The news that the Northern Qing Dynasty suddenly sent a secret envoy to proactively contact the Southern Ming Dynasty to seek armistice negotiations surprised the highest level of the headquarters and Zhu Yourong.
Because this matter is extremely sensitive, the scope of knowledge is strictly controlled. The people who know about this matter now are Zhu Yourong, Xiang Xiaoqiang, Shi Shigege, several core personnel of the headquarters, several core personnel of the People's Guard, and the cabinet
It is just a few core personnel. The number of people with knowledge of the matter does not exceed thirty.
In general, the senior officials of the Southern Ming Dynasty were very surprised because they all felt that it was not time for the Northern Qing Dynasty to sue for peace. Yes, although the Ming army was victorious, advancing all the way and occupying large areas of land, the most important thing was
The Central Plains, that is, most of Shandong and Henan, have not yet
After taking it down, Shaanxi has only just entered. Beiqing still maintains considerable strategic depth. The most important military base, industrial base, grain production base, energy base, tax base, railway network, etc. are still in hand.
In other words, the war capability has basically not been fatally affected.
It turns out that the senior officials of the Southern Ming Dynasty also thought that the Northern Qing Dynasty would ask for peace, but that would have to be at least after the Qing army suffered a disastrous defeat in the Central Plains War and the Ming army completely occupied the south of the Yellow River. To be honest, once that time comes, even if the Northern Qing Dynasty does not ask for peace from the Southern Ming Dynasty,
The Southern Ming Dynasty might also have to take the initiative to persuade the Northern Qing Dynasty to surrender. At that time, the Ming army’s attack on the left and right sides was far from the peak.
Not much has arrived, winter has arrived, and the large areas that have been acquired should be digested. The conservative victory line of the Northern Expedition has also been reached, and it will be more difficult to fight further. Just when the Beiqing saw that the defeat was decided, it was time to
Accept the reality and seek peace. At that time, it should be natural for the two sides to negotiate a truce.
But now, it seems that Beiqing's request for peace was too early.
The current situation is:
In the east, there is still a terrible silence. The main forces of the Ming Army and the Qing Army are facing each other. Elite soldiers and generals from both sides are gathered here. All five armored divisions of the Ming Army are also here. The Central Plains Corps of the Qing Army is building positions day and night.
The Ming Army's right army group is also hoarding supplies, and a big war may break out at any time.
Therefore, before the outbreak broke out, the Ming army deliberately hoarded its main force here to create a "sword hanging over its head" effect for the Northern Qing Dynasty, so that the Ming army on the left could successfully attack western Henan and Guanzhong, and the Qing army's Central Plains Corps
They didn't dare to move, and they didn't dare to go for reinforcements, otherwise they would expose their backs to the main force of the Ming army and lead to a huge rout.
In the west, both sides are trying to seize Shanxi. The Ming army enters Shanxi from the south, and the Qing army enters Shanxi from the north. The Ming army has strong maneuverability, but there is currently only one pontoon bridge to cross the Yellow River, which has become a "bottleneck" that affects the speed of the advance. And although Shanxi
Empty, but after all
It was an area controlled by the Qing army. The Ming army always had to stop and fight a small battle from time to time. The Qing army marched entirely within its own control area, with an unimpeded path. The forces of the Taihang Mountain column had not yet reached the Datong area in the north. The Qing army captured three points.
One Shanxi is always no problem.
Now, on one side, a war is imminent, and on the other side, everyone is vying for territory, playing the game of "who can move faster". The cup has not yet been opened, and if one side suddenly proposes peace talks, the other side will definitely be suspicious.
Now, most of the twenty or so insiders in the Southern Ming Dynasty, from Shen Rongxuan to Zhang Zhaoxian to Xiang Xiaoqiang, think it is obvious that the Northern Qing Dynasty was delaying the war and wanted to buy time.
However, everyone is unified in the response measures, that is, they do not exclude negotiations. However, during the negotiations, we still have to fight as we should, and we cannot let the negotiations delay the war process. If the Beiqing asked for a ceasefire first and then negotiate, it would definitely be a delaying tactic, and the Ming Dynasty did not need to
Just agree.
If Beiqing can accept talks while fighting, it means that it is not a delaying strategy, and then we can consider serious talks. Anyway, the focus at this stage is to seize Shanxi. Before seizing Shanxi, there will be no big moves in the eastern battlefield.
There will be no decisive battle that affects the negotiations.
…
On the afternoon of the 27th, Ueno Park, Tokyo.
This is one of the oldest and most beautiful parks in Tokyo. Among the green pines and cypresses, the bronze statue of Saigo Takamaki is looming. In the distance to the west, in the setting sun in the west, the majestic form of Mount Fuji can be vaguely seen.
