Early the next morning, after breakfast, Song asked Xu Ming to discuss the matter.

When Song Zy saw Xu Ming, he deeply apologized and said: "Qianli, it was really difficult to calm down last night, and it was difficult to make a decision, I hope that the little brother of Qianli can be magnanimous." ”

Xu Ming was also made out of temper by Song Zy, and looked inside the room, there were only Song Zy and his staff Lin Shize, Chang Xiaochuan, and Zheng Daoru. Lin Shize was the director of the Beiping Finance Bureau at the time, Chang Xiaochuan was the director of the official property bureau, and Zheng Daoru was Song Z's secretary. These three people won the trust of Song and were also attached to Song.

Xu Ming said: "Forget it, Chairman Song, what is the current situation. ”

Zheng Daoru replied: "Yesterday we were still negotiating, mainly the candidates for apology, the selection of those responsible for punishment, and the issue of public security in Beiping is still being discussed." "Today, Zhang Zizhong and Chen Juesheng will hold talks with the Japanese side again.

Chang Xiaochuan then gave a detailed account of the various matters in the negotiations between China and Japan since 9 July. Xu Ming is still very happy about Song Zy's calm attitude, yesterday he has already made his position clear with Song, he does not oppose Song Zy's semi-independent status in northern China, anyway, it is ruled by the Chinese, and Song Zy's fundamental goal is to keep the territory. The positions of the two sides are not contradictory.

Xu Ming understood the details of the negotiation, and many things that later generations did not understand were completely clear, he thought for a while, drafted the wording, and said to Song Zyu: "Chairman, this is a complete delaying strategy. ”

Song Zy said: "Qianli, please speak." ”

Xu Ming said: "Japan put forward four conditions on July 10: an apology; the person responsible for the sanction; banning anti-Japanese groups; Withdraw troops from Lugou Bridge. You did not agree to these four conditions at that time, except for the withdrawal of troops, and the rest were agreed to immediately. On 11 July, the two sides reached an agreement to withdraw their troops at the same time. ”

Everyone nodded, Chang Xiaochuan had already explained just now.

Xu Ming continued: "Didn't you find a problem with the representations made by Japan on July 13? “

Everyone was stunned, and Zheng Daoru said: "There is nothing abnormal about Japan's proposal yesterday." ”

Xu Ming said hatefully: "You are people in Lushan who don't know where to go, the question raised by the Japanese side on the 13th is not fundamentally different from the 10th, since we have reached an agreement on the 11th, then why does Japan still make minor changes on the 13th." ”

"Whether Chairman Song or others apologize is just a matter of face, and it is not a big problem to punish the battalion commander or the regiment commander, even if Division Commander Feng is dismissed, it will be up again in a few days; Restricting anti-Japanese groups is even more nonsense, let them avoid the limelight first, and then come out to carry out activities after a few days to see the direction of the wind. These are not major problems at all. ”

"The Japanese army is entangled in these small issues, in fact, there is only one reason, to buy time for the main force to assemble!"

Lin Shize said: "These are not trivial issues, they are related to the face of the chairman. “

Xu Ming said angrily: "You think that your Chairman Song is Chairman Jiang, and his face is so valuable!" Japan sent tens of thousands of people over, and so many actions by the Cabinet, the Ministry of the Army, the General Staff Headquarters and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were for the sake of your Song someone's face! ”

Xu Ming strode to the map, used a pen as a baton, and analyzed the situation for everyone while drawing: "Japan sent troops on the evening of the 11th, and they could be dispatched on the 12th, and the first brigade of the independent mixed group took a train from Changchun, followed the railway lines of Siping, Tieling, Shenyang, and Jinzhou to Chengde, and the main force could reach Beiping on the 16th and 17th. ”

"The 11th Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade has a large number of field artillery and mountain artillery, and it is a heavily armed brigade, which is scattered in various passes of Gubeikou, and there is no train and can only walk, so it is difficult to assemble than the former. If you depart on the 12th, you should be able to reach Beiping on the 19th and 20th. ”

"To the east, the Japanese 20th Division is stationed in Chao and Xianlongshan, but they are faster by warships, and it is not surprising that the vanguard will arrive in Tianjin on the 14th and 15th, that is, in a few days, and the main force will be assembled on the 17th and 18th.

After talking about the deployment of the Japanese army, Xu Ming became more and more angry: "And what about us! The 132nd Division has not moved in Daimyo and Kawama! The 143rd Division did not move in Zhangjiakou either! Why not gather it to the various points of Pingjin. ”

The crowd was speechless.

