Itagaki's plan was: 1. Immediately report to the military headquarters to increase the number of troops in Manchuria, and in order to completely solve the Manchurian problem, he believed that at least six to seven Manchurian divisions were needed; 2. Now is the time to seize the opportunity of the unprecedented chaos in the Northeast Army to seize the time to fiercely attack the Northeast Army and strive to expel the forces of the Northeast Army from Shanhaiguan in the west. In the east, the first phase aims to occupy Changchun and Jilin, and control the whole province of Jilin as soon as possible; 3. After controlling Jilin, he then went north to capture Tongliao and Taonan. As a result, it completed the control of the railway lines of Bac Ninh, Shenhai, Sitao, Jichang, Jidun, and Jihai, and achieved the goal of the first stage of the military offensive.

In order to achieve the military objectives of the first stage, it is far from enough to rely on only one second division and six independent garrisons, and in the short term, at least the 20th Division stationed in Korea should cross the Yalu River and enter Manchuria as soon as possible, taking over from the second division to maintain law and order in Mukden, and the second division to occupy Jilin. In addition, the divisions and regiments transferred from China need to immediately move west to Jinzhou to complete the task of expelling the Northeast Army.

Itagaki's plan had been carefully considered, and he and Ishihara had repeatedly deliberated over it, and their plan should be said to be the most correct choice at the moment, both strategically and tactically.

However, this plan also has an insurmountable drawback, that is, the Kwantung Army is seriously short of troops in a short period of time, and it is impossible to solve the problem of troops advancing westward at least for the time being. If the Kwantung Army had sufficient strength at this time, then at this time when the Northeast Army was in chaos, it would be very easy to drive the Northeast Army in western Liaoning out of Shanhaiguan in one fell swoop.

As for the Northeast Army that remained in Liao, Ji, and Hei provinces, although there were many of them, they were not enough to be afraid, and these Northeast Army factions were numerous, and they were scattered, especially because there were many powerful figures who still had contradictions with Zhang Xueliang, and it was not too difficult to deal with them, at least itagaki and Honjo Shigeru both thought so.

As the commander of the Kwantung Army, although he was not very outstanding in terms of strategic and tactical literacy, he still had vision and insight, and he fully agreed with Itagaki this plan. It's just that the problem of troop strength is indeed a difficult problem now, and there is no solution to it, and the transfer of new divisions from the country to Manchuria requires the approval of the cabinet. Although the attitude of the cabinet towards the Manchurian incident is still unclear, Honjo Shigeru can still estimate it, and I am afraid that he will be very angry and deceived into being deceived, and it will be very difficult to get them to agree to increase the number of troops in Manchuria. And if we let go of this opportunity in front of us, it will be very difficult to expel the Northeast Army in western Liaoning in the future.

Honjo Fan secretly sighed and said to Itagaki: "The 20th Division stationed in Korea has no big problem entering Manchuria, and you have to make a specific plan for the 20th Division to be stationed in the Mukden area to take over the defense of the 2nd Division." After the 20th Division arrived in Mukden, the 2nd Division marched east to Jilin. Now that the 3rd Brigade stationed in Changchun has occupied Changchun, we should take Jilin as soon as possible to consolidate our military occupation in Liaoji and Jilin. And open up the South Manchurian railway from Mukden to Changchun as soon as possible. ”

"As for the forces of the Northeast Army that expelled Liaoxi, we can't do it for the time being, and this can only be implemented after the new divisions are transferred from the mainland."

In Itagaki's plan, the expulsion of the forces of the Northeast Army to the west of Shanhaiguan was the most crucial link in the Manchurian Incident, and it was the most important step. Expelling the forces of the Northeast Army to the west of Shanhaiguan not only nominally allowed Zhang Xueliang, the king of the Northeast, to exist in name only, but also allowed Manchuria to remain alone outside the Guan, completely severing the connection between the Nanjing government, Zhang Xueliang, and the resistance forces outside the Guan.

In addition, the occupation of Shanhaiguan can also open the land gate to North China. In the future, whether it is gradually encroaching on the territory of Kannai or settling the issue of China in one fell swoop by means of large-scale warfare, Japan will gain a very favorable military situation.

