Marx said: "When the profit reaches 100%, they dare to trample all laws in the world; when the profit reaches 300%, they are not even afraid of going to the gallows!"
Peiping, North China Expeditionary Force Headquarters.
Chief of Staff Tanabe Moritake was reporting to Ishihara Kanji about the explosion that occurred in Jinmen. The victims were the military police and inspection teams under the Jinmen Security Command. At first, the Japanese army thought it was the work of latent personnel from one of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, but
As the case is investigated, the truth becomes more confusing.
The personnel responsible for the attack were Chinese, but they were riding in a registered speedboat, using standard weapons and military explosives, and openly crossed the waters blocked by the Japanese army, and started a large-scale battle with the gendarmerie and the inspection team.
fighting.
Long after the battle ended, the Japanese troops stationed nearby arrived belatedly. This situation happened many times in Tianjin.
As an important port city in North China, Jinmen not only has a dense flow of people every day, but also has a huge amount of goods entering and exiting, so it has become an important distribution center for prohibited items. The smuggling situation is very serious, and the military police are responsible for daily security and inspection.
In name, it is an inspection, but in fact the targets of the inspection are selective. The first one is naturally the Chinese who are under the jurisdiction of the Japanese army, and the second one is those formed by China or other countries that collude with Japanese private companies.
interest groups.
However, the chaebols and business groups in Japan all have their own normal channels. The Japanese military in Tianjin cannot control them and do not dare to control them. The two sides maintain the tacit understanding they should have.
But this tacit understanding was broken. The military police found that the volume of goods inspected daily had decreased significantly in the past six months, so they had to open up new transportation channels. After investigation, they found that some business groups in Japan took advantage of the unsatisfactory situation in Tianjin.
Stable, wantonly integrate forces, and expand the basic market.
This approach naturally broke the inherent tacit understanding between the two parties. The most fatal thing was that some of the goods were shipped back to Japan, and the recipients were the insurgents in Japan.
The Japanese government mobilized three divisions of the Kwantung Army to return to the country for encirclement and suppression. Although the rebel army's huge momentum was extinguished, the rebel army kept resurrecting, which puzzled the Japanese government. Later, it was discovered that the rebel army had had stable transportation with the outside world.
channel.
Following the transportation channels all the way to Jinmen, we found that the Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto and other merchant groups in the Kansai region had deep connections with the rebels, and that the southwestern vassals such as Kyushu Island and Shikoku Island were also involved.
After hearing the report, Ishihara Wanji felt extremely upset. As the highest commander of the Japanese army in North China, the information he received was even more extensive.
The Jinmen bombing seems to be just a public security issue, but in fact it is the epitome of the game between various forces in Japan, and Ishihara Wanji did not dare to intervene rashly.
Before the Meiji Restoration in Japan, the power of the emperor was deposed and the shogunate was the supreme leader. Due to the invasion of external forces, internal conflicts intensified, which triggered an overthrow movement, with the southwestern vassals being the main force.
After Emperor Meiji came to power, he set the capital in Edo, which was Tokyo. As a result, the power of the Kanto region increased greatly, and the Kansai and southwestern vassals were constantly suppressed.
Since then, successive Japanese emperors have supported emerging forces. Whether it is the Imperial Way faction or the ruling faction, they are all representatives. After the war against China began, all classes in Japan were sharpening their knives. This was originally a gluttonous feast. Kansai and Southwest
However, all the feudal vassals could only drink soup.
The rise of the rebel army is the result of the intensification of domestic conflicts in Japan, but its continued suppression is the result of the domestic power game that has not yet determined the winner.
"Tanabe-kun, our current priority is to maintain stability and maintain the stability of the occupied areas. At present, stability is more important than anything else. The empire occupied China in order to seize a steady stream of resources from China's huge territory. If there is unrest in Tianjin, then hoard it in
Such supplies and raw materials cannot be shipped to China and Southeast Asia!"
"When you sit in Tianjin, you don't have to worry about some unsolvable matters. You just need to wait quietly for changes in the country. Do you understand what I mean?" Ishihara Wanji said to Tanabe Moritake.
"But General, do you think these small groups harm the interests of the empire?" Tanabe Moritake said in confusion.
"Tanabe-kun, what are the interests of the empire? Aren't they a member of the empire? At present, the interests of the military in China are constantly being harmed, but these business groups are still able to transport supplies unimpeded. Are we?
Don’t you understand the trick?”
"On the whole, it is still in the interests of the empire, but the parties who divide the interests have reshuffled the cards!" Ishihara Wan'er saw it very clearly. As long as the normal transportation of materials can be guaranteed, who will make the money is of no concern to him.
It doesn't matter.
There is a saying recently circulated within the Japanese army that wherever there is money to be made, there are Osaka people. Even the North China Expedition Army Headquarters cannot solve the plight of the Thirty-fifth Division, but the Osaka business group can transport supplies there.
The Japanese military was unable to safely transport materials out of China, but the Osaka business group was able to transport them back to China and Southeast Asia. It was originally only responsible for transportation channels, but now it has begun to encroach on the basic base and raw material production areas of the Japanese military and domestic conglomerates in China.
Of course, the Osaka Merchant Group alone could not do this. Representatives from Kobe, Kyoto, and the southwestern vassals were also involved. This was a mixture of traditional forces and the emerging business class.
They have their own territory in Japan, control a large number of production institutions, and can even control a strong army because of the unique conscription system of the Japanese army.
The Americans signed an agreement with the Eighth Route Army, which included military assistance worth fifty million U.S. dollars, including ten mechanics and many mechanical equipment and supplies.
Regarding this agreement, it is not important whether Chiang Kai-shek knew about it. The Eighth Route Army did not trust that military assistance would pass through the Kuomintang-controlled areas. When the land route was not feasible, it could only take the sea route. China's offshore waters and Southeast Asian waters were the territory of the Japanese navy.
Before the two parties signed the agreement, the Eighth Route Army made an attempt. The Osaka Merchant Group's fleet was indeed unimpeded, and a perfect chain combination was formed. The Americans were responsible for transporting military aid from India to Burma, and Stilwell ordered the expeditionary force to be responsible for transporting military aid.
At the designated location, the Osaka business group was responsible for transporting the military aid to Tianjin, and then sent it all the way to the Eighth Route Army base area.
The Eighth Route Army only needs to sell the raw materials and goods produced in the base area to the Osaka business group at a lower than market price, and guarantee the priority of the Osaka business group, thereby giving it a competitive advantage. This is a mutually beneficial transaction.
The Eighth Route Army not only received military assistance, but also relied on the Osaka Business Group to dump raw materials and goods in the base area. The Osaka Business Group also obtained a stable origin and no longer competed with the internal Kobe, Kyoto and Southwest vassals for interests.
