Chapter 17 Chapter 17 The Last Moment

But what Song and Zhang didn't expect was that the "Qin-Song Agreement" was actually just a delaying tactic by the Japanese side, a cover specially set up to wait for the arrival of follow-up reinforcements. Of course, before that, there were heated debates in Japan on whether to send troops. After all, the "Garrison Garrison" in North China was based on the "Xin Chou Treaty" of troops stationed in North China. If other troops were to be transferred into North China, it would involve the question of where Japan's national policy should go. According to Japan's special national conditions, the government's baton follows the military, and the leader of the "hardliners" in the military is none other than Moto Sugiyama.

Sugiyama Moto, graduated from the 22nd term of Lu University, was then the cabinet minister Lu. It is said that when he was in mainland China, Sugiyama Yuan was once called "Fool Yuan" by his classmates, who said that he looked honest and had a silly face, but in fact this person was extremely stubborn and impulsive, and he was a full-fledged militant. Sugiyama Moto's reaction to the "July 7th Incident" can be described in two words, which is called great joy. Looking forward, looking forward, the east wind is coming, and the steps of spring are really near. At the internal emergency meeting held by the military department, "Fool Yuan" was so excited that he was a little incoherent.

Things are going great, gentlemen. Look at the market outside, the Soviet Union will not interfere with us, the United Kingdom is restrained by Germany and has no time to look east, and the United States is busy enough with a bunch of bad things in the country, and it can't control the Far East at all.Therefore, the "Marco Polo Bridge Incident" (the Japanese name for the "July 7th Incident") came at the right time, providing us with a golden opportunity to send troops to "China". Having said that, he raised three fingers. Three divisions, as long as we dispatch three divisions, China's "China", the vulnerable "sick man of East Asia", will undoubtedly be defeated, and will have to bow down to us.

Moto Sugiyama's words immediately fanned the "fire of enthusiasm" in the room. Akira Muto, Chief of the Operations Division of the General Staff Headquarters, danced and danced, as excited as if he had eaten opium: Do you know how long China's "China" can last? three months! No, three months is overestimated, it should be said that it will never exceed three months.How could their weak military strength and chaotic political organization resist our "imperial army" for a long time? Unlike people like Itagaki, what Akira Muto likes is not to jump straight into battle, but to be a "military adviser" and engage in intelligence. During the Suiyuan Anti-Japanese War, he and Takashi Tanaka helped King De in Suiyuan with planning.After Tanaka capsized, he also drank several sips of water. He hated the Chinese to death in his heart, and wished he could raise troops to destroy China immediately.

After Sugiyama Yuan started and Muto Akira assisted, the tone of the "Symphony for Destroying China" became higher and higher, and it was almost unstoppable. Umezu Yoshijiro, Deputy Minister of the Army, and Nagazu Sabijo, Chief of the China Section of the General Staff Headquarters, and others spoke afterwards, and each one was better than the other. That said, as long as Japan is mobilized, you can see that as soon as the troop train passes through Shanhaiguan, the Chinese army will definitely be invincible and defeated. That said, you can't say that, they are not that weak.

But it's not much stronger, just fight them once in Baoding, and finally beat them to the ground, and all problems will be solved easily. A group of people take China's weakness as a pastime, all of them are full of excitement and longing, and it seems that China has been "taken" in advance. When the hardliners were making high-level speeches, there was one person sitting there calmly, who seemed to be completely out of tune with the lively atmosphere. But when he stood up to speak, everyone shut up, and the room was silent. This person is Ishihara Wanji. Back then, due to ineffectiveness against Ma Zhanshan and the Northeast Volunteer Army, the Kwantung Army underwent a major reorganization. Shi Yuan was also slapped back to the mortal world, and went to China to become a small regiment captain.

But as long as the Japanese want to continue the "myth" of "September 18", they will not forget this "national hero".Sure enough, a few years later, Ishihara was directly transferred to the General Staff Headquarters as if he was airborne. He first served as the chief of the combat department, and then he was promoted to the chief of operations. When he just heard the news of the "July 7th Incident", Ishihara was as excited as Sugiyama Moto, and even cried with joy, but after wiping away his tears, he quickly calmed down again. On the point of invading China, there is actually no essential difference between Ishihara and Sugiyama Moto. It can also be said that in the entire Japanese military circle, there is no one who does not want to attack China, but the specific strategies are different.

