Chapter 19 The "Tong work" to lure Chiang Kai-shek to surrender stopped

On October 8, Takeo Imai, the representative of the Japanese military department, suddenly received an order from the Japanese headquarters to immediately end the "Tong work" that induced Chiang Kai-shek to surrender, and find another channel to contact the Chiang regime.Imai, who has been in charge of this work for more than a year, couldn't help being a little numb. Looking at the slightly gloomy weather outside the window, he fell down on the sofa in frustration and let out a long sigh.You know, if the "Tong work" ends here, it means that his hard work for more than a year has not achieved any results. If "Tong works", how can this make him look good?But what he didn't expect was that the more embarrassing thing for him was actually yet to come.

"Tong Work", also known as "Song Ziliang Work", the Japanese began to carry out this work in November 1939, with the purpose of making the Nationalist Government surrender as soon as possible and ending the war against China.Why did the Japanese who declared at the beginning of the war that they "do not regard the Nationalist Government as their opponent" want to induce Chiang Kai-shek to surrender now?Having said that, we have to look back at the world and China in 1939. In 1939, the most noteworthy event in the world was the German army’s raid on Poland on September 1 of that year, which kicked off the Second World War. Then, the German army swept across Europe and occupied the entire country in just a few months. large swaths of Europe.

According to the materials released by Japan after the war, the outbreak of World War II was three years earlier than they expected, so Japan was a little caught off guard.But Germany's victory in Europe still fueled the arrogance of Japanese fascism. On September 4, the new Japanese Prime Minister Nobuyuki Abe hastily issued a statement, declaring that when the European war broke out, Japan did not want to intervene and only wanted to resolve the incident in China as soon as possible.In fact, Japan wants to pull out its muddy feet trapped in China as soon as possible, so that it can realize its attempt to move south or north, and establish a "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" in Asia, which echoes Germany's "building a new European order."Therefore, in order to adapt to the sudden new situation, the Japanese military decided to set up the General Command of the China Expeditionary Army in Nanjing to command all the army troops in China. On September 23, the military department issued the order of battle for the dispatched troops from China. General Hisashi Nishio was the commander-in-chief, and former Minister Seishiro Itagaki was the chief of staff. He also issued Dalu Ming No. 363, stipulating that the base camp should prepare quickly. The various tasks for dealing with the China Incident will come into effect at 00:00 on October 1.

The task of the General Command of Japan's China Expeditionary Force is to resolve incidents first and combat second, which means that force is no longer the only way to resolve incidents in China.Therefore, Imai Takeo, who played a key role in the process of inducing Wang Jingwei to surrender, volunteered to be transferred to the headquarters of the General Expeditionary Army, and became the director of the second and fourth sections in charge of intelligence and government affairs. To carry out the new "peaceful" work in Chongqing. In China in 1939, the situation was not optimistic.In the winter of this year, Chiang Kai-shek mobilized about 80 divisions and launched a "winter offensive" aimed at containing and consuming the Japanese army.In this battle, although the Japanese army paid a price that had never been experienced in previous battles, it did not recover much territory.But this battle brought about new changes in the mentality of both Chiang Kai-shek and Japan.For Chiang Kai-shek, this battle made him further realize the difficulty of defeating Japan; and for the Japanese, they also realized that Chiang Kai-shek not only still has absolute command over the Chinese army, but also that China's military power is still invincible. underestimate.Therefore, it is imperative to reconsider the new strategy.Peace talks have become a new way.

In fact, as far as Chiang Kai-shek is concerned, the reason for the peace talks is also the need of diplomacy.At that time, the United Kingdom and the United States held a contradictory attitude towards China's war of resistance.They wanted China to continue the war of resistance and hold Japan back, but at the same time they wanted to stay out of the matter and were unwilling to provide assistance to China.In order to put pressure on Britain and the United States, Chiang Kai-shek made a gesture of peace talks. A means of exerting pressure.In addition, it is also to delay the establishment of the Wang Jingwei puppet regime.Chiang Kai-shek understood that the Japanese wanted to support the Wang regime, but they had no confidence in it. Therefore, the Chongqing side used the peace talks as a bait to keep the Japanese delaying the establishment of the Wang puppet government.At the same time, the world situation was changing rapidly at that time, and Chiang Kai-shek maintained contact with Japan to leave a way out for himself and wait and see the changes.With both sides having their own goals, the so-called "Tong work" came into being.

