At the beginning of February 1937, the Japanese Hayashi Milling Cabinet came to power and immediately preached a new policy of not advocating martial arts. The Japanese business circles have frequently extended olive branches and sent delegations to visit China, only talking about the economy and not politics. The situation in North China was surprisingly calm, and the troops stationed in North China also went against the norm and took the initiative to improve relations with the Jicha authorities; they not only gave more than a dozen mountain artillery pieces to the 29 th Army for the first time in history, but also invited Song Zheyuan and Zhang Zizhong to visit Japan to observe joint exercises of the army, navy, and air force. On February 15, the Third Plenary Session of the Fifth Central Committee of the State Council was held in Nanjing.

In the spring of the same year, the Japanese side transferred a large number of Kwantung troops from outside the customs into the customs, and the number of Japanese troops between Pingjin and Tianjin increased to 30,000 or 40,000. Beginning on 25 April, the North China Garrison conducted frequent combat exercises in the suburbs of Pingjin, and in June began to conduct day and night exercises aimed at attacking the Lugou Bridge and seizing Wanping City. On 21 June, the North China Garrison Army urgently set up a temporary operations section.

The "July 7 Incident" broke out!

At about 5 o'clock in the morning of July 8, the 219th Regiment of the 110th Brigade of He Jifeng's 37th Division of Feng Zhi'an, which belonged to the 29th Army of the National Revolutionary Army, took the lead in exchanging fire with the Japanese invaders, and under the command of the regiment commander Ji Xingwen and the commander of the 3rd Battalion, Major Jin Zhenzhong, they fought back and repelled the attack of the 1st Wing of the enemy's Tun Brigade.

The attack was met with stubborn resistance from the Chinese army. Seeing that the attempt to occupy the Lugou Bridge could not be realized, the Japanese army played up a conspiracy of "on-the-spot negotiations"; on the one hand, they wanted to use the negotiations to pressure the Chinese side to comply, and on the other hand, they used the name of negotiations to gain time to transfer troops.

On July 9, 11, and 19, the Japanese garrison in North China reached an armistice agreement with the Jicha authorities three times, and at the same time, the Japanese side was actively mobilizing troops to prepare for the next invasion. On July 11, after the Japanese emperor approved the dispatch of troops, the Japanese army command ordered on the same day to transfer most of the 1st Independent Mixed Brigade of the Kwantung Army stationed in Gongzhuling, the main force of the 11th Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade stationed in the Gubeikou area, 6 squadrons of the Kwantung Army Flying Group, two field antiaircraft artillery wings, most of the 3rd Railway Wing including armored trains, one of the 3rd Communications Wing, one of the Kwantung Army Automobile Brigade, and the Epidemic Prevention Department of the Kwantung Army; The 20th Division, which was transferred from the Korean Army to Yongsan, marched to North China together.

In terms of aviation units, in addition to the six squadrons of the Kwantung Army, which have been reorganized into integrated flight regiments, on 15 July, the General Staff Headquarters of the Japanese Army transferred seven domestic flight groups and four independent flight squadrons, totaling 24 squadrons and 222 aircraft.

When these Japanese troops were transferred to North China, the "Chinese garrison troops" and their diplomats, military attachés, and heads of secret services stationed in China continued to use various means to engage in diplomatic deception and delay time for military deployment.

During this period, He Jifeng, the commander of the 37th Division, asked to take the initiative to attack when the Japanese army in Fengtai was empty, but was stopped by Zhang Zizhong. As a matter of fact, the Japanese Government had already made a decision to expand the war, but it was only when the Japanese army in North China found that the 29th Army was strong in the First Battle of Wanping that it felt that its troops were insufficient, and that its negotiations with the Jicha authorities were only a measure to delay the troops and gain time to increase the number of troops. At this time, Song Zheyuan, commander of the 29th Army, also believed that "Japan is not yet ready to launch a full-scale war against China, and as long as we show some concessions, a partial solution is still possible." ”

According to the armistice agreement, the Japanese army occupied various strategic points and intertwined with the positions of the 29th Army. In this way, the 29th Army had to watch the Japanese troops move frequently under the cover of the armistice agreement and occupy a favorable attack position. Until late July, Song Zheyuan still did not have a clear understanding of the situation. At this time, the reinforcements of the Central Army had already arrived in Baoding and Cangzhou, and at this time Song Zheyuan was still worried that the Central Army would come to seize his territory, and in a letter to Chiang Kai-shek on the 24th, he still said, "I intend to ask Junza to endure and endure for the time being, and to make compromises for the time being, and to retreat the troops going north a little, so as to ease the situation and complete the preparations." ”

