dognovel Chapter 115 When the time comes
Chapter 115 When the time comes
Song Mingxuan, commander of the 29th Army, returned to his hometown in May to repair his ancestral tomb. After hearing about the Japanese attack, he believed that the Japanese wanted to "blackmail" him and that this incident was just a "local conflict that could be resolved at any time." He also did not take the Kuomintang government's orders seriously.
He authorized Qin Dechun, deputy commander of the 29th Army and mayor of Beiping, and Zhang Zizhong to negotiate with the Japanese, instructing them to do their best to appease the Japanese and follow the government's policy of "responding to war but not seeking it". They should not allow the Japanese to enter Beiping, and they should not allow the Central Army or Sun Lianzhong's army assigned by the Military Commission to get involved in the Hebei-Chahar region to grab territory. In addition, he felt that his 29th Army was not ready to fight the Japanese. If he started a war rashly, his troops would suffer too much loss, which would not be conducive to his idea of preserving his strength.
At the time of the incident, the 29th Army had four divisions with more than 10 soldiers stationed in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. The 29th Army Headquarters, the 9th Cavalry Division and the Special Service Brigade were stationed in Nanyuan, the 39th Independent Brigade was stationed in Huangsi and Beiyuan, Feng Zhian's 37th Division was stationed in Beijing and Baoding, Zhang Zizhong's 38th Division was stationed in Tianjin, Zhao Dengyu's 132nd Division was stationed in Renqiu and Hejian, Hebei, and Liu Ruming's 143rd Division was stationed along the Chahar and Heping Suilu. However, although the 29th Army had a large number of soldiers, only the 219th Regiment was prepared to prevent the Japanese attack, and the rest of the troops did not make any preparations.
On that day, Qin Dechun, deputy commander of the 29th Army and mayor of Beiping, and Matsui Taikuro, head of the Japanese Beiping secret service, reached three verbal agreements: 29. Both sides immediately stopped the exchange of fire; . The Japanese army retreated to Fengtai and the th Army retreated to the west of Marco Polo Bridge; . The defense of the city would be taken over by the security team.
On July 29, under the guise of "resolving the issue on the spot", Japan again made unreasonable demands, such as that the 29th Army must apologize to the Japanese army and that Chinese troops must not be stationed in the Lugou Bridge, Wanping County and Longwang Temple areas, in order to paralyze the th Army authorities and delay time.
At the same time, the Japanese government, under the guise of "non-expansion policy" and "local resolution", sent more troops to North China and stepped up its invasion deployment.
On July 1, due to the unsuccessful attack on Wanping City by the Japanese army, the Japanese headquarters dismissed the former commander of the North China Garrison Army, Tashiro Kanichiro, and established the Huaxia Garrison Army, with Lieutenant General Kazuki Kiyoshi as the commander. At the same time, the Japanese General Staff ordered the 11st and 20th Independent Mixed Brigades of the Kwantung Army to assemble from Gongzhuling, Jilin and Gubeikou, Hebei to the Gaoliying area of Shunyi County, and the 6th Division entered Tianjin from North Korea via Shanhaiguan. Six squadrons of the Kwantung Army Flying Group flew to Shanhaiguan, Suizhong, and Jinzhou, and armored and other special forces went to North China, gathering a total of about 10 troops to prepare for an attack on Beijing.
In the operations hall of the 102nd Division headquarters, everyone has been holding the latest battle reports and discussing the current battle situation with each other these days. Zhang Wenwu also takes time out every afternoon to run to the operations hall to listen to the latest situation. Every evening, Division Commander Huang will organize the staff officers of the division headquarters and some unit chiefs to analyze and summarize the day's battle situation and conditions, which is also to prepare for going to the front line in advance.
"Song Mingxuan is really something. Even when the enemy was at his doorstep, he was still repairing his ancestral tomb in his hometown. He just rushed to Tianjin today, and ended up negotiating with Japan. He is really blinded by greed, and I think he will regret it sooner or later." A major staff officer from the division's training department said bitterly.