At the end of November 1939, Lieutenant Suzuki Takuel, who had worked with Takeo Imai, arrived in Hong Kong in the name of the Japanese military attache in Hong Kong.Through Zhang Zhiping, a professor at the University of Hong Kong, Suzuki quickly connected with Song Ziliang, Chiang Kai-shek's brother-in-law, Song Ziwen's younger brother, and chairman of the Southwest Transportation Company. On December 27, people from Suzuki and Song Ziliang met secretly in Hong Kong to discuss the conditions for the two sides to end the war. In May 1940, Takeo Imai personally came forward and held a secret meeting with Song Ziliang in Hong Kong, but Song Ziliang's poor performance made Takeo Imai feel that his identity was very suspicious.Under his instruction, Suzuki Zhuoer secretly took a photo of Song Ziliang through the keyhole, and asked many people to identify whether this person is really Song Ziwen's younger brother.In order to get a definite answer, Takeo Imai went to Shanghai with the photo and asked people from the Wang family to come out to identify it, but after looking at it, everyone felt that the appearance was really similar, but there were some problems with individual details, but no one could tell. Not sure to say no.

According to historical data released later, this so-called Song Ziliang was actually a spy of the "Blue Shirts Club".In June 1945, he was arrested by the Japanese Gendarmerie in Shanghai. After identification, it was proved that the person was Song Ziliang who was faked back then.Takeo Imai also interceded for this person, saying that he used to be a negotiator in Chongqing, and he could be released and let him continue to act as a liaison. At this time, Japan announced its unconditional surrender on August 15, and the person immediately surrendered with the name of the Victory Army. The identity regained its freedom, but Imai lost his freedom due to defeat.

The second preparatory meeting of the Chinese and Japanese committee members, because the Japanese translators Sakata and Yagura, two commissioners, were meeting with the Hong Gang personnel at the Japanese Hotel Matsubara Hotel in Hong Kong, and were suddenly surrounded and arrested by the Hong Kong Civil Affairs Department police. In order to keep the talks secret, they decided to change the meeting place to Macau. In the afternoon of June 4, 1940, it was raining heavily, and in a vast expanse of rain and fog, the "Baiyinwan" docked at the port of Macau.Suzuki Zaoer, who was familiar with the geography of this area, took Takeo Imai, Usui Osamu, and Lieutenant Uchinomiya, a translator newly assigned from the headquarters, and a group of four got off the ship.In order to avoid the attention of the outside world, they pretended not to know each other as soon as they landed and stayed separately.Imai and Usui stayed at the Bella Vista Hotel; Suzuki stayed at the Sanwa Company; Uchinomiya stayed at the Libera Hotel.In addition, the General Command of the Army also sent Katayama, a staff officer who is stationed in Macau and is familiar with the geographical customs, as a liaison officer to be responsible for the liaison matters of this meeting.

The Bella Vista Hotel where Imai lives is a rough wooden building. He feels that it is particularly like a remote rural house in a third-rate country in Western Europe. In the small courtyard, you can see the tall roof behind the house The cross hanging high and the church bells ringing day and night made him feel a sense of desperation in vain. The first meeting was held that night.It was 9 o'clock in the evening at that time, and it was still raining from time to time, with a patter of rain, which had a somewhat bleak autumn feel.For the sake of extreme secrecy, the venue was chosen in a gloomy empty house far away on the wilderness beach, like a haunted haunted house.The car did not drive to the door, and it was pitch black after getting off the car. They followed a guide with a cap pressed to his forehead carefully, turned left and right for a while, and finally came to the door with a dark hill.The responders immediately led the four representatives into the dimly lit basement.In the center of the empty room was a long table, on which four large candles were evenly spaced, the flames trembling in a trance.Representatives of China and Japan sat opposite each other on chairs at the table.There are three official representatives in Chongqing: Zhang Yousan, Chen Chaolin, and the man who claims to be Song Ziliang, and another assistant is Zhang Zhiping, the matchmaker.Zhang Hannian, the Chinese bodyguard who arranged for the venue, was on guard around the house.Imai noticed that the huge courtyard room was empty and silent, and everything was locked in a somewhat terrifying silence.

As soon as the representatives of the two parties took their seats, the first thing they did was to show each other formal powers of attorney and check their personal identity certificates.Takeo Imai, as the chief representative of Japan, presented the "Continental Order No. 676" instruction issued by Prince Kanin Miyazaihito to the Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, Hisao Nishio. The content is: His Excellency His Excellency Nishio Hisoka, Commander-in-Chief of the Dispatched Forces. Also attached is the official letter of commission of Commander-in-Chief Nishio Hiszo.The letter of commission presented by the Chinese side was on the letterhead of the Military Commission, with Chiang Kai-shek's signature as the chairman of the Military Commission, the official seal and Chiang Kai-shek's personal seal on it.It reads: "Chen Chaolin, Song Zijie, and Zhang You are hereby sent to study and resolve the issues between China and Japan. This order. June 2, 39th year of the Republic of China. Chiang Kai-shek." Seeing the official letter and official letter of appointment from the Chongqing government, he deeply imprinted the format in his mind.

