Chapter 226: The Seventy-Seven Incident

July 5, 26th year of the Republic of China, Tokyo, Japan

In a quiet cabin, two unassuming old men were quietly playing Go. One was Prince Zaihito Miyaya, who was then the chief of staff of Japan, with the rank of marshal, and General Umezu Mijiro, who was convicted and returned to China some time ago.

After returning to Japan, Umezu Mijiro, who was supposed to be transferred to the reserve, was appointed vice minister of the army because of the appreciation of Prince Zaihito of Kanin Palace. Before serving as vice minister of the army, the Military Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of the Japanese Army was extremely powerful, and Nagata Tetsuyama as the director of the military affairs bureau was simply the spokesman of the Minister of War and the core of the army. In terms of power, the Chief of War at that time was greater than the Vice-Minister of the Army. The Minister of War and the Secretary of the War are allowed to attend the Parliament, while the Undersecretary of the Army is only the Undersecretary of Affairs and can only remain in the Ministry of the Army and cannot attend the Parliament.

After Umezu became vice minister of the army, he united with War Minister Terauchi Totoshi and Director of Education Sugiyama Motoshi to weaken the power of the Military Affairs Bureau of the Japanese Army Ministry by half, and this restless devil nicknamed "Stone Man" also wrote to the Heavenly Emperor that "we should devote ourselves to solving the problem of the Sino-Japanese War and solve the northern problem according to the changes in the situation." ’

These remarks by Umezu Mijiro won the hearts of the Japanese Emperor and Prince Zaihito of the Kanin Palace, and today Umezu Yoshijiro came to play chess together at the invitation of Prince Zaihito of the Kanin Palace.

"Umejin-kun, your chess skills have made great progress recently, it seems that people have to suffer a little setbacks to improve," Prince Zaihito of the Idle Yuan Palace, a smile appeared on his wrinkled face on weekdays. It seems that he is still very satisfied with the performance of Umezu Mijiro these days.

Umezu Mijiro said respectfully: "This is all due to your teaching, and the humble position is just to catch the medicine according to the prescription." ”

"Alas," Prince Zaihito of the Imperial Palace dragged out his voice, "This is the result of your own efforts, don't put him on my head, you just need to remember to serve His Majesty the Emperor well." ”

"Hi," Umezu bowed his head sharply to indicate that he was taught.

Prince Zaihito of Xianyuan Gong picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea before slowly asking, "Umezu-kun, what do you think of the upcoming Shina incident?" ”

"He believed that in order to solve the problem of the current situation, it was necessary to unite the whole country and go all out to defeat the Nanking government in a short time and force them to surrender. Only in this way can we mobilize the strength of the whole country to defeat the Chahar government and defeat Su Tong" When the name Su Tong was mentioned, Umezu Mijiro's usually slightly wooden face showed a hint of murder.

Seeing that Umezu Mijiro showed a rare expression after mentioning Su Tong, Prince Zaihito of the Idle Palace also said sternly: "Umezu-kun, you have to remember that if you want to defeat Shina completely, you must defeat them quickly and completely with lightning speed. Japan is an island country with poor resources and cannot afford to sustain a long-term war, so we must move as quickly as possible. As long as China is completely defeated and all their resources are brought into the arms of the empire, it will be possible for us to compete with the Western powers for world hegemony. ”

"Hi"

Prince Zaihito of Xianyuan Palace then said gently: "After a while, I plan to send you to serve as the commander of the Kwantung Army, integrate the troops and resources there, and defeat the Chahar government as soon as possible." The current Ueda Kenkichi is too disobedient, all day long he only knows how to use power for personal gain, make money in his own pocket, and make the Kwantung Army into a miasma, and the base camp has long had the idea of replacing him, but it has not been implemented yet. I didn't want to tell you about this so quickly, but I said it anyway, I just want you to be prepared, do you understand? ”

Listening to Prince Kanin Miyazaihito's earnest words, Umezu Mijiro was excited, he knew that if he hadn't been able to reuse himself in the Kanin Palace, he might still be fishing in Kitakyushu. He choked up and said: "Your Excellency's care, humble duty is always in my heart"

Prince Zaihito closed his eyes and waved his hand lightly to signal that Umezu Mijiro could retreat.

Umezu Mijiro respectfully bowed to Prince Zaihito of Kanin Palace at an angle of 90 degrees, then turned around and went out the door, and when he walked to the door, he seemed to hear a long sigh

The military headquarters of the 29th Route Army in Beiping

Army Commander Song Zheyuan was sitting at his desk looking at the telegram that had just been sent by the Confidential Section, and General Staff Officer Xiao Zhenying was sitting in front of him.

"Commander, what did Chahar's message say?"

Song Zheyuan frowned and handed over the message, "See for yourself"

"What? The Japanese are going to attack Beiping? Xiao Zhenying smiled contemptuously after reading the telegram: "Chahar, this telegram is probably the intention of the drunkard, not in the bar?" ”

"What do you mean by Sendai?" Song Zheyuan asked with some puzzlement.

