Chapter 8 Chapter 8 Who is the director of life

At that time, China's import and export ports mainly included Hong Kong, Vietnam, Xinjiang, and Myanmar, but after entering the second half of 1941, most of them were blocked. The fall of Guangzhou basically cut off the passage to Hong Kong. Following Nanning, the Hiroshima Fifth Division defeated the French army and invaded northern Vietnam, rendering the Vietnamese route completely useless. In April 1941, Japan and the Soviet Union signed the "Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Treaty."Through this treaty, any thought of China continuing to rely on Soviet support in the future was cut off, and the Xinjiang line was also cut off.

Only Burma is left, and if Japan wants to invade and occupy, it must continue to invade southern Vietnam, so as to open up a forward base for attacking Burma. gambling At first, Japan was still hesitant about marching into southern Vietnam, not because it was afraid of Britain and France. Dongying's ambitions have never been limited to one China, and the appetite of a small island country is very large.However, most of Southeast Asia was originally colonized by Britain, France and the Netherlands. If the European War did not break out, it would not dare to touch it lightly, even if it was so greedy that it would drool.

But today is not the same as in the past, a blitzkrieg in Germany, and France and the Netherlands surrendered. Although the empire on which the sun never sets was temporarily kept safe by a strait, it was still in jeopardy. If you want to say fear, it means fear of the Soviet Union and the United States. After the "Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Treaty" was signed, Stalin personally went to the train station to see off the Japanese representative Yosuke Matsuoka, and even made an exception to take the train with the other party. What a warm scene, it's a pity that everyone knows in their hearts that this is just a temporary use of each other, maybe it won't be long before you click me and I click you.

At that time, Japan had already established the Triple Alliance with Germany and Italy. It would be better if Germany and the Soviet Union fought, and then there would be one less serious problem. However, everyone knows that Germany and the Soviet Union signed a "non-aggression pact". How could they What about hitting? On June 22, 1941, Germany suddenly launched an attack on the Soviet Union. The Japanese immediately understood what non-aggression and neutrality are. In fact, everyone was tacit and deceptive, thinking that the time had come, and they would fight as they wanted.

This is really God bless me too, if I don't start at this time, I will wait when. On July 2, Emperor Hirohito approved the southward advance plan. On July 25, the Japanese army set off from Hainan and marched towards southern Vietnam. Its ambition to include Southeast Asia has been fully revealed. U.S. President Roosevelt was shocked by the news and decided to freeze all Japanese assets in the U.S. on the same day.In order to prevent Japan from attacking Southeast Asia, he also transferred the Pacific Fleet to Hawaii as a diplomatic deterrent to Japan. Japan was unable to bypass the Pacific Fleet and act aggressively in Southeast Asia, so the United States became the biggest obstacle to the "Southern Strategy".

Things couldn't be more clear. If you want to continue going south, you will have to take the risk of going to war with the United States. This is a "world gamble" that is much bigger than the "China gamble", and the bet that can be placed on the stage will be all The wealth and life of Japan - Japan's national destiny. The red-eyed gamblers had to add up again and again and again.However, unlike when the war of aggression against China was launched, it was precisely the frontline commanders who opposed the bet this time. Although Hata Shunroku, the second commander of the "China Dispatch Force" at the time, took over the position of Hisao Nishio not long ago, he had commanded the battle against China long before the Xuzhou Battle, and knew how deep the water was.

If the "Southern Strategy" is implemented, it will have to fight on two fronts. Not only will it have to deal with China, but it will also have to fight to the death with the United States, Britain, France, and the Netherlands. The future is really uncertain. Hata Toshiro advocated abandoning the "south advance" and concentrating his forces to resolve the "China incident" first. For this reason, he also proposed a new battle plan, "eight divisions should be mobilized from the north to attack Xi'an from Zhongtiao Mountain, and then mobilized from the south. Seven divisions will attack Kunming from Vietnam, and if this is the case, great things will be accomplished."

After Hata Junroku's plan was reported to the military headquarters, he was scoffed at. Today's military department is controlled by two people, one is the "old hardliner" Moto Sugiyama, who was the chief of staff at the time, and the other is the "new hardliner" Tojo Hideki, who was then the Minister of Army. In terms of toughness, Tojo is even worse than Sugiyama Moto. This guy known as "The Razor" once commanded a mixed brigade (Tojo Corps) with only a few thousand people, and occupied the entire Inner Mongolia in a short time.Although his predecessor Itagaki also relied on the glory of the Sino-Japanese War, but later he suffered in Xinkou and Taierzhuang. Only Tojo, he accepts as soon as he sees it, and he feels better and better about himself, gradually I don't know who my last name is.