For the lack of troops to complete the westward expansion plan, Itagaki, Ishihara, and Hanaya could not hide their disappointment. …,

Although Tu Feiyuan was also a participant in this incident, he did not contribute much during the entire incident, which made him unable to let go. However, at this time, Tu Hihara finally found an opportunity.

Dohihara looked at Itagaki who was a little frustrated, and then said to Honjo Shigeru: "Itagaki Jun's plan to advance westward is very correct, it is very necessary for us to consolidate the military occupation of Manchuria, and it must be implemented immediately. ”

Without waiting for Honjo Shigeru to answer, Miyake Koji shook his head and said, "Unless we want to occupy all of Manchuria, there is no need for this. Occupy Manchuria now, the country is not ready. If we do not increase the number of troops in the country in large numbers, it will be difficult for us to make great achievements with the existing strength of our Kwantung Army. In my opinion, we should occupy Jilin first, and then consolidate our occupied area, and not expand the war. ”

Dohihara smiled and said to Miyake Mitsuji: "Although the local reinforcements will not be able to reach Manchuria soon, it does not mean that we will do nothing now. ”

Dohihara's words immediately aroused the interest of Shigeru Honjo, Itagaki and others. are all urging Tu Feiyuan to continue immediately with their eyes.

At this tense moment, Tu Feiyuan didn't dare to sell anything, cleared his throat and said: "That's the case, the people of China have a saying that they will use Yi to control China, and we can also use China to control China." Specifically, it is to support the local forces in the northeast that oppose Zhang Xueliang, and they will come forward to expel Zhang Xueliang's forces in western Liaoning. ”

Miyake Mitsuji said disapprovingly: "In Lushun and Manchuria, although there are many Chinese working for our Great Japanese Empire, it is because of the existence of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty, which has been recognized by the Manchu Qing Dynasty and the current government of the Republic of China, so the Shina people who cooperate with us will not have any psychological burden." ”

"But now it's different, now the Chinese people cooperate with us, the Chinese people see us as invaders, and anyone who cooperates with us will be regarded as traitors. Ordinary people may not have too many concerns, but these people are of limited help to us, and people with status and fame are different. Are you sure to convince them? ”

Tu Feiyuan shook his head with a smile and said, "Chief of Staff, you still don't know much about China. ”

After graduating from the 22nd Army University in 1910, Miyake served as a member of the Military Affairs Bureau, an adjutant of the Ministry of the Army and secretary of the Ministry of Land, a member of the 23rd Infantry Wing, a member of the Implementation Committee of the Treaty of Paris, a military attache of the Embassies in Austria and Hungary, a member of the Implementation Committee of the Treaty of Paris, a member of the Information Squad of the Ministry of the Army, the commander of the Fourth Wing of the Guards, the chief of staff of the Fourth Division, and the commander of the Major General of the Fifth Brigade. It was not until August 10, 1928 that he set foot on Chinese soil for the first time and served as chief of staff of the Kwantung Army.

Although he also spent three years in Tohoku, because of his high-level position, his understanding of China's national conditions is far inferior to that of people like Itagaki and Honjo Shigeru who have been in China for many years.

"Some of the Chinese have a poor sense of identity with the country, which is mainly due to the following reasons. ”

"First of all, for 280 years after the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs, their emperor was always regarded as alien in the eyes of some people, and they did not identify with him, so even their sense of identity with the country weakened a lot."