Xiao Zhenying took out a cigarette, lit it and explained: "Hmph, what can there be, Su Tong is not satisfied with staying in his Chahar to be his 'Northwest King', and wants to come to Beiping." ”

Song Zheyuan's eyebrows curled up, "This can't be, right?" No matter how he is now the veritable king of the 'Northwest King', if he were to attack Beiping, he would not use such despicable means. ”

Xiao Zhenying snorted, "I don't know people, I don't know my heart, I haven't seen anyone who thinks his territory is too big, you better be careful." ”

Song Zheyuan sighed, threw the message in his hand into the garbage basket, and ignored the matter.

The official residence of the leader of Nanjing

Today, the chairman of the committee and his wife are rarely enjoying the shade in the gazebo.

"Darling, what did he say in the telegram again with this Su Tong?" Seeing that her husband's face seemed to be solemn after seeing the telegram sent by Chahar, he hesitated again, and couldn't help but ask curiously.

"What else can there be, isn't it just repeating the same old tune, advocating that the Japanese want to attack China in an all-out way, and asking us to step up our vigilance?" The chairman disdainfully put the telegram in his hand aside.

"Darling, people are also kind, don't be too angry"

"Good intentions? He demanded that more than two divisions be sent to Beiping to assist Song Zheyuan's 29th Army in resisting the impending Japanese attack. Hmph, if his two divisions really entered Beiping, wouldn't Beiping become his bag? ”

The chairman of the committee was extremely angry with Su Tong's telegram, and he and Su Tong had an unclear tacit understanding. Su Tong only developed in various parts of the northwest and did not participate in various disputes in the Guannai, and Chairman Jiang did not care about Su Tong's affairs, but now Su Tong's telegram made the chairman think that this was a signal that Chahar was going to march into the Guannai.

"Tell them that they must not send a single soldier into Chahar, otherwise the central government has the right to expel them." The chairman's attitude was resolute, unprecedentedly resolute.

Headquarters of the 37th Group Army in Zhangjiakou

"Jianming, don't care, the chairman has always been such a person. Our strength was enough to worry him, but as soon as your telegram was sent like this, it made him even more worried, so he sent such a telegram, which is also very in line with his current mentality. Jiang Baili comforted the harshly worded telegram in his hand, worried that Su Tong would do something drastic under his annoyance, so he hurriedly comforted.

Su Tong smiled faintly: "The terrible thing about stupid people is not in their stupidity, but in their own cleverness." Stupid people can't do the stupidest things, and the stupidest things are done by smart people. The chairman of the committee and Song Zheyuan mistakenly thought that I, Su, was going to start attacking Beiping, and began to guard against me to the death, but they didn't know that the person who was most ambitious to them had already sharpened his knife and stood quietly behind him. ”

"Order the 3rd Armored Division, the 102nd Division, and the 5th Division to immediately enter a state of combat readiness and be ready to attack Rehe at any time." In the end, Su Tong still ordered the troops to get ready

On the afternoon of July 7, the 26th year of the Republic of China, the 8th Squadron of the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Wing of the Japanese North China Garrison Army, led by Captain Setsuro Shimizu, drove to the area between Huilongmiao and Dayao, which was close to the garrison of the Huaxia garrison at Lugou Bridge.

At 7:30 p.m., the Japanese army began its exercises. At 22:40, the Japanese army claimed that gunshots had been heard from the exercise area and that a soldier (Kikujiro Shimura) was "missing", and immediately forcibly demanded to enter Wanping City, the garrison of the Chinese garrison, to search, but the 219th Regiment of the 110th Brigade of the 37th Division of the 29th Army of China sternly refused.

Military Headquarters of the 29th Route Army

Deputy Army Commander Qin Dechun was reporting to Song Zheyuan: "Military seat, the Japanese claim that they want us to hand over their missing soldiers immediately, otherwise they will forcibly enter Wanping City to search. Ji Xingwen, the commander of the 219th Regiment, is leading the third battalion to confront the little devils, what should I do, you have to get an idea? ”

Song Zheyuan snorted and said: "Little Japan is provoking us and trying to make us make mistakes, we can't be fooled by them, and order the soldiers to stay in the camp and not go out." ”

At this time, Ji Xingwen, the commander of the 219th Regiment guarding Lugou Bridge and Wanping City, was standing on the position, closely watching the movements of the Japanese.

"Tuanzao, I saw the little devil touch it in front," the battalion commander Jin Zhenzhong ran over panting.

Ji Xingwen ordered sharply: "Tell the brothers, if the little devil dares to come, he will beat me hard, and our 29th Army must not be a bad seed." ”

"Yes"

In the early morning of 8 July, in front of the Lugou Bridge, the commander of the first wing of the Japanese army, Qing Zhi, led his troops to approach the position of the Chinese defenders.

"Report to Your Excellency Dazuo, the troops are approaching the position of the Chinese army." The third captain, Setsuro Shimizu, strode over to report.

"Yo Xi" Qingzhi Dazuo nodded, and then said viciously: "Order the troops, attack immediately"

"Hi"

After answering the question, Shimizu Setsuro turned around and pulled out his command knife and pointed at the position of the Huaxia army: "Kill the imperial warriors, attack"

"Onboard"

Thousands of Japanese soldiers swarmed in the direction of the Lugou Bridge.

"Brothers, Hit Me Hard"

The Czech-style machine guns on the position of the third battalion of "Da Da Da" opened fire, and for a while the sound of gunfire and shouts of killing became one, and the 77 Incident began