In fact, according to his original intention, Tianjin should not come, and the place of negotiation should be on the warship Yuben outside Tanggu, but the Chinese side resolutely refused this location and demanded that the place of negotiation be placed in the British Consulate in Beiping. Just when Okamura was about to hold on, the squadron launched a new round of attack on the Eighth Division, and Song Zheyuan, who surrounded Kuancheng, also launched a new round of attack, and the 37th Division once broke through the defense of Kuancheng; Information provided by Seishiro Itagaki indicated that the northeast, west of the Luan River, was also actively preparing for a counteroffensive.

The change in circumstances made Muto Nobuyoshi veto Okamura's proposal, and Okamura had to agree to go to Beiping, but after he arrived in Tianjin, he thought that he still could not go to Beiping, and the smell of peace was too heavy, and he telegraphed Muto Nobuyoshi in detail his thoughts, pointing out that going to Beiping for negotiations would seriously damage the majesty of the imperial army and give the Chinese too high expectations.

Muto Nobuyoshi quickly telegraphed back to agree to his proposal, and the place of negotiation was to be set up at the British Consulate in Tianjin. But at this stage, news came from Peking that the Chinese negotiators had changed, Huang Yin had resigned, and the new representatives had become Xiong Bin and Zhuang Jihua.

From this appointment, Okamura felt that this negotiation would not be so easy, because in the past, the negotiations between China and China were often because of the huge military superiority of the Chinese people, which allowed them to maintain the greatest toughness at the negotiation table, but this time it was different, not only did the Japanese not have the advantage but were in a weak position, and the Chinese side of the Chinese side, Huang Ying, who was famous for his pro-language, was dismissed, and he was replaced by two representatives from the military.

"Itagaki-kun, what do you think about this?" Okamura asked after a moment's silence.

"I'm afraid this is a difficult negotiation, Xiong Bin I know, but that Zhuang Jihua is the key, Huang Yin left because he opposed him to participate in the negotiations; And it was he who instructed He Yingqin to refuse Huang Ying's concessions. Seishiro Itagaki was also aware of the difficulty of the negotiations, and the toughness shown by the Chinese side this time was beyond his expectations.

"Looks like a tough guy to deal with." Okamura lifted his spirit and asked, "Do you have any information about him?" ”

"Yes, but not much." Itagaki replied: "The imperial intelligence department has collected information on all Chinese officers above the general level, but this Zhuang Jihua is an exception, he only returned to China last year, we only know that he graduated from the first phase of Huangpu, and once served as the commander of the first division of the Huangpu Army, the commander of the Niuhang Campaign, this is still provided by you." ”

Itagaki is short and stout, in stark contrast to Okamura's thinness, and at this moment the two of them are tightly knit, and after a while, Itagaki added: "It's a pity that the negotiators have changed, and our intelligence has also failed, and these two people have brought a new team." ”

"Sir, I think that the bottom line of the Chinese will not change." Tatsunosuke interjected at the right time, saying that he had an excellent performance in Tianjin during his month, especially in the activities in Zhangjiakou and the strategic analysis of the [***] team, he showed outstanding talent, and he was very appreciated by Itagaki, plus he was also a member of the Kwantung Army, so Itagaki took him with him when he received Okamura.

"Hmm," Okamura nodded thoughtfully, then looked at Tachitakanosuke, and he saw that the young man seemed to be unfinished, so he said encouragingly, "Tachitaka-kun, boldly talk about your opinion." ”

"Yes, General." Ligao Nosuke seemed to be encouraged, and boldly said: "Although Huang Yin is gone, the bottom line of Chiang Kai-shek, that is, the boundary of the Great Wall, which was indicated in the original intelligence, will not change, and he even believes that the reason why Huang Yin was dismissed was because he agreed to our conditions without authorization and withdrew from the front line of the Great Wall, which broke Chiang Kai-shek's bottom line, so he was dismissed." ”

"Yes, it makes sense," Itagaki pondered, "that Chiang Kai-shek would not remove Huang Ji from his post just because he refused to allow Zhuang Jihua to participate in the negotiations, which is unreasonable. ”

"In addition, he also believes that Huang Yin's actions are opposed by the hardliners in the [***] team, and this force is probably very strong, as can be seen from the resistance we have recently encountered on the front line of the Great Wall, and even He Yingqin has to give in to this force." Tatsunosuke continued: "Regarding the negotiations in Tianjin, I believe that the Chinese side will not give up the Great Wall unless we can give them a greater blow on the battlefield, so I propose to continue to increase troops to the Great Wall, to deal a greater blow to the Chinese [***] team, and then negotiate, then our situation will be more favorable." ”

Okamura smiled bitterly in his heart, if he could increase his troops, or if there were troops to increase, how could he come to Tianjin, and the negotiations would definitely be in Tanggu.

