Chapter 30 29. Chiang Kai-shek told Zhang Xueliang: Everything must be listened to by the central government

The situation was expanding day by day. In addition to appealing to the international public opinion and appealing to the League of Nations, Nanjing paid more attention to the attitude and strategy of Zhang Xueliang, who bore the brunt in the north. On this day, Zhang Xueliang sent Wan Fulin and Bao Wenyue, deputy commanders of the Northeast Frontier Defense Force, to Nanjing to pay a visit to Chiang Kai-shek and ask for an opportunity. In the past few days, Zhang Xueliang in Beiping has also frequently convened his staff to discuss countermeasures. On the morning of the 19th, Zhang Xueliang convened the Northeast Foreign Affairs Committee to discuss countermeasures.This committee was established in August to study Northeast diplomacy when the air between China and Japan was overwhelmed by various unsolved cases of the so-called Manchurian and Mongolian issues.Some of its members were prominent diplomatic figures during the Beiyang government.At the meeting that day, Gu Weijun, a senior diplomat with a high reputation in the international arena since the Beiyang era, suggested that he immediately call Nanjing to ask the Nationalist Government to lodge a protest with the Executive Yuan of the League of Nations and request the Executive Yuan of the League of Nations to hold an emergency meeting to deal with the matter. a situation.Gu Weijun analyzed that the League of Nations is absolutely unwilling to see Japan's power becoming bigger and hindering the principle of equal opportunities for the great powers. Some kind of pressure in Japan.Tang Erhe, who just returned from Japan not long ago, also advocated this discussion.He said that according to his observations in Japan, the Japanese cabinet is restraining the forces of the military and is unwilling to expand the situation in the Northeast. If the power of the League of Nations is used to restrain Japan, it will make it easier for the Japanese cabinet to deal with the military.At the meeting, Gu Weijun also suggested that people could be sent to the Northeast to learn about the intentions of the Japanese leaders, and resolve several outstanding cases between China and Japan through mutual compromise, so as to ease the atmosphere and pave the way for a comprehensive solution.Doing so would involve the suspicion of separate negotiations between the Northeast authorities and Japan. Zhang Xueliang did not explicitly agree, but after being persuaded by Gu, he felt that it would be fine to send someone to find out how far Japan was going to go.

On the 21st, Zhang Xueliang invited celebrities from Pingjin and senior Northeast officials in Beiping to discuss the Northeast issue in Shuncheng Palace.Attendees included Li Shizeng, Hu Shi, Zhu Qiling, Cao Rulin, Lu Zongyu, Wang Kemin, Wang Yitang, Gu Weijun, Tang Erhe, Zhang Shizhao and other Pingjin celebrities, as well as senior Northeast military officials Wang Shuhan, Liu Zhe, Mo Dehui, Yu Xuezhong, Wanfu Lin, Wang Shuchang, Ji Yiqiao, Bao Wenyue and other 27 people.The attendees also "all believed that they relied on the League of Nations and obeyed the orders of the Central Committee."

Zhang Xueliang's own attitude and response strategies are not only concerned by Nanjing, but also by domestic public opinion. The "Shengjing Times" on the 21st published a press release sent back by its reporter after attending the press conference held by Zhang Xueliang at the Union Hospital on the afternoon of the 19th, reporting Zhang's statement on the incident at the reception, "therefore At present, it is necessary to maintain a calm attitude, to communicate with all agencies inside and outside the customs, to strictly enforce discipline, not to act rashly, and to report the truth to the central government for the record of everything that happened, and so on.But I also noticed that "the nature of this case is very different from the Nakamura incident, so it is still difficult to say whether Northeast China will resolve it from an independent standpoint."

The "Peking Morning Post" on the 22nd also reported the impressions of its reporters when they attended the press conference held by Zhang Xueliang.Zhang said, "The Japanese army has already launched a war, but China has no intention of using force to deal with it. The Chinese side only waits for the judgment of the general public opinion of the world, and hopes and expects that there will be a fair judgment on this incident." Where and its purpose", Zhang said he did not understand, because "all incidents are extraordinary".So when a reporter asked about whether the negotiations should be conducted by the central government or the Northeast region in the future, Mr. Zhang replied, "This is a nationally unanimous issue, and it should be resolved by Nanjing."

There is no contradiction between Zhang Xueliang’s public statements and the Nanjing side, but in view of the fact that when China and Japan were negotiating outstanding cases such as the Nakamura incident, the Chinese side had already shown signs of double negotiation between the central government and the Northeast; Looking at the experience of China-Japan "diplomatic relations", it is not difficult for those who know it to see that, with Japan's usual tactics for many years, if this incident can be resolved through negotiation between China and Japan without resorting to the League of Nations, it will naturally be beneficial to Japan; At that time, it would be more beneficial to Japan if it could directly negotiate with the local authorities in Northeast China instead of the central government. This is in line with Japan's intention to "specialize" the Manchurian and Mongolian regions for many years.Therefore, it is not entirely unreasonable for Chinese people to worry about whether the Northeast authorities will negotiate with the Japanese alone, and for the media to pay attention.

It is not only the public opinion that has such concerns, even Chiang Kai-shek in Nanjing is not without such concerns.The Japanese have never concealed their intention to regard Manchuria and Mongolia as their forbidden territory.Chiang Kai-shek saw this clearly. In 1927, when he went east to Japan after leaving the field, when he secretly met with the then Japanese Prime Minister Tanaka, Tanaka dissuaded Chiang Kai-shek from further plans for the Northern Expedition, emphasizing Japan's special rights and interests in the Northeast.As for the so-called "Tanaka Memorial" that shocked the world, even if it was not written by Tanaka himself, but judging from its strict planning system for the Manchurian and Mongolian regions, it can be seen that it is by no means groundless, and it can indeed represent a considerable force in Japan. The Mongolian region took drastic measures.Regarding the so-called unsolved cases such as the Wanbaoshan incident and the Nakamura incident in recent years, the public opinions of the two countries have been disturbed, but Chiang Kai-shek is well aware of the true intentions of the Japanese behind such unsolved cases.It’s just that China is still in a state of division, and the Nationalist governments in Nanjing and Guangzhou are fighting against each other. In addition, although the CCP has issued a declaration of resistance to Japan, it is impossible for the Red Army, which is surrounded by the Nationalist government’s troops, to send a single soldier to fight against Japan.After September 18, Chiang Kai-shek always fantasized about appealing to the League of Nations to arouse international public opinion to put pressure on the Japanese government and force the Japanese military to return to the state before the incident.

Some new international trends in recent years have amplified Chiang Kai-shek's glimmer of hope. On August 27, 1928, at the initiative of the governments of the United States and France, 15 countries including the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Germany, and Japan concluded the "Abolition of War Convention", which stipulated that international disputes should be resolved by peaceful means, and war should be abandoned as a national responsibility. policy tool.Since 1928, the National Government has implemented revolutionary diplomacy, and achieved obvious results in winning the recognition of the National Government and abolishing unequal treaties. In 1928, starting with the United States, major countries such as Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Britain, and France successively recognized China's tariff autonomy.

Because of this experience, Chiang Kai-shek had a glimmer of hope in resorting to the League of Nations to resolve the incident.What he is worried about is that if the Northeast side negotiates with Japan alone, it may fall into the hub of the Japanese and ruin the overall situation.Even if Zhang Xueliang was not threatened or lured by the Japanese, what about other military and political officials in the Northeast? Therefore, when Wan Fulin and Bao Wenyue came to Nanjing to ask Chiang Kai-shek for advice on the mission of Zhang Xueliang, Chiang Kai-shek told him that "the diplomatic situation still has justice, and the territory of the Eastern Province must be complete. Don't negotiate alone, and make a fuss about losing the country and humiliating the country." Moreover, the Japanese are cunning and tyrannical, and it is not easy to make it fast, so it is better to entrust the League of Nations to arbitrate, and there is still hope of taking it back, otherwise, I will not hesitate to fight the Japanese pirates, even if it is defeated, it will be an honor." Jiang specially asked Wan and Bao Er The man said: "Go back and tell Hanqing that now he has to listen to my decision. He must not make his own decisions. He must endure the humiliation and take the overall situation into consideration."

After Wan and Bao returned to Beiping, Zhang Xueliang called Ji Yiqiao, Yu Xuezhong, Wang Shuchang, and Wang Shuhan to discuss.Yu Xuezhong suggested: Although resorting to the League of Nations to avoid a full-scale conflict, you should also concentrate a few brigades of troops to fight back against the enemy in order to forgive the people of the country; At that time, there were still nearly 20 brigades of the Northeast Army left outside the pass. These troops were leaderless when the incident happened, and they were all shaken by the order of "non-resistance". .If, as suggested by Yu Xuezhong, we can concentrate part of our forces to organize the First World War and strengthen our control over the troops, it will not only show the Chinese people the determination of the Northeast Army to resist Japanese aggression, but also boost the morale of the troops and enhance their cohesion so that the troops will not collapse. , so that whether it is war or peace in the future, it will be easy to grasp the initiative of the situation.However, Zhang Xueliang refused to accept it on the grounds that Rong Zhen had led his troops to withdraw, and the military chiefs of Jiji and Heibei provinces were unwilling to return to the original defense.

However, the following principles were gradually firmed up in Zhang Xueliang's mind: local governments in Northeast China were not allowed to negotiate directly with Japan under Japanese violence; diplomatic negotiations were under the direction of the central government in Nanjing; the policy of non-resistance was adopted to prevent Japanese People provoke and do not give them a handle to prove our love for peace.