The ceremony to honor Confucius soon began, and all steps were carried out in full accordance with ancient rituals. Reporters kept taking photos, and people even wrote press releases on the spot and sent them to all parts of the world.
The ritual of offering sacrifices to Confucius is very complicated, and there are also disputes about the date. The most important thing in the etiquette is the three offerings. The officiant must first dress up his clothes, wash his hands, and then go to the Confucius incense table to offer incense and bow. When bowing, the man must use his left hand.
The right hand should be in front and the right hand should be in the back. For women, the right hand should be in front and the left hand should be in the back. Okamura Neji followed this ancient etiquette requirement and bowed to Confucius's wooden token to offer incense, followed by Zhou Fohai and others in turn.
Soon, the entire ceremony was over, and Okamura Neji came outside. A wooden platform had already been set up outside, which was prepared for Okamura Neji to answer reporters' questions next.
As soon as Okamura Neiji stood on the stage, the reporters quickly raised their hands. Okamura Neiji smiled and pointed at a blond and blue-eyed Western reporter.
The reporter nodded to express his gratitude and said, "General Okamura, I would like to ask, as far as I know, worshiping Confucius is a traditional activity in China, and the time is not at this time. Why do you want to participate in such an event and choose such a time to hold it?
?”
Okamura Neiji was very satisfied with this question, nodded and said, "First of all, I like Chinese history very much. In fact, my real name is Xu Ningji. I am a descendant of the famous Ming Dynasty general Xu Da. In fact, I am not only
It’s me. Many Japanese people have Chinese ancestry. In terms of blood, the Japanese are actually closer than the Manchus and Han people!
Then why do I want to hold this event at this time? Because I know that since 1937, the Chinese people have had many misunderstandings about us Japanese, part of which is due to the misleading of the Chinese Red Party and Mr. Chiang Kai-shek, but it is true that
Part of it is that we Japanese have not done well, so I decided to let the Chinese people know us Japanese again, recognize our goodwill, and understand our determination to help China! I am here to appeal to all Chinese people in North China that we are willing to
Together with all the people in North China, we will build a new North China, and we are ready to introduce a package plan to build our North China."
Immediately, another group of people raised their hands. Okamura Neiji nodded to a short Japanese. The Japanese nodded and said, "General Okamura, I want to know what that package plan is?"
Okamura Neiji said, "We know that many of our troops have many conflicts with the Chinese people in North China due to language barriers and other issues, so our first step will be to purge the army. You can send a message to tell all the people in North China that as long as you
If you don't support anti-Japanese activities, you are absolutely free. If you find any Japanese soldier infringing on your interests, you can go to the local headquarters to report it. If they don't accept it, you can write to me directly and I promise to help you.
We uphold justice and welcome the supervision of journalist friends.
Then we will significantly reduce industrial and commercial taxes in areas with good security, stop violent policies such as forced acquisitions, and completely return local security and administration to the Nanjing government of China. However, we will also implement military control in areas with chaotic security, especially in areas with chaotic security.
We will resolutely crack down on places where anti-Japanese activities are rampant!"
Okamura Neiji's words and policies quickly spread throughout the country, and everyone was curious to see what amazing moves the newly appointed commander of the North China Front would do. Okamura Neiji did not disappoint, he was really great.
It significantly reduced the tax rate in the Japanese-occupied North China, and stopped the forced implementation of military stamps. It also held civil servant recruitment examinations and military officer recruitment examinations, attracting many talents from North China. For a time, Okamura Neiji
He is considered a moderate among the Japanese army and is popular among public opinion.
However, some people still discovered that Okamura Ningji's troops were not simple anymore. The first person to notice that something was wrong was not Shandong, where Okamura Ningji was set as a key target, but Liu and Deng's army in the Taihang Mountains.
"Strange, in the past two weeks, our salt and sugar shipments have dropped significantly." Deng Xianxian walked to Liu Bocheng's office with the report and said.
"Oh? Could it be because the weather is getting colder now?" Liu Bocheng asked speculatively.
Deng Xianxian shook his head and said, "This is impossible. The weather is getting colder now. It should be time to ship more. I think there may be some movement by the Japanese army."
Liu Bocheng said strangely, "But I haven't heard any news... It is that Okamura Neji has started to build trenches and bunkers again, but this should not have much impact on us."