"Secondly, China is a vast country, and many of its provinces are not only larger than our own country, but even larger than the land area of many Western powers. Because of the vast territory, the large number of ethnic groups, and the large number of local dialects, not only the Chinese spoken in different provinces, but even in different regions of the same province, is very different, just like another language, which is not difficult for locals to understand. Even as Latin includes Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, and Romanian. Because of differences in language, customs, and culture, the degree of their sense of identity with the country is also very different. ”…,

"Manchuria has its own peculiarities. This is the land of the Manchu Emperor's Longxing, although the land is vast and sparsely populated, but in the early Qing Dynasty, Manchuria was not allowed to move the Han people at will, and there was an influx of disaster victims in the later period, mainly Shandong and Hebei people. After the end of the Qing Dynasty, Manchuria was inconvenient with the Kannai, and the long-term existence of the Russians and our Great Japanese Empire, coupled with the de facto independence of the Zhang family and his son, especially the existence of many Manchus who did not recognize the government of the Republic of China, and there will be many Chinese people here who are willing to serve our Great Japanese Empire. ”

"There is a suitable candidate now, he is Ling Yinqing, a native of Haicheng. This person graduated from Fengtian Higher Police School, and in his early years, he participated in the people's army led by Juzheng in Yantai, and was deeply appreciated by Juzheng. Later, he served as a senior adviser to the Henan Military Supervision Office, and now his public position in Northeast China is the special correspondent of the "National Daily" in Shenyang and the manager of the distribution office. This person has always opposed Zhang's father and son, and has close contacts with Yang Yuting and Chang Yinhuai. I had a relationship with this man in Peipei, and he had no ill feelings towards our Empire Japan. ”

"We can completely use this Ling Yinqing to absorb the scattered Northeast Army and local armed forces, and organize a force composed of Northeast people, who will attack western Liaoning first. And we will wait and see what happens before the reinforcements from our homeland arrive. Ling Yinqing can successfully expel the Northeast Army's forces in western Liaoxi, and we can seal the passage between Manchuria and Guannai without blood. If Ling Yinqing fails, not only will there be no loss to us, but we can also find an excuse to attack Liaoxi. ”

"Mixi"

Honjo said happily: "Tohihara-kun, this matter will be left to you." This unit is called the Northeast People's Self-Defense Army, and I have appointed him as commander-in-chief. ”

"Hello."

After Tu Feiyuan agreed, he said, "In addition, there is another person who can also be of great use." ”

Honjo nodded and motioned for Tohihara to continue.

The person Tu Feiyuan said was named Zhang Xuecheng and was Zhang Xueliang's cousin.

Zhang Xuecheng is the eldest son of Zhang Zuolin's second brother Zhang Zuofu, and was raised by Zhang Zuolin. In 1919, he studied at the same time as Zhang Xueliang in the first phase of the Northeast Lecture and Martial Arts Hall. After graduating, he was sent by Zhang Zuolin to the Japanese Army University for further study, and after returning to China, he successively served as the commander of Zhang Zuolin's guard battalion, the commander of the Northeast Army, and the brigade commander. Because he always looked down on Zhang Xueliang, the son-in-law, and was very uncomfortable beside Zhang Xueliang, he went to Zhang Zongchang to serve as the commander of the 70th Division.

In the autumn of 1924, in the Second Zhifeng War, Li Jinglin and Zhang Zongchang's troops were responsible for attacking Rehe. When Zhang Xuecheng led his troops to pass through Qiangou Town, Linyu County, he connived at the soldiers to burn, kill, loot, and rape women, which caused great public anger in the local area. The villagers sued Zhang Xuecheng to Zhang Xueliang, and Zhang Xueliang was angry that Zhang Xuecheng was harmful, so Zhang Xuecheng was dismissed. Zhang Xuecheng's dissatisfaction with Zhang Xueliang became even stronger, and he hated Zhang Xueliang from then on.

In June 1928, after Zhang Xueliang took power in the Northeast, he once asked someone to bring a letter to Zhang Xuecheng and asked Zhang Xuecheng to return to the Northeast, but Zhang Xuecheng ignored it.

After Zhang Zongchang's troops were routed by the Northern Expeditionary Army, even in this case, Zhang Xuecheng was unwilling to return to Zhang Xueliang's side, but turned around and took refuge in the warlord Shi Yousan.

Shi Yousan superficially submitted to Zhang Xueliang, but secretly he was preparing to seize the throne of the "King of North China". In June this year, Shi Yousan instructed Zhang Xuecheng and Bi Guangheng to go to Tianjin to contact Tufeiyuan, and Zhang Xuecheng to go to Dalian to contact Banyuan.

