Chapter 11 Chapter 2 "Down and Up" (4)

"Down over the top" became popular for a while. Originally, soldiers should take obeying orders as their bounden duty, and acting without authorization and exceeding their authority to fight are unacceptable in military discipline. However, the "down to overcome the top" has become like a growing epidemic, making the Japanese army run wild like wild horses without restraint.The commander-in-chief of the temple sent a telegram to Tokyo to accuse, and at the same time sent people to protest to the navy. The young and energetic division chief sent tank troops to Lianyungang to demonstrate to the navy, but where did the always arrogant and rude navy put the army? in the eyes.With the order of the fleet commander, the long-range cannons on the warship raised their black muzzles, and the carrier-based aircraft flew in a dense formation and roared across the sky. The marines built up fortifications and waited for it. Infighting seems inevitable.

The Tokyo base camp urgently dispatched special envoys to mediate. As a result of the mediation, the North China Dispatch Army returned to Xuzhou, the navy maintained its occupation, and the "Lianyungang crisis" was temporarily resolved.In fact, Tokyo's protective stance eventually became a stumbling block to the victory of the Japanese Empire. In 1942, when the U.S. military attacked the Guadalcanal Islands, Terauchi Shouichi, then commander-in-chief of the Southern Army, requested the support of a naval troop carrier, but the Navy refused for various reasons. , to speed up the destruction of Guadalcanal defenders.

The commander-in-chief of the temple was deeply indignant at the biased attitude of the base camp. Since the base camp is unable to restrain the navy, why must the army become the victim and sacrifice of "down to overcome the top"?History shows that this "Lianyungang Incident" that seemed to have nothing to do with the war situation in China would have a profound impact on the course of the 1938 War of Resistance. Its direct consequence was to stimulate the North China Dispatch Army to act beyond its authority.Although the base camp ordered to "maintain their respective stances and not expand the battle area for the time being", the ambitious commander-in-chief Terauchi did not intend to obey the order at all. His reason was simple, that is, Tokyo would never punish the general who won the battle.The staff supported the commander-in-chief's determination, they said; occupying China (China) is the responsibility of the army, so it can't be too much.

The Battle of Xuzhou was drawing to a close. The two major Japanese dispatched armies met in victory. The Central China dispatched troops who came to reinforce the battle withdrew back to the southern theater one after another. The northern battlefield began to show a brief calm. A long-planned secret order was issued.It was the commander-in-chief himself who gave the order, and he dictated a telegram to the chief of staff: Call General Kenji Doihara, the order of the North China Dispatch Army is as follows... For the majority of ordinary people who experienced the fall of the Northeast, the Japanese-occupied area was like a hell on earth. The Chinese were arrested and sent to the secret service for the slightest disobedience. They were severely tortured, and even beheaded and fed to wolf dogs.And the "Fengtian Special Agent Chief" who commands the Northeast Secret Service is the notorious Japanese Class A war criminal Kenji Doihara.

Kenji Doihara, a professional spy leader, graduated from the Japanese Army University. In 1913, he came to Beijing's "Banxi Mansion" (secret service agency) as an army captain and began his decades-long spy career.In the "History of World Espionage" written by Westerners, Doihara is listed as one of the most important international spies in the 20th century, because his espionage activities have "influenced and changed certain historical processes in Asia". Scholars simply call it "Lawrence of Japan" (Lawrence is a famous British spy).Judging from the photos, this ferocious spy chief looks more like a smug Japanese businessman, wearing a striped kimono and wearing a Japanese-style beard that was popular at that time.Of course, these are all superficial phenomena of hypocrisy. According to historical records, only a few years after the "September 18th Incident", Doihara commanded the Northeast Secret Service to arrest and kill tens of thousands of Chinese anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians.

