Of course, it is clear that his aim is to create suspicion and distrust among the allies. We don't have any reason to make it work for the purpose. I am confident that the above statement of our current situation and my intentions will allay the concerns expressed in your letter. ”

"The senior general of their guard said that he was a 'Japanese officer'." Wang Wei said, "And I believed him." I seem to be a liar in the eyes of us Chinese, shameful. Go ahead and read it. ”

"You are quite right, because of rumors that the head of the army and the head of the Japanese army are negotiating somewhere, a situation of unease and mistrust has now developed which is very regrettable.

"You are convinced that no negotiations have yet taken place. It should be assumed that you have not been fully informed. As for my military colleagues, they had no doubt, on the basis of the information they had, that the negotiations had taken place and had ended with an agreement with the Japanese. To this end, the commander of the Western Front, the marshal, agreed to open the front for the passage of the army, and the army agreed to lower the terms of peace.

"In my opinion, my colleague's opinion is close to the truth. Otherwise, it would have been inconceivable to refuse to allow the delegates to go to Yan'an to participate in negotiations with the Japanese.

"Again, the people over there baffled me. They asked you to exchange letters with me on this issue, and they remained silent. Although it is abundantly clear that the Americans are the advocates in this case.

"I understand that there is a clear advantage for the Japanese army to hold separate negotiations in Chungking or elsewhere, so that it is possible for the army to advance deep into the country without any resistance. But why hide it, why not inform your allies?

As a result, the Japanese forces on the Western Front have de facto ceased to fight. At the same time, the Japanese fought with our allies.

"It is clear that this situation will in no way be conducive to maintaining and strengthening trust among our countries.

"As I mentioned to you in my previous letter, and I think it is necessary to reiterate here, that I personally and my colleagues would never take such a risky step, because we are aware that temporary benefits, however good, will undermine the fundamental interest of maintaining and strengthening trust among our allies."

"Yes, he's right," he said, "that the Song brothers and his law firm are undermining the trust of the people of the country as a result of my efforts over the years." Please read on. ”

"Are you tired?"

"Oh no, no, what do you say, I'll listen."

"Top secret. Marshal, read it yourself. I am surprised to hear from you. The content of the letter was the conviction that the marshal and the other side had signed an agreement at Yan'an to 'advance the army to the east, and that we both had promised to lower the terms of separate peace with the Japanese.

"In my previous letter, I have mentioned the attempt to convene a conference in Yan'an to discuss the surrender of the garrison to Japan, and I have informed you that: (1) No negotiations have been held in Yan'an. (2) There is no political overtone to such meetings. (3) Any surrender of Japanese forces in China will not undermine the principle of unconditional surrender that we have upheld. (4) The Military Palace is welcome to participate in any meetings that may be held to discuss the question of surrender.

"We have made a joint military effort against Japan, and this effort has now shown a bright prospect of crushing the Japanese army and winning the war. For this reason, I ask you to place your trust in my sincerity and reliability, as I have always trusted in your sincerity and reliability.

"Again, I fully appreciate the role played by your army in allowing our general's troops to force their way across the Yellow River, and the effect of your army's actions in crushing the Japanese resistance once and for all, on our overall strike.

"I fully believe in the general, and I am confident that he will definitely report to me before signing any agreement with the Japanese. He was commanded, and he will demand, the unconditional surrender of enemy forces facing defeat on his battlefield. Our advance on the Western Front was the result of military operations. The rapid advance was mainly due to the devastating blows inflicted by our air forces on the Japanese lines of communication and the fact that the general succeeded in annihilating the main forces of the Western Front on the western bank.

"I believe that there will be no negotiations in Yan'an, and I think that the information you have in this regard may come from domestic intelligence. Those people are trying to create disputes among us in order to escape to some extent the military crimes they have committed. If that's exactly what they were aiming for, then your letter proves that he has achieved partial success.