On the pond surrounding the park, swans and waterbirds cruised leisurely. On the shore, couples were walking on the paths, leaning on each other and whispering. The men were usually wearing suits, and some were wearing military uniforms. The women were wearing kimonos, with their arms tied.
Wearing her hair in a traditional bun, she lowered her eyebrows and walked half a step behind her lover. She wore a kimono and followed up quickly with small steps.
There are also some young students, wearing dark blue student uniforms and student hats, scattered in small groups among the lawns on the shore, holding drawing boards and sketching. Under the cherry blossom tree in the distance, a young army junior officer is sitting under the tree.
, a beautiful female student in a sailor outfit next to him cuddled up to him shyly, and the two were talking sweet words of love. The girl giggled from time to time, her face flushed, and she hit him gently, whispering "Yeah..."
sound.
From time to time there would be a vendor carrying a wooden box on his back and a white cloth wrapped around his forehead, shouting in a funny accent while running, selling various snacks: bean buns, yokan, maltose, dried fish, and one or two types of sake. The students ate them.
But those young officers always waved coolly, called the vendors, and bought snacks for their sweethearts.
While sketching on the grass by the lake, the male students looked at the young officers from time to time, murmuring and laughing at each other, and they were all envious and jealous. They were all a few years older, look at them. We also had to take the military academy entrance examination after graduating from high school.
Nowadays, the world has changed. In Japan, soldiers are becoming more and more popular. Even the best ones are always taken over by those young officers.
In the lake, two or three small boats rowed leisurely, quite peacefully with the swans and water birds. There were also pairs of young lovers on the boats. Ueno Park has almost become a love sanctuary for young lovers.
…
There is also a young man and woman on one of the boats. There are provisions and a bottle of sake between them. The man is in a suit and a top hat. While rowing, he stretches his head and talks to the girl opposite him. The girl is wearing a student uniform, too.
He looked like a high school student, sitting upright and virtuous, listening to the man talk, and occasionally stretching out his chopsticks to pick up things to eat.
"Huh...so...our emperor said..." the man panted while paddling, "...huh...please give Ming a face...huh...withdraw from Shanxi...the Qing Dynasty...there must be serious consequences..."
Thanks...huhu..."
The female student put down her chopsticks and said calmly:
"Let's talk about it, what exactly is a big thank you? ... It's not that I'm embarrassing you. Now you are obviously slowing down the war. You can't even deceive a three-year-old child. Not to mention Nanjing, even I think you guys should cease fire first.
The request is unrealistic. Not only is it excessive, it is also unreasonable.”
"Huh... Miss Akiko..." The man was too tired. He stopped his arms and gasped, "You misunderstood... How could this be a delaying tactic? We are saying that both sides stop advancing at the same time. We are not asking you to go alone.
The front stopped advancing. Miss, look, the eastern battlefield is already stationary, right?
?We have no objection to this, but let’s leave it aside for now. What else is there in the western battlefield? Aren’t both sides trying to grab Shanxi? What our emperor means is that both sides should stop first, don’t go to the middle, and maintain their respective occupied areas.
, as for the vacuum zone in the middle, let it remain empty and negotiate first..."
"Hey, Mr. Kumata," the female student interrupted him and raised her chin, "Paddle over there, someone else's boat is coming."
"Ah? Ah, okay, okay...huh..."
Before the man could rest, upon hearing the order, he hurriedly picked up the oars and rowed farther away, avoiding another approaching boat.
Both of them are Chinese and both speak Chinese, but neither of them knows the other's true identity and they still call each other by their Japanese pseudonyms.
"Then... Huh... Miss Akiko..." Mr. Kumada asked breathlessly while rowing, "Where did you say... just now? Huh..."
"The vacuum zone."
"Well... yes, yes..." Mr. Xiongtian finally rowed the boat to a secluded place, rubbing his arms and said, "The... uh... vacuum zone in the middle, let it be so vacuum first, let's leave it on both sides
Negotiation. If the negotiation is completed, then there will be no problem.
, how to divide it. If the negotiation doesn't work out and your Ming Dynasty is not satisfied, we will fight again... It won't be too late... Haha, fight wherever you stop. Your army is more mobile anyway.
We won’t suffer any loss in grabbing the territory, hehehe..."
"Um."
Miss Akiko nodded and said nothing. She just picked up snacks with chopsticks and ate while listening.
"Ah, eat, eat, you're welcome, haha..." Mr. Xiongtian gave in quickly, and said hesitantly with a smile on his face, "Then...Miss Akiko, what are your conditions? Let's talk about this...
