It was not only Chang Kaishen, who was in Lushan, who was waiting for the Beiping incident, but also Vice Admiral Chen Jiliang, who received Chen Shaokuan's second telegram, was also waiting for news from Beiping in the Admiralty on Zhongshan North Road in Rujiangmen, Nanjing. According to the agreement in the telegram, in the event of an accident in Peiping, the 1st Independent Brigade of the Marine Corps will be transferred to Fujian under various pretexts, and the navy will also be on full alert. According to Lieutenant General Chen Jiliang's judgment, Chen Shaokuan must have received some secret information in Germany to make such an arrangement, but he could not get an answer until he met the second lieutenant Qiu Zhongming he sent back and Chen Shaokuan himself, so in the end all he could do was 'self-funding'.

"Kaitao sent a telegram from there, and he said that he could only give 300,000." In the office of the Admiralty, Rear Admiral Yang Qingzhen, director of the General Affairs Department, handed over the newly received telegram to Chen Jiliang. The Kaitao he said was Rear Admiral Li Shijia, commander of the Mawei Port and commander of the 2nd Independent Brigade of the Marine Corps, and he should have also received a telegram from Chen Shaokuan, asking him to transfer this year's water bill to the Admiralty as the cost of building several ships such as the Kang -- the water fee is the Navy's largest income in addition to the appropriation from the Ministry of Military Affairs, and this is also the water conservancy project built by the Navy in Changle, Fujian Province when Yang Shuzhuang was in office, and he made a profit by collecting water fees from peasant households.

"How is 300,000 enough? He definitely didn't want to give! Chen Jiliang smiled bitterly. It had only been three months since he had been acting Secretary of the Navy, and he felt that this job was not something he could do. The Ministry of Military Affairs, the Military Commission, and the Executive Yuan are not easy to deal with, and asking them for money seems to be asking for their lives. If the party-state is really difficult, then that's fine, but the problem is that the party-state is very rich! Not to mention the army's military expenditure of 100 million yuan, but why does the air force have 70 million military expenditures[Note 13], you must know that the military expenditure of the navy is only a fraction of the military expenditure of these two armed forces.

"If it's not enough, you can only use it first." It was Vice Admiral Chen Xunyong, executive secretary of the Admiralty, who spoke. It is impossible for him, as the deputy chief, not to know such a major event as the assembly of the Marine Corps. In his opinion, the telegram sent by Chen Shaokuan was inexplicable. The Japanese army came to fight, and the navy retreated to the west of the Yangtze River, which had been discussed long ago, and the transfer of the marines to Fujian was completely unnecessary. He added.

"That's all there is to it." Chen Jiliang had no choice but to give up, "Let's wait for Houfu to come back." After he said that, he asked Yang Qingzhen, who was in charge of telecommunications: "Is there something going on in Beiping?" ”

"There's nothing going on over there in Beiping." Yang Qingzhen looked at him and smiled, in the past three days, he asked Beiping every day if there was anything wrong.

Chen Jiliang didn't care when he saw him smiling, he said: "It's all my own people, I'll just say it." We are far from the strength of the Japanese navy, and the navy will certainly try to protect itself in the event of a major war, but we must not ignore the orders of the chairman, the Military Commission, and the Ministry of Military Affairs, so we must take precautions and prepare in advance. It is precisely in this way that Houfu secretly ordered the 1st Brigade to assemble, and now it is up to Beiping, and if something really happens, we will see what method we can use to transfer it back to Fujian, at least most of it. ”

"Chang someone has a lot of eyes and ears, can he hide it?" Chen Xunyong asked. "What if he's going to be transferred back again?"

"So find a way." Chen Jiliang has a deep sense of dealing with someone Chang, "Even if you are transferred back, you have to hold the fortresses along the river, and what I am most afraid of is that the Ministry of Military Affairs will take the opportunity to transfer the Marine Corps to the north, and that will be ......."

Of course, Chen Jiliang didn't know that Chen Shaokuan was not worried about the north, but about Shanghai. Starting from the 77 incident, once the incident broke out, then Chen Shaokuan would immediately leave for China and arrange everything in the navy in the process. In addition to sending the Jiankang and others out of Wusongkou, they will also find ways to preserve most of the strength of the 1st Marine Brigade in order to prevent this unit directly under the navy with a number of about 2,500 men from disappearing in the battles of Songhu, Nanjing, and Wuhan.