Deng Xianxian looked at the report carefully and said, "I took a look and found that those Japanese businessmen who have dropped rapidly are those Japanese businessmen. They have not gone up the mountain in the past two weeks... I suspect it has something to do with Okamura Neji who may have sneaked in last time.
"
When Liu Bocheng heard this, he immediately said, "If you put it this way, Okamura Neji is really not simple. It turns out that the Japanese army also wanted to control our salt and sugar, but there was no way. As a result, Okamura Neji took control first when he came."
Living with Japanese merchants shows that he understands our situation very well and is extremely hostile to us. Do you think he will launch a major encirclement and suppression campaign next?"
Deng Xianxian nodded and said, "It's very possible. I think we need to increase the intelligence power in the plain area."
When the Taihang Mountain base area became tense, Wu Peifu was informed by Okamura Neji to prepare to attend an extremely important meeting.
Yuan Shu came to Wu Peifu's home, looked at Wu Peifu and said with a smile, "Commander, aren't you very happy to see you!"
Wu Peifu muttered, "Do you know how long it has been since I dared to read newspapers or listen to the radio? Every time I go out, I feel like countless people are pointing at me!"
Yuan Shu smiled and said, "Commander, these will all be cleared up later. Neiji Okamura is so awesome. He first held a Japanese business meeting, requiring all Japanese businessmen to register, and prohibited Japanese businessmen from selling salt, sugar, etc.
Materials related to the Red Party and even military materials were thoroughly inventoried. It can be said that all the previous methods are of no use. Haha, I don’t know how many Japanese businessmen hate him."
Wu Peifu nodded and said, "Indeed, a few days ago, he personally shot a Japanese soldier who shot and killed people in front of Tiananmen Square in Peking. Now there are traitors and literati everywhere praising him. These guys really think he is
What a saint he is!"
Yuan Shu chuckled. Speaking of which, one of those disgusting articles about people not paying for their lives was written by him.
Wu Peifu stopped gossiping and said to Yuan Shu, "Okay, let's go see what new tricks Okamura Neji has up his sleeve."
There was no words all the way, and the two of them arrived at the combat conference room of the North China Front Army Headquarters. Yuan Shu could not go in, so Wu Peifu walked in by himself. As soon as Wu Peifu entered, he saw a bunch of senior Japanese officers already seated. He just did
After arriving at the second seat, Neji Okamura came in and took the first seat, while Yamashita Hobumi took the second seat.
Okamura Neiji looked at everyone who was here, nodded and said, "Okay! Gentlemen, please hand all your pens and papers to the guards next to you. This combat meeting is a top-secret meeting, and no records are allowed. Please
understand."
Someone had been guarding the area for a long time. After everyone handed in their pens and papers, Okamura Neiji said, "The theme of this combat meeting is - Shandong Cleanup Plan! Please give General Yamashita a detailed explanation for the army."
Shandong? Wu Peifu was shocked when he heard about Shandong. Everyone cares about his hometown very much. Although Wu Peifu has not returned home for a long time, he has been paying attention to Shandong. Now he heard that the Japanese want to focus on Shandong.
I couldn't help but feel a little worried, but on the surface I tried my best to pretend not to care.
Yamashita Fengwen stood up and bowed to everyone and said, "Gentlemen! Everyone should know that North China is now nominally ruled by the imperial army and the Nanjing government, but in fact, more than 70% of the land and population are in the hands of another force.
——The Chinese Red Party and the Eighth Route Army! With the so-called guerrillas as their main force, they reunited in rural villages to fight against the imperial army and propagate anti-Japanese ideas. They were extremely dangerous. In the battles of the first two years, they even lost money from the imperial army.
The capture of Shanxi and Suiyuan caused the imperial army to suffer heavy losses. We believe that the key lies in the Eighth Route Army forces lurking in various places. These troops often cooperate with the main force in operations at critical moments, causing our troops to be beaten and attacked everywhere, which is extremely serious.
Passivity eventually led to strategic failure. Economically, these troops organized local people to resist rent and taxes, destroying the economy. Instead of helping the empire, North China became a burden. This is really a shame for our North China Front Army!
"
"Hi!" The Japanese officers except Wu Peifu all lowered their heads, as if they deserved death. Wu Peifu despised the behavior of the Japanese army in his heart. If he was really ashamed and wanted to commit suicide, just go and commit suicide. Don't talk about it here.