By the end of July, the Japanese army had successively transferred the 5th, 6th, 10th, and 20th Divisions and the 1st and 11th Brigades of the Independent Mixed Brigade from China and Northeast China to the Pingjin area, and the total strength of the original Tianjin garrison army reached more than 100,000. On the evening of the 26th, the commander of the Chinese garrison in Tun, Xiangyue Qingji, issued an ultimatum to Song Zheyuan, restricting the 29th Army to withdraw from Beiping before noon on the 27th, but Song Zheyuan sternly refused, and he realized that war was inevitable. On the 27th, Song Zheyuan held a military meeting to prepare for an attack on August 1, but the Japanese army preemptively launched an attack on all fronts in the early morning of the 28th.

At this point, the 29th Army completely lost its superiority and was in a state of passive beating, and the front was in an all-round emergency. Subsequently, the military headquarters of the 29th Army in Nanyuan was attacked by the main force of the Japanese army, and the deputy commander Tong Linge and the commander of the 132nd Division Zhao Dengyu were killed, and the troops directly under the military headquarters and the 132nd Division were outnumbered and defeated. The defense line of the 29th Army was cut off, and in desperation, it had to shrink its troops and retreat, and in the early morning of the 29th, except for leaving four regiments to maintain law and order in Beiping, the rest of the 29th Army withdrew. So far, Beiping has fallen!

"In 1937, the devil entered the Central Plains, first opened the Lugou Bridge, and then entered the Shanhaiguan, and the train track was repaired to Jinan......" When Wen Hui received the news, he couldn't help humming a familiar melody, "Let's start!" ”

"One general is incompetent and exhausts the three armies, why are there still people who are still asking for peace? Isn't the land occupied by the Japanese yours? The ** who died in battle is so insignificant? Could it be that you have formed the habit of ceding land and paying compensation since the end of the Qing Dynasty? "It's hard to hear good words from Elena.

"It's a long story for a child to talk about a mother, and if you want to understand this, you can't just read a book to understand, you have to learn more!" Wen Hui had no interest in answering the same questions, and he had to waste a lot of saliva when he said it. Warlords, factions, ideological concepts, personalities, judgment of the current situation, the comparison of forces between the two armies, the current national policy, the poison of history, and the ambiguous relationship between the two countries...... There are so many reasons!

What's more, after Song Zheyuan retreated to Baoding, he still fantasized that Zhang Zizhong could settle the Japanese through negotiations and resolve the incident peacefully, so that he could lead the army back to Pingjin and continue to be his grass king. But it backfired, Zhang Zizhong sent back the news from Beiping, the Japanese army was still coming from outside the pass, and the war showed no signs of ending but expanded. So you really can't expect too much from these "high-level heads", they are not stupid, on the contrary, they are all too smart.

Instead of spending brain cells studying these, it is better to consider the order of the national government, the third batch of ten divisions, and the equipment of ten additional divisions, a total of twenty divisions of equipment, although the list is large, but it is too late to transport it now. Pile up in Nanjing, either be destroyed or the enemy...... But all the gold has been moved.

"What do you think we're looking for to delay delivery? The previous delivery was too painful, and it was difficult to do it now. Wen Hui made a look of embarrassment.

"If you want me to come forward and sing blackface, just say it, you guys are really subtle!" Yelena was relieved to see that Wenhui was not affected by the news of the 77 Incident.

"Hey, then please. But don't push them to the side of the Soviets, Sino-Japanese relations have deteriorated, and you Maozi will seize the opportunity. Wen Hui was referring to the restoration of relations between the Soviet Union and the Republic of China.

On August 21, 1937, China and the Soviet Union formally signed the "Non-Aggression Pact", and Soviet aid officially began, which can be roughly summarized as: 1. The Soviet Union provided loans to the Nationalist Government; 2. The treaty is concluded in pounds sterling; 3. The loan will be repaid in 5 years from the second year after it is provided; 4. Supply of 200 aircraft and 200 tanks; 5. 3/4 of the total loan is repaid in metal, and 1/4 can be tea or other consumer goods; 6. The contract was signed in Moscow.