Doihara is a well-known "China hand" in the Kwantung Army of Japan. Not only can he speak authentic Northeast dialect, he is familiar with Chinese history books, and he is familiar with Chinese historical customs. He has also been active in the turbulent northern China for a long time, traveling in and out of Beijing, The official mansions and mansions in Tianjin and Shenyang bought traitors, cultivated pro-Japanese forces, and disrupted the political situation, lest the world would not be chaotic.Yoshiko Kawashima, the notorious female spy back then, was a confidant cultivated by Doihara.In the more than 20 years from the Revolution of 1911 to the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the chief agent Doibara pervasively intervened in almost all major events that occurred in China, such as provoking the Zhiwan War, taking advantage of troubled waters, intervening in the Zhifeng War, and supporting the Feng faction warlords Zhang Zuolin used the sudden suspension of bank exchange to invalidate the banknotes of the Beiyang government and overthrow the Beiyang regime; but only four years later, he personally planned the "Huanggutun Incident" that killed Zhang Zuolin.Doihara also participated in the "September 18th Incident" that shocked China and the world, supported the establishment of the puppet "Manchukuo", and single-handedly directed the political scandal in which the last emperor Puyi fled; he conspired to plan North China's autonomy and independence, and tried to split the North China provinces from China's territory ; Provoking all kinds of incidents, making excuses for the war of aggression against China, etc., is really a heinous crime.

On the eve of the Anti-Japanese War in the eleventh year of Showa (1936), Doihara's spy career came to an end. He was suddenly transferred back to China and changed to a military post.Western observers were puzzled by this. In their view, the Manchurian secret service commanded by Doihara was becoming increasingly active, and its special role was irreplaceable. Why did the Japanese military transfer him away from a military position that he was not good at?Years later, the inside story came to light, and it was Doihara's too much power to do whatever he wanted that annoyed the Tokyo headquarters, so he asked the emperor to transfer him back to China.The spy leader who was transferred to the military position lost his usefulness. He was first appointed as the commander of the Tokyo Guards Division, and then as the commander of the Lieutenant General of the Fourteenth Division.Doihara's unexpected transfer made his rival, Dai Li, the head of the Kuomintang military reunification spy, greatly relieved. It is said that Chiang Kai-shek had a rare smile on his face when he heard about this, and he said three "good" words in succession.

The 14th Division was organized in Utsunomiya City in central Japan, also known as the "Utsunomiya" Division. It was the first main force to land in North China after the "July 7th Incident".At that time, the North China defenders were mostly motley teams with weak combat effectiveness, such as the former Northwest Army, Northeast Army, etc. Doihara, who was a special agent, commanded the 14th Division to attack the city and conquer the terrain. North China Expeditionary Army and Tokyo Base Camp.According to the order, the combat range of the Doihara Division affiliated to the First Army should be limited to northern Henan on the north bank of the Yellow River, and its mission is to protect the security of the flanks of Xuzhou operations.So it was not until the end of the Xuzhou battle that this 30,000-strong army slowly arrived at Puyang County at the junction of Henan and Shandong. At this time, they were still hundreds of miles away from the smoky Xuzhou City.

The Puyang Ancient Ferry is the main throat between northern Henan and western Shandong, and it is also a weak area defended by the Chinese army. On the other side of the Yellow River is Heze, an important town in Shandong.Doihara raised his binoculars to observe, and he saw that the Yellow River in the dry season exposed a large area of ​​dry riverbed, which was a good time to cross the river and fight.However, the ground in Shandong was within the scope of operations of the Second Army, and the Fourteenth Division did not receive the order to cross the river from the Commander of the First Army, Kiyoshi Kazuki, and had no right to fight across the border. So Doihara put down his binoculars regretfully and ordered to return to Puyang City to rest.

But an urgent telegram changed the direction of the team. The sender was not Lieutenant General Kazuki Kiyoshi, the commander of the army, but General Toshiichi Terauchi, the commander-in-chief of the North China Dispatch Army in Xuzhou.The commander-in-chief's order is only a short line: cross the Yellow River and resolutely occupy Heze.