After all, the First Brigade has more than 4,000 people, and it is Yuan Su's direct unit. There will certainly not be much criticism from the outside world about sending only the First Brigade. In addition, there are also several units directly under the First Corps Headquarters. Although these battle groups are newly formed and the artillery regiment is not even equipped with artillery, there are a total of two to three thousand people. Together with the first brigade, there are exactly 8,000 people. At least they have to use their weapons. Could look better.
As for the current expansion of the 10th Division, it is nearing completion. The personnel, weapons and equipment of the three brigades are all in place, but some recruits still lack training.
Jiang Baili suggested that the expedition to Liaoshen this time was just to be alert to the Japanese army in Lushun, and the Japanese army may not launch an attack immediately after understanding the movements of the Chinese side. After all, the current development of the situation is beyond Japan's expectations. In addition, whether Japan will take the next step and what the next step will be will require a period of deliberation. It is just in this blank time that the 10th Division and the 1st Corps can continue to be organized at the front line. New troop training has been added to make up for the lack of training.
Yuan Su accepted this suggestion and immediately began to discuss the timetable for dispatching troops. Because time was tight, the sooner the better, and more detailed defenses had to be carried out after arriving at the Liaodong Peninsula. It can be said that the task was not only heavy but also numerous.
After some discussion, it was finally decided that the journey would officially begin on September 26th, with the 10th Division going first, the 1st Brigade of the 1st Corps following, and the rest of the troops to follow up in accordance with transportation arrangements.
Yuan Su appointed Chen Wenyuan, deputy commander of the 10th Division, as the first frontline commander. He was the first to lead the vanguard of the 10th Division to Yingkou and was fully responsible for the layout of the frontline and the response of follow-up troops. He also appointed Zhao Shanhe as the second frontline commander to coordinate the first Some battalions directly under the jurisdiction of the brigade and corps headquarters formed the second line of combat troops to cooperate with the 10th Division in establishing a defense line.
In addition, he also appointed Jiang Baili as the Commander-in-Chief of Strategic Logistics, and led officials from the Logistics Department of the Zhili Military Affairs Office to rush to Shenyang and set up a general logistics camp in Shenyang to be responsible for the logistics support and related materials and personnel of the two front-line combat units. Tactical scheduling and arrangement work.
The military and political work in Luanzhou is still under the supervision of He Qigong. He Qigong has to do not only maintain stability and raise logistics in the rear area, but also take into account the cultural propaganda of the frontline war. It happened that this time the Qingdao issue happened with the Japanese army. If there is a conflict, you can use the theme of nationalism and national honor and disgrace to create momentum.
With the momentum of public opinion and the support of the grassroots people, it can not only greatly beautify the image of the combat troops and improve Yuan Su's personal image of a national hero, but also stimulate the enthusiasm of the whole people and induce the people to maximize their support for the front line.
Yuan Su then issued a formal order to temporarily reorganize all militia headquarters in the province into mobilization headquarters, and appointed Ge Jinzhang as the commander-in-chief of the Zhili Provincial Mobilization Command.
As expected three years ago, he started by establishing a military-civilian joint defense enterprise, and later gradually developed it into a more robust reserve force, just to cope with the need for personnel replenishment in large-scale wars. The non-wartime militia headquarters is used for training The militia and organized reserve system turn into mobilization headquarters during wartime, delivering reserve forces to the front line at any time.
With the publicity and momentum of public opinion, coupled with the call from the mobilization headquarters, the militiamen trained in recent years will soon be put to use. I believe that the whole country is striving for national interests and avenging the historical shame. Coupled with the ideological education during the next year of participating in the militia, these militiamen will not have any flinch or fear.
As October enters, the weather becomes increasingly cooler, especially in the north, where there is even a layer of hazy white fog in the morning.
The streets outside Fengtian Friendship Hotel have already been cordoned off by groups of armed police officers. Near the main entrance of the hotel, there is also a group of Japanese soldiers wearing black and white uniforms. But there are more Japanese soldiers present. From a Chinese perspective, this group of less than a hundred Japanese soldiers was obviously as lonely as a leaf in the ocean.