"Whereas, I am convinced of your trust in my personal reliability and determination to work with you to force the warfighters to surrender unconditionally. I am astonished that the Government has apparently listened to rumours that I have signed an agreement with the enemy before I obtain your full consent at the end.

"I would like to conclude by reminding that it would be one of the greatest tragedies in history to cause a significant loss of human and material resources due to suspicion and lack of trust, and thus to the detriment of the entire cause at a very short time when victory was at hand.

"Frankly, I can't help but feel very dissatisfied with your whistleblower, whoever he may be, because of this vile and inaccurate description of my actions or those of my subordinates on whom I can rely on."

"You don't think it's appropriate?" He asked, "Do you understand where I'm put in?" Read on. ”

"To the President, read it personally, top secret.

(1) What is in my letter is not a question of sincerity and reliability. I have no doubt about your sincerity and reliability, and the same is true for Mr. Jiang. What I am talking about is the difference in our correspondence about what one ally can and cannot do in relation to another. We believe that the enemy is now facing an inevitable surrender, and that in such a situation any Allied meeting with the Japanese on the question of surrender must be attended by representatives of the other Allied Power. If an ally is going to participate in such a meeting, then he is indispensable in any case. The American and British sides think exactly the opposite. They thought that our point of view was incorrect, so they refused to allow us to participate in a meeting with the enemy in Chongqing. I have written to you and do not believe that there is a need to repeat that, in such circumstances, we will never refuse to allow the other two parties to participate in such meetings. I still think that our point of view is the only correct one, because it excludes all possibilities of mutual suspicion and does not allow the enemy to plant the seeds of doubt between us.

(2) I disagree with the view that the Japanese on the Western Front gave up resistance only because they had been defeated. The Japanese had one hundred and forty-seven divisions on the Eastern Front. They could draw fifteen to twenty divisions on the Eastern Front to support the troops of the Western Front and would not lose anything on the Eastern Front. However, the Germans did not and did not do so. They are still frantically fighting for the nameless station. It was only a catalyst for death for them, but they gave up many important cities in the central part of the country. You have to admit that this move of the Japanese is very strange and incomprehensible.

"(3) As for speaking of my intelligence officers, I would like to convince you that these are honest and humble men. They are scrupulous in their duties and have no intention of bullying anyone. We've tested these people in many ways in our work. Judge for yourself. In February of this year, General Ma provided a series of important information to the General Staff. According to the intelligence information available to him, he said that in March there would be two major counterattacks by the Japanese on the Eastern Front. One time from the northeast to North China, and the other from the south bank of the Yangtze River to Shandong. But in fact, the main blow prepared and carried out by the Japanese was not in the above-mentioned areas, but in completely different places, Zhejiang and southwestern Anhui. As it is now known, the Japanese assembled thirty-five divisions in this area, among which were the 114th Tank Division. It was the most important contest fought during the war with so many tank forces. Our marshal managed to avert a catastrophe, crushing the Japanese. At the same time, this was also due to the fact that my intelligence officers discovered the plans of the Japanese to carry out the main strike, which of course became known a little later, and quickly issued a warning to the marshal. So I had the opportunity to once again believe in the meticulousness of the intelligence officers and the mastery of their business.

"In order for you to understand the issue, a letter from the Chief of the General Staff to the general is attached." Zilang literature

"Do you read this letter too?" The adjutant asked.

"Yes, please pronounce it." He replied.

"To Major General Kim of the Military Mission."

"Dear General Kim,

"Please add the following to the information submitted to General Ma:

"On the 20th of February, I received a notice from General Ma through General Jin that the Japanese had formed two army groups on the Eastern Front and were preparing for a counteroffensive; In our army group was preparing to strike at North China, and in the northeast was preparing to attack in the Shijiazhuang direction. In Army Group South was included the 6th Tank Army. On 12 February, I received similar information from Colonel Lin of the Military Mission.