After receiving Hata Toshiroku's report, Tojo snorted through his nose, "You said it so seriously, but you're actually worried that I'll draw his soldiers? You're a fool, don't you think I can't handle you?" Hata Shunroku's new plan looks beautiful.But I would like to ask, what have you been doing long ago? If the matter is really so easy to solve, why would the "China Incident" drag on until today? Two big question marks turned Hata Shunroku's report into a piece of waste paper. Tojo was Lu Xiang of the Konoe Cabinet.This Konoe cabinet is already the third Konoe cabinet, there is no way, everyone can't handle the "China incident", the cabinet has become a punching bag for the military department, and if it is not satisfactory, just a word can bring the cabinet down.

After the first Konoe cabinet, there were three cabinets of Hiranuma, Abe, and Minai successively, but they stayed for half a year the longest, and collapsed after only a few months in the shortest, so Konoe had to be pulled out again to act as a facade. After a long time, the "young politicians" finally figured it out. Once I can't stand it anymore, I will leave. After half a year in power, this old fritter really announced his resignation, and then a new group of people will re-form the cabinet and play house with children. Same. When he launched the war of aggression against China and even closed the door of Sino-Japanese negotiations, Konoe once acted so imposingly and without hesitation, but he was also very timid in front of Uncle Tom.Since his second cabinet formation, he has been negotiating with the United States, hoping to find a solution that bests both worlds.