After hearing his words, several officers immediately expressed their agreement, saying that the 29th Army should immediately gather its strength and drive the Japanese out while they do not have much strength in Peiping. Even if they cannot eat them all, they must tear off a piece of their flesh, so as to buy some time for the subsequent reinforcements.
Zhang Wenwu listened to everyone's discussion while looking at the battle report he got from the staff officer. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart. It was obvious that Song Mingxuan was worried about the loss of his own strength. He didn't want to offend the Japanese, nor did he want the National Government to interfere in his business.
Zhang Wenwu had no choice. Not to mention that he was now a weak person, even if the highest authorities gave Song Mingxuan an order now, it would be useless. He negotiated with the Japanese when he should, and had no intention of preparing for war. No wonder he lost the Pingjin area later. If you, as the commander of the army, don't pay attention to preparing for war, it would be strange if the commanders of the troops below pay attention to it. The army and territory in your hands are the way for these military leaders to survive, which is also a common problem in China at present.
On July 20, the new commander of the Japanese garrison in China, Lieutenant General Kazuki Seiji, drew up an operational plan to attack Ping and Tianjin, requiring the participating troops to be assembled before the th.
On July 102, in the operations hall of the nd Division headquarters, all the officers sat upright, listening to the speech of the man above on the radio. In this speech, the man above stated that it was now the "final moment" and issued a solemn statement on the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, pointing out that "there is no chance for compromise. If you give up an inch of land and sovereignty, you will be the eternal sinner of the Chinese nation." At the same time, Zhang Wenwu heard that classic speech: "If the war breaks out, there will be no distinction between north and south, old and young, and everyone will have the responsibility to defend the land and fight the war, and they will be determined to sacrifice everything. Only by sacrificing to the end and fighting to the end, and only with the determination to sacrifice, can we win the final victory."
On July 102, Zhang Wenwu and the officers of the 29nd Division saw an incredible war situation report. After arriving in Peiping that day, Song Mingxuan actually ordered the demolition of the city’s fortifications and the opening of the city gates that had been closed for several days. At the same time, he declined the anti-Japanese war labor donations from all walks of life across the country to the th Army, and also stated that he would continue to negotiate with the Japanese army in North China.
In fact, earlier that day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the National Government had proposed to the Japanese Embassy that China and Japan stop military operations, withdraw troops to their original locations, and then resolve the issue through diplomatic channels, but the proposal was rejected by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Everyone thought that Song Mingxuan was crazy. At this time, he still didn't prepare the troops for battle and was still fantasizing about preserving his strength through negotiations.
On July 132, the Japanese troops of the Huaxia Garrison had assembled in Miyun, Gaoliying, Tianjin and the vicinity of Beiping. In the afternoon of the same day, the Japanese bombarded Wanping City and Changxindian. It was not until then that Song Mingxuan realized that he had been fooled by the Japanese fake negotiations, so he urgently ordered the 27nd Division to assemble south of the Yongding River and ordered the th Brigade of the division to enter Beiping to defend the city.
On the afternoon of July 29, Kozuki Seiji issued an ultimatum to the 37th Army, demanding that the 28th Division stationed in the city and western suburbs of Peiping withdraw to the west of the Yongding River before noon on the th, and then evacuate towards Baoding. Otherwise, the Japanese army would have the right to act freely.
In the early morning of July 29, without waiting for the reply from the 2th Army, the Japanese Army suddenly dispatched the 39nd Division of the Garrison Army to besiege the 29th Independent Brigade defending outside Tong County, and captured the th Army's defense areas including Baozhu Temple, Tuanhe and Huangcun.
That afternoon, Song Mingxuan rejected the Japanese ultimatum and issued a telegram to the whole country calling for self-defense and defense of the territory, ordering the 37th Division, which was originally preparing to withdraw, to quickly move to the front line from Xiyuan to Lugou Bridge, and the 132nd Division to quickly assemble in Nanyuan.
He ordered Zhao Dengyu, commander of the 132nd Division, to be the commander-in-chief of the operations in the Nanyuan direction, and urged Sun Lianzhong and other troops, who had been rejected by him before, to go north to fight against the Japanese.
