Chapter 370 Tu Fei Yuan (asking for a double moon)
When Peter walked into his office, he saw Cheng Qianfan teasing the pigeons in the cage with a toothpick.
This friend of mine stared intently at the pigeons he raised, as if he was thinking of something.
"What are you thinking about?" Pete asked suddenly.
"This pigeon is quite big, especially the butt is quite plump. It will be delicious when roasted." Cheng Qianfan replied casually.
Then he realized something, and when he turned around, he saw Peter's angry face.
"When did you come back?" Cheng Qianfan said without any embarrassment, pointing to the pigeon in the cage, "Didn't I just say that I wanted to eat your pigeon? What a big deal."
"This is not a meat pigeon! It is not a meat pigeon!" Peter said angrily, "This is an Antwerp pigeon, one of the best homing pigeons!"
"For us Chinese, it's the same." Cheng Qianfan whistled towards the pigeons, "What's the situation with the Japanese? If the situation becomes critical, I will consider moving our goods to a safe area."
"You know how to care about your goods." Peter said angrily.
"Wrong, it's our cargo." Cheng Qianfan raised his chin and corrected him.
"Here you go." Peter took out a document from his briefcase and handed it to Cheng Qianfan, "See for yourself, war has broken out."
This is a notification letter sent by the Shanghai Municipal Government to the French Concession and the British and American Public Settlement:
"At 9:15 in the morning, Japanese warships bombarded our Zhabei with heavy artillery. The shells fell into residential areas, killing and injuring countless innocent civilians.
Later, a small group of Japanese Marine Corps rushed from Tiantong'an and Hengbang Road, crossed Nanghu Road and rushed into Baoshan Road, shooting at our security team stationed near Baoxing Road.
Our army fought in self-defense.
The two sides fought fiercely for about twenty minutes, and the enemy began to retreat."
Cheng Qianfan's heart was as sharp as a knife. He could fully imagine how tragic it would be if naval gun shells fell into residential areas.
With a grin on his lips, Cheng Qianfan raised the documents in his hand and muttered, "It seems that the remaining goods we have at the dock need to be moved as soon as possible."
"It's up to you." Peter waved his hand, "I'm going to take a nap, don't disturb me."
After the meeting, he slipped out to have a tryst with Mrs. Tander, and now he was very tired.
"Be careful of dying on a woman's belly one day." Cheng Qianfan chuckled and said, "One more thing, remember to urge Marseille to ship it quickly."
"I know." Peter waved his hands impatiently, and after hearing the sound of Cheng Qianfan's riding boots tapping away, he muttered, "Are you talking about me? Your reputation is not much better than mine."
…
Distant Peiping.
In Xila Hutong near Wangfujing Street, there is a mansion that looks unremarkable but is actually a high-walled courtyard.
Doihara Kenji stood at the door, a little lost.
The sound of cicadas chirping in his ears brought him back to his senses.
"Your Excellency, the division commander." An accompanying officer said in a low voice.
"Do you know? This place used to be called 'Banxi Mansion'." Kenji Doihara pointed at the door and said.
Here, Rihachiro Itashi and Kenji Doihara discussed China policy together.
Rihachiro Banishi once questioned his favorite successor, Kenji Doihara, and asked him what his plans were for the occupation of China.
Doihara explained at the time that if you want to invade China, you must adopt a step-by-step strategy. For this reason, North China cannot be used as the first place to capture China, because North China is the political center of China. If you take North China first, you will be attacked by both the Northeast and the hinterland of China.
They are attacking from a flank, so Man and Mongolia should be taken first.
For this reason, Dofeihara believed that Zhang Zuolin in the Northeast should be supported and Wu Peifu, the Zhili warlord, should be attacked.
A smug smile appeared on the corner of Doihara Kenji's lips. He recalled in his mind Rihachiro Banishi's applause after he made these remarks.
Banxi agreed very much with Doihara's analysis, so he decided to recommend Doihara to Zhang Zuolin, hoping that Doihara could play a significant role beside Zhang Zuolin.
