Age of Conquest Reborn

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 it stop its 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 the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, 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 army.

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 relative

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

We can "talk" better in the future, but I'm afraid

It was hoped that a decisive battle in Shanghai would easily trigger the intervention of the international community. Given China's national conditions at the time, it was impossible to allow Chairman Chiang to stand still in Shanghai and sit back and watch the Japanese troops deploy at will in Shanghai. Public opinion and princes would really doubt the Nanjing Central Committee.

The government 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 would be a decisive factor in 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 troops on the front line 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.

Quan, Tang Qiuli understands very well, the so-called

The "international intervention" was purely a fantasy. At that time, appeasement was prevalent in Europe, and Britain and France acquiesced in Hitler's Germany's occupation of the Sudetenland. The Western powers would never break up with Japan, which had been on the threshold of the great powers, and draw chestnuts from the fire for China, which had been extremely weak for a century.

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 Kai-shek.

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 one battle? And they had millions of soldiers in North China.

Tang Qiuli had a clear idea of ​​the Japanese 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 capable was China?

Can we still confront Japan if we retreat to the backward areas in the southwest?

Therefore, at that time, the argument that "China will be destroyed within three months" was very popular 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, and the strategic plan of defeating North China in one battle and then marching 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. It tightly entangled more than a million Japanese troops in North China and could not move. The North China War

The situation 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.

of, because of

The only way to do this is to fight quickly and strike with heavy punches to knock the clay-footed giant of China to the ground. Only then can the war with China be quickly ended, and then compete with the Russians for Siberia in the north, and with Western countries such as the United States and Britain in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

Chasing deer.

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 sustain the war. The naval fleet sailed up the Yangtze River, splitting China into two halves, the north and the south, and destroying each one. The Japanese Navy's idea was theoretically

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 in Songhu broke out. On the first day of the war, the Navy was beaten to the point of vomiting blood by the Chinese Navy and lost its two 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 threw 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 at hand 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, 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 you go to play funeral music when someone marries a daughter-in-law, if you don't do it well, you will end up in trouble.

Why bother to be accused of sabotaging peace talks?

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 strength of 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, 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

It's a great anecdote. Besides, what's there to talk about with those Japanese beasts?

First, get all the soldiers on Chinese soil back to their hometowns, so that there is a basis for negotiation. Besides, the Japanese don’t really want to negotiate, they are just trying to buy time. They are polite on the surface but hide a knife behind their back. Now he

, when he saw the Japanese, he immediately got angry, killing one, missing one, and those guys, what is there to talk nonsense about?

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)