Lu Zhengxiang quickly turned his head and whispered a few words to his left and right sides, but no one else knew the details of the matter. He then turned to Duan Qirui and asked, "Mr. Duan, what's going on?"
Duan Qirui ignored Lu Zhengxiang, but put on a nonchalant attitude, and said coldly to Naito Shinpei: "What a joke, you obviously have the nerve to talk about morality and convention in front of us? You Japanese launched an attack on Liaodong
, is this moral?"
Lu Zhengxiang on the side could guess some of the situation from Duan Qirui's demeanor and tone. It is conceivable that an armed conflict did occur again in Liaodong yesterday. Although he was very worried about this, since it was at the negotiation table,
That is bound to preserve China's dignity and confidence in negotiations.
So he followed closely and said: "That's right. These are all your one-sided words, not to mention your Fifth Division's refusal to retreat. Since your army has been unwilling to retreat, then
We have reason to believe that you have ulterior motives. Maybe the so-called war yesterday was still your attempt to take advantage of the opportunity to attack, but was thwarted by our garrison."
Naito Shinpei said angrily: "We thought you Chinese people were sincere in conducting this negotiation, but we didn't expect that not only did you use the name of negotiation, but you also secretly instructed the army to destroy the order of Liaodong at will. Hum, now we are here to tell you.
Reason, but you are still so quibbling. If you really don’t want peace talks, just say it directly. We don’t need to continue talking, we can just meet on the battlefield."[
Another Japanese military representative was equally excited and almost gritted his teeth and said: "Don't think that you Chinese people will get carried away after getting a temporary advantage. If it really comes to the point of starting a war, I can guarantee that five divisions will increase their troops within two months.
Liaodong, when the time comes, I will teach you what the sanctions of the Empire of Japan are!"
The words of the Japanese military representatives are to make the Chinese representatives think that Japan has prepared two sets of plans. If they cannot reach an agreement, they will simply go to war. The current situation of the Liaodong War is that China has one corps, three central divisions and one local division. The total
70,000 to 80,000 troops were used to deal with only one Fifth Division, and even then the fight was very difficult. If the Japanese army increased its troops by five divisions to fight this war, how many troops would China need or be able to mobilize to deal with it?
After listening to the interpreter, some representatives couldn't help showing worried faces.
However, Lu Zhengxiang and Duan Qirui still maintained an unmoved attitude. The former was well aware of the current international situation, and precisely because the British and French powers urgently needed Japan's aid to Europe, he would not support Japan's expansion of Liaodong. In addition,
Not long ago, because of the leakage of the content of the "Twenty-One Articles", Japan's ambitions have aroused the alert of Britain, France, the United States and Russia. Once the Japanese army insists on increasing its troops in Liaodong to start a war with China, even if the Western powers have time to visit, Japan will be diplomatically
There is absolutely no advantage at all.
As for Duan Qirui, he is naturally well versed in military principles. He doubts that Japan can mobilize five divisions to Liaodong within two months. Furthermore, even if it takes two months to mobilize such troops,
However, the War Department has been preparing for the expansion of the war from the beginning, and can also use these two months to increase troops from various places in Liaodong. In short, he is not afraid of Japan at all.
"Why are you talking so much nonsense?"
Suddenly, Duan Qirui jumped up and stared at Naito Shinpei with disdain and said: "We have been talking for two or three days, but you Japanese are not willing to publicly apologize for this matter. How dare his grandma dare to talk to us?" Sincerity? If you are sincere, why have the negotiations been delayed until today? What is peace even if we haven’t reached an agreement yet? It is reasonable to continue the war in Liaodong at this time. What is there to say? I will simply say harsh words today. If you want to talk, just talk honestly, and don’t think about any opportunistic mentality; if you don’t want to talk, let’s talk about it today. If you want to declare war, then do it as soon as possible. If you bully me, China will be afraid of you, a small country of Japan!”