"Itagaki-kun must still remember this person." Tsuchihara asked.

Itagaki nodded, indicating that he remembered the person.

Tu Feiyuan continued: "After Shi Yousan's defeat, Zhang Xuecheng fled to Tianjin, and now lives in the Japanese Concession, and has always kept in touch with me. If we can pull Zhang Xuecheng over, with Zhang Xuecheng's life experience, it will be of great help to our Japanese Empire. ”

"Mixi"

Honjo couldn't hide his excitement, and said to Tsuchihara: "Tsuchihara-kun, you are the pride of our Great Japanese Empire. You immediately contact Zhang Xuecheng and ask him to come to Fengtian, and I will see him in person. ”…,

Tu Feiyuan's words also reminded Itagaki that Itagaki stepped forward and said to Honjo: "In order to complete the plan to occupy Manchuria as soon as possible, not only in western Liaoning, we must contact Zhang Xuecheng and Ling Yinqing, but we will also take measures to lure surrender in eastern Liaoning, northern Liaobei and Jilin, and win over the local powerful factions of the Northeast Army to cooperate with our Kwantung Army." ”

"For example, Yu Zhishan, the town guard of Dongbian Dao, Zhang Haipeng, the town guard of Taoliao, and Ji Xing, the town guard of Yanji, all of these people have a good impression of our Japanese Empire, and they all have a common characteristic, that is, they are all extremely dissatisfied with Zhang Xueliang. In addition, there is another person that must be fought for, and this person is Xi Qia, chief of staff of the Jilin Provincial Deputy Commander's Office. ”

"Xiqia is not a Han Chinese, but surnamed Aixin Jueluo, a Manchu. Xiqia is not only a Manchu, but also a respected person, he is a descendant of the Qing Emperor Nurhachi's brother Morhaqi. According to the custom of the Qing Dynasty, Xiqia belongs to a category of relatively close relations in the royal family, that is, the "clan", which can wear yellow belts. Xiqia had participated in the restoration activities of the Zongshe Party of the Manchu imperial family, and was committed to restoring the rule of the Qing Dynasty, and Zhang Xueliang had long been separated. ”

"The most critical point is that Xi Qia studied at our Tokyo Zhenwu School and Non-commissioned Officer School in our early years, and his attitude towards Japan is relatively close to us, and many division commanders used to be teachers in Xi Qia's non-commissioned officer school. At this moment, now Zhang Zuoxiang, chairman of Jilin Province, is still in Jinzhou to take care of the funeral and has not returned, as long as he can lure Xiqia, Jilin can make a move. ”

"Mixi"

Honjo said excitedly to Tsuchihara, "Tsuchihara-kun, you are in charge of the deception of these people. In addition, he informed Duomenjun that he should rush to Changchun immediately and try to pull Xiqia over. If Xiqia cooperates with our Kwantung Army, it will be of great benefit to us in overcoming Jilin......"

At this time, a staff officer took a few electric pickaxes and ran down from the upper floor.

"Report to the call from Your Excellency the Commander, His Excellency the Minister of War Minamijiro and Chief of Staff Kanaya." After the staff officer finished speaking, he handed over the telegram with both hands.

The fact that the Minister of War and the Chief of Staff were calling at the same time was obviously an unusual situation, and the content of the telegram must have been about the Manchurian incident, and what was the attitude of the Cabinet and the War Department towards the incident? Everyone had no bottom in their hearts, and they were all nervously staring at the few telegrams in the hands of the staff officers at this time.

Honjo glanced at everyone, and instead of receiving the telegram from the staff officer, he put away his smile and said in a low voice, "Read it." ”

In the telegram, Minamijiro first informed Shigeru Honjo of the information that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had received against the Kwantung Army, and conveyed the resolution of the cabinet meeting.