Xu Ming slammed the pen on the table and said: "I bet that the Japanese army will still fight with us today and tomorrow, and this will be the 15th and 16th, and after Chairman Song agrees to all the conditions, we will talk about other things, such as Tanggu, Hemei, and Qintu, and there are still hundreds of problems left over from the agreement." Let's talk slowly! When it comes to the 19th and 20th, there is no need to talk about it! ”

After speaking, he imitated the scene of Japan's persecution of He Yingqin back then, sat directly on the table, crossed Erlang's legs, and used a civilized stick as a saber to bang on the table, and said exaggeratedly: "Yanxi, Chairman Song, our Kwantung and military are not here to negotiate, but to express strong determination." Regarding whether to let go of Peking and Tianjin, you just need to say agree or disagree! ”

At this moment, a person came from outside the door and whispered a few words beside Song Zy, and after Song Zy heard it, his face showed embarrassment.

Xu Ming knew what was going on, and sat down at the table and asked condescendingly, "Has the vanguard of the Japanese army arrived in Tianjin?" ”

Song Zy nodded, and said with a sad face: "I just got the news, Tianjin has just arrived with 12 Japanese military vehicles. ”

Xu Ming is completely out of tricks, he doesn't have no ideas, but if the upper echelons of the 29th Army have always held this hesitant attitude, no matter how good the idea is, it will be useless.

Everything was as Xu Ming expected, and on the same day, Zhang Zizhong, Chen Juesheng, and others talked with the Japanese side in the middle of the night, happily announcing that a lot of consensus had been reached. As a result, I received information at that time: the vanguard of the Japanese army had reached Miyun!

On the 15th, the Japanese army continued to increase its troops, and intelligence showed that the Japanese train heading south to Shunyi was extremely heavy and seemed to be loaded with a large number of heavy artillery and armored vehicles! At this time, Zhang Zizhong and Chen Juesheng had just agreed in principle to the Japanese side's request.

Subsequently, however, the Japanese side put forward a new demand, demanding that Song Zy fulfill the parts of the Tanggu, Hemei, and Qintu agreements that were not implemented.

Song Zy did not know that on the day of the negotiations on July 15, the Japanese army had already formulated a battle plan: "Crusade against the Chinese 29th Army by force and sweep it south of the Yongding River; In the second phase, it entered the front line of Baoding and Renqiu, and after increasing the number of troops, it reached the Shijiazhuang-Dezhou line ......"

With the completion of the build-up of Japanese troops, Japan's attitude became more and more tough. Began to ask Song Zyun to sign the treaty and withdraw the garrison of Babaoshan.

July 17, 1937 was destined to be an extraordinary day, Chiang Kai-shek delivered a speech at Lushan: "At the last moment, we can only sacrifice to the end, the war of resistance to the end... If the war starts, it will be that there is no distinction between the north and the south, and there is no distinction between the old and the young, and all have the responsibility of defending the land and resisting the war......" officially shows China's attitude towards the Lugou Bridge incident.

On the same day, Shinrokuro Hidaka, the Japanese counselor in Nanjing, made a two-point request to the Nationalist Government for non-interference in the situation in North China and for the cessation of resistance against Japan, but the Nationalist Government immediately rejected this condition that was close to surrender. He also demanded that the Japanese side withdraw its troops and use diplomatic means to solve the problem.

China actually dared to refuse Japan's demand! The Great Japanese Empire demanded "autonomy of the five provinces of North China", and China actually dared to disagree! When the news came, the Japanese General Staff Headquarters and the Ministry of War were "extremely indignant." On the same day, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued an extremely strong statement.

In Beiping and Tianjin, where the incident occurred, the squadron began to build a large number of fortifications in Beiping, and in the face of the Japanese army's strong behavior, they tried their best to resist and suppress, and the two sides clashed constantly. A large number of students, merchants, and citizens organized continuous demonstrations in support of the 29th Army's resistance to Japan. At the same time, local people's representatives and patriotic groups also organized various activities to support the resistance of the squadron, and even came to the front line to express condolences. Pingjin is a scene of a big war about to come.

During this time, although Xu Ming was active, it had almost no effect.

When he first came, he suggested that Song Zy gather the main force, surround the prominent parts of the Japanese army, and attack at any time, but Song Zy felt that it was too tough and did not dare to implement it. In retreat, he suggested that all units build field fortifications and carry out in-depth defense, but the opinion of the majority of the people was still afraid of offending the Japanese.