Scary.
Yamashita Tomofumi continued, "Based on this situation, we decided to take Shandong as the main direction of cleanup first, and clean up the Red Party in North China little by little by the Eighth Route Army. So why choose Shandong? Shandong is close to the sea, and we have a navy.
However, Hebei relies on Shanxi and Suiyuan, and the Eighth Route Army in the Taihang Mountains relies on terrain and is difficult to attack. Therefore, we followed the principle of easier things first and harder things later, and chose Shandong. Now let’s talk about the specific plan.
We plan to organize 75 of the 125 brigades of the First Army, the Twelfth Army and the troops directly under the front, including six tank brigades, 10 cavalry brigades, and 8 artillery brigades, totaling 120,000 imperial troops.
As well as 20 regiments of the North China Peace Army, about 80,000 people, with a total force of 200,000, entered Shandong for comprehensive sweeping. The overall combat philosophy is to clean up in sections with absolutely superior strength. Please look at the map."
With that said, Yamashita Fengwen opened the map. On a huge map, you can see that Shandong is divided into hundreds of densely packed areas.
Yamashita Fengfumi said, "We have redivided Shandong based on rivers, mountains, roads, and railways, and divided all areas into three categories. Category one is a safe area, and categories two and three are clean-up areas. Each ministry will act in accordance with the instructions.
Take this area as an example. It is composed of five lines. We will require six brigades or 18 battalions to act together, with each brigade or three battalions on one side. Of course, the specific situation will be analyzed in detail at that time and we will report to the center respectively.
Come closer, this area marked red is confirmed to be the base area of the Eighth Route Army. Except for a very small number of elements, the people here are all Red Party members and elements related to the Red Party. Our request is to kill them all!"
"Kill them all?" Wu Peifu was startled. He looked at Okamura Neji and said, "Are the common people also killed?"
Okamura Neiji looked at Wu Peifu gloomily and nodded and said, "The people here are hopeless. I can guarantee that you will not find the people in the village. They will all hide in the nearby mountains, so
You must first occupy the mountains, rivers and woods near the village, and then attack the village. General Wu, you should know that we have lowered taxes on the entire North China and no longer allow the army to harass the people, right? But our Empire of Japan came to North China
We also need food and military pay. Our goodwill and tax cuts are aimed at those who are willing to show goodwill to us. As for those who resist us with weapons, they must be resolutely removed!"
"But those are common people!" Wu Peifu ignored Yuan Shu's instructions before he came and continued to talk to Okamura Neji. He really couldn't accept that his fellow villagers would be slaughtered in an organized way.
"I'm not going to deal with the people!!" Neiji Okamura slapped the table and shouted, "I'm going to deal with the Eighth Route Army! Deal with the guerrillas! Let me ask you, the people in these places support the Eighth Route Army, and the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army belong to them.
My son, they sewed the clothes of the Eighth Route Army, supplied them with food, and provided shelter in their homes. We went to them to report news, and even attacked our imperial army. Can't we fight back?"
With that said, Okamura Neiji said to all the Japanese officers, "Kill them all in these places marked red! Burn them all! Rob them all! No one here needs to be alive, and all the wells here must be filled up."
, all the domestic animals here must be captured, and those that cannot be captured will be killed and put into rivers and wells. I want this place to become a place of death! Do you understand?"
"Hi!"
Wu Peifu looked at the Japanese officers with red eyes and bloodthirsty looks. He knew that he could not make these demons change their minds just by talking to him. He sat down slowly, his eyes were dull, and he didn't know what he was thinking.
Yamashita Fengfumi continued, "Then there are these yellow places. These places are infested by guerrillas. You can choose whether to massacre the villages or give them Hinomaru flag protection. Remember, we will make some special ones then."
Flags, these flags will be given to those friendly people who are willing to cooperate with the imperial army. We must maintain respect for those people, and even give some benefits and benefits. These people will be the cornerstone of our security in North China, do you understand?"
"Hi!"
The meeting lasted for a day. When Wu Peifu returned home, it was already dark. Wu Peifu was trembling as he poured water from his tea cup. He guessed that the Japanese army would make a big move, but he did not expect it to be so vicious. Looking at just now
As indicated by the colors on the map, how many people will be killed by these beasts? One million? Or ten million? No one knows, but the only thing that is certain is that a catastrophe is coming in Shandong.