If Sugiyama Moto is the leader of the hardline faction, Ishihara is the head of the moderate faction.He understands a famous Chinese saying that a little patience can lead to chaos and big plans. According to Ishihara's vision, Japan has only one "big plan", and that is to concentrate its forces against the Soviet Union, and it is completely possible to "be patient" with China. Regarding the official position, military rank, seniority and even age of his predecessor, Sugiyama Moto, Ishihara was not polite, and poured cold water over his head: Whoever said that three divisions can destroy "China" is an illusion!

In your opinion, how many divisions are needed to completely solve the "China problem"? Shi Yuan sneered: Let alone three, even 15 divisions may not be able to do it! Everyone was shocked. Listen to me. If the "July 7th Incident" is allowed to expand, the war situation is very likely to evolve into an all-out war between China and Japan.Then it will be troublesome, and it is very likely to fall into a terrible quagmire. Shi Yuan immediately raised his fingers and calculated the details. We now have 17 standing divisions, which can be doubled to 30 after a nationwide mobilization, but only half of them, that is, 15 divisions, can be deployed to the "China" mainland, and no more will be possible.

In addition, half of the military supplies prepared in the country have to be used.There is no 5 billion (yen) in military expenditure that cannot be taken down. It is nonsense to say that "China" can be defeated in three months. The most optimistic estimate will take half a year.In this way, the combat area can only be limited to the north of the Yellow River. Therefore, we cannot take the risk of an all-out war with "China", this battle cannot be won. Having said that, Ishihara mentioned a person—Napoleon. That famous person who once played invincible opponents all over Europe, do you guys know where his first mistake was?