Seeing this, Tojo was very disdainful, and said to Konoe in front of his face: "Sometimes, we also have to have the courage to do something extraordinary, such as jumping down from a platform, just close our eyes gone." With his eyes closed, Konoe didn't have the guts to speak lightly. He still advocated peace talks with the United States. Tojo didn't have the patience to finish listening, so he slapped the table: "It's a joke, can the peace talks bring us land, resources and sunshine?" Under pressure from the "hardliners" headed by Tojo, the Japanese High Command made a decision to set early October as the deadline. Hideki Tojo wants to bet on Japan's national operations Originally, it was possible for the United States and Japan to reach an agreement. The difficulty of the United States is obvious. It must first face the European battlefield, and most of its military forces have been deployed to that side. If it fights with Japan again, it will undoubtedly fall into the dilemma of fighting on two fronts, so it is optimistic about the success of the negotiations. On Konoe's side, as time was running out, in order to end the negotiations as soon as possible, they also made concessions, promising that Japan would withdraw its troops from China as long as the United States lifted the embargo on Japan. It seems that everyone can be happy. However, as soon as Konoe proposed this plan at the imperial meeting, Tojo became Brother Roaring, and he yelled impulsively that there was no need to talk any more. "What did you talk about, let us withdraw our troops from China? Doesn't that mean that the United States has defeated Japan? It is a shame in Japan's history to lose before a war." In the end, Tojo didn't forget to pour another pot of cold water on him, "Konoe-kun, the deadline has come. Is it the result of your negotiations to let the empire withdraw? I think it's time for you to resign!" "Konoe-kun" was so ashamed and indignant that he shaved his face in front of the emperor. How could this prime minister continue to do so. On October 16, Konoe announced the resignation of the cabinet chief. Tojo had been thinking about this top spot for a long time. On October 18, he was promoted to general by the emperor, and he came forward to form a cabinet. The Tojo cabinet is different from any previous cabinet, because almost all the positions of the cabinet members are taken by him alone: ​​Prime Minister, Minister Lu, Minister of the Interior... What kind of meeting is there, what can be discussed, I am the only one in the entire conference room, anyway, isn't it just about fighting? This is a war cabinet through and through.At this point, Japan closed his eyes and really jumped off the platform. magic Tojo has already loaded the bullets, but what is surprising is that instead of suspending the negotiations, he has expanded the negotiating lineup. There was only one original negotiator, Yoshisaburo Nomura, the Japanese ambassador to the United States.After Tojo formed a cabinet, he added a diplomat named Saburo Kurusu to Nomura as a partner. It seems that his enthusiasm for peace talks seems to be greater than that of Konoe who stepped down. The change in Tojo came from the inspiration of an admiral, who is the commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet Commander Yamamoto Fifty-Six. At this time, Yamamoto was planning a shocking operation against the U.S. Pacific Fleet. He told Tojo that it is of course impossible to obtain benefits through peace talks, but peace talks are by no means useless, they are useful. Hearing this, Sugiyama Moto leaned over and shook his overwatered head, "Peace talks, hehe, that's just a politician's trick, and we soldiers can only use our unique method - war to solve the problem." Everything." This old man, Yamamoto ignored him and continued to talk on his own. Yes, peace talks are indeed a means of deception by politicians, but don’t we military strategists know how to use them? "Prime Minister Razor"'s eyes lit up, there is a door, let's go on. Yamamoto then confided his ingenious plan, "The emperor has approved the southward expansion plan, who can stop it, but before that, we must use negotiations to coax the Americans." It turned out to be a deceptive negotiation, which was too high, and Tojo had an epiphany from this. After forming his own cabinet, he also realized that sometimes negotiations can also obtain benefits that are difficult to obtain on the battlefield. I opposed peace talks in the past, but I opposed the withdrawal of troops from China. If it is possible not to withdraw troops from China, and even force the United States to give up aid to China, why not? On November 2, the Tojo Cabinet, or Tojo, decided to spend a month continuing to carry out "deceptive negotiations". Since it is a deception, you must have acting skills.Tojo acted as the director himself, and gave good advice to the two actors, Nomura and Kurusu. Fortunately, the two were born with the potential to join the entertainment industry. Nomura was assassinated in the late period of "January 28th" and was blinded in one eye, but he was good-looking and had a personal relationship with Roosevelt, so he made a good impression, so he was called "respectable and noble" military diplomat.Laiqi is pitiful at all times, and he can't bear it if you don't sympathize with him. This is a perfect match, it has everything from ecstasy soup to smoke bombs. Under Tojo's order, Nomura and Laisu found US Secretary of State Hull and handed him two new negotiation plans. Hull looked at the past one by one and found that the two proposals have a common feature, that is, to ask the United States to stop aiding China. Hull accepted two proposals and said that he would go back and study them carefully. After Nomura and Raisu returned, they didn't find any obvious loopholes in each other.Nomura pretended to be sincere, showing that he had worked hard to come up with these two perfect strategies, while Laixi pretended to be simple and honest, showing that such an approach was out of necessity. The acting was great, but it didn't escape the eyes of Roosevelt and Hull. To some extent, modern warfare is all about technology, such as code-breaking technology. In this high-tech field, Japan has surpassed China, and the United States has surpassed Japan. In particular, the Americans have mastered a new technology called "magic" and have successfully deciphered the secret messages between the Japanese embassy and Tokyo. With the help of "magic", Roosevelt and Hull mastered the deception of the Tojo negotiations, and even they all knew the time limit set by Tojo, that is, the negotiations must