The supplies paid by China to the Soviet Union included 31,177 tons of tungsten ore, 13,162 tons of tin, 10,892 tons of antimony, 600 tons of zinc, 560 tons of mercury, 18 tons of bismuth, 30,293 tons of tea, 309 tons of raw silk, 2,230,000 pieces of sheepskin, 14,300 tons of wool, 6,340 tons of bristles, and 8,868 tons of tung oil. It can be seen that what we sold to the Soviets were some good things, especially tungsten ore, tin ore, antimony ore, tung oil, pig bristles and other strategic materials, don't forget that the Soviet Union was also unpopular and blocked by the international community at that time, and other countries could not provide such a large amount, and the Soviets did not suffer at all! So don't hold Su Yuan all day long, these things are all bartered back, if it was help, then you wouldn't have paid so much supplies! This time, it is better to say that it is an aid than an emergency military purchase!

The negotiations between the two sides went smoothly, and there were no twists and turns in the meeting with Stalin, and the arms and materials obtained in exchange for three batches of loans greatly solved the dilemma of the lack of war readiness materials for the national government, and these materials, especially Soviet-style artillery, became the main artillery force in the later stage of the war. Moreover, in terms of the amount of supply and the time of supply, the Soviets were much more generous and efficient than the Germans (they happily agreed to the loan), and the price of weapons given by the Soviets was more conscientious than that of the Germans, but the quality could not be compared with the Germans, let alone the subsequent US aid.

Of course, this kind of aid also has the meaning of a political bargain, the government wants to fight Japan with the Soviet Union, and the Soviets hope that the government will drag the Japanese to protect their Far East and Siberia (if the land is not bordered, it is no wonder that Maozi would be so kind). This deal can be said to be a hit and it off, and both sides just take what they need.

In the international context at that time, such a large amount of aid was naturally a relief in the snow. It's nice to have assistance, where is there still the mood to pick and choose! But in hindsight, the precious Soviet aid was just a fire sale of old goods, and the things given out were also a little bit of planes and tanks, and most of the remaining weapons were old equipment retired by the Soviet Army, and the main equipment of the Soviet Army in active service basically had no shadow, and the heavy machine gun was a Maxim machine gun (the Russian version of Maxim), and most of the artillery was Russian-made Soviet-made M1900/ Type 02 76.2 mm field guns, look at the number of 1900 at the beginning, you know that this is the grandfather cannon of the Tsarist period, most of these artillery pieces were produced before 1914 (some are even products of 1898), and the service life was at least more than 20 years at that time, and some even as high as 30 years (imagine the rifling condition of these guns), they were older than the age of the national army artillery at that time!

Among the 160 field guns sold by the Soviet Union to the national government, only a very few are relatively advanced M1930 field guns (modifications of M1900), which is such 160 field guns but supported half of the artillery of the national army in the middle and late stages of the Anti-Japanese War, and this batch of M1900/30 field guns is mainly used to replace the loss of Bofors 75 mm mountain guns. The Bofors mountain artillery is far more advanced than the M1900/30 field artillery, but after all, there are not many of them, and most of them have already been lost after several years of resistance to war. After getting used to the sophisticated Bofors mountain guns, and then using the old M1900/30 field guns, the artillery of the national army said:! How the hell is this going to work? However, in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, the national army's field artillery and mountain artillery had considerable losses, and at this time, the emergence of Soviet-made artillery, although the quantity and quality were not good, at least solved the problem of having and not having it. On the whole, this batch of 76 field guns is still a batch of Soviet goods that the national army is quite satisfied with. After all, before the arrival of American aid, such old Soviet-made field artillery was their only artillery supplement.

Why is this hanging thing still satisfied? Because other artillery is even worse than this!

Large-caliber 115 howitzer (not produced by Tsarist Russia, the Type 1891 howitzer aided by the British to Tsarist Russia during World War I, look at this year...... Because the performance is too bad, the short-legged range of more than five kilometers or six kilometers is still overweight, too bulky and inconvenient to transfer to the battlefield, and the old artillery is in danger of exploding, and the shells are also old and unusable, and they are basically not used when they are bought. The Japanese army's worst-performing Type 41 75mm mountain gun also has a firing range of more than 6 kilometers, and this garbage is a target on the battlefield, and there are no troops willing to take over these cheats. And such a waste thing, Mao Zi just stuffed eighty doors to the national government, and it didn't work if he didn't want it, it was completely used to make up the numbers. By the way, the remaining more than 100,000