Chapter 595: The Chinese Exclusion Incident (I)

On December 27, 1940, at the instigation of well-intentioned people, a serious anti-Chinese incident occurred in Saigon, the capital of Vietnam, and tens of thousands of indigenous people in Saigon began to rally on the streets, demanding that the government revoke the status of overseas Chinese residents living in Vietnam, increase their tax and medical education thresholds, and demand that the Chinese government return Cam Ranh Bay. As the procession reached the government office building, dozens of petitioners submitted petitions to government departments.

Ho Chi Minh, president of the Vietnamese government, soon received the petitioners in person, and solemnly said that he would "prudently" consider the demands of the people and negotiate with the Chinese government as soon as possible.

With the Vietnamese government's overt and covert connivance, the procession grew more and more proud, and the crowd snowballed, and by December 30, the number of people in Saigon had grown to more than 50,000.

"Give us back Cam Ranh Bay"

"Vietnam is the Vietnam of the Vietnamese"

All kinds of slogans and slogans have come and gone, and the situation in Saigon has gradually gotten out of control, and Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Wu Ping urgently met with Ho Chi Minh, chairman of the Vietnamese Government, and solemnly demanded that the Vietnamese Government protect the lives, property, and personal safety of overseas Chinese in Vietnam.

"Mrs. Wu, Ho Chi Minh is clearly perfunctory to us, saying that this is Vietnam's internal affair, we don't have to worry about it, and that the situation is completely under the control of the Vietnamese government, this is clearly" Coming out of the Vietnamese government office building, Li Qiang, counselor of the embassy in Vietnam, said angrily to Wu Ping, "In my opinion, this demonstration is clearly made by the Vietnamese." They are clearly shouting to catch a thief. ”

Wu Ping's face was also ugly, and when he thought that there were still tens of thousands of overseas Chinese in Saigon, he felt uneasy, and the two of them got into the black car parked at the door together, and the car drove in the direction of the embassy. In the car, Wu Binh leaned his head on the cushion in the back seat of the car, recalled Ho Chi Minh's expression when he met him just now, and let out a long sigh.

Li Qiang, who was beside him, heard Wu Ping sigh and found the worry in his boss's heart, he thought about it and said Mrs. Wu, the situation in Saigon is very chaotic now, let's wait for the government's instructions and then negotiate with the Vietnamese government. ”

Wu Ping said worriedly that the telegram was sent this morning, but there has been no response so far, and I have not found out what the president's attitude is, and I have also found that the government needs to hold a meeting to discuss, but now there is no wait. ”

"If it really doesn't work, we will send a report to the country to urge them when we go back?" Li Qiang said tentatively.

Wu Ping thought about it and shook his head, "No need, the president, they always need to come to plan, and now the Vietnamese are just rallying and marching, so it's not good for us to react too strongly and make people laugh." ”

At this time, the car drove across a street, just in time to meet the demonstrator crowd walking through the street, in a burst of chirping Yue, the car slowly drove by. The Vietnamese natives outside the car looked at the blue sky and white sky and red flags hanging in front of the black car, and their eyes revealed a trace of vicious gaze that could not be hidden.

Looking at the eyes of the Vietnamese natives outside the car through the car window, Wu Binh's uneasy feeling in his heart was a little stronger, and he always felt that this incident was likely to get out of control.

Nanjing Presidential Palace

Su Tong, Jiang Baili, and Li Zongren were having a small meeting in Su Tong's office, and Jiang Baili took out a telegram from a stack of telegrams in front of him and said that he was right, it seems that our guess is right, although the fuse of this matter is Cam Ranh Bay, but behind the scenes there is the shadow of Soviet Russians. This morning the Russians sent another division near Lake Baikal, and although the number is not yet known, according to the agents, they spoke as if they had come from Turkmenistan. ”

"It seems that Stalin is still unwilling to be lonely, and wants to put pressure on us." Su Tong said quietly.

"In addition, Ambassador to Vietnam Wu Binh called this morning, saying that more than 10,000 Vietnamese have been demonstrating on the streets of Saigon in the past few days, and the scale of this demonstration is getting bigger and bigger with the passage of time, and he suspects that someone is behind this incident." Jiang Baili will report later.

"Hmph, we have to think about this matter in conjunction with the affairs of Soviet Russia." Su Tong took out a box of cigarettes from his body and lit one.

After taking a deep breath, he spit out a smoke ring, Su Tong thought for a while, and then said, although the gaffe in Saigon is not out of control now, we must also take precautions, and we must do a good job in the demonstrations in Saigon, in case those natives expel or kill our overseas Chinese after they get out of control, we must also have a coping strategy or evacuation action. ”

"Why, the Vietnamese will expel or even kill our overseas Chinese?" Li Zongren and Jiang Baili had a look of disbelief on their faces.

