Although from Pu Su's professional point of view, if the few actions he planned and launched in Shanghai before were flawed and even caused serious consequences, they were still much stronger than the small fish and shrimp of the military commanders.

It's just that this is the real agent ecology. Where are there so many elite agents who are incompetent and incompetent? Ninety-five percent of the agents were ordinary people before they joined.

Even at this time last year, I was still working or studying, and the next year at the same time, I was already on the streets on a dangerous mission that I had never thought of before.

These materials record that since the start of the Sino-Japanese war, there have been some large and small assassination activities, or sensational public events. Moreover, a large amount of information from the press and the border areas reflected a real, disorderly, and chaotic situation in Shanghai.

This information was very helpful for him to understand the position and strategy of No. 76 and the military command, as well as the two concessions and the Japanese side.

After reading further, Pu Su found that Zhao Zhixiang made a very serious mistake. After leaving the scene, he returned to the Nanjing Hotel on Shanxi Road. Then he stood alone at the door of the telephone operator's room, waiting for Yuan Dechang to come to the rescue.

This shows that they have no plan at all. At the very least, two sets of evacuation plans were in place after the execution of the mission had gone smoothly and in the event of an accident. This crucial detail led to the tragedy.

Yuan Dechang, who Zhao Zhixiang was waiting for, didn't come, but waited for another person. It was not Yuan Dechang who came, but Peng Fulin, who was seriously injured. After Peng Fulin escaped from his previous injuries, he had to turn to a waiter whom he considered a brother, and he stumbled into the lobby of the hotel.

At this time, Zhao Zhixiang had no choice but to lead the two people through the lobby and into the street. Because in a place like a hotel, he was worried that he would attract too much suspicion.

In fact, perhaps having rested the wounded in a room in a hotel and then going out to call a doctor in might not have been as bad as they did later.

On the street, they called three rickshaws and ordered them to be pulled to the nearby Baolong Hospital. The hospital quickly took in Peng Fulin, but immediately called the Laozha Road Arrest Room and reported the gunshot wound.

Soon, the detectives from the Police Department of the Ministry of Industry came to Baolong Hospital. Peng Fulin's chest injuries were too severe to stand a formal trial, but he told the investigator that he and Zhao Zhixiang were concentrating on their own affairs while walking along Lloyd's Road when a stray bullet flew and knocked him to the ground.

Zhao Zhixiang, who was next to Peng Fulin, echoed this statement. He was immediately detained and taken to the Laozha Road Arrest House for questioning. Members of the Japanese gendarmerie, including Cho Choga Notota, were also involved in the interrogation.

Not long after Zhao Zhixiang was interrogated, agents from the Police Department of the Ministry of Industry quickly exposed their unbelievable lies. First of all, according to the rickshaw driver, they picked up the injured in front of the Nanjing Hotel, not Lloyd's Road.

Secondly, the patrol officers who had been wounded by him earlier recognized that Peng Fulin's clothes were the same as those of the person who shot at him......

In the end, when the detectives of the police department of the Ministry of Industry turned to the French police and searched the room of Peng Fulin and Zhao Zhixiang at No. 11 Wenxian Lane, they found Zhou Jianhua's letter. And the content of this letter is enough to prove that they are members of the secret assassination team of the Kuomintang.

In the face of this evidence, there is no doubt that Zhao Zhixiang collapsed and finally had to plead guilty.

At 2:30 p.m. that day, the police handcuffed him and took him to Peng Fulin's hospital room, and when Peng Fulin, who was in a very weak state, heard Zhao Zhixiang's confession, he immediately admitted that he was an accomplice.

However, it was too late for Peng. At 3 o'clock the next morning, he stopped struggling and died. It's just that for Zhao Zhixiang, he has to face greater suffering.

Although the police department of the Ministry of Industry quickly cracked the murder case, the pro-Japanese newspapers in Japan and Shanghai decided to use the case to crack down on the public concession authorities again.

On April 12, 1939, the morning of Peng Fulin's death, a front-page article in the Continental News called for a minute of silence and prayer for Xi Shitai. He also condemned the Ministry of Industry for tolerating terrorists in Chongqing and abusing extraterritoriality.