However, Machino Takema, the Japanese adviser around Zhang Zuolin, had a grudge against Doihara because Doihara belonged to the General Staff Headquarters, and the Japanese Army had always ignored the Japanese cabinet. The cabinet was also wary of the Japanese Army, and the two sides had deep prejudices.
It was officially for this reason that Doihara Kenji came to Zhang Zuolin as a consultant a few years later in 1928.
In this regard, Doihara Kenji once publicly scolded Tingwu Yema, saying that if Tingwu Yema had not blocked it, the empire would have occupied Manchuria at least a few years earlier. At that time, the Chinese government had not yet been unified, and it would be very difficult for the empire to occupy China.
It will be relieved a lot.
"Your Excellency, Division Commander." A Japanese captain walked over quickly, "There is an urgent call from Shanghai."
Kenji Doihara received the message, his fat and huge head lowered slightly, and he lowered his eyes to read.
The cable stated that Japanese warships bombarded Shanghai Zhabei on the Huangpu River, and at the same time the Marine Corps attacked Baoxing Road, and the Songhu War broke out.
After reading it, Doihara Kenji's expression was neither sad nor happy, and he handed the telegram to the lieutenant colonel beside him.
"They didn't listen to the division commander's advice, and they took action anyway." The lieutenant colonel glanced at them and sighed.
"You can't blame them for this." Doihara Kenji shook his head.
He knew very well that although the Japanese army fired first, it was actually the Chinese army that had been preparing to take action, and the Shanghai garrison was more forced to strike first.
"It's a pity that Chang Kaishen was not fooled this time." Kenji Doihara shook his head.
After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the Japanese army's strategy was to capture at least the two historic cities of Pingjin and Tianjin. If the Chinese side really refused to give in, then the Japanese army decided to annihilate the main Chinese army in a large-scale battle in central Hebei and complete the cutting of North China.
strategic intent.
At this time, the Japanese army did not plan to open a second battlefield in Shanghai, the center of China's military, political, economic and financial taxation in the Yangtze River Delta.
Some Japanese generals, led by Doihara Kenji and Ishihara Kanji, believed that Japan should cut and encroach on China. If a war were launched in Shanghai at the same time, it would involve Japan's major economic and trade interests with international powers and easily isolate it internationally.
In addition, Kenji Doihara was also worried about the Soviet Union's actions. If a war broke out in Shanghai and Japanese troops dispersed to East China, Soviet Russia might invade Manchuria.
Kenji Doihara wrote to the Army General Staff Headquarters, concluding that China did not dare to counterattack Japanese aggression in an all-round way, and that the Chinese army could only carry out local and limited resistance to the Japanese attack in North China.
Based on past experience, when China was unable to defend itself in the face of Japanese aggression and suffered heavy casualties, China had no choice but to acquiesce in a war situation controlled by the Japanese.
Just like the Northeast after the September 18th Incident, and the Rehe after the Battle of the Great Wall, the empire caused trouble. The Chinese army could not defend it and could only acquiesce to the empire's occupation.
Therefore, when it was learned that the Nanjing government was "crazy" in planning to attack Shanghai first and open up a second battlefield.
Kenji Doihara was shocked. He immediately mobilized the Japanese-controlled literati and politicians to advocate Sino-Japanese friendship and at the same time release a "peace signal" in order to delay Nanjing's determination to take action in Shanghai.
However, the final result was not satisfactory. Chang Kaishen seemed to be determined to have a big fight in Shanghai this time.
In desperation, in order to avoid being struck first by the Chinese army and falling into a passive situation, the empire's garrison in Shanghai had no choice but to take the lead.
"Aoki-kun, call back to Shanghai." Kenji Doihara said as he walked, "Telegram Miss Tian to live well."
Junichi Aoki glanced at Kenji Doihara in surprise and nodded, "Yes!"
…
Lu Dazhang conveyed the organizational action orders and plans to Lao Huang.
Lao Huang was extremely surprised when he heard that Cheng Qianfan, the third patrol officer of the Central Patrol Room, was involved in this operation.
"Cheng Qianfan is also our comrade?" he asked.
"No." Lu Dazhang shook his head, "The organization spent ten large yellow croakers to buy it off."