Teacher Shi Yuan is about to give a lecture to everyone, and all the generals present can only listen attentively. At the peak of his career, Napoleon chose to invade Spain and made his elder brother king.He thought that if all of Europe has been won, what's so great about little Spain.As a result, this became a major failure in his military career. Not only did he fail to conquer Spain, but the anti-French alliance also took advantage of the situation, forcing the French army into the dilemma of fighting on two fronts. Obviously, in Ishihara's story, the invincible Napoleon is Japan, and China is undoubtedly the Spain of Asia. After analyzing "can't fight", Ishihara began to say "what to do". Quickly withdraw all the troops stationed in China, including Tianjin's "garrison troops", to the outside of the customs, that is, in the territory of the Puppet Manchukuo. Then, the prime minister will fly to Nanjing in person to have a serious talk with Chiang Kai-shek, and to discuss the relationship between China and Japan. A comprehensive solution to the fundamental problems that currently exist. How to solve? Ishihara advocated the suspension of "North China autonomy" and the return of all Japanese political and military privileges in China except Manchukuo. What about extraterritorial rights, "special interests in North China", army and navy garrison rights, and concessions? "Imperialist interests" can also be given up and all returned to China. Except for one jar, Ishihara was reluctant to throw it away, which was the "Manchukuo" he had scooped up during the "September 18th" for which he became famous. It was the base for the Japanese army to prepare for war and had extremely important strategic value.Ishihara said that after solving the "China problem", we should make good use of the resources of this base, carry out self-digestion, expand armaments, and develop industries. When we become a fat man, we will fight the Soviet Union first, and after the fight with the Soviet Union, what China is is just a small dish for our appetizers. But before that, we must not rashly launch a war against China. Ishihara's idea can already be raised to the level of traditional Chinese strategy. The so-called "If you don't make small gains, you must have big plans." Long-term operation or short-term making money At the beginning, everyone sat upright and listened attentively to Shi Yuan's speech, but something was wrong when they listened to it. Why was it all about "increasing the prestige of others and destroying one's own ambition"? Akira Muto was only two years behind Ishihara in mainland China, but his reputation was far behind him.They are all shaking goose feather fans, why is there such a big gap.Not convinced. Finally, he was the first to lose his temper, and stood up to retort: ​​Your Excellency's words are too alarmist, it's a bit unfounded, and he scares himself. Ishihara didn't even glance at the other party.In his eyes, Akira Muto knew nothing, just a yellow-mouthed junior who didn't know how high the sky was and how thick the earth was. He glanced at the generals present, and began to summarize his eloquent speech. I am by no means lying.Today's "China" is not the "China" of the past. In the past, it was a mess, and the soldiers and civilians had no fighting spirit. However, today's "China" has gradually become unified, and it can mobilize the power of the whole country just like us. I predict that once China and Japan go to war, it will be a long-term and protracted war, and Japan will also be trapped in a quagmire and cannot extricate itself, and it is absolutely impossible to retreat completely.For this reason, it is necessary to do everything possible to avoid a full-scale conflict with "China" and to end this incident quickly and simply. From the analysis of the personality characteristics of most "myopic" Japanese, we know that there are not many people who firmly believe in Ishihara's theory.Especially seeing that not only such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is about to be lost, but according to Ishihara, he even wants to return the rights other than Manchukuo to China, which is even more like digging his own heart. Of course, the moderate faction can become a faction, which also shows that "my way is not alone". Although it is a minority, there are still a few hairy people. During Ishihara's speech, Kenshiro Shibayama, director of the Military Affairs Division of the Ministry of Army, and several others shook their heads, looking very "speaking". Ishihara's disdainful attitude towards him made Akira Muto furious, and he stood up abruptly, staring at Ishihara. Shi Yuan-kun seems to be persuading us not to cause trouble and create a new "North China Incident", but it's so strange, isn't the previous "Manchurian Incident" the first of our predecessors?We are simply continuing on your path. These words firmly blocked Ishihara. Yes, you can launch "September 18", why can't we create "July 7"? It's all floating in the rivers and lakes. There is no reason why only state officials are allowed to set fires and people are not allowed to light lamps. Seeing that the "big guy" Ishihara was dumbfounded by Akira Muto, Yongjin on the side quickly rolled up his sleeves and said: I also think Ishihara-kun's conclusion is wrong. He imagined "China" too terrible.Where do we need to dispatch so many troops, a small number of troops can be threatened.Will "China" not surrender by then? Who dares to say that the deal is not worthwhile to obtain great benefits at a very small cost.This is the best policy for Japan's national defense. The two little ghosts fought against the enemy, and the hardline coach Sugiyama Moto then covered up and killed them. Shi Yuan's speech made the Prime Minister hold his breath, but he was intimidated by Shi Yuan's aura of "national hero" and "strategist", so he could only temporarily pretend to be modest and kept silent for a while.Looking at it now, it seems that the situation on the court is about to be reversed. If it is not now, let alone when. Sugiyama Moto slapped the gavel: What is there to discuss? When things are at this point, you have to make up your mind to do a good job. We not only want to solve the "Marco Polo Bridge Incident", but from now on, we should start to formulate a plan to capture Nanjing, the capital of "China"! Moto Sugiyama's remarks immediately brought the indoor atmosphere to a new climax, and Ishihara was also deeply angered. He firmly opposed Sugiyama Yuan's radical ideas. I am in charge of the strategy against the Soviet Union.I think that at this time, we must not waste our