The newspaper claimed that "as long as agents of the Chongqing government are found in Shanghai, the matter itself will become a major source of disturbance of the peace and order in Shanghai...... Today, Japan and China are costing many lives. The new puppet regime and the Chinese people are fully cooperating with Japan to rebuild China. There is no reason to allow the forces that stand in the way of this great reconstruction work. Taking into account military operations and the maintenance of peace and order, clear and final measures should be resorted to. ”

In order to urge the Japanese military authorities to "take tough measures to deal with this situation," the editors of the "Mainland Xinbao" also accused the Shanghai Ministry of Industry and Bureau of "hypocrisy," a statement that was echoed by the "New Declaration," which collaborated with the enemy. Noting that Xi Shitai's assassination was the first serious incident since the release of Fan Keling's February 25 note, the New Declaration found fault with the poor police work of the concession authorities and blamed the recurrent anti-Japanese terrorist activities on the weakness and half-hearted measures of the Ministry of Industry.

The wording used in the report was "in other words, they did not sincerely accept the demands of the Japanese authorities to severely suppress the activities of the secret Kuomintang organs."

The puppet mayor Fu Xiao'an also expressed doubts about the "sincerity" of the Ministry of Industry and Bureau. This is because the Ministry of Industry has so far insisted that the newsletter never mention "a member of the Restoration government who was shot" again, and that it should only be regarded as an ordinary attack.

Fu went on to insist that the Ministry of Industry and the Bureau allow China's "regular police" to hunt down saboteurs and assassins in the public concession. Although the Ministry of Industry and Bureau did not pay much attention to the request of "Mayor Fu", General Director Fan Keling could not refuse the visit of Japanese Consul General Miura to his office on April 16.

Miura protested against the assassination of Dr. Xi Shitai and demanded that the understanding reached between the Japanese side and the Ministry of Industry on the prevention of terrorist activities in the concession be strictly implemented in the future. Three days later, on April 19, 1939, Zhao Zhixiang was escorted by the Police Department of the Ministry of Industry to the headquarters of the Japanese Gendarmerie across the border on the Suzhou Creek.

At 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, as a sign of "sincerity", the detectives of the Ministry of Industry handed over Zhao Zhixiang to the Japanese military police, a former apprentice in a tailor shop, and fell into the enemy's mouth, and never appeared again.

In May, terrorist activity declined, but the policy of cooperation was further tested by the dispute over the flying of the Chinese flag. In order to please the Japanese, the Bureau of Industry issued an order on March 12, 1939 that China's "Blue Sky and White Sun" flag should not be hoisted for more than eight days in a year.

However, patriotic shopkeepers tried to display the national flag on every patriotic occasion, ignoring the threat of assassination by Japanese agents dressed in Chinese clothes and the obstruction of Chinese collaborators.

Several pseudo-newspapers vehemently complained about the flying of the national flag on March 27, the anniversary of the martyrdom of the 72nd Revolution, and accused the concession authorities of failing to enforce the ban harshly.

The puppet mayor Fu Xiao'an accused the Kuomintang of agitating the masses in this way by using the newly organized "Shanghai People's Mobilization Meeting" in the concession, claiming that "the flag of the white sun marked the Sovietization of China and was also xenophobic." ”

This remark is not entirely groundless, because the KMT's party song contains the phrase "Down with the great powers, down with the great powers." Isn't that enough to show that the flag has a strong xenophobic connotation? The authorities of the Western Concession must be aware of all this, so it is better not to allow the flag to be hoisted.

May 1, International Labor Day. Chinese flags were flown over the concession, and many Chinese newspapers harshly criticized the Japanese consul general's request for a ban on flag display.

The pro-fake "New Declaration" attacked the Ministry of Industry Bureau, complaining: "The Ministry of Industry Bureau only appoints Chinese and Spanish policemen, not Japanese policemen to patrol the streets on May 1." This fully proves that the Ministry of Industry lacks sincerity and ignores the demands of the Japanese authorities. ”

It also warned: "If anti-Japanese elements are active, the Japanese authorities will deem it necessary to take new measures."

Subsequently, on May 10, 1939, the Consul General of France, in his capacity as head of the French Concession and director of the Ministry of Industry, met with the police chiefs of the parties. The consul generals of the United States and the United Kingdom were invited to attend, and this time they reached a consensus

"The Kuomintang is directly responsible for most of the terrorist incidents, political riots, and anti-Japanese propaganda that took place during this period, for its continued clandestine but active activities. Not only should the local KMT be primarily responsible for organizations such as the Shanghai People's Mobilization Association, but it is also believed to have ties to terrorist societies such as the Chinese Youth Iron and Blood Salvation League. ”

Then, the Ministry of Industry took resolute measures "to let the Chinese know that political activities must stop." They then issued a manifesto warning the public of the need to respect neutral police in foreign-occupied territories. The first order of the measures was a draconian curfew and a complete ban on the flying of the Chinese flag was contemplated.