After the verification was over, Song Ziliang stood up and explained that he changed his name to Song Zijie this time because Kazutakaji, the Japanese stationed in Shanghai, had disclosed to the press the mission of Imai's secret talks in Hong Kong, fearing that it would cause damage to the Song brothers' personal safety in Hong Kong. question.Imai Takeo, who had traced the authenticity of Song Ziliang, only smiled lightly at this time, expressing his full understanding of the name change.So the meeting started a heated discussion item by item on the draft armistice agreement brought by the two sides, but the atmosphere was harmonious, not at all like two countries at war.At the meeting, when the negotiation came to the issue of how to cooperate with the crusade against the Communist Party after the "realization of peace", Chen Chaolin, the representative of the national government, became so heartbroken and impassioned. The meeting lasted until three o'clock in the middle of the night.After returning to the hotel, Imai opened the newspaper of the day, and saw the news that "Song Meiling came to Hong Kong to seek medical treatment for dental disease" was published in the newspaper with a striking headline. He said to his roommate, Usui: "Look, Chiang Kai-shek's confidant is here. Soong Meiling is obviously here to supervise the battle and come to guide her in person. It shows that Chiang himself attaches great importance to this meeting!" "Yeah, think about it, once the Japan-China meeting of giants is held, the talks between Konoe, Itagaki and Chiang Kai-shek, whether successful or not, will give the Communist Party and the hardliners an excuse for an anti-Chiang movement, which may develop into a civil war. One point is clear. Therefore, the date of the meeting of the giants must be the time when the agreement is signed, and the deployment of "suppressing the Communist Party" must be prepared. Jiang himself pays great attention to this point, so he keeps it secret. For fear of leaking any news Grab the handle for the party." The talks lasted for three days. During the day, they hid in the hotel and slept. As usual, they started at 9:00 pm and ended at 3:00 midnight.At the end of the meeting, disagreements occurred on three issues, one was the issue of Manchuria; the other was the issue of garrisoning troops; the third was the issue of Wang Jingwei.The meeting ended with the KMT stating the above three different points of view in its "feeling letter" to Japan, and no substantive progress was made. On the day when the meeting adjourned, it was bitter wind and rain again, which added to Takeo Imai's melancholy mood.Standing in the dilapidated attic of the Bella Vista Hotel, listening to the dull bells from the church behind him, he couldn't help but recall the scene of the first secret meeting in Hong Kong.At that time, he was invited by Song Ziliang, and the two went to the Aberdeen Lushan Restaurant on the south coast of Hong Kong Island to have dinner together.After the meal, they rowed a small boat on the sea a little farther from the shore and held talks.At that time, it was the beautiful May in the bay. The rising moon on the 13th and 4th was golden, and then turned into a radiant silver, round and big, reflecting the golden and silver waves in the harbor. Then there was Wakasong Lai's blowing chant.At that time, he felt that the future of the negotiations was very bright, and he was in an unusually happy and cheerful mood. Now he felt that the issue of Manchukuo was deadlocked, and the future was likely to be bleak. This ghost place was so dark, eerie, and his mood Full of desolation and sorrow, how different the two times are!He worries deeply about the future of his empire. After the meeting was over, Suzuki left Macau and returned to Hong Kong. Imai and Usui arrived in Guangzhou by "Yunyang Maru", where they changed to fly back to Tokyo to report.However, due to bad weather, he was forced to land in Taidaoai.Two days later, Imai sent Usui back to Tokyo, and he himself returned to Nanjing to report the situation of the talks to the commander-in-chief of the Chinese Expeditionary Army Nishio Hiszo and other leaders. After that, Imai continued to communicate secretly with the representatives of Chongqing, and continued to discuss the issue of the giant meeting.But gradually the correspondence between letters decreased, and the news gradually became blocked. On October 8, he officially received the notice to stop "Tong Work". At this time, the Japanese side already felt that this Song Ziliang might be a secret agent from Chongqing, deliberately using the peace talks to disrupt the situation, and the later results also proved that Japan This time, he was indeed played by the secret agents of the Blue Shirts Club.