Chapter 65 64. The European War Created Opportunities for Japan

On July 28, 3rd year of the Republic of China, World War I broke out.At that time, because the war was only in Europe, people used to call it the "European War".The direct fuse of the European War was Serbia and Austria’s hostility. The Austrian Crown Prince Ferdinand was assassinated while on tour in Bosnian capital Sarajevo. Serbia was accused of being the mastermind of the assassination. On July 28, Austria declared war on Serbia. Russia assisted Serbia and France assisted Austria, Belgium was neutral, Germany invaded Belgium, and Britain assisted Belgium, so each side declared war, and the war broke out.

Yuan Shikai received official documents declaring war from various countries, so he invited Li Yuanhong, Xu Shichang, Liang Shiyi, Sun Baoqi and others to secretly discuss the strategy of dealing with it. He decided to adopt a neutral position and announced the "Regulations on Neutrality Outside the Bureau" on August 6.He also assigned Liang Shiyi, Sun Baoqi, Liang Dunyan, and Li Shengduo to draft neutral regulations. On August 11, a neutral office was established, and on August 12, all countries recognized China's neutrality.Liang, Sun, etc. formulated a number of neutral rules and submitted them to Yuan for approval, roughly as follows:

(1) The neutral office will send three people from the Zhengshitang, two from each of the three ministries of the Army, Navy, and Communications, one each from the Command Office, General Affairs Office, and General Staff Headquarters, and three chief executives from the Secret Bureau to work in the office. (2) Set up a neutral inspection office. According to Article 24 of the Neutral Regulations, after the announcement of martial law, it is appropriate to conduct detailed inspections of the items imported and transported by various countries. If they are contraband during wartime, they will be detained.It is specially ordered that the Ministry of Communications and the Taxation Office shall set up neutral inspection sub-offices in all key railway stations and coastal customs to perform this duty.

(3) Pay attention to coastal defense, divide the governors of Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Feng, and Shandong provinces, and Hong Kong, Qingdao, Weihaiwei, etc., Britain, Germany, and Russia have declared martial law, fearing that there will be wars in the future, we should prepare Quiet place, strict prevention of banditry, and order the six provinces to discuss a joint defense plan. (4) The naval fleet was reconfigured, and the fleet under the Ministry of the Navy was divided into three teams: the first team had 15 ships including Haiqi and Hairong, and assigned Xiamen, Makou, Shanghai, Yantai and other places as coastal defense.The second team of 23 ships, including Jian'an and Jianwei, assigned Pukou, Wuchang, Shanghai, Jiujiang, Fuzhou, Xindi, Wuhu, Yueyang, Jiangyin, Changsha, Yichang, Taipingfu, etc. as Jiang defense.The third team is the training fleet Zhaohe and Yingrui defend Majiang and Huangpu respectively.The coastal defense of Guangdong is in charge of Guangdong.

(5) To train the diplomatic envoys stationed abroad to consult with the governments of the various countries where they are scattered to ensure proper protection at all times.Regarding this war, since our country has declared neutrality, all embassies and consulates should speak out in calm and silent manner, and should not comment lightly.International statutes should be carefully observed.Regarding the news of the war, telegraph reports were sent every day.If China sends personnel to watch the battle in the future, it should make a statement to other countries in advance. (6) Prohibition of coded telegrams and inspection of letters and telegrams from outsiders.

(7) Stop issuing tourist passports. (8) The Tenth Division of the Army was transferred to Shandong. At the same time, Yuan, in the name of the President, requested the U.S. government to convey to the countries participating in the war not to engage in combat operations on Chinese territory.The United States did not have a definite answer to this. Kohata, the Japanese charge d’affaires in China, protested that the Chinese government should not make such a request to the United States. Since the Opium War, China has been bullied by the big powers. It is not up to date, but the big powers are making progress. Although Li Hongzhang's method of using barbarians to control barbarians is not satisfactory, but a weak country has no diplomacy, using barbarians to control barbarians is still a way.After the outbreak of the European War, it was a great opportunity for China to use the powers to take care of themselves, try to be self-reliant and self-reliant, and drive the powers out of China. Unfortunately, at this time, Yuan Zheng was vigorously suppressing the Kuomintang and destroying the spirit of the emerging China. Then take the Chinese battlefield and compete for their respective vested interests in China.