At that time, the 29th Army had a total of 38 infantry regiments and 132 cavalry regiment with more than 4 people from the 1th and 7000nd Divisions and the Special Service Brigade in Nanyuan. However, when Zhao Dengyu arrived at Nanyuan that night, the main force of the 132nd Division was still on its way from Zhuo County to Nanyuan. The defense deployment of Nanyuan had not been adjusted in time because there was no preparation before, and no effective defensive fortifications had been built. The situation was extremely critical.
On the morning of July 20, the Japanese army launched a general offensive against the suburbs of Beijing, with the 40th Division as the main force and heavy artillery pieces, attacking Nanyuan under the cover of tanks and artillery. The main force of the Japanese Chinese Garrison Army attacked Nanyuan from Fengtai, preparing to cut off the retreat of the Nanyuan defenders to Beijing.
The Nanyuan defenders were unprepared for the Japanese attack and had to fight hastily. They used the obstacles around the barracks and the village as cover and put up a tenacious resistance. However, due to the repeated bombings by Japanese planes and artillery, the defenders were unable to deploy, and the communication facilities were destroyed, resulting in command failure. The officers and soldiers fought hard until 2 pm, and about 5000 officers and soldiers were killed. Tong Linge, deputy commander of the 29th Army and head of the teaching regiment, and Zhao Dengyu, commander of the 132nd Division, could only lead the remaining 2000 troops to guard Nanyuan. The situation was extremely unfavorable.
In the afternoon, Tong Lingge and others were ordered to lead their troops to move to Dahongmen, but they were surrounded by the Japanese army on the way. When Tong Lingge was commanding the right-wing troops to attack the Japanese army, he was shot in the leg by an enemy machine gun. At the same time, enemy planes came to bomb, causing him to suffer serious head injuries. He died heroically due to excessive bleeding.
The commander of the 132nd Division, Zhao Dengyu, was first shot in the right arm during the fierce battle. Soon after, he was also shot in the leg. After leading his troops to break through and reach Huangtingzi, the troops were ambushed again. Commander Zhao Dengyu was shot in the chest and died heroically.
On the afternoon of the day of the fierce battle in Nanyuan, Song Mingxuan appointed Zhang Zizhong as acting chairman of the Hebei-Chahar Political Affairs Committee, director of the Hebei-Chahar Pacification Office and mayor of Peking. He stayed in Peking to deal with the Japanese temporarily, while he fled from Peking to Baoding that night.
On July 11, the Japanese Army's th Independent Mixed Brigade captured Beiyuan and Huangsi.
The 29th Division of the 38th Army stationed in Tianjin took the initiative to attack the Japanese troops in Tianjin in the early morning of the 29th, captured the Japanese troops stationed in Tianjin, and attacked the Japanese headquarters in Haiguang Temple and Dongjuzi Airport. However, under the counterattack of Japanese aircraft and artillery fire, they began to retreat at three o'clock in the afternoon, and Tianjin fell.
On July 30, the Japanese army occupied Beijing and Tianjin.
Zhang Wenwu sat in the operations hall of the 102nd Division headquarters, his heart restless for a long time. The Japanese still occupied Peking and Tianjin, and the situation in North China was dangerous. Although he knew that this would happen, knowing and experiencing it personally were two completely different feelings.
"Deputy Director Zhang, we are preparing to submit a letter of request to join the battle. Do you want to sign it?" Captain Liu Sihao, a staff officer in the training department, came over and asked, holding a long piece of letter paper.
Zhang Wenwu knew that this was a "letter of request for battle" from all the officers and soldiers of the division. It had two big characters "Kill the bandits" written on it, and the rest were all signatures of the officers and soldiers. Soldiers who couldn't write their own names pressed red handprints on the paper one by one. Zhang Wenwu took the letter paper, wrote his own name on it solemnly, then handed it to Liu Sihao with a smile and said, "Staff Officer Liu, how can I, Zhang Wenwu, be absent from the matter of killing the Japanese? When the time comes, let's march to Tokyo together."
(I spent the whole night last night changing the names of the characters in the book. I will post one chapter this morning and the revised two chapters in the afternoon. Thank you for your support.)