Chapter 1789 National Treasure Returns to the Country
In early February, Kazan entered the coldest time of the year. It was covered with ice and snow. The whole world seemed to have become a big freezer. The mountains were shaking with cold, the river was frozen stiff, the north wind was howling, blowing like a knife, and heavy snow was flying all over the sky.
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On the train rumbling westward, An Mingqi, the deputy political commissar of the Anjia Army's Central Asia Military Region who was heading to Kazan as an observer, looked curiously at the Far Eastern Army Commander-in-Chief Yegoro who was discussing the war situation with several staff officers.
Husband, the fifty-six-year-old supreme military commander of the Far Eastern Army, has a calm and collected face, and is very organized when issuing combat tasks. There is no sense of tension or uneasiness from him at all.
Along the way, in the train carriage that had been modified and added radio communication equipment to temporarily serve as the army's general headquarters, battle reports from various fronts continued to be received. As far as An Mingqi knew, the overall situation was not optimistic.
As of February 5, the Soviet army had advanced more than 200 kilometers on various fronts. In the direction of Kazan, a large number of leading troops had broken through the Far East Army's blockade on the front line of Kazan and began to attack Kazan City with all their strength.
District advance.
To the northwest of the city, the three armored divisions of the Soviet Army have advanced to a place less than ten kilometers away from the city. Although the two infantry divisions of the Far Eastern Army stationed there resisted tenaciously, they were still retreating step by step. To the southwest, the Soviet Union
The four infantry divisions of the army advanced along the south bank of the Volga River to the Upper Uslon area. Once they captured this area
, then they can cross the frozen Volga River, drive straight in, and directly attack the central and southern urban areas of Kazan. As for the frontal battlefield on the western front, the Soviet army's advantage has not yet been truly demonstrated. After all, the Far East Army has five troops deployed there.
With an infantry division, coupled with anti-tank trenches and powerful artillery positions built in advance, the battle was extremely cruel and fierce.
At three o'clock that afternoon, Yegorov arrived at the Kazan front line.
According to the battle plan of the Soviet Army Headquarters before the war, it was very important to win the Battle of Kazan. This was not only because Kazan was an important industrial city in the eastern part of the Eastern European Plain, but also because it was an important city guarding the Volga River and the Ural Mountains.
stronghold.if
If this strategic stronghold of the Far Eastern Army cannot be captured, then the Soviet Army will launch a full-line offensive, and there will be a gap. The Far Eastern Army can use this gap to surround the Soviet Army's flanks, threatening the safety of the Soviet Army's attack arrows. It can be said that,
The Soviet army is bound to win Kazan.
According to the campaign arrangement of the Far East Army Headquarters, the strategic focus this time is not only to defend the city of Kazan, but also to strive to eliminate all Soviet troops attacking in the direction of Kazan, that is, towards the confluence of the Volga and Kazan rivers.
, completely breaking the Soviet army's all-out offensive.
At the same time, it is necessary to eliminate as many Soviet troops as possible that have broken into the Ural region, weaken the Soviet army's war potential, and create conditions for the next counterattack on Moscow.
Under this circumstance, a large-scale strategic concept of luring the enemy to encircle and annihilate was formed: using the troops in Kazan City and the Kazan area as bait to induce the Soviet army to gradually increase the number of troops attacking this area, and at the same time, use the troops on the north and south routes to
, carried out assault operations deep into the Soviet army, and finally encircled and annihilated the protruding part of the Soviet army in Kazan.
In the battle plan of the Far Eastern Army Headquarters, Yegorov, as the commander-in-chief of the entire army, faced dangerous situations and acted as a bait. His courage was undoubtedly very great.
The tenacity of the troops fighting in the Kazan area will directly determine the Soviet army's investment in the area. In the north of Kazan, the troops led by the Far East Army's deputy chief of staff, General Fetiko, launched an attack on Shkar at the same time.
A powerful offensive in Ola, Krasnogorski, Volzhski and other areas, thus forming a pincer attack on the Soviet right subway.
In the south of Kazan, General Leonid, Director of the Operations Department of the Far Eastern Army General Staff Headquarters, commanded another force to attack from Ulyanovsk, attack Kanash and Chivelisk, cut off the main railway line, and then
Implement an outflank towards Kazan. The two offensives will eventually form an iron pincer that will strangle the Soviet troops advancing towards Kazan.
From this point of view, there is no doubt that the early stage of the Kazan Campaign, that is, from February to March, was the most difficult period for the troops defending Kazan due to the freezing of the Volga River. During this period, the attacking Soviet troops had an absolute advantage.
