February 18, 1944. Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info Beiping.

The atmosphere in Beiping was tense, and although there was no siege by a large army, everyone knew that the nearest army of the Eighth Route Army to Beiping was only fifty miles away. The Japanese in Peiping were preparing to evacuate, but they didn't know where to retreat. Some traitors have already begun to sell their belongings and prepare to hide among the people. Some ordinary people felt that the big war was coming, and those who could go out of the city to avoid it were gone.

Even so, there are still many people in the city of Beiping, and they are still living as usual, but now, the price of rice is soaring, and everyone can no longer support it.

On this day, almost everyone who has a radio listens to the radio. The radio broadcast was the "Letter of Urging the Japanese Army in North China to Surrender" written by Mao Gong.

The officers of the Japanese army were listening, and they listened to Japanese radio in addition to Chinese radio.

"General Okabe Naosaburo and other generals of the North China garrison:"

"You've reached the point where you're at the end of your rope. Zhangjiakou's troops had been wiped out on the evening of the 12th, most of Guisui's troops had been annihilated, and the remnants had fled into Datong Taiyuan. How many of you are left? A large number of puppet armies are no longer willing to fight. You 200,000 people are huddled in Baoding and several surrounding counties in Beiping. Want to break through? There are the Eighth Route Army and the Northeast Coalition Army on all sides, how can they break out? ”

"Since Tianjin was recovered by us, you have no way to escape from the sea. And the escape route on land was completely blocked. Your roads to Shanxi have all been cut off. We can mobilize millions of people to tear down all the railways and dig up the roads overnight. There is no way out of the breakout. ”

"You've been trying to break through these days, but what have you done? Nearly 10,000 troops reinforcing Tianjin were eaten, and the troops reinforcing Zhangjiakou were stranded on the railroad to fight us. The recovery of Shimen has blocked your way to Shanxi, and now our army has come to the city, and Baoding will be solved in the near future. ”

"Do you think your weapons are advanced? Unfortunately this is not the case. We have more tanks than yours, we have more planes than yours. Except for the Temple of Heaven, you don't even have a decent airfield. None of the planes that flew into the sky could escape the fate of being shot down by our air force. ”

"You're at your end. The only way to go is surrender. ”

The puppet army in Beiping, big and small traitors, are listening to the radio.

"You only have a little space, so many people huddled together, we can kill a bunch of you with a single shell. Your wounded soldiers and the families of the soldiers who accompanied you have been crying out for days after you. Your soldiers and many cadres don't want to fight. If you are a division commander, a brigade commander, or a brigade commander, you should cherish the feelings of your subordinates and their families, cherish their lives, find a way out for them as soon as possible, and stop asking them to make unnecessary sacrifices. ”

At this time, several planes flew over Beiping under the cover of fighter planes and dropped a large number of leaflets, one of which was the "Letter of Urging the Japanese Army in North China to Surrender" in Chinese, and the other in Japanese. Almost all literate people are reading.

Several other large and small towns where Japanese troops were entrenched, and the planes also flew around, and there were leaflets everywhere, and people reading leaflets everywhere.

"The traitors who are still working for the Japanese army. Our policy is clear to you. Your sins are to be reckoned. Now, at the last moment of liberation, the people's government will give you one last chance, as long as you have done meritorious deeds, as long as you have done acts to protect the people and protect state property, we will make up for your merits. ”

For several hours from noon to the afternoon, the planes circled over several cities in Shanxi Province and dropped a large number of leaflets.

"Now, we can concentrate several times your forces to fight you. We have only been fighting for a few dozen days, and your side has already lost 200,000 troops. You have seen what happened to them. You should follow the example of some generals who have surrendered, and immediately order the whole army to lay down their arms and stop resisting, so that your army can guarantee the safety of your senior generals and all officers and men. This is the only way for you to survive. Think about it! If you think that's good, do it. If you still want to fight, then fight again, and you will be dealt with in the end. ”

Because the headquarters of the Iron Lion Hutong and the official residence of Tsuimeizhuang were attacked, the official residence of General Okabe Naosaburo was chosen in a large courtyard house.

He now has a sense of powerlessness.

Lieutenant General Sanji Osehiro and his general staff headquarters were formulating the guidelines and operational plans for North China, and the entire general staff headquarters was arguing endlessly, and the plan could not be finalized for a long time. Naosaburo Okabe simply hid in the official residence, listened to the radio, read leaflets, and carefully thought about countermeasures and ways out.

Since the failure of the Shanhaiguan counterattack and the defense of Qinhuangdao that he launched with all his might, Tianjin was lost so easily. Moreover, the Eighth Route Army seemed to emerge from the ground, and suddenly became a prairie fire, occupying all the countryside, eighty percent of the towns, and most cities. Today, Beiping and Baoding are already lone soldiers, if it is a little later, will Shanxi also repeat the situation in Beiping, Hebei?

Compared with the successive victories in the Pacific, Manchuria and North China are losing and retreating. Is China really a chicken rib?