If the 1st and 2nd Independent Brigades can all concentrate on Fujian, then the conditions for the establishment of another submarine base will be created, and at the same time, assuming that the Jiankang can take advantage of the shallow draft and familiar terrain to escape the encirclement and suppression of the Japanese army, then there will be at least one torpedo boat with a speed of nearly 30 knots left in the submarine maintenance base. (Several torpedo boats of the Lake Falcon are too slow, and no one has any hope of breaking through them)

This was a whimsical naval battle plan, and the planner, Li Kongrong, was convinced of the all-out war between China and Japan, and on this basis, he used the electric mine system to stimulate Chen Shaokuan, and under the pretext of preserving the Fujian system, he naturally easily persuaded Chen Shaokuan and the old and spicy Lin Xianxi. Colonel Lin Xianxi completely agreed with Li Kongrong's proposition, and also made certain amendments to the plan. It's just that everything is based on what Li Kongrong said, 'there will be changes in Beiping within five days' - he is tantamount to letting go, once Chen Shaokuan and Chang Kaishen testify, the Gao Ye Rokuro he made up will definitely be exposed, but in order to move Chen Shaokuan, he also judged that the factional dispute would make the navy people silent, so he still chose to gamble.

On July 7, everything was as usual, but at half past eleven o'clock in the evening, ten minutes ahead of the original history, Qin Dechun, mayor of Beiping and deputy commander of the 29th Army, had just fallen asleep, and Wei Zonghan, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Political Affairs Committee, and Lin Gengyu, who was in charge of negotiations with Japan, called and said that Matsui, the head of the Japanese secret service, said: "When the Japanese army was exercising at Lugou Bridge today, the soldiers of the 29th Army stationed here suddenly opened fire, so one soldier was lost, and seeing that the soldier was forced to enter Wanping City, he asked to lead a team into the city to inspect the ......" [Note 14]

Lin Gengyu on the other end of the phone was talking, Qin Dechun on this end was sweating profusely, and the chairman's telegram in the morning said that it was the Japanese Army's conspiracy to launch an incident in Beiping, and he didn't expect to receive the telegram in the morning, and the matter came in the evening.

"Hey...... Hey......" Seeing that there was no sound from Qin Dechun on the other end of the phone, he had to vigorously 'feed' a few times. Only then did Qin Dechun come back to his senses, and he shouted: "Don't let the Japanese enter Wanping City!" Don't let the Japanese Wanping Castle!! ”

After shouting two sentences in a hurry, Qin Dechun hung up the phone, and then put on a piece of clothing and opened the door and asked the secretary to immediately send a telegram to Lushan to report that the Japanese army was plotting to enter Wanping City to search for soldiers. As a result, at least eight hours ahead of history, a telegram about the Lugou Bridge incident was sent to Lushan Meilu.

"Mother, Xipi! Excuse! Here's the excuse! Chang Kaishen, who was woken up by Wang Shihe, was furious when he saw the telegram, but after a while, he calmed down. Of course, what calmed him down was not self-cultivation, but that at this time, the Japanese troops stationed in North China were only 6,000 people in the 4th Brigade, but the 29th Army, together with the local security forces, had as many as 100,000 troops. With 6,000 to 100,000, even if there is a plan to annex North China, it is just an excuse, just like the excuse for blowing up the Wicker Lake Railway back then. As long as the 29th Army in Beiping refused to give in and resolutely resisted, the Japanese army would eventually be helpless; Even if it is handled well, it may be able to force Japan to withdraw its Fengtai troops or cancel the puppet organization in eastern Hebei. [note 15]

"Send a telegram to Weiguo." Chang Kaishen, who calmed down, ordered, "Tell him that the Peiping incident seems to be possible, but it may also be a conspiracy by the Japanese to try to make us believe this Kono Rokuro." Tang Naijian can talk to the person appointed by Rokuro Takano first, and find out the true intentions of Japan. ”

"Yes, Headmaster." Wang Shihe didn't leave after agreeing, he knew that Chang Kaishen had other things to explain. Unexpectedly, Chang Kaishen said: "You go to do this first, and I'll think about other things first." ”

"Yes, Headmaster." After the king saluted, he went out. At this time, Song Meiling was also alarmed, and when she went downstairs, Wang Shihe happened to go out.

The encrypted telegram sent to Berlin soon reached the embassy in Germany, and in the afternoon Tang Zong personally sent the telegram to Jiang Weiguo's apartment. The first thing he said when he saw Jiang Weiguo was: "Second son, something is likely to happen in Beiping!" ”

"So fast!" Jiang Weiguo was taken aback when he heard this, he opened the telegram and read it with three eyes, and after reading it, he handed the telegram to Tang Zong, "Father asked you to contact this Maria to see if you can get other information, especially the information about what kind of intentions the Japanese government has for this incident!" ”

"Humble duty understands!" Tang Zong wiped his sweat anxiously, he never thought that the chairman of the committee would directly name him in the telegram, and then explain that he would handle the matter. Jane's excitement in Emperor Zai's heart made his teeth tremble as he spoke. "Humble ...... Right away... Go and ask! ”

"Wait!" Jiang Weiguo grabbed Tang Zong, who was about to leave, he pointed to the clock in the living room, and said, "We will go to her as soon as something happens in Beiping, obviously too anxious." In addition, my father also explained in his telegram that this person was probably one of the Japanese conspiracies - to gain my father's trust with the small Peking Incident, and finally let my father make a crucial wrong decision because he believed the information he provided. The Japanese are cunning, we have to guard against it! ”

Tang Zong is actually an extremely meticulous and cautious person, his current performance is being named by Chang Kaishen himself, Jiang Weiguo said this, he immediately recovered his previous IQ, he said: "Then go back first, and call this Maria tomorrow morning." After he finished speaking, he thought of another plan: "Second son, can we ask our German friends to help secretly investigate the details of this Mary?" It's good to ......."