Due to its superior strength, the Far Eastern Army could only rely on passive defense by city defense.
According to An Mingqi's understanding, when Yegorov took over Kazan's military affairs, the forces he could directly mobilize were only three under-organized group armies, with a total strength of less than 150,000 people, and the forces he required at the front of his battlefield were
They were facing more than 30 Soviet armored and infantry divisions, with a total strength of nearly 500,000.
Once these two months have passed, due to the improvement of the weather and the participation of the air force in the war, the situation will quickly improve. Then it depends on who can bite the bullet and persevere. In a sense, this is the Far East with Yegoro
In the confrontation between the old-fashioned soldiers represented by Husband and the new soldiers represented by Zhukov of the Soviet Union, it is not yet known who will win.
At the Kazan East Railway Station, Yegorov met with the main generals of the three armies who came to greet him, and immediately went to the headquarters to deploy defenses. At this point, a decisive battle in Kazan that lasted for four months was officially staged.
...
In Paris, in the square outside the Louvre, the five-clawed golden dragon red flag of South China, the swastika flag of Nazi Germany, and the blue, white, and red flags of France and the Vichy government were flying high on the flagpoles.
In the conference hall in the Louvre, French Vichy Prime Minister Pierre Laval, Vice Chairman of the South China Military Commission Yin Jinan, and Nazi German Governor of Poland Reinhard Heydrich exchanged letters.
Sign your name solemnly on the printed document.
A circle of cameras surrounded the place, snapping pictures, witnessing the birth of another historical moment.
The purpose of this ceremony for the return of Chinese cultural relics hosted by Germany and France hosted by the Nazi government was to exaggerate the close relationship between South China and the Vichy governments of Germany and France, to create suspicion in Britain and the United States, and to further strengthen the influence of the Axis powers.
Originally, Hitler planned to attend the signing meeting in person, but as the negotiations with the Turkish military government entered a critical moment, Hitler appointed Heydrich to be solely responsible for handling the matter.
Now Heydrich is not only the deputy leader of the Nazi Party, the deputy leader of the SS and the head of the secret police, but also serves as the governor of Poland and the commander of the naval aviation. He has extensive influence in the party, government and military. He is a Nazi
Germany's well-deserved number three figure.
This time Yin Jinan led a delegation to visit Germany and had closed-door talks with Hitler in the Chancellery for several days. Although others could not know the content of the talks, it was obvious that Hitler was greatly affected. In these days, both internally and externally,
In his speech, he repeatedly emphasized the good-neighborly and friendly relations with South China, saying that Nazi Germany had no intention of competing for territory in Asia. The national interests of South China and Germany were completely consistent, and there was no possibility of confrontation or conflict, and they had broad prospects for cooperation.
It was in this spirit that, with Hitler's consent, Heydrich packed up 300,000 Chinese cultural relics collected by major museums in Germany and returned them to China.
These cultural relics were mainly stolen from China by German police forces after the Eight-Power Allied Forces captured Beijing and in the name of archeology at the beginning of this century. Taking 1902 to 1905 as an example, during these three years, Germany
The expedition team transported a total of 400 boxes of antiquities in the Turpan and Kuqa areas, including the never-discovered portrait mural of Meniz, the founder of Manichaeism, as well as many rare handwritten documents, textiles, coins, etc.
In real history, the museum that houses these artifacts was devastated by bombing in World War II, and very little was left. Of course, this was all avoided before it happened, and all the artifacts were recovered in time.
It was transferred to the territory of Nanhua and sent to the strategic warehouses built in the mountains of northern and central Nanhua for collection.
Under the coercion of Nazi Germany, the French Vichy government conducted a thorough inventory of several ancient castles hiding the Louvre Museum and the Guimet Museum, and unexpectedly obtained approximately 89,000 cultural relics, far exceeding the three estimated numbers in advance.
The number of items exceeds 10,000. Stimulated by this result, Heydrich quickly assigned secret police to conduct thorough searches of museums, libraries and churches across France. So far, 360,000 items have been seized.
cultural relics, and new figures are being constantly refreshed.
These cultural relics collected across France were all illegally plundered from China during the modern colonial period. Among them, more than 30,000 Chinese cultural relics were transferred to the Louvre Museum, including collections of painted pottery from primitive society, Shang and Zhou bronzes, and porcelain.
The collection amounts to more than 6,000 pieces, and the tens of thousands of Chinese cultural relics transferred to its branch, the Guimet Museum, account for more than half of the total cultural relics in the museum's collection. There are 12,000 pieces of ceramics from past dynasties, ranking first in the collection of Chinese ceramics in overseas museums.