…”
Miss Akiko ate snacks and said:
"It's you who want to negotiate, not us. How can we have any conditions?"
Mr. Xiongtian was stunned for a moment, then immediately laughed and said:
"Yes, yes... Well, how about Miss Akiko report to Nanjing first, please prepare the conditions and send representatives to Japan for negotiations as soon as possible? Haha... I can't help it, the war situation waits for no one...
"
Miss Akiko put down her chopsticks, raised her head and glared:
"No! Nanjing said that if you want to negotiate, send representatives to Ming Dynasty. Let's talk about anything in Japan."
Mr. Xiongtian was stunned again, then smiled bitterly and nodded:
"This... Okay, I'll report it to the higher ups before talking... Well, it's probably not a big problem... Sincerity, everyone's sincerity is the most important thing..."
Miss Akiko picked up the wet wipes in the small bamboo basket and wiped her mouth, and said:
"What time is it?"
Mr. Xiongtian quickly took out his pocket watch, looked at it and said:
"It's almost five o'clock, haha, still five minutes to go."
"Well," Miss Akiko threw the wipes back into the small basket and ordered, "Okay, take me ashore."
Xiong Tian was startled and said with a smile:
"Ms. Akiko, then...is this enough for today?"
"Hmm? Then what else do you want."
Xiong Tian was startled and quickly waved his hands and said:
"Ah! I didn't... I didn't think about it... Then, haha, Miss Akiko, I will send you ashore... Then, when will the results be available? How can I contact you again?"
Miss Akiko said:
"I'll contact you. I'll go back and report it. If it's quick, I'll have the results tonight. Give me your phone number."
"My phone number?" Xiongtian looked confused and hesitated, "This...? Hmm..."
"I said, what are you worried about? What is there to worry about? Are we going to report you to the Japanese? I am Xiao Xiami. If you can connect with me, it means that you are also Xiao Xiami. We two Xiao Xiami report each other,
Interesting?"
Xiongtian's face turned red, he smiled coquettishly, but still didn't move.
Miss Akiko lowered her face:
"Okay, then send me ashore. Forget it. Let's stop talking about it. Let's blow it."
"Hey, hey, hey..." Xiong Tian was frightened. He quickly took out a small book, wrote down a line of numbers, and handed it to her, "That's the number... This is not my room, but please call Obasan downstairs.
Just one word will do..."
"Okay," Miss Akiko grabbed it, put it in her skirt pocket, and said, "Stay in the room at night, don't go anywhere. I'll go back and report to the superiors, and maybe call you."
"Haha..." Xiongtian laughed, looking for something to say, "Be careful when contacting Nanjing at night. The Japanese listening vehicles have been hanging around frequently in the past two days, mainly in the areas of Nakano, Bunkyo, and Chiyoda. Akiko
Miss, please be careful..."
Miss Mingzi's ears moved very sensitively, she raised her head and said sadly:
"No one is so provocative as you. What does it matter to you where I live? Does it matter to you whether I contact Nanjing directly?"
Xiong Tian's trick was discovered, and his face turned red and white with embarrassment. He smiled sarcastically:
"Haha... Miss Akiko, you misunderstood, you misunderstood... I did not inquire about your intention... Haha... You see, I was in direct contact with Beijing, so I thought you were in direct contact with Nanjing...
...Look, I misunderstood..."
Miss Mingzi said "Huh" and smiled instead of getting angry:
"I said, Xiongtian-kun, you are planning to find out the truth, right?... Well, I can't say who my direct boss is. If you are really curious, I can only tell you that our general boss is Shi Shi
Gege.”
Xiong Tian was stunned for a moment, then laughed sarcastically:
"What a coincidence... My former boss was also Shi Shigege... You see, we still have the same boss... Haha, what a coincidence, what a coincidence... Hahaha..."
…
At around seven o'clock that night, the People's Guard spy stationed in Japan "Miss Mingzi" sent a secret telegram back to Nanjing and reported the results of the preliminary contact to Nanjing. Xiang Xiaoqiang made the decision and asked "Miss Mingzi" to tell "Mr. Xiongtian". Next, the Ming army
Still how to fight
How to fight? Beiqing wants to negotiate quickly, so it sends official representatives to Nanjing immediately. And the requirements must be high-level, and they must be able to represent Guangwu to the greatest extent. You can't send a little shrimp here, and send a telegram to ask for instructions.
Send a telegram to request instructions.
At around eight o'clock in the evening, Miss Akiko and Mr. Kumada went out for another "love" date, and they walked around the Tokyo night market hand in hand.
That night, a string of encrypted radio waves flew back to Beijing from Tokyo.