"Manchuria has no troops to adjust," Okamura said calmly, "The use of troops in the Kwantung Army has reached its limit, and if it wants to transfer troops again, it will have to be transferred from the country, but at home..." ”

Okamura did not say it explicitly, but Itagaki was clear that if troops were to be transferred from within the country, although it would be possible to solve the temporary difficulty, the Kwantung Army's reading power would be affected, and even worse, the influence of the Ministry of War in the cabinet would also be weakened, and this would also involve the struggle between the imperial faction and the ruling faction in the army, and it could be said that the entire Kwantung Army was a sympathizer of the imperial faction, because the idea of accelerating foreign expansion and establishing military scholars put forward by the imperial faction was more in line with the interests of the Kwantung Army.

Muto Nobuyoshi's persistence in the Battle of Rehe was certainly one aspect, but the other reason was the support of the leader of the Imperial Sect, Sadao Araki, who was the land minister at the time, strongly advocated at the cabinet meeting to suppress opposition in the military headquarters, and Muto Nobuyoshi was able to carry out the Rehe operation. Therefore, if the Battle of Rehe is lost, or at a great cost, Sadao Araki's land minister will not be able to protect it, which will affect the development of the Imperial Road faction in the army.

"But if we can't transfer troops from the country, the imperial army will not be able to get out of the current predicament." Tatsunosuke said eagerly: "If you can't get rid of the current predicament, you can't occupy the Great Wall, and the second phase of the Rehe operation can't be achieved." ”

Okamura and Itagaki exchanged glances, they understood Tachitakanosuke's enthusiasm very well, but now they couldn't explain it to him, Tachitakanosuke was very disappointed, his eyes were full of tears, and he said with some choked up: "General, you can't let the blood of the Imperial Loyal Warriors be shed in vain." ”

"Don't worry, Ligaojun, the blood of the imperial soldiers will not be shed in vain," Okamura said firmly: "China is too big, you can't swallow a bite, and the performance of the [***] team this time is very strange, they have always fought separately, but this time they can unite, there must be a reason, so we just need to pause for a while, they will kill each other again, then our opportunity will come, Ligaojun, you still need to worry about the matter of Zhangjiakou." ”

Tatsutakanosuke's heart is completely different from his outside, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, saying that there will be no more troops on this side, and the Great Wall defense line is estimated to be able to hold, and this news must be notified to Mr. as soon as possible.

"Yes, I will definitely let Feng Yuxiang erect the banner of the anti-alliance army in Zhangjiakou and do my best to split China." Tachitakanosuke said impassionedly and loudly, then turned and went out.

Itagaki looked at his back and sighed and said, "With such a loyal and brave officer, I believe that the imperial military fortune will last for a long time, and the blood of loyal warriors will never be shed in vain." ”

Okamura didn't answer, he just walked back to the tatami mat silently and sat cross-legged across from Itagaki. Itagaki looked at him and asked, "Looks like you're ready to make concessions on the Great Wall?" ”

"Itagaki-kun, the Battle of Rehe gave me a lot of new ideas," Okamura did not directly answer Itagaki's question, but said to himself in a defensive voice: "Are we in too much of a hurry, China is too big." ”

"Okamura-kun, what do you mean by that?" Hearing Okamura's words, Itagaki looked at him in surprise with some shock.

"In retrospect, we were indeed very lucky," Okamura calmed down, and he calmly analyzed: "In 918, we conquered the whole of Manchuria with only more than 10,000 people, but now we have invested more than 60,000 people, but we can't conquer Rehe; Is there any reason for this, other than tactical mistakes? ”

Itagaki opened his mouth a little unconvinced, and Okamura continued: "On the whole, it is said that this is stronger than Shina, but Shina has a wide territory, large strategic depth, and a large room for maneuver, and if the empire's military power is invested too much, it will affect the stability of the empire's domestic affairs, as well as war preparations for Europe and the United States, and Ishihara-kun's assertion has a certain truth." ”

After seizing Manchuria, Ishihara-kun advocated slowing down the pace of the offensive, first building Manchuria, consolidating Manchuria, and making Manchuria truly a strategic base for the city, and then developing southward. This was out of step with the mainstream argument in the army that advocated speeding up the attack on China, so Ishihara did not really express his position, but mentioned it in a letter to a few friends such as Itagaki and Okamura.

"Ishihara-kun is a little wishful thinking," Itagaki shook his head and said, "Now is the best opportunity, once Nanjing unifies the whole of China, it is almost impossible for the empire to conquer China, so time is not on our side." ”

"Yes, China is so big that we can only eat one bite at a time." Okamura sighed.

"Where is Admiral Muto's bottom line?" Itagaki then brought the topic to the content of this negotiation, but he knew that the Great Wall was probably impossible.

"The entire Rehe, with the Great Wall as the line, the Empire can not occupy the Great Wall, but the number of garrisons along the Great Wall must be limited, and the Empire has the right to check the military deployment within the Great Wall." Okamura said calmly.

Itagaki didn't speak, he just let out a dull sound from his nostrils, this result is not the best result, but it is an acceptable result at the moment.

(To be continued)