Since early this morning, the people in Fengtian City have been flocking excitedly to the area around the Friendship Hotel. For the teahouses and food stalls near the Friendship Hotel, I am afraid there will never be a business as good as today. From early morning to noon , not to mention the large and small seats that were slow to fill in, even the aisles, stairwells, and windows were crowded with people.
Three days ago, news came out from Fengtian City that the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a commissioner to communicate with several senior officers at the Lushun headquarters and invited the latest senior bureaucrats stationed in Fengtian appointed by the Beiyang government to have a formal meeting. The content of the meeting was nothing else. It is to make the final diplomatic discussion on the increasingly tense Qingdao issue.
As soon as the news came out, people all over the city focused on it.
Since the end of last month, the Beiyang government has held a press conference and officially announced that it will regain Qingdao's sovereignty at an optional date.
At the same time, this press conference was used to clarify various rumors and rumors from the outside world, denying that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Japan had conducted secret negotiations involving Qingdao's interests.
For a time, the whole country was rejoicing. Both those who had supported the Beiyang government and those who had opposed the Beiyang government were very happy to be able to regain Qingdao's sovereignty this time. Zhang Taiyan, who once wrote an article publicly criticizing Yuan Shikai, also Three articles were published in a row to support this move. Lu Dasen, a senior revolutionary party member who is still in prison, as well as Cai Yuanpei, Hu Hanmin, Huang Xing and others, could not help but stand up in various ways. Show support.
Domestic voices were rising, even if there were a few ulterior motives who seemed to be afraid that the Beiyang government would win too much support from the people, and pointed out critically that "recovering Qingdao's sovereignty is the government's duty, and there is nothing to say about it." But soon these The subtle voice was covered up by the broader and more turbulent sound of admiration.
Regarding the Sino-Japanese military and diplomatic conference held at the Fengtian Friendship Hotel today, the whole country bravely launched a solidarity campaign after learning the news. On the one hand, it used solidarity to put pressure on the Beiyang government. The provincial Beiyang government changed its mind at the last moment. ; On the other hand, they took the opportunity to demonstrate against Japan.
As the people of Fengtian who were closest to the scene of the incident, they were naturally unwilling to lag behind.
Countless students spontaneously formed teams, holding slogans and banners protesting Japan's ambitions, opposing Japan's occupation of Qingdao, and supporting the Japanese military in defending sovereignty. They came early to take up positions near the streets around the Friendship Hotel, and spared no effort to wave the flags. Sign and shout as loudly as possible.
People from the business community and enthusiastic ordinary citizens also joined the student team and continued to push forward with undiminished enthusiasm. There were even a few large merchants who specially put up some big slogans, "Donate to help the army" and "Donate materials to help Qingdao."
", "Resist with all our strength the Japanese goods" and so on.
The entire Friendship Hotel has become the forefront of concentrated anti-Japanese sentiments, and the passionate emotions of the Chinese people are sweeping in like huge waves.
At this time, in the auditorium on the second floor of the hotel, all the top officials from China and Japan in the area had arrived.
The two sides were bounded by a long table, with the Chinese side sitting on one side and the Japanese side sitting on the other side. Some staff and auditorium seats were set up around the wall. In addition to the casual encounters each brought, there were also invited guests.
Diplomatic personnel of some other countries’ consulates in Fengtian.
Yuan Su and Xu Shuzheng sat in the middle as the Commander-in-Chief of the Defense United Front of the Three Eastern Provinces and the Military Governor of the Three Eastern Provinces respectively. Next to them were the governors and generals of the three Eastern Provinces, namely Zhao Erxun, Zhang Zuolin, Meng Enyuan, Wu Jinglian and others.
Everyone's expressions were very serious, and they looked at the Japanese negotiators opposite with very stern eyes.
Sitting in the middle of the square is the commissioner sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Next to him are Fujiwara Hiroshi, the Consul General of the Japanese Consulate in Fengtian, and Shoda Heiichi, the first aide of the 18th Group Army Commander-in-Chief Kamio Mitsuomi. Others are
There are also some staff members sent by Lushun and North Korea.