strength on the "China" battlefield because of an accidental incident. We must distinguish clearly who is our greatest enemy and what is Japan's established long-term goal. Next came the "hero meeting" between Ishihara and Sugiyama Moto. The two sides each represented a faction, and launched a big tongue war against each other. Unlike Ishihara, who is used to long-term operations, Sugiyama Moto loves short-term money making.According to him, if the meat of China is not eaten, it will not even be stained with oil. Ishihara said that we can wait until the Soviet Union is settled, and then come back and care about China. Sugiyama Moto said, how could it be too late.You said it yourself, the trend of China's unification is becoming more and more obvious, even the KMT and the Communist Party are coming together, and they are still stepping up their preparations for war. If you continue to "appease and raise traitors", what chance will there be to annex China in the future. It would be better to act first, strike first before China is ready, catch China by surprise, and then turn around and compete with the Soviet Union and the United States before it is too late. This is called, fish and bear's paw, I can have both. It was originally a group discussion, but when Ishihara and Sugiyama started arguing, and no one else had a chance to interrupt, they saw their saliva flying all over the sky. Since the "quarreling ones" couldn't get a result, they thought of finding a "reasonable one". The chief of staff should come out and say something fair. Prince Jae-in, chief of staff, also found it difficult to handle.The two in front of me, one is a "national hero" during the "September 18th", the other is a veteran of the two dynasties (Sugiyama Moto) who participated in the Russo-Japanese War, the other is the "Heavenly Proud Son" of the General Staff Headquarters, and the other is It is inappropriate for the top leader of the Ministry of Army to hold power and favor anyone. Listen to the two people's words again, the public says that the public is right, and the mother-in-law says that the woman has the right, it is difficult to decide right from wrong. Zai Ren thought for a while and said, how about this, temporarily adopt the "non-expansion policy" for the "Marco Polo Bridge Incident", and we can discuss it later if there is anything to do. After Zai Ren made the verdict, Sugiyama Yuan dared not express any objection in front of his face, but he was actually very unconvinced in his heart. As soon as he returned to his apartment, he called for two "confidantes" Akira Muto and Yongjin, and the three of them discussed together, feeling that they could not give up this opportunity no matter what. Ishihara's tune is completely scholarly, and it is useless to send 15 divisions.That's pure nonsense. The immediate plan is to urgently send three divisions to fight in North China. Having said that, Sugiyama Moto couldn't help but let out a long sigh. It's a shame that the current high-level army listens to Shi Yuan's heresy, and refuses to accept our plan, so there is nothing to do. However, he quickly turned his worries into joy, because he received two very important reports of war requests, one from the Kwantung Army and the other from the North Korean Army. I really want to come here. At that time, the Kwantung Army had the Soviet Union as its main combat readiness target, and its troops were deployed mainly in the areas of "North Manchuria" and "East Manchuria". However, a week before the "July 7th Incident", a conflict broke out between Japan and the Soviet Union. This was the Ganchazi Island incident. It was this incident that changed the thinking of the Kwantung Army's top leaders. Ganchazi Island is located in Heilongjiang, known as the "No. 1 Golden Island" in Heilongjiang Province, and its area is nearly 30 times that of the well-known Zhenbao Island.What is even more enviable is that although the name of Zhenbao Island contains the word Zhenbao, there are actually no real rare treasures, while Ganchazi Island is a genuine island of gold, with gold mines on it. Like Zhenbao Island, Ganchazi Island is also located on the Chinese side of the main channel of the Sino-Soviet border river.According to the internationally recognized standard of the "airway center line", it has nothing to do with the Soviet Union, but the old man doesn't think so. Hearing that the island is full of gold, they immediately sent troops over, crossed the border to the island, and took the people who were digging for gold. Puppet Manchukuo officials and workers were driven away. Who is the Puppet Manchukuo mining gold for? Of course not the Chinese, but the Japanese behind them.So the Kwantung Army stopped doing it immediately after hearing this, and the two sides faced ships, boats to boats, and guns to guns, forming a confrontation near Ganchazi Island. After the incident, the Japanese government and the General Staff took a calm attitude and felt that it was not worth fighting the Soviets for such a remote island.However, the Kwantung Army took the lead and was the first to fire violently at the Soviet gunboats. As a result, one was sunk and another was injured. The Soviets suffered a loss. Not only did they not fight back, but the government stepped in and gave in, officially confirming that Ganchazi Island belonged to "Manchuria" and withdrawing all troops from the island. This result was beyond the Kwantung Army's expectations. After analysis, the main reason is that Stalin was engaged in a large-scale internal suppression of counter-revolutionaries, and he did not have much enthusiasm and energy to take care of border disputes. When the "July 7th Incident" broke out, the top Kwantung Army came to a conclusion that a new war would not break out between Japan and the Soviet Union in the short term, so there was no need to be too vigilant against the Soviet Union.At this time, it is just a matter of taking advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attack the Chinese army in North China in order to eliminate hidden dangers that may arise behind them. Compared with the Kwantung Army, the Korean Army was even more vigorous. In the report on the war request, they even proposed to "govern China". I heard that due to Shi Yuan's obstruction, the country will not send troops for the time being, and the bosses on both sides clapped their chests: The staff headquarters will not send, let's come! The Kwantung Army and the Korean Army were originally stationed in foreign towns, and it was enough to manage their own share. Now they are "interfering in government affairs" in an