achieve results before November 29. The Japanese want to delay time for military operations, and the Americans also want to do the same, because according to the report of the Navy and Army, it will take two to three months before the U.S. military can finally complete the deployment of the Pacific Ocean, otherwise it will not be enough to prevent the Japanese army from southward. to act. Considering that accepting Japan's plan and "stopping aid to China" in writing would easily cause irritation to China and other allies, Roosevelt and Hull decided to adopt a method they thought was safer. On November 24, Hull convened a meeting of ambassadors from China, Britain, the Netherlands, and Australia, and announced the "temporary transition method" of the United States: asking Japan to reduce the number of troops stationed in Vietnam to 25,000. economic blockade against it. The Chinese ambassador to the United States immediately called the country, and Chiang Kai-shek was shocked when he heard about it. Obviously, the Americans don't want to fight Japan for the time being, so they just need Japan not to continue to "go south". As for whether Japan will withdraw from China, it is actually not within their consideration. The defeat of Yashan led to the demise of "Classical China" The proposal of the Tojo plan is precisely to see this point.The so-called "stop aid to China" is like a replica of the Sino-Japanese War. It accommodated the big powers, but only coerced China. Lifting the economic blockade against Japan is similar to aiding Japan in disguise. How is this better than "stop aiding China"? Chiang Kai-shek was "confused with anxiety and anger" for this. At that moment, he even thought of "the defeat of Yashan". Yashan is located on the coast of Guangdong. More than 600 years ago, the Song Dynasty organized the last battle against the Yuan army, the Yashan naval battle.After that battle, the strength of the Song army was exhausted, and they could not do anything. The emperor, ministers of civil and military affairs, and the soldiers and civilians jumped into the sea to commit suicide. "Song History" records: Seven days later, more than 100,000 corpses were washed to the seashore, and the scene was extremely tragic. The "defeat of Yashan" not only announced the demise of the Song Dynasty, but also marked the first time in history that China had completely fallen into the hands of foreigners. The so-called "There is no China after Yashan", the classical China in the cultural sense has since ceased to exist. Will Chongqing, or Kunming, become a modern Yashan? The chairman, who is quite familiar with ancient history, shuddered, and he felt a sense of despair. Scholar Ambassador From the standpoint of Roosevelt and Hull, there is nothing wrong with doing this. After all, they are the president and secretary of state of the United States, not China. Of course, it is impossible to think for you first when considering anything. It is polite to inform the Chinese ambassador to the United States in advance, so what if you don't say hello? Roosevelt and Hull couldn't control that much, and they were going to formally reach an agreement with Japan on November 26. Judging from the information deciphered by "magic", the "temporary transitional method" is consistent with Tojo's thinking, that is, it is not good for China and good for Japan, and the other party is definitely willing to accept it. Although the American approach is not authentic, it is not uncommon in international politics.It has always been the case to sacrifice a small country to preserve a big one, but now it is just a new example. November 25 became the most critical day. Chiang Kai-shek continued to send long, strongly worded messages to Washington.In the telegram, he repeatedly emphasized that before Japan withdrew its troops from China, as long as the U.S. economic blockade against Japan was loosened a little bit, China would not be able to withstand it, and "the war of resistance will inevitably collapse." It seems that the telegram has caused a lot of psychological pressure on Roosevelt and Hull, especially when they read the following sentences-if you really reach that point, your previous assistance will be in vain, and everyone’s work will be in vain.In the future, we will no longer need your help, let alone believe the lie that "there is true love in the world" ("From now on, international faith and morality in the world will never be heard again"). It's not a breakup letter, but it's about the same. Hull was restless and depressed all day.At this time, someone knocked on the door, and upon seeing it, it was Dr. Hu Shi. Hu Shi, courtesy name Shizhi, was born in Jixi, Anhui Province, and was the Chinese ambassador to the United States at that time. Throughout the academic circles of the Republic of China, there is a saying that "before there was Liang Rengong (Liang Qichao), and then there was Hu Shizhi".At that time, Hu Shi was an absolute leader both in the academic and public opinion circles, but what is little known is that, like Wang Jingwei and others, Hu Shi was once an important member of the "low-key club". Even on the day before the Nanjing National Defense Conference, Hu Shi was still calling on the government to "make a maximum peace effort."In his view, China's military strength at that time was not enough to fight.If we fight, we will definitely lose. Instead of seeking peace after defeat, it is better to start now to seek "50 years of peace." Regarding Hu Shi's words, Chiang Kai-shek showed disapproval. At the National Defense Conference, he "rather ridiculed a certain scholar's Zhuhe", and a certain scholar alluded to Hu Shi. But ridicule is ridicule, Chiang Kai-shek still respects and appreciates this somewhat bookish old master.He once commented that Hu Shi was "a model of old morality in new culture, a teacher of new ideas in old ethics", which can be said to be right. Later, Hu Shi finally understood that war is more difficult than war, and a hundred times more difficult. When war comes, it is not something you can dodge if you want to.As a result, he made a fundamental change in his attitude and bid farewell to the "low-key club" ever since. Soon, at the request of Chiang Kai-shek, he temporarily abandoned his studies and entered politics, first went to the United States as a "government special envoy" and then as an "ambassador to the United States" to lobby for international support. Hu Shi can take on this important task because he is so famous, not only well-known in China, but also has a strong influence in western countries. lips. One time, a newly elected U.S. senator went to the Chinese embassy