In the end, Xu Ming simply proposed to directly let Song Zy personally lead the team to talk with the Japanese side. If you can't take the initiative to attack, you can't do it actively, so let's have a thorough negotiation.

In the end, Song Zy canceled his meeting with the commander of the Japanese garrison in Beiping, Kazuki Qingji, and directly held talks with the Japanese side in Tianjin. At the same time, Xu Ming also participated in this event that changed the history of East Asia and even the history of the world.

July 21, Tianjin, conference room. The Chinese negotiators, Song Zy, Zhang Zizhong, Chen Juesheng, Zhang Yunrong, and Xu Ming, lined up, and opposite them were Matsu and Kutaro, chief of staff of the Japanese Beiping secret service, Hashimoto Qun, chief of staff of the garrison army, Takeo Imai, military attache stationed in Beiping, and the second staff officer of the General Staff Headquarters and Zhiying, and the commander of the 40th Brigade of the 20th Division, Yamashita Fengfumi.

Xu Ming saw that there was a big fat man opposite him, sitting on the seat, and the stool creaked in protest from time to time. After introducing each other, I realized that this person was the famous Yamashita Fengwen in later generations.

When the Japanese side heard that Xu Ming, a representative of the hardliners from Nanjing, was participating in the negotiations, they added a representative of the Korean and Xian armies.

Sometimes, something seemingly insignificant changes history.

After a simple exchange of pleasantries, the Japanese representatives Matsu and Ui fought first, and said sternly: "The tyrannical behavior of the empire against your army and the anti-Japanese and insulting actions of the northern peace are no longer tolerable. Therefore, the empire made the following demands: 1. Chairman Song must personally apologize! 2. Recall the commander of the 37th Division, Feng Zhi'an; 3. The squadron left Beiping and nearby areas, and the security was handled by the security team. 4……

Chen Juesheng was anxious when he heard this, "Matsu, Jing Dazuo, you didn't say that yesterday, and you said it yesterday ......"

Before Chen Juesheng finished speaking, Yamashita Fengwen rudely interrupted: "Yesterday was yesterday, today is today, and today's situation is different from yesterday!" ”

Song Zy, Zhang Zizhong and others were so angry that their faces turned red, and sure enough, after the main force of the Japanese army arrived, their attitude was extremely tough. These requirements are nothing else, and the evacuation of the ** squadron from Beiping is absolutely impossible. Otherwise, it would not have been a single shot to hand over Beiping to the Japanese.

Chen Juesheng almost pleaded: "General Yamashita, this is absolutely not possible, otherwise, how can we explain to the people of the whole country and how can we reply to the central government......

Yamashita didn't let him finish his words at all, and interrupted extremely rudely: "You don't need to explain to others, you only need to explain to the Great Japanese Empire, to the bayonets and cannons of the Imperial Army." ”

Xu Ming was speechless at Chen Juesheng's weakness, which could not have any effect other than to make the arrogant opponent despise.

Zhang Zizhong was extremely angry and stood up with a sigh, "If we don't want to explain to you Japanese!" ”

Yamashita said arrogantly: "Then, the excellent aircraft cannon of the Emperor ** team will fully exert his power!" I'm afraid that the ancient capital of Beiping will be in ruins! ”

On the Japanese side, it is almost Yamashita Fengfumi who is performing alone, and he is still arrogant. A slow voice came from the other side.

Everyone saw that it was Xu Ming, and Xu Ming said in an ordinary tone: "I have a different opinion on this point, your army's weapons are indeed excellent compared with our army. But only the infantry artillery was crude, and I am afraid that it was of no great use except for the occasional carrying of it. ”

"You...," Yamashita Bongfumi's face turned red, and the faces of the other Japanese representatives were also crying and laughing. What had been Japan's arrogant situation suddenly became very embarrassing.

It turned out that Yamashita Fengwen was fat, weighing 90 kilograms, which was the same weight as the Japanese army's 11-year-old infantry gun, so he was nicknamed "infantry artillery".

After the arrogance of the Japanese side was suppressed, the two sides began to argue fiercely over various terms, especially about the garrison in Beiping, and the room was filled with endless saliva. Under the strong opposition of the Chinese side, the Japanese side finally agreed that the squadron would not retreat from Beiping, but would replace the garrison in Beiping from the 37th Division to the 132nd Division.

A few hours later, when it was time to end, several Chinese people were about to rush out. Japanese representatives Matsu and Kui Kutaro suddenly said to Zhang Zizhong: "General Zhang, can you stay and talk about it alone?" ”

As soon as these words came out, the faces of several people on the Chinese side changed color.