The main contents of the information collected by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are as follows: 1. According to a telegram sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by Kimura Rui, director of the Manchurian Railway, Wu Sho Takao of the Fushun Coal Mine, Kiyoharu Shomoto, director of the Kanto Agency, Masaichi Nakatani, director of the National Police Bureau, and Hayashi Kujiro, consul general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Mukden, various circumstances prove that the Kwantung Army took the initiative to provoke and was not motivated by self-defense; 2. Except for a small number of Northeast Army and police in Mukden, the Chinese troops in various parts of South Manchuria did not resist; 3. Consul Hayashi Kujiro went to the Kwantung Army headquarters to ask for a ceasefire in the Kwantung Army, but was turned away. When Hayashi Kujiro rushed to the scene of the explosion at Wicker Lake, he was actually threatened by Hanaya Masa.

Eventually, the Cabinet came up with a policy that the Kwantung Army should strive not to further escalate the situation.

Minamijiro also told Honjo Shigeru in a telegram that Bihara had contacted the Japanese minister to China, Shigemitsu Aoi, and instructed him to contact the Chinese side as soon as possible. Chongguang Kui replied that after the incident, he had made an appointment with Chinese Finance Minister Song Ziwen, and the two agreed to go to Manchuria together to personally investigate the situation and find a solution. Both sides have even booked tickets to sail north from Shanghai on September 20.

Finally, Minamijiro emphasized two commands: "First, do not occupy Manchuria; Second, it is necessary not to set up a military junta-like body in Manchuria. ”…,

This telegram immediately caused the atmosphere in the hall to drop to freezing point, except for Miyake Koji secretly breathing a sigh of relief, Itagaki, Ishihara, Hanaya Masa, and the young staff officers all turned ugly.

"Yaga" Hanaya Zhengtie scolded with a blue face.

"The people of the Kanto Agency, the Manchurian Railway, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are the scum of the Great Japanese Empire."

Honjo Fan waved his hand with a gloomy face and stopped Hanayamasa. He also motioned to the staff officer to continue reading Kanaya Van San's telegram.

In his telegram, Kanaya emphasized two main points: "1. After the night of September 18, the determination and measures of the commander of the Kwantung Army were deeply timely and increased the prestige of the imperial army. 2. In view of China's attitude after the incident and the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers that the handling of the incident should not exceed the necessary limit, the future actions of your army must be properly handled in accordance with this spirit. ”

If the decision of the Cabinet and the instructions of Minamijiro are followed, this incident should end here. This was the last thing the Kwantung Army, including Shigeru Honjo, wanted to see, and it was also the most unacceptable result.

However, the content of Kanaya Fanzo's telegram was a little ambiguous, which rekindled a glimmer of hope for Itagaki and others, but what kind of countermeasures the Kwantung Army finally took depends on Honjo Shigeru. Of course, from now on, any responsibility will also be borne by Honjo Shigeru.

Honjo looked at the staff officer with a gloomy face, because the staff officer still had a telegram in his hand and did not read it.

Shigeru Honjo motioned to the staff officer to continue reading the telegram.

The staff officer said with some embarrassment: "Your Excellency, Commander, this is a private telegram from the head of the Hashimoto Section of the Military Department to your Excellency. ”

"Hashimoto-kun's telegram?"

Itagaki and Ishihara looked at each other in surprise, but neither spoke.

Honjo took the telegram and read it silently. However, after only one page of the message, Honjo Shigeru read it for five minutes.

After a long time, Honjo slowly folded up the telegram manuscript and put it in his jacket pocket, then turned around and walked slowly upstairs.

Honjo's actions made everyone stunned, they didn't know what the content of Hashimoto's telegram to Honjo Shigeru was, and they didn't know what Honjo Shigeru had in mind about his next move.

But now that the situation is urgent, there is no room for delay, and Ishihara is about to chase Honjo Shigeru when he takes the next step. Itagaki is still quick and fast, and he grabbed Ishihara Wan'er.

Although Itagaki did not know the contents of Hashimoto's telegram to Shigeru Honjo, he firmly believed that Hashimoto would do his best to get Shigeru Honjo to make the "right" decision.

Under the anxious gaze of everyone, the heavy Honjo stopped on the stairs, but he did not turn back, but said the long-awaited sentence in a heavy voice.

"Itagaki-kun, go according to your plan."

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