Duan Qirui's words were very powerful, and at the end they sounded like a roaring demonstration, which suddenly shocked all the negotiators from China and Japan.
Even Lu Zhengxiang never expected that Duan Qirui would say such harsh words, which were full of aggression and gunpowder. The most taboo thing in diplomacy is to be impetuous, because every word and deed in a diplomatic situation is representative. It depends on the words and deeds of the country. Just like now, if the impulsiveness really angers the Japanese representative, what was originally a peace talk turns into a declaration of war. Wouldn't it be unfair to the country?
The Japanese representatives hurriedly started talking among each other. They were so excited that they couldn't hold back their swear words and threatened to go to war with China. However, the official diplomats headed by Naito Shinpei and Hioki Yoshi could still maintain their aura. Calm down, after all, they have been engaged in diplomatic work all year round, so they are used to all kinds of scenes.
But even so, the situation quickly got out of control.
The Chinese and Japanese delegations were no longer focused on negotiations. In view of the momentum and no confrontation, Lu Zhengxiang and Naito Shinpei both stood up and decided to suspend the meeting this morning and resume the meeting at two o'clock in the afternoon.
After coming out of the venue, Lu Zhengxiang couldn't help but complain to Duan Qirui, thinking that Duan Qirui's words just now were extremely inappropriate. Fortunately, Naito Shinpei's mood was able to stabilize and it would not cause a diplomatic accident. .
Duan Qirui said calmly: "The Japanese just want to intimidate us at the negotiation table. Instead of letting them intimidate us, it is better to strike first and directly steal their losses. They think we don't dare to go to war, so I just want to Let them know that we are not afraid of a fight. You have also seen that Naito Shinpei was just bluffing. If he really had the guts to make this matter a big deal, he would have directly stated his position at that time."
Lu Zhengxiang sighed. He didn't want to dwell on this issue any longer, and then asked: "Master Duan, is it true what happened in Liaodong? Why haven't we received any news at all?"
Duan Qirui said calmly: "It's not surprising even if this happens. Mr. Lu needs to worry too much. Let alone the fact that there is no progress in the negotiations. Even if the negotiations go smoothly, as long as the peace treaty is not signed for one day, Liaodong will be in trouble." The conflict did not officially end in one day. Commander-in-chief Yuan's actions on the front line are actually officially gaining us bargaining chips. I believe that if the Japanese can return to the negotiating table this afternoon, the situation will definitely get better."
Lu Zhengxiang looked worried and didn't know what to say. After a while, he asked again: "Do you want to report this matter to the president immediately?"
Duan Qirui stopped and said: "Since Fengtian did not send back the telegram, or because the telegram was delayed, sooner or later the Presidential Office will know about this matter. What's more, strictly speaking, Japan's one-sided
We can't figure out what's going on, so as long as the advantage is in our hands, we can ignore everything else."
The reason why he said this is that he hopes to buy more time for Liaodong, even if it takes a day or two. Some bureaucrats will make a big fuss after learning about this provincial matter. If it is not done well, it will cause very bad consequences.
as a result of.[
Lu Zhengxiang nodded slightly and said, "Okay then. That's it for now."
By the afternoon, the Japanese delegation finally returned to the negotiating table. Just as Duan Qirui expected, whether it was Naito Shinpei, Hioki Yoshi, or other military representatives, although their expressions still showed varying degrees of
It doesn't look good, but obviously after several arguments, we finally decided to speed up the negotiation process and stop the so-called delay and stalemate.
Naito Shinpei first said that regarding Duan Qirui's insistence on the Japanese government to publicly apologize, currently neither he nor other members of the delegation can make the decision without authorization, but he promised to formally send a telegram back to the country to ask for instructions from the Prime Minister. During the period of requesting instructions.
In order not to delay the negotiation process, he hoped that China and Japan could discuss the details of the peace talks first. Once this aspect is implemented, no matter what Japan's response to the public apology is, it can be discussed separately.