In order to avoid the danger of annihilation of the entire army, Naosaburo Okabe has decided to contact the Eighth Route Army. Broken jade, that's for people.

At this time, someone reported that Qi Xieyuan asked to see him.

Qi Xieyuan entered the office, changed the rules of the past, and said, "I found a way." ”

Okabe Naosaburo said, "What way?" ”

Qi Xieyuan said: "Through an agent in a prison, I have been in contact with Dai Li. ”

Naosaburo Okabe said, "Dai Li? What's the use of the Kuomintang's. Does the future of our Japanese army depend on a few unsuccessful underground personnel? The key is to contact the Eighth Route Army. ”

Qi Xieyuan said: "There is also a communist party in prison, we contacted the communist party through him, but he refused to live or die, saying that he would not give us a chance to live, and he would be happy only when we died." ”

Okabe Naosaburo said, "In this way, you make our request clear and release him." He'll leak the news to their organization. ”

Qi Xieyuan said: "This is also a way. ”

Okabe Naosaburo said: "You send another capable person to the garrison of the Eighth Route Army and spread my message." First, maintain the status quo in North China for the time being. Second, allow our Japanese troops, overseas Japanese, and friendly people to retreat to Shanghai in an orderly manner. Third, Shanxi maintains the status quo and remains unchanged for ten years. Fourth, we are willing to divide and conquer North and Central China with the Eighth Route Army, and we demand a settlement through negotiations. Otherwise, we'll fight to the death. ”

Qi Xieyuan thought in his heart, the capable people have already been discharged a few times, and they have already been in contact with the Eighth Route Army, and they don't know your bottom line in Japan, so they don't dare to say it. Since you're going to contact Eight Roads, it's easy to do. He said, "I'll send someone right away." ”

Contacting the Eighth Route Army was a decision that Okabe Naosaburo made very reluctantly. His decision was risky, there were many middle-aged and young officers in the North China garrison who advocated fighting to the death, and if these people knew that he wanted to contact the Eighth Route Army, they would be able to do anything.

It is a small number of young officers who advocate fighting to the death, and they are also the loudest group of people, and there are also those who advocate contact with Chongqing, and they advocate cooperation with Chongqing. These people are relatively large in number, and they dare to speak out. Those officers who advocated fighting to the death had no objection to contacting Chongqing.

The people who advocated contact with the Eighth Route Army were the fewest and the most powerful. They know that this is the most feasible and the most unacceptable. Therefore, they would rather let Qi Xieyuan come forward than do it themselves.

Qi Xieyuan said: "Will the generals overreact because of this?" In particular, those middle and lower-ranking officers, will agree with you? ”

Naosaburo Okabe said, "I'll take care of this." All you have to do is keep it secret, bring the message, and establish a channel of contact. ”

After Qi Xieyuan left, Okabe Naosaburo said: "Gather the officers above the rank of Osa, and hold a meeting tonight to discuss the issue of the North China garrison army and the Japanese overseas Chinese. In addition, I first summoned the chief of staff, the deputy chief of staff, and the commanders of the divisions and brigades near Peiping, and asked them to come to my office in turn, and I talked with them individually. ”

After the order was passed, Okabe's office was quiet, he sat in his chair, he was thinking about a question, what was the real intention of the Eighth Route Army?

If they want to handle Beiping in accordance with Tianjin, then they should not surround three queyi. They are attacking the troops in Shanhaiguan, Guisui, and Outer Mongolia, and they are all using tactics that are no way back. But why are they so merciful to Baoding Beiping today?

Okabe Naosaburo knew that the imperial army in Beiping had fallen into a desperate situation. This is a man-made desperate situation. Although there is a gap left in the northwest, it is still a desperate situation. When he was the commander of the North China Garrison Army, he stood in front of the map and saw that the way out of the North China Garrison Army was cut off.

The spicy is still there.

What to do?

He picked up the page on the table again: "Letter Urging the Japanese Army in North China to Surrender".

At this moment, a staff officer came to his office and whispered a few words in his ear.

Okabe Naosaburo's eyes lit up: "I'll see you." ”

The staff officer said: "The man said that he didn't just pass on the news. ”

Naosaburo Okabe said, "Yes." ”

After a while, a man wearing the uniform of the Imperial Allied Army was brought into the office.

Naosaburo Okabe said, "Can I be sure of your identity?" ”

The man said: "You can read this letter, Qi Xieyuan's handwritten letter." We have channels to contact him. ”

Okabe Naosaburo knew Qi Xieyuan's font, looked at it, and thought to himself: This Qi Xieyuan is fast enough, and he will contact the Eighth Route Army in less than forty minutes, but I am afraid that Qi Xieyuan has already drunk the Eighth Route Army, and said: "Say, what is your real intention?" ”

The man said: "I was ordered to deliver a message to you, if you lead the army to withdraw from Beiping, we will not fight you in Hebei." We're retreating. ”

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1. Senior General Naosaburo Okabe served as commander of the North China Front from August 25, 1944 to November 22, 1944.

2. See "Urging Du Yuming and Others to Surrender".