On the same day, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodged a protest with the British and American ambassadors over the flying of the national flag in the concession and asked them to remind the Ministry of Industry and Bureau to "respect the freedom of Chinese residents in the concession to fly the national flag."

Consul General Gao Si later complained to the State Department that when prominent Chinese leaders such as Song Wenzi were warned that "the continuation of patriotic political activities could lead to the occupation of foreign concessions by Japan," they still believed that Japan would not dare to confront the foreign powers

"The Chinese government apparently did not understand that once Japan decided to occupy the Public Concession and the French Concession, the foreign troops there would neither have sufficient strength nor any intention to prevent this from happening. China's assassination and anti-Japanese activities provided too much of a pretext for the Japanese occupation. ”

The U.S. State Department, for its part, has no intention of exerting even the slightest pressure on the Japanese government. On 19 May, the British ambassador to Japan, Craigie, suggested that London consult with the U.S. government on some special measures, such as embargoing special imports in the event of hostilities by Japanese forces against the concession.

He also suggested that if the U.S. and British governments sent a message of the two countries' alliance to the Japanese foreign ministers, it would have a deterrent effect.

However, the American ambassador in Tokyo, Joseph? Joseph Grew refused to recommend the motion to his government. Because the Ross government failed to win Congress, it agreed to repeal the arms embargo (the Bloom proposal and the Pittman proposal were quickly defeated by the isolationist faction led by Senator William E. Bora).

With little choice left in the matter, Secretary of State Dell Hull prepared a memo in time to be presented to the Chinese Foreign Minister on May 22, 1939, by U.S. Chargé d'Affaires in Chongqing, Williams R Peck. The memo refers to the self-proclaimed benefactor

"Shanghai has developed into a cosmopolitan city, with a concentration of great interests from China and foreign countries. During the conflict, the concession protected the interests of both sides. However, the international character of the concession meant avoiding disputes originating elsewhere in order to compromise the protection of the international character. ”

Hull also referred to the "Shanghai People's Mobilization Meeting". He pointed out that although patriotism is its goal from the perspective of the Chinese nation, its actions will weaken the status of the concession. Therefore, the US government is convinced that it is not in China's best interest for the Chinese to insist on legally flying the national flag in the concession and engaging in national salvation political activities.

While the Japanese were still engaged in belligerent activities along the border between China and the Soviet Union, and when the civilian officials of the Hiranuma Cabinet were still living in the constant terror of the assassination of the military "Young Turks," the efforts of the US Secretary of State to try to appease Japan failed to prevent the Japanese Foreign Ministry from issuing an arrogant and inflammatory statement on May 24 on the issue of the Shanghai Concession:

Since the goal of Japan's actions in China was to control the domination of China, the control of this domination was the same in the concessions and in other Japanese-occupied areas.

In the zone of Japanese occupation, the West was not allowed to interfere in any way in their elimination of anti-Japanese activities. Japan has administrative power over the public concessions. Therefore, the Japanese side may use force to defend these rights, and this right should be legally recognized.

Japanese diplomats in Shanghai made slight revisions to the statement, but this was in the form of a request by strengthening the Japanese military

"In the Japanese occupation zone, as long as the intention of the Chinese remains, Japan's goal is to remove Chinese rule from these areas and place it under Japanese military control."

"Since the anti-Japanese terrorist activities in the concession were a rebellion under the direct command of the Chongqing government, this will be regarded as part or an extension of the medium-term action. For this reason, it is correct for Japan to purge anti-Japanese elements from the rental industry. ”

If Japan needed more reasons to justify its intervention, it wouldn't have to wait long. Because on June 10, five days after the Shanghai Statement on the Elimination of Anti-Japanese Elements, the assassins were attacked again, this time at the Japanese Consulate.

In the evening, the Japanese Consul General held a dinner to entertain Vice Foreign Minister Shimizu, who was visiting Shanghai on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Liang Hongzhi, the head of the Restoration government, and his ministers of education and finance were invited to attend, as well as two naval attachés from the embassy, Funayama and Miyashita, Vice Admiral Yamada, commander of the Shanghai garrison, and Mayor Gao of Nanjing.

The Chinese anti-Japanese elements installed an agent in the consulate as a cook, which allowed him to poison the wine of the guests at the banquet. According to diplomatic reports, Lieutenant General Yamada and two attachés were poisoned, and Mayor Gao was taken to the hospital for emergency treatment.

However, instead of taking advantage of the incident to make new demands, the Japanese authorities blocked news of the poisoning from the public, perhaps for fear of being found too vulnerable.

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