open manner. This is really outrageous, but in Sugiyama Yuan's view, it is just the opposite: this is really worrying about the country's generals! Regarding the support of the Eastern Army and the Korean Army, Sugiyama Moto's courage has grown. The problem is that the Chief of Staff said just now that if we don't want to expand, we have to find a reason to justify it. The reason was quickly found. The so-called non-expansion means not to expand to the whole of China, not to North China. If you don't send more troops to the "garrison" in North China, can you still watch it being wiped out by the 29th Army? Well, Prince Zairen can explain something, the second step is to get the approval of the cabinet. In Japan, the cabinet is nothing more than a rubber stamp, but no matter how rubber is, it has to be stamped with it, not to mention Moto Sugiyama himself is also a member of the cabinet, so he cannot completely deny the prime minister and other colleagues face. At the cabinet meeting, after Moto Sugiyama explained his intentions and finished spitting, everyone's eyes were on Prime Minister Konoe. Fumimaro Konoe was born into a noble family, and his father was the speaker of the House of Nobles. At the age of 14, Konoe had already inherited the title of Duke from his father, Speaker.Afterwards, his reputation became more and more famous, and the three religions, the leftists and the rightists, soldiers and politicians all rushed to visit him. He was also very proud of himself, a bit like Meng Changjun, a famous Chinese spring and autumn son. Konoe was less than 50 years old when he formed the cabinet. Such a young prime minister is rare in Japanese politics, so he was praised by the outside world and called the "Youth Cabinet".Including the elder Xiyuan Temple, they all had high hopes for Konoe, thinking that once he came to power, he would find a new and effective solution to the Sino-Japanese issue. But what people don't know is that the guard's vision is actually shallower than those of the soldiers.Let's put it this way, open his beautiful brain, and there is a bowl of tofu nao inside, and the brain is the size of a pine nut. The soldiers shouted and shouted to kill, and Jin Wei actually loved this in his heart, the difference was that he added some high-sounding reasons, such as his "resource determinism". Japan has few resources, so it must invade the outside world. This is called internationalism. China has a lot of resources, so it must be invaded, and because it is the closest to Japan, it is a matter of course that Japan should "enjoy it alone". This is called patriotism. It is conceivable that as a combination of Japanese-style internationalism and patriotism, what kind of path will the "young politician" Konoe lead Japan, so since he came to power, the conflict between China and Japan has not only not been alleviated, On the contrary, it intensified. Not only is he short-sighted, but Mr. Jinwei is also timid and fearful. He belongs to the kind of irresponsible person who looks gorgeous on the outside but doesn't match his insides. Now all the cabinet members looked at him alone, so they had no choice but to bite the bullet and carefully asked Sugiyama Yuan a question. Adding troops to "China" is a major event, but if it leads to a full-scale war between the two countries, what should we do? In his heart, Sugiyama Moto never looked down on the prime minister.However, through the debate at the military meeting, he learned a lesson, that is, don't say in front of everyone that the Chinese will accept the move. It is more troublesome to say that, and if you are not sure, you will have to lead into a quagmire like Ishihara. Kind of "fallacy". Sugiyama Moto cleared his throat. How could there be an all-out war, they dare not fight us at all! The country of "China" has always been a mess. The so-called "central government" in Nanjing only manages a few provinces in the Yangtze River Basin. Who will obey him in the provinces of North China, Northwest China, and Southwest China?Who is willing to obey him? Those local army leaders, don’t we understand? They always want to keep their own territory. What about anti-Japanese war? strange. Speaking of this, Sugiyama Moto very much hoped that his "cold humor" would arouse repercussions, and even the cabinet members would laugh like hardliners like them, mocking China's "san", "Soft" and "deceptive". But what he didn't expect was that the cabinet was different from the military department. Many of them were civil officials, and the aspirations and thinking of civil officials were different from military generals. Not only did no one laugh, but some continued to question it. Minister of Internal Affairs Eiichi Baba is a veteran of the cabinet. He asked Moto Sugiyama, who felt extremely good about himself: Since you have said that these local military leaders are so useless, then I would like to ask, Song Zheyuan is also a northern military leader. Why didn’t he Are you willing to cooperate with us well, but want to provoke the "imperial army" beyond your limits? Sugiyama was stunned, he didn't expect that the racecourse was usually quiet, but the question he asked was so tricky. The question asked by the minister of the racecourse was actually pointing at him. You said earlier that the military leaders were afraid of us and did not dare to fight us, but the "Marco Polo Bridge Incident" showed that they dared to provoke even, so how could they not dare to fight? This is called: use the spear of the son to attack the shield of the son. Sugiyama Moto hated the old man very much, but he couldn't think of any other way to explain it away, so he had to deceive himself and others. actually…… In fact, Song Zheyuan originally wanted to cooperate with us. The problem is that we think he is not qualified enough and don't want him. This answer is really nonsensical, it belongs to the category of people throwing orange and banana peels in public. Of course the racecourse was extremely dissatisfied. Sugiyama Moto also realized that his words were confusing in logic and not worth refuting, and his old face turned red. However, the Home Secretary had no intention of letting him go. I just want to ask, if "China" really dares to fight us, what are your chances of winning? When this topic was mentioned, Moto Sugiyama became full of air again, and picked up Akira Muto's tooth wisdom again. Three months, if they dare to resist, at most three months, we can solve them all! What makes Sugiyama Moto feel sad is that the venue was silent, and not many people thought that what he said was true. The meeting was fruitless.