"I am very grateful to General Ma for his contribution to the achievement of our common goals. So eager to provide us with information.

"At the same time, I consider it my duty to inform General Ma of the military operations on the Eastern Front in March and to confirm the information he provided. Because these battles show that the main army groups of the Japanese army, including the 6th Guards Tank Army, are not massing at the location you predicted, but in the area of Poyang Lake. From there, the Japanese launched an attack with the aim of advancing to the banks of the Yellow River in Shandong and carrying out a forced crossing south of Zaozhuang.

"This fact proves that the intelligence provided by General Ma does not correspond to the actual course of the fighting on the Eastern Front in March.

"Certain sources of this intelligence are deliberately distracting the command apparatus from ours and diverting the attention of the command apparatus from the areas where the Japanese are preparing to carry out the main offensive campaign on the Eastern Front. This possibility cannot be ruled out.

"Notwithstanding the foregoing, I ask General Ma, if possible, to inform me of the enemy's situation.

"I consider it obligatory to add this information to General Ma's intelligence, only so that he can draw a corresponding conclusion on his attitude towards this source of information.

"Please convey my respect and thanks to General Ma.

"Respect your General Staff, Senior General An. March 20, 1940. ”

"I'm not ashamed." "Short-sighted greed and dislike of the Communist Party's traditions may have been the trigger for the explosion to some extent," he whispered. I was ashamed that I believed these people, and I was ashamed that someone had told me that someone was deceiving me, and I interrupted him. Please make a record colon, quotation marks. ”

Then he dictated:

"To Marshal Lin, read it in person, top secret.

"Thank you for explaining your views on the Chongqing incident. As has now been ascertained, this is a thing of the past, and it will not bring any good.

"In any case, there can be no more such mutual suspicion and worthless misunderstandings in the future. I believe. Once our military established contact within the territory of Japan . United, in complete harmony, their armies are doomed. ”

"Period." He said, "Put the quotation marks." That's all I can do at the moment. But that's just the beginning. I think you'll understand me. Please specify the date: 12 April 1940. ”

It was the last document he signed.

The concept of "rupture" is generally applied to physical phenomena, but it is equally applicable to what happened on April 16, 1940. Commander Zhu's army turned on several thousand searchlights and launched a stormy attack on the Japanese positions fortified by the Yangtze River fortress and mines with a storm of shells.

Not only was the defense line shattered, but the whole of Japan was crumbling. It was the pillar and belief of the enemy in the moments before the attack began, but now it is slowly splitting apart, kicking up a whirlwind of dust

In the headquarters in Jiangyin, which had replaced Colonel Pan, the telephone rang non-stop, and every fifteen minutes there was news from the Yangtze River defense line.

He stood in front of the map in his office, his back to the people in the room. He would not fail to hear that an officer was muffling, but not fearful, not whispering, but openly saying to his adjutant in a loud voice: "Is it too late?" You know, they're crossing the river now. The front is wide open. Their tanks are nearby, wouldn't they want to enter Nanjing first? ”

He turned around, looked at the people in the headquarters, and said to the adjutant: "Please contact the Prime Minister's Office, I want to find out where the General Staff is transferring my opinion as before, go and hide for a while." In addition, in any case, you have to get me a bottle of Jiangxi's special wine. ”

The lieutenant answered the call to the bunker. On the question of the transfer, the fellow laughed haughtily and replied as follows: "In fact the transfer to the interior has been completed, the question is only when he himself will be invited to the Prime Minister's Office to take part in the celebration of Wang's birth on April 20." ”

On the evening of 19 April, after all those invited to the daily military meeting had left, Wu Sibao remained in Wang Wei's office. It is not easy to be alone with Wang Wei now. There are no more, no less, exactly sixty rooms in the basement of the Prime Minister's House. Before that, it was all empty in January. Only the Sentinel, Wang Wei was always in his 'Bunker', and now he has moved here.