Chapter 8 07. Zhang Xueliang wanted to investigate the Nakamura incident

People usually use rivers to describe history.Yes, to a large extent, the process of history is indeed like a flowing river. Sometimes she will make a bend in one place, or even linger for a while, rolling up a few splashes, but in the final analysis, she still has to roll eastward. Streamlined, this is just like the theme of an era, which will definitely determine the historical trend of that era. The history of China in September 1931 also took a few turns, and then returned to her theme: Sino-Japanese relations with constant conflicts and crises. On September 13, according to the "Shenbao" report, Zhang Xueliang talked about the Nakamura incident, and believed that if the investigation is true, the army and leading officials who caused the incident will be severely punished.On the same day, Chen Xingya, commander of the Northeast Gendarmerie, received an order from Zhang Xueliang, and led more than 20 entourages to Xing'antun District to investigate the Zhongcun incident.

This is the first time that Zhang Xueliang has expressed his opinion on the Nakamura incident that has caused a lot of trouble through the media. At this time, Zhang Xueliang, who was the deputy commander-in-chief of the Army, Navy and Air Force of the National Revolutionary Army, was in Peiping.Unlike his warlord father, Zhang Zuolin, Zhang Xueliang had grander and more patriotic political ambitions.In his youth, Zhang Xueliang participated in the student movement against 21, but he didn't care about the feelings of the Japanese who were his father's backstage.He would prefer to have a strong and unified central government that would help him counter growing pressure from Japan.It was with this kind of thought that he resolutely realized the change of flag in the Northeast behind the back of the Japanese, and he boldly expressed his support for Chiang Kai-shek's Nanjing regime when the Central Plains War was fought in darkness and the outcome was hard to tell.

Participating in the political struggle in the pass brought Zhang Xueliang honor, power and interests. In 1930, when Zhang Xueliang went to Nanjing for the first time, the senior officials of the national government almost came out all over the river to meet him at Pukou Airport to express their respect and gratitude to him. On May 5, the National Assembly was held in Nanjing.Zhang Xueliang is still a man of the hour under the watchful eyes of everyone.The National Assembly proposed to issue the "Republic of China Reunification Commemorative Stamps" years ago. The pattern is a three-person portrait in the shape of Pin, with Sun Yat-sen in the middle, Chiang Kai-shek on the right, and the 31-year-old Marshal on the left.Zhang Xueliang was also elected as a member of the bureau. On May 9, Zhang Xueliang, who served as the executive chairman of the meeting, said that today is the May 9th anniversary, the day when Japan forced my country to sign 21, and in order not to forget the national humiliation, there should be three minutes of silence.After the representatives stood up, they continued to discuss the issue of amending and abolishing unequal treaties.

This time, he stayed in Nanjing for 20 days and left by plane at 9 am on May 20.Chiang Kai-shek went to the airport to see him off in person, and his reliance remained undiminished. Therefore, at this time, facing the young general who was pressed by Japan after the Nakamura incident, what he had to consider was not the regional interests of the Northeast, but to carefully study and judge the Japanese attempts from the perspective of China's national interests. Shintaro Nakamura, a Japanese military spy, was secretly executed by the Northeast Reclamation Army.After the execution of Nakamura, Guan Yuheng asked the officers and soldiers to keep it strictly confidential, but he still let the Japanese spies who had been immersed in the Northeast for many years and were almost pervasive to inquire about the news.Since August 17, when the Japanese Consul General in Shenyang Hayashi Hisahiro delivered the memorandum on the Nakamura incident to Liaoning Provincial Chairman Zang Shiyi, the Japanese diplomatic authorities made 14 or 5 representations to the Chinese government, and their attitude became increasingly tough.What is even more worrying is that the Japanese military has intervened strongly in this matter, and their determination to take military action against China is stronger than that of the Japanese government.In Japan, more and more people are in favor of the use of military force by the army, while Foreign Minister Kijuro Ishihara, who advocates solving the problem through diplomatic channels, is increasingly isolated.

The Nakamura incident was beyond Zhang Xueliang’s expectations. On September 6, Zhang Xueliang sent a telegram to Rong Zhen, the chief of staff of the Northeast Frontier Army in Shenyang, and others: “No matter how provocative the Japanese are, we must be extremely tolerant. The resistance caused troubles, and I hope that the secret orders will be given to all subordinates quickly, and it is important to be careful." A telegram to Wang Yizhe, commander of the 7th Brigade stationed in the Beidaying, stated: "The relationship between China and Japan is very serious, and our army must be extra cautious when dealing with the Japanese army. .No matter how provocative you are, you should be patient, and no conflicts are allowed to avoid incidents." However, the Nakamura incident still happened.