"No way!" Before Tang Zong finished speaking, Jiang Weiguo shook his head. "If Germany finds out that she is transmitting Japanese intelligence to us, it will definitely wait for an opportunity to sabotage it, most of our German friends are also friends of the Japanese, this matter is too important, and we must not leak the news as a last resort!"

"Ignorance, understood!" Tang Zong nodded, one of the main purposes of his visit to Germany was to investigate German spy organizations, so he knew several German Gestapo. Originally, he wanted to ask the Germans to investigate Maria's situation in other names, and at least find out the real name and identity of this person, but he couldn't help but listen to what Jiang Weiguo said-limited by his rank, what Germany's China policy was in the end was not something that he, Captain Xiaoxiao, could fully know.

*

"Stand upright! Salute - salute, raise the flag! "On the morning of July 8, the Chinese Navy dormitory on Spandao Street raised the flag as usual. After the flag was raised, the chief lectured, but the strange thing is that Chief Li has not spoken much in the past few days. This time it was even more strange, not only did he not speak, but as soon as he heard the phone ringing, he shouted to disperse and rushed to the living room of the apartment. The call was from Zhou Yingcong from the Bristol Hotel, and he suppressed a trace of nervousness in his words, and only said: "The minister wants you to come over immediately!" It's urgent!! ”

"I see!" Li Kongrong exhaled deeply, guessing what was going on, he couldn't figure out whether it was luck or misfortune. And when he went back to his room to take care of his luggage, he found that the light in the corner was also on - Susan Esposito's newly rented house was less than two kilometers from the naval dormitory, and he asked He Shuduo, the lightest of the naval cadets, to climb onto the roof in the middle of the night (the German house was very neatly repaired, with exactly the same style and color), and spent three nights pulling two wires between the naval dormitory and the Italian woman's residence. In addition to sending the letter at the agreed time, the two sent the letter with 'on, off', and the light was turned on in the morning to indicate that something had happened.

"Damn it, they're all here!" Of course, Li Kongrong knew that this was caused by the Lugou Bridge incident and Jiang Weiguo's initiative to come to Susan. He turned on the switch to show that he was aware of the situation.

Hurried to the Bristol Hotel by car, Chen Shaokuan, Lin Xianxin and others were already waiting. As soon as he entered the door, Lin Xianxin split his head, "I was really hit by your crow's mouth!" There was an incident in Peiping last night, and the fire was already handed over in the morning! ”

The time in Berlin was six hours slower than in Beiping, and it was only a quarter past eight in Berlin at the moment, but it was already a quarter past two in the afternoon.

"Really?!" Li Kongrong called out half-truthfully, and then he looked at Chen Shaokuan, "Minister, how should we deal with it?" ”

Li Kongrong, who was extremely shrewd before, was stupid at the moment, Chen Shaokuan couldn't help but shake his head, and he said: "If the situation continues to deteriorate, I will return to China in two days!" How is the contract being discussed, and when can it be signed? ”

Considering Li Kongrong's prediction, the submarine negotiations have quickened the pace, but the business of tens of millions of marks is really not something that can be negotiated in a few days, Li Kongrong, who heard the words, glanced at Zhou Yingcong and said: "The Germans have seen that we have made big concessions recently, and the conditions have become more and more harsh in the past few days, and the lower officials estimate that they will not be able to complete the negotiation until the end of the month." This is still on the premise that it will not be affected by the Peiping Incident, and if Japan protests against it, perhaps the negotiations will be slower in the future. ”

"Can't it be faster?!" Chen Shaokuan said in a hurry.

"Minister, the lower official thinks it won't be soon." Li Kongrong said frankly, "We don't care about the price anymore, the key is stuck in the commissioned training, performance, and delivery." Especially for delivery, if the delivery date is not fully guaranteed, the contract is signed and it is equivalent to not being signed. ”

"Hey!" Chen Shaokuan slapped his thigh hard, and he suddenly had a feeling that the submarine dream he had been making for twenty years was about to be shattered again. After carefully looking at Li Kongrong a few times, he said again: "Then let me ask you, if the contract is signed and the submarine is built, but the Germans just don't deliver the ship, what should I do?" ”

"As long as the submarine is built, it will be stolen back even if you die!" Li Kongrong was thinking of the story of the theft of missile speedboats by Israel's Mossad in later generations, but no one expected that this would really be a prophecy.