for a banquet. He was confused and didn't know who the Chinese ambassador was, so he just smirked.After eating and seeing off the guests, Hu Shi invited the congressman to travel to China in the future - of course he was polite, what a way to travel in such a chaotic situation. The congressman nodded, "Okay, I will definitely go, and I will first visit my friend Dr. Hu Shi." Hu Shi smiled when he heard the words, "Mr. Congressman, then you don't have to go that far, because Hu Shi is standing opposite you!" Although Hu Shi was an expensive ambassador, he did not bring his entourage when he went out, and he just ran around with his purse in his pocket.He traveled tens of thousands of kilometers in the United States and gave more than 400 speeches, which made the American government and people fully understand an ancient oriental country that was suffering but never surrendered. Hull's guest. Beginning with the "Tung Oil Loan", including the establishment of the Flying Tigers, are the result of Ambassador Hu's hard work. In four years, he has won a total of 170 million US dollars in international aid for China. The New York Times of the United States therefore commented: Even if the Chongqing government searched all over the country, they could not find a more suitable person than Dr. Hu Shi. He could win widespread support for China wherever he went. Hu Shi believed that as long as the United States entered the war, Japan would undoubtedly be defeated. However, the introduction of the "temporary transitional measures" showed that Uncle Tom already had the idea of ​​turning around and slipping away, regardless of China. This is terrible and must be stopped. who is the director In those few days, Chiang Kai-shek was the mobilization of the whole family. Soong Meiling and Soong Ziwen both shuttled and lobbied in the United States, and he himself formed a hard and soft partner with Hu Shi to specialize in Hull: Chiang Kai-shek issued a "letter of renunciation" in front of the demonstration, and Hu Shi personally came to the door to test the attitude of the Secretary of State. Hull is sulking at home. He thinks that Chiang Kai-shek is "too shallow to be blessed", and it is a favor to help you, and it is reasonable not to help. Why, it is you, not me, that Japan wants to attack. Hu Shi quickly stepped forward to persuade him, "Our chairman doesn't know enough about the international situation, and didn't think much about the difficulties of the United States. You have to be considerate." It was just a feint.Hu Shi's trip was definitely not just for soft words.As a scholar of learning, there are many more ways than ordinary ambassadors. Chiang Kai-shek "moves with emotion" first, and he wants to "understand reason with reason". Hu Shih's approach to scholarship is called "Bold Hypothesis, Careful Proof", in other words, it is to use "scientific spirit" to pick words. Hu Shi asked: "While allowing Japan to continue to stay in Vietnam, can it be guaranteed that they will not attack Yunnan?" Hull shook his head. Hu Shi frowned, "In that case, these garrisons pose too great a threat to China." Hull didn't know what happened, "Impossible, there are only 25,000 people, even if there is a fight, how terrible is it?" "Not scary? Then I'll tell you." Since there is no limit to the 25,000 soldiers, what if most of them are Japanese aviation troops and supporting mechanics and engineers?In that case, Japan can completely establish a huge aviation base in Vietnam. After Dr. Hu's bold hypothesis and verification, the result is indeed terrible: not only Yunnan, but even Burma controlled by the British will also be subject to covering air strikes. Hull froze. He may not accept Chiang Kai-shek's oriental sentiments that scream for heaven and earth, but he cannot deny Hu Shi's Western thinking. As Hu Shi said, it is important to listen to what the British say. British Prime Minister Churchill's telegram arrived at the right time, and he also opposed the "temporary transitional method". On the surface, Churchill was worried that the collapse of China would cause a crisis to the allies. In essence, he was afraid that his colonies would be taken by the Japanese, so he specifically proposed that "the asking price should be high and the counter-offer should be low" in the negotiation. Americans may be able to ignore Chiang Kai-shek's cries, but they have to pay attention to the fat boy's words. Five minutes later, at Roosevelt's behest, Hull drafted the "Hull Memorandum." On November 26, when Nomura and Laisu received the "Hull Memorandum", they immediately suffered from head to toe cold and were in "extreme distress". There are a total of ten memos, and if you just take two out, you will know why these two guys have such expressive expressions. In the first paragraph, Japan must completely withdraw its troops from China and Vietnam, leaving none behind. In the second paragraph, the United States and Japan agree not to support any Chinese government other than the Chongqing government. Nomura and Laisu had imagined that Hull would bargain, but they didn't expect that the other party would become so tough all of a sudden, it was almost a magic trick on the negotiating table. On November 27, the U.S. government issued a war alert to Hawaii and the Philippines, indicating that it was ready to fight Japan. Even so, until the last moment, Roosevelt was still lucky and hoped that he could use the method of "hard pressure" to make Japan submit in the negotiations, but he didn't know that Tojo was already ready to go, and the Pacific War was about to start up. A week later, with a bang, the Japanese naval air force successfully bombed Pearl Harbor, and Emperor Hirohito then issued an edict to declare war on Britain and the United States. Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor changed the outcome of World War II The United States miscalculated in one step, and the miscalculation was in the hands of the Japanese named Yamamoto Fifty-Six.But this is not important anymore, the important thing is that China was saved. At this point, Uncle Tom has no choice but to fight. On December 8, 1941, after receiving the news that the US Pacific Fleet was almost wiped out, Roosevelt was devastated and Hull was stunned.But Chiang Kai-shek on the other side of the ocean wished he could kneel for a long time, and shouted several times: "God, earth, which fairy sister, brother Jesus saved us!" On that day, he wrote a sentence in his diary for the first time in a relaxed tone: "The achievement of the Anti-Japanese War strategy has reached its culmination today." In our lives, who is the real director, only God knows.