The Japanese wanted to use the Nakamura incident to make a fuss, and Zhang Xueliang saw this clearly.But how big is this article going to be?He didn't have a bottom in his heart. Aware of the seriousness of the situation, Zhang Xueliang sent people to find out Japan's intentions, and said to his Japanese adviser Shibayama: "I intend to deal with the Nakamura incident fairly. Even if the prisoner pointed out by the Japanese side does not confess, but if the evidence is solid, I will He intends to impose a severe sentence based on the evidence." On September 13, another newspaper in Peking, World Journal, interpreted Zhang Xueliang's attitude in the same way: At this time, Zhang Xueliang felt that the Japanese military was moving in the Northeast and felt that the situation was serious, so he called Liaoning Province, which was in charge of the Northeast, to Chairman Zang Shiyi and Northeast Army Chief of Staff Rong Zhen ordered the two to "investigate as soon as possible in order to resolve it satisfactorily." Apparently, Zhang Xueliang showed such an attitude - to give the Japanese a satisfactory result in order to calm down the matter.

In the future, Zhang Xueliang once said this to a reporter from Japan's NHK: At that time, I was willing to make peace with the Japanese, so why provoke?Here I want to say again, the Japanese soldiers are really incompetent and arrogant!I thought at the time that what they did was not only detrimental to China, but also detrimental to Japan.If I were Japanese, I would never do this, because the consequences of doing so must be very bad for Japan, so I don't think Japan will do this. Zhang Xueliang's words were aimed at Japan's launch of the September 18th Incident, but it can be seen that at that time he did not think that Japan would take the opportunity to launch a war, because that would not be in the interests of Japan.Japan has been operating in the Northeast for so long, the consulate, the Manchurian Railway, the Kwantung Army... all kinds of forces have penetrated into every corner of society, and even a senior colonel Kawamoto can set up a The bombing incident got rid of Zhang Zuolin, the king of the Northeast. In the face of such incomparable power and huge benefits, will war gain more than this?

Zhang Xueliang is a person who has come out of the big wind and waves. He has been in a disadvantaged situation for many years, and he skillfully dealt with the Japanese, and he was not at a disadvantage. When the Japanese bombed Zhang Zuolin to death in Huanggutun, Zhang Xueliang was far away in Lanzhou. Hundreds of thousands of Northeast troops were leaderless.Zhang Xueliang later recalled: At that time, I knew that the deployment of the Japanese army, especially after passing through Shanhaiguan (referring to pass through Shanhaiguan when returning to Fengtian by train—author’s note), was all Japanese troops.I got on the train with our army, disguised as a cook, and no one, not even our people, knew that I was on the train.When I got home, they couldn't recognize who I was!At that time, no one knew that I had returned to Fengtian.I will imitate my father's words. At that time, my father's death has not been announced to the outside world, so all the orders in my father's name are written by me.We waited until everything was settled before we declared my father dead.

When it comes to changing flags, Zhang Xueliang also thinks that he has "washed" the Japanese: I said that the Japanese thought they were very smart at the time, and they spy on China in detail.However, when I hung the Qingtian Bairi flag at that time, Japan did not know that not only was there a Qingtian Bairi flag, but the whole Northeast China was flying the Qingtian Bairi flag.I prepared all the blue sky and white sun flags, and the Japanese didn't know it at all.Therefore, I think Japan spent all the money on espionage and threw it into the wastebasket.It took only three days after I ordered the blue sky and white sun flags to be completed by the bedding factories in all provinces.When I was doing things, my subordinates were afraid of me.I am very strict, I have to do what I say to do, if you can't do it, you can't do it.

In the above two passages, the young marshal's calmness, calm courage and complacency in his strategy are beyond words. In short, Zhang Xueliang believed that Japan launched a war at that time, which was not in the interests of Japan; in addition, in the many years of dealing with the Japanese, the young commander was always superior, which more or less made him look down on the Japanese, thinking that it would be called the Japanese. A dog never bites.In addition, from a realistic point of view, Zhang Xueliang's political focus at that time had been moved to the pass, and the main force of his Northeast Army had also been transferred to the pass, so from a subjective point of view, he did not want to have a final showdown with the Japanese.

In June 1931, when Lieutenant Colonel Ishihara Wanji, a mid-level officer who never forgot to think about the fate of the empire, learned of the execution of Nakamura, he couldn't contain his excitement, thinking that this was a godsend opportunity for the empire to launch a war in Northeast China .With excitement, he wrote a letter to Nagata Tieshan, the director of the Military Division of the Japanese Army Ministry and one of the representatives of the Japanese hawks.However, high-level Japanese military officials believed that preparations were insufficient and that they should wait a little longer, so they did not adopt it.Judging from the resolute non-resistance policy adopted by the Nanjing Nationalist Government and the Northeast authorities during the September 18th Incident, even if Japan launched the war three months earlier, it would definitely not be insufficiently prepared. History is merciless.Zhang Xueliang wanted to use a gesture of "thorough investigation" to avoid Japan's war against the Northeast again by means of four or two tricks, but this time it didn't work.