In addition, the number of Chinese cultural relics collected by municipal museums such as Paris is comparable to that of the Louvre. The National Library of France collects more than 10,000 Dunhuang cultural relics, including silk manuscripts from the Northern Wei Dynasty, gold manuscripts from the Sui Dynasty, and silk manuscripts from the Tang Dynasty.
Embroidered editions, Tang Dynasty gold books, Ming Wanli engravings, Qing Dynasty Maps, Forty Scenes of Old Summer Palace poems on silk, etc. Among them, the three Tang rubbings of Dunhuang calligraphy and painting are all orphans and rare treasures.
Yin Jinan never expected that the Germans would be so generous. The delegation was all pleasantly surprised by Germany's gift package, and their favorable impression of Nazi Germany doubled.
After the signing ceremony, representatives from the three countries came to the conference hall and attended a press conference held here. The three of them delivered speeches one after another.
Heydrich declared that the war Germany is engaged in is a just war against colonialism and hegemonism. Its purpose is to break the shackles of hundreds of years of colonial rule, bring fairness and justice to the world, and re-plan a new international political order.
, so that the people can enjoy peace for a long time. The German-led return of South China cultural relics is an excellent proof.
At present, Germany's just war has achieved a staged victory. On behalf of the Nazi Party and the German government, he urged the British and American governments to come to the negotiating table and jointly discuss the armistice to determine the spheres of influence of each country under the new situation.
Pierre Laval, the Prime Minister of the Vichy Government of France, completely followed the lead of Nazi Germany. In his speech, he talked about the Second Opium War and the Eight-Nation Allied Forces' War of Aggression against China, saying that relying on such means to obtain cultural relics from other countries was an important step for advocating freedom and freedom.
It is undoubtedly a shame for the democratic French people. Now under the auspices of Germany, France has the opportunity to correct its mistakes. On behalf of the French government, he expressed his apology to the Chinese people and said that in the future, under the leadership of Germany, France will
Defend Europe and the new world order under German leadership.
In Yin Jinan's third speech, facing many reporters, he spoke eloquently in Mandarin: "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for coming to the Louvre and witnessing this historic moment. China is a civilization with a history of seven thousand years.
The ancient country is the only country whose civilization has never been interrupted since the beginning of written records. During the Opium War, the British colonists used cannons to reveal the mystery of China. Therefore, in the following time, China has been frantically plundered by the foreign powers, and no amount of cultural relics were lost.
Its number.
"I want to talk about my feelings at this moment. Yes, I am personally very grateful to Hitler and Marshal Pétain for their generosity. It was their fairness and justice that led to today's cultural relics return ceremony.
Many cultural relics that have been exiled overseas for many years can finally return to their roots. I think that thousands of miles away in the East, in mainland China and South China, hundreds of millions of people are applauding the decision of the two heads of state at this moment, and are applauding this decision.
This action is regarded as friendly to the Chinese people!
"The United Kingdom has always claimed to be a just country and has criticized Germany, the Soviet Union and Italy for their military actions. I don't want to discuss whether these accusations are correct here. I just want to say that if the British government thinks it is just, then why
Can’t they follow the example of the German and French governments and return cultural relics looted from China?
"According to our investigation, the major museums and libraries in the UK currently collect about 1.3 million pieces of Chinese cultural relics from past dynasties, almost all of which were illegally looted from China by the British during the modern colonial period. Among them, the British Museum
Collection of Chinese calligraphy and painting, ancient books, jade, and pottery
There are more than 30,000 rare national treasures such as wares, porcelain, bronzes, and sculptures. Almost all of the fine ancient Chinese paintings that have been lost overseas are in the museum. These cultural relics and treasures cover nearly 7,000 years of Chinese history, and many of them are unique pieces that have never been seen before.
Products. For example: The Eastern Jin Dynasty collected treasures for the palaces of all dynasties.
The Tang Dynasty copy of Gu Kaizhi's "The Picture of Admonitions of the Female History", the "Green Landscape Picture" by General Zuo Wuwei Li Sixun, the son of the royal family Li Xiaobin in the early Tang Dynasty, the "Mao Lin Mountain Picture" by Ju Ran, a representative of Jiangnan School in the early Song Dynasty, one of the three masters of the Northern Song Dynasty.
The famous Shaanxi painter Fan Kuan's "Visiting Friends with Qin" is known as Long Mian
"Huayan in Disguise" by Li Gonglin, a layman from Anhui Province, and "Ink Bamboo Picture" by Su Shi, the great writer of the Song Dynasty. In addition, there are also bronze double sheep statues of the Shang Dynasty, bronze guis of the Marquis of Kangxi in the Western Zhou Dynasty, Xinghou guis, Dunhuang murals, and jade carvings of the Han Dynasty.
