince Kanin Miyazaihito's sincere words, Umezu Yoshijiro felt excited. He knew that if it had not been for Kanin Miyazaihito to personally advocate for him, he might still be fishing in Kitakyushu. He choked and said: "Your Majesty the Prince's
Caring and humiliation will always be borne in mind.”
Prince Kanin Palace Zaihito closed his eyes, and gently waved his hand to indicate that Umezu Yoshijiro could retreat.
Umezu Yoshijiro bowed respectfully to Prince Kanin Palace Zaihito at a 90-degree angle, then turned around and walked out the door. When he walked to the door, he seemed to hear a long sigh.
Song Zheyuan, commander of the 29th Route Army in Peking, was sitting at his desk looking at the telegram just sent from the Confidential Section. General Counselor Xiao Zhenying was sitting in front of him.
"Military Commander, what did Chahar's message say?"
Song Zheyuan frowned and handed over the telegram, "Read it yourself."
"Why do I want to attack Peking?" Xiao Zhenying smiled contemptuously after reading the telegram. "I'm afraid Chahar's telegram was a drunkard's intention."
"What do you mean by what Xiantai said?" Song Zheyuan asked with some confusion.
Xiao Zhenying took out a cigarette, lit it and explained: "Huh, what can I do? Su Tong is not satisfied with staying in his Chahar and being his northwest king, and wants to come to Peking."
Song Zheyuan's eyebrows raised upwards, "That's impossible. After all, he is now a veritable king of the northwest. If he were to attack Beiping, he wouldn't use such despicable methods."
Xiao Zhenying snorted, "Knowing people, knowing faces, but not knowing hearts. I have never seen anyone who would think that his territory is too big. Military Commander, you'd better be careful."
Song Zheyuan sighed, threw the telegram in his hand into the trash can, and ignored the matter.
Nanjing Leader's Residence Today, the Chairman and his wife took a rare opportunity to enjoy the shade in the pavilion.
"Darling, what did Su Tong say in the telegram again?" Seeing the serious and hesitant expression on her husband's face after seeing the telegram from Chahar, he couldn't help but ask curiously.
"What else can there be, other than repeating the same old tune, advocating that the Japanese are going to attack China in an all-out way and asking us to step up our guard?" The Chairman put aside the message in his hand with disdain.
"Darling, I also have good intentions, so don't be too angry."
"With good intentions, he requested to send more than two divisions to Peiping to assist Song Zheyuan's 29th Army in jointly resisting the coming Japanese attack. If his two divisions really entered Peiping, then Peiping would not be his bag.
Have you caught something?"
The Chairman was extremely angry about Su Tong's message. Originally, he and Su Tong had a tacit understanding. Su Tong only developed in the northwest and did not participate in various disputes within the customs. Chairman Chiang did not care about Su Tong's affairs, but
Now Su Tong's telegram made the Chairman think that it was a signal that Chahar was about to march into the pass.
"Tell them that they must not send a single soldier into Chahar, otherwise the central government has the right to expel them." The Chairman's attitude was resolute, unprecedentedly resolute.
Zhangjiakou 37th Group Army Headquarters: "Jianming, don't worry, the Chairman has always been like this. Our strength is enough to worry him, but your telegram makes him even more worried, so
That's why he sent such a telegram, which is in line with his current state of mind." Jiang Baili comforted him as he looked at the harshly worded telegram in his hand, worried that Su Tong would do something extreme when he became angry, so he hurriedly comforted him.
.
Su Tong smiled faintly: "The scary thing about stupid people is not that they are stupid, but that they think they are smart. Stupid people can't do the stupidest things, and the stupidest things are done by smart people. Both the Chairman and Song Zheyuan mistakenly thought that I, Su
Someone is about to attack Peiping and start to guard me tightly. Little does he know that the person who is most ambitious to them has already sharpened his knife and is quietly standing behind him."
"Order the 3rd Armored Division, the 102nd Division, and the 5th Division to immediately enter a state of combat readiness and be prepared to attack Rehe at any time." In the end, Su Tong ordered the troops to be ready. July 7, the 26th year of the Republic of China.
In the afternoon, the 8th Squadron of the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the Japanese North China Garrison Army, led by Captain Shimizu Setsuro, headed towards the area between Huilongmiao and Dawayao, which is close to the Chinese garrison station of Marco Polo Bridge and loaded with live ammunition.
At 7:30 p.m., the Japanese army began the exercise. At 22:40, the Japanese army claimed that gunshots were heard from the exercise area and that a soldier Shimura Kikujiro was "missing". They immediately forced themselves to enter Wanping City, where the Chinese garrison was stationed, for search.
, the 219th Regiment of the 110th Brigade of the 37th Division of the 29th Chinese Army sternly refused.
Qin Dechun, deputy commander of the 29th Route Army, was reporting to Song Zheyuan: "Military seat, the Japanese claimed that they want us to hand over their missing soldiers immediately, otherwise they will forcibly enter Wanping City to search. Commander of the 219th Regiment
Ji Xingwen is leading the third battalion to confront the Japs. What should we do? You have to make an idea."
Song Zheyuan snorted and said: "The Japanese are trying to provoke us and make us make mistakes. We can't be fooled by them. We ordered the soldiers to stay in the camp and not to go out."
At this time, Ji Xingwen, the leader of the 219th Regiment guarding Marco Polo Bridge and Wanping City, was standing on the battlefield, paying close attention to the movements of the Japanese.
"Tuanzuo, I saw a little Jaap coming up ahead." Battalion Commander Jin Zhenzhong ran over panting.
Ji Xingwen ordered sternly: "Tell the brothers, if the little devil dares to come here, give me a severe beating. We in the 29th Army must not be cowards."
"yes"
In the early morning of July 8, in front of the Marco Polo Bridge, Qing Zhi, captain of the Japanese Army's First Regiment, led his troops close to the Chinese defenders' position.
"I'm reporting to you, Colonel, that the troops are close to the China Army's position." Captain Shimizu Setsuro of the Third Battalion strode over to report.
"Yoshi" Colonel Qingzhi nodded, and then said fiercely: "Order the troops to attack immediately."
"Hi"
Kiyomizu Setsuro responded and then turned around and pulled out his command sword and pointed it at the Chinese army's position: "Kill to the imperial warriors, attack."
"onboard"
Thousands of Japanese soldiers swarmed towards the Marco Polo Bridge.
"Brothers, beat me hard"
"Click, click, click." The Czech machine gun on the third battalion's position opened fire. For a moment, there was a sound of gunfire and shouts of killing. The July 7th Incident began.