"No, the Vietnamese wouldn't have done such a stupid thing unless they had no brains." Li Zongren shook his head affirmatively, he didn't think that with the IQ of a Vietnamese leader, he would make such a stupid move, wasn't that digging his own grave?

"It's hard to say that it's sometimes possible for a monkey like Vietnam, who is not fully evolved, to do something that seems incredible to us." Speaking of this, Su Tong remembered all kinds of brain-dead things done by Vietnamese people in later generations. For example, during the Vietnam War in the early 80s, Vietnam was so poor that it had to ask the regiment commander for even two 60 mortar shells, but in such an embarrassing situation, it still gritted its teeth and shouted the slogan of "fight to Beijing" and fought with China for ten years, until the domestic men were reduced by one-third before stopping.

"Then Jianming, do you have any good ideas?" Li Zongren said with a smile.

To tell the truth, Li Zongren has been living in Guangxi with troops for a long time, and he has dealt with the Vietnamese a lot, so he knows a little about the temperament of the Vietnamese, and he also found that it is not impossible for the Vietnamese to do this kind of thing, so he asked with a smile.

Su Tong opened his mouth without hesitation and said In my opinion, we can go in two steps, we can increase the number of troops to Lang Son and Dien Bien Phu as soon as we come, and I think we can transfer Monk Xu's 33rd Group Army to time. Monk Xu's style of leading troops is still quite tough, and this time he will let him deal with those Vietnamese. Second, we must put the Cam Ranh Bay base on first-class alert, the Second Marine Division must all assemble in Cam Ranh Bay, and the aircraft carrier "Han Shin" will also assemble in Cam Ranh Bay; if things change in the event that we can respond quickly, we will immediately order the General Staff to make a contingency plan, but we cannot wait for something to happen before we temporarily cling to our feet, and we will suffer losses. Well, that's what I mean for the time being, do you have any different opinions or things to add? ”：“

Li Zongren and Jiang Baili looked at each other and smiled, and Jiang Baili said Hand, Jianming, you have finished speaking, what do you want us to add? I think that's fine, so let's do what you want. ”

On January 3, 1941, the demonstrations and demonstrations that had lasted for more than a week in Saigon City gradually changed its flavor, and some lawless people took advantage of the chaos to rush into the homes of overseas Chinese and began to fish in troubled waters.

When they arrived, those lawbreakers who were fishing in troubled waters became more and more emboldened, and the matter gradually evolved into a smashing and looting incident. When the Vietnamese police on the streets of Saigon believed that the matter was beyond the control of the fight, they rushed to report it to the government. Ho Chi Minh, who received the report, quickly ordered the police in Saigon to do their best to maintain law and order and not allow the gaffe to spread.

But when thousands of police officers in Saigon took to the streets to keep the law and order, they believed that the situation had completely lost control. By night, the crowd of more than 50,000 people who had gotten out of control had turned into outright mobs, who had stormed Chinese shops and begun to vent their dark and everyday grievances. Armed with machetes, sticks and spears, they rushed into Chinese shops and homes, and began to rob them in an open manner. Gradually, shops began to be set on fire by the mob, and the flames began to light up the dark night sky, all without the knowledge of the senior Vietnamese government officials sitting in the government office building.

In the Saigon office building, Ho Chi Minh is still holding an emergency meeting with government officials.

Ho Chi Minh said with some concern, comrades, the situation on the streets of Saigon is gradually getting out of control, and there have been many robberies today, which will have a very bad impact on the reputation of our country, and we can no longer indulge in gaffes to continue like this. ”

Defense Minister Wu Yuanjia said with a smile What are you afraid of, those greedy Chinese people have money, and this money was originally exploited from our people, and it is not bad to be taken back now. ”

At this moment, the door of the conference room was pushed open with a "bump", and an official rushed into the conference room in a hurry, shouting in a trembling voice, "The hand is not good, Chairman Hu is not good, the people on the street have lost control, and they are now killing people everywhere and setting fires."

"Why" Everyone in the conference room was stunned, as government officials, they clearly found that snatching sons and killing people and setting fires are not the same nature, and as a group **, those who have turned from demonstrators to thugs once they see blood, then it will be difficult to control the gaffe.

"Quick, quickly order the army to enter the town to suppress those people and expel them from the streets" Ho Chi Minh trembled in fright, and hurriedly ordered Vo Nguyen Gia to send troops into the city.

Chapter 595: The Chinese Exclusion Incident (I)