The Dragon Controlling Dragon, the Tang Dynasty Yellow Jade Sitting Dog, etc., have become the museum’s treasures.
"It is difficult for me to understand a country that publicly exhibits the things it has looted and is proud of it. Isn't this the behavior of gangsters and bandits? Here, I urge the British government to respond positively to my
Today’s question is to use practical actions to show your innocence.
"Finally, I would like to thank the German and French governments again for their decisions. There is a saying in China that a drop of water should be repaid by a spring. We will actively respond to the righteous deeds of the two countries and actively adjust our national policies to build a new international political system.
Order does its part!”
Yin Jinan's speech triggered a mass exaggeration.
American reporter James asked first: "General Yin Jinan, we know that your country has just rescued 50,000 American and Philippine troops on Luzon Island in the Philippines, which has won the respect of our American people. However, today you have expressed your extreme contempt for Germany.
Great favor, does this mean that you will abandon your friendship with the United States and join the Axis powers?"
Yin Jinan was well prepared and answered without thinking:
"I am just discussing the matter and am not involved in the formulation of specific national decisions. But I believe that people's hearts are full of flesh and blood. If some countries do not correct their attitudes and still show some hostility towards the Chinese people, our Nanhua government will
We do not rule out choosing other allies."
Irish reporter Cameron stood up and asked:
"General Yin Jinan, as far as we know, Japan has more than a thousand large and small museums, with a total collection of nearly 4 million pieces of Chinese cultural relics from past dynasties. Most of them were looted and smuggled by Japanese invaders in modern times.
The Tokyo National Museum alone has a collection of more than 90,000 pieces of Chinese cultural relics from past dynasties, including countless treasures and orphans, far exceeding ordinary museums in China, such as
"Fishing Alone on the Cold River" by Ma Yuan, a famous painter of the Southern Song Dynasty, is still among them; in addition, Wang Xizhi's "Mei Zhi Tie", "Preface to Dingwu Lanting" and "Seventeen Tie", which are stored in different museums around the country,
The "Preface to the Sacred Religion of the King" and the "Li Baizhi Manuscript" from the Liang Dynasty are also rare cultural relics and treasures. Why do you only target the United Kingdom but turn a blind eye to the atrocities of the Communist Party?"
Yin Jinan laughed: "This reporter should be from the British media, right? The relationship between countries is more complicated than we imagined. For example, so far, the United States, Germany, and Italy have not declared war on each other, and
We and the Communist Party have been at war since the September 18th Incident. It was not until the beginning of this month that we officially declared war with the Communist Party. Here I insist
To be more careful, even if we have good relations with Germany in the future, we will still be in a state of war with Japan, and there is no possibility of reconciliation. We will naturally come to Tokyo and Osaka to claim those cultural relics collected by the Japanese government and private citizens.
, the cultural relics in Kyoto and other places will all be returned to the mother country, and we don’t have to rely on other countries at all, so there is no need to mention it separately!”
After hearing Yin Jinan's words, some reporters who were biased towards the Allies felt relieved, but several Japanese reporters in the audience were furious. One of them, Masuda Maruzo, asked Heydrich loudly without waiting for permission.
:
"Your Excellency, Deputy Head of State, the three-nation axis of Germany, Italy, and Japan is sacrosanct. Our great empire will never allow a country that is hostile to the empire to join this axis! Currently, the imperial army has swept across the Pacific Ocean.
It won’t be long before the entire Pacific Ocean will become the inland sea of the Great Empire. At such a critical time, what is the purpose of your country’s friendship with the enemies of the Great Empire?”
Heydrich frowned and replied with a sneer: "Is the decision-making of the German Empire a child's play? As the deputy head of state, I need to be responsible for the future of the German nation, not a small role like you! If you have any questions,
You can respond through your country’s diplomatic department instead of making nonsense here!”
Having said this, Heydrich waved his hand: "Come here, I suspect these *** journalists are spies sent by the British. Arrest them and interrogate them severely."
The faces of several *** reporters changed. Only then did they remember the identity of the leader of the secret police Heydrich. They quickly shouted that they were staff of the *** embassy and had diplomatic immunity. However, the wolf-like Gestapo had already swarmed up and attacked them.
These little devils were dragged down.
With this episode, the reporters' questions were much more restrained, and it didn't take long for the press conference to end hastily. Soon, rumors that South China might join the Axis powers spread to the United Kingdom and the United States, causing a huge shock.