After the outbreak of the European War, Yuan asked Liang Shiyi for an evening talk one day. Yuan asked: "The European War has affected the Far East. Where should we start the most urgent matter?" Liang replied: "There are two urgent matters, one is financial relief; the other is It is to guard against Japanese aggression." Yuan said: "Please explain in detail." Liang replied: "Finance first, I borrowed 25 million pounds last year, and there is not much left. The finances have not yet been sorted out, and the treasury is extremely empty. Foreign debts can no longer be borrowed, so it is necessary to open up financial resources first, otherwise, where will the military and government expenses come from in two or three months? Therefore, we should take advantage of the outbreak of the European War, the fluctuation of the pound price, and exchange difficulties for various reasons to stop payment first The indemnities of various countries, all tariffs and salt taxes, are all deposited in the bank of China. Since our country has declared neutrality, the words are strict and righteous, and the countries are no better than me. At the same time, domestic government bonds will be issued immediately. The two can be paralleled, and within one or two years Not enough money. As for guarding against Japan, it is our country’s greatest hidden worry. In recent years, we have met with British envoy Zhu Erdian, Russian envoy Kupopensky, Japanese envoy Hiki Masaki, and French envoy Konti. Zhu Erdian once told the Anglo-Japanese alliance that it has been a success , Japan will definitely assist Britain in attacking Qingdao, which belongs to Germany. If China does not take this opportunity to take it, someone will definitely take it. Of course, Zhu Erdian is referring to Japan. People threatened to seize Qingdao, so I negotiated with the German envoy and asked Germany to return Qingdao to China. At the same time, they secretly sent troops to surround Qingdao. If it is won, Japan will have nothing to borrow. This is not only to prevent Japanese aggression, but also to prevent future troubles." Yuan said: "Yan Sun, your opinion is very correct. Regarding the financial plan, stop paying indemnities, transfer deposits, etc. Salt can be implemented immediately. As for the domestic public debt, it has failed in the past. Do you think there is any good strategy to deal with it later? Please make a detailed plan and handle it fully. Now that the declaration of neutrality was overthrown, the previous agreement was suddenly overthrown, and troops were sent to deal with Germany. Although it was said that Qingdao was taken back, it seemed a bit difficult to justify the neutral position. If this was done, it would increase difficulties and disputes in diplomacy, and it would even increase the sharpness with Japan. I don’t think this is feasible.” Liang said: “Germany and Austria are small enemies, and the outcome of a war will be difficult to win. It is better to find an appropriate time to break off diplomatic relations with Germany and declare war on Germany, so that in the future peace talks can be achieved. Standing in a favorable position." Yuan said: "Let me think about this in detail."

Soon, Yuan set up the Domestic Public Debt Bureau and appointed Liang Shiyi as the prime minister to handle the "three-year domestic public debt of the Republic of China". , the manager of Sino-French Bank, Celier, and the manager of Baoshang Bank, Jing En, are directors of the Domestic Public Debt Bureau. During the European War, the big powers did not give up their vested interests in China, and they wanted to devour each other's interests. Therefore, China's situation was even more difficult. Germany lacked allies in the East, so it was fighting alone, against Britain, Russia, France and Japan in China.It first organized the Sino-German Association in Beijing to contact people in the ruling and opposition parties in China, and then organized a secret group called the Consolidation Group, with the purpose of contacting the Chinese and Koreans and excluding Japan and Russia.The head of the consolidation regiment is Mouriha from Germany, and the regiment headquarters is located in Fengtian. Zhang Xifan, the prime minister of the North West Lake Coal Mine, is sent to deal with the Japanese leaders, and Zhang Zixi, the manager of Harbin Deshengbuzhuang, is sent to contact the overseas Chinese in Russia. North and South Manchuria and Inner Mongolia, the goal of the work is to destroy the Japanese and Russian food platforms, camps and armories.A lot of money was spent to attract members, and within ten days, seven or eight hundred people participated, and 20 of them were designated as officers.

The British Minister Jurdian, the French Minister Conti, and the Russian Minister Kubensky said that the Chinese government did not stop paying Germany's boxer indemnity, so that Germany could use the money to carry out activities against the Allies in China and organize a consolidation group. Very dissatisfied.At the same time, they protested to the Yuan government because the Qingdao German army used the Chinese to build fortifications.In fact, the German army in Qingdao hired Chinese workers based on the "Jiaozhou Bay Lease Treaty" signed by China and Germany in 1898. On August 15, the Japanese government was obliged to help Britain in accordance with the Anglo-Japanese alliance established on July 13, 1911. At the same time, in order to ensure peace in East Asia, the Japanese government presented an ultimatum to Germany, requiring Germany to fight on the sea between China and Japan. The warships were completely disarmed, and before September 15th, Jiaozhou Bay was handed over to Japan unconditionally so that it could be returned to China "in the future".If there is no satisfactory answer to the above two points before noon on August 23, Japan will take necessary measures.Germany's Chargé d'Affaires in China, Marsin, publicly announced on August 15: "Germany can consider returning Qingdao to China, but Japan should also return Taiwan to China."

On August 16, Kohata, Japan's charge d'affaires in China, warned China not to accept Qingdao from the Germans, otherwise Japan would think China was violating its neutrality. On August 23, the Japanese government officially declared war on Germany because Germany did not have a satisfactory answer.On the same day, Germany’s Chargé d’Affaires, Marshen, expressed to Yuan’s government that Germany was willing to return the leased land of Jiaozhou Bay to China unconditionally, but Yuan’s government did not dare to accept it at this time, so it telegraphed to ask the U.S. government to accept it on its behalf, and then handed it over to China.But without waiting for a reply from the United States, Japan has already taken military action in Jiaozhou Bay.

The British Minister Zhu Erdian was a good friend of Yuan. He persuaded Yuan to join the Allied Powers. Yuan put forward three conditions: (1) The Allied Powers would advance money to rectify the Chinese arsenal, and invite British and French experts to help China manufacture arms and improve the quality to meet the Allied Powers’ requirements. (2) The Allied Powers shall not sign treaties related to China without China's consent; (3) The Shanghai Concession shall not shelter Chinese political prisoners. The first two conditions of Yuan's participation in the war were to win over Britain and deal with Japan; the latter was to deal with the Kuomintang's anti-Yuan activities.At this time, Britain needed Japan more than China, so Yuan’s three requirements were agreed in principle, but the consent of Russia, France, and Japan was sought. Russia and France agreed, but Japan firmly opposed it, and further demanded : Any issues related to China must be consulted with Japan first. Japan believed that the European War was a great opportunity for it to reject the influence of the big powers in China and dominate the Far East. It only worried about the United States, because the United States had never been involved in the vortex of the war, and at the same time it was relatively upholding justice on the China issue.Japanese Prime Minister Okuma once called the US government to conduct a test, emphasizing that Japan has no ambition to occupy Chinese territory.But not long after this telegram was sent, it immediately used the name of declaring war on Germany to launch a large-scale aggression against China. On September 2, 3rd year of the Republic of China, more than 20,000 Japanese army and navy cooperated with a small number of British troops to organize the so-called British-Japanese coalition forces and suddenly landed in the vicinity of Longkou and Laizhou in Shandong.Logically speaking, if Japan wants to attack the German army by 10,000 steps, it can only target the German garrison area in Jiaozhou Bay. However, the Japanese army first invaded and occupied the Laizhou Peninsula, which proves that Japan's ambition is to take advantage of fire and robbery. Because the Japanese army destroyed China's neutrality, the Yuan government encountered a difficult problem, which was to delineate the war zone. Japan demanded that the east of the Yellow River be the boundary. In the previous example, I sent a note to the envoys of various countries on September 3, declaring that I would not bear the responsibility of complete neutrality. The original text is as follows: "In this European war, all the belligerent countries are all friends of their own countries. Therefore, this government has decided to declare neutrality and do its best to abide by it. According to the reports of Shandong officials, the German army is marching and preparing for war in the Jiaozhou Bay area, and the Japanese and British joint forces are in Longkou. There were also military operations in the vicinity of Jiaozhou Bay and Laizhou. Zha's country lived with Germany, Japan, and Britain as allies. Unfortunately, it was in China. Such an unexpected move was a special situation. It was related to 1904 The facts of the war between Japan and Russia in Liaodong are similar. However, referring to the precedent, we have to declare that the minimum locations near Longkou, Laizhou, and Jiaozhou Bay are the places that all belligerent countries must use. This government does not assume the responsibility of complete neutrality. In addition, all places still take note of what has been announced The provisions of the above-mentioned regulations are fully implemented. In the places mentioned above, all the territories, administrative powers, and the lives and properties of officials and people must still be respected by the belligerent countries.” According to this statement, the Yuan government recognized the area east of Weixian Station as a war zone between Japan and Germany, and the area west of it as a neutral zone. On September 21, the Yuan government announced that the Jiaoji route would be under the custody of China. The German Chargé d'Affaires in China lodged a serious protest against the Yuan government's statement demarcating the war zone.The first protest was on September 3, the day of the Yuan government statement; the second protest was on September 4; and the third protest was on September 24.The German side believes that the military action taken by the Japanese-British coalition forces in the Laizhou area is an action that completely undermines China's neutrality. China's citation of the method of demarcating theaters during the Russo-Japanese War is not in line with international standards, because China's announcement came after the Japanese-British coalition forces were already in the country. After the landing on the Shandong Peninsula, the result was only convenient for the Japanese and British allied forces, so two rights were reserved: (1) Germany reserved the right to claim at an appropriate time; (2) compensation for damages.The Yuan government's protest against the German charge d'affaires also had reasons to refute it, that is, the German army had already built fortifications in Qingdao and wanted to use Qingdao as a military base, which led to the Japanese and British attacks; On September 6, 500 Japanese cavalry marched to Laizhou and set up camp in the west of the city. Three days later, the Japanese army officially took over and managed Laizhou.Then the Japanese army occupied Pingdu County again, and the troops demanded 1,000 cows, 2,000 chickens, 1,000 pigs, more than 500,000 catties of rice and flour fodder, and 1,500 carts from the county governor.The county magistrate fled because he couldn't bear the disturbance, but was caught by the Japanese army and imprisoned like a prisoner.At the same time, the Japanese army occupied Jimo and Jiao counties, issued military tickets, occupied the county government offices and telegraph offices, and forcibly occupied private houses. Instead, they ordered the owners of the houses to sleep in the open air, and ordered the women to accompany the Japanese soldiers in the houses.Tianyu lit a fire in the main room to dry the wet clothes, and removed the doors, windows, tables and chairs to start the fire.In short, the Japanese army had regarded Chinese cities and towns as occupied areas. Postmen and telecommunications officers openly checked mail, and men were ordered to carry water and firewood.The Japanese army headquarters actually posted notices in the villages of Pingdu County, saying: "If one person in this village commits the crime of obstructing the Japanese army, all the people in the village will be executed." Many innocent villagers were suspected of obstructing the Japanese army and were killed. On September 25, the Japanese army occupied Weixian, which caused a new problem, that is, the Japanese army's action exceeded the warring area announced by the Yuan government and agreed by the Japanese government.On the 26th, Deputy Minister Cao Rulin of the Yuan Government's Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodged a verbal protest and at the same time submitted a formal note.This note is very ridiculous and naive. It said: "Jiao'ao is in the east and Weixian is in the west. It is not necessary to march. It has been stated before that Weixian is not in the war zone. It has been approved by your government, and the soldiers and civilians in this place have also repeatedly informed them. Don’t be surprised, the army of your country has suddenly acted like this to make our government lose trust with the army and the people, what is the intention?” On the 29th, the Japanese Minister to China Hijimashi visited Director-General Sun of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and replied to China’s protest, to the effect that according to his country’s instructions, Jiaoji Road was operated by the Germans. Before and after the war, they had been transporting military supplies for the German army. However, the Weixi area is still secretly used by the Germans. It is very inconvenient for the Japanese army to march, so they occupy it, but they will never violate China's neutrality.This answer avoids the previous commitment to the issue of the war zone.The reasons for the Japanese army’s occupation of the Jiaoji Railway were: (1) The railway was operated by Germans (in fact, according to the Jiaoji Railway Treaty, most of the shares were Chinese). (2) The Germans used this route.The answer from the Japanese side is simply Xiang Zhuang's sword dance, which is aimed at Peigong. Conflating Jiaoji into one, means that the Japanese army will continue to station in Jinan.Sure enough, at 11 o'clock on the night of October 6, 30 Japanese soldiers and three officers arrived in Jinan by car and immediately occupied the railway station.The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs protested again, but the Japanese side still insisted on its unreasonable grounds, and replied with an ordinary letter, which was delivered to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.The main points are: (1) According to the Jiaozhou Bay Lease Treaty, the Shandong Railway is a purely public-owned German corporation under the supervision of the German government, and its entity is an extension of the leased land. (2) The railway itself is absolutely indivisible in terms of operation, and its nature must not be changed by the fact that the railway operated by Germany is west of Weixian in the neutral zone.The purpose of Japan's war is not only to attack Jiaozhou Bay, but also intends to eradicate Germany's bases in the East. (3) The delineation of the warring area and the Shandong Railway issue are separate and should not be confused with each other.All in all, the purpose of the Japanese army, at least, is to annex the Shandong Peninsula. The base of the German army was Qingdao. After the Japanese army launched the attack, they threatened to capture Qingdao within six hours.There were only 6,000 German defenders in Qingdao. Kaiser Wilhelm ordered them to defend Qingdao to the last man.The governor of Jiaozhou in Germany, Wardeck, also publicly declared that if the Japanese army came to attack Qingdao, they would meet strong resistance, and it would take at least 40,000 people to capture Qingdao. Since the abdication of the Qing emperor, a large number of Qing royal family, princes, ministers and elders have moved to Qingdao to do their residences. Now they have to bid farewell to Qingdao with tears. Prince Puwei still stayed. The Japanese army captured Qingdao on November 7, and more than 2,300 German soldiers were captured. Beforehand, the German defenders had received a telegram from the Kaiser telling them not to stick to it. On November 14, the governor of Jiaozhou, Wardeck, was sent to Tokyo, Japan and imprisoned in Honganji Temple. This day happened to be the 17th anniversary of the German occupation of Qingdao. After the Japanese army captured Qingdao, the Yuan government asked the Japanese army to retreat from the Shandong Peninsula to the leased area of ​​Jiaozhou Bay, but the Japanese government ignored it.Yuan sent separate notes to the governments of Britain and Japan, announcing the cancellation of the previously demarcated warring areas, and please withdraw the troops from all over the Shandong Peninsula that had previously been occupied.Not only did the Japanese government still ignore it, but it also set up civil affairs bureaus in the counties it had occupied in Shandong, erected military power lines, expelled Qingdao customs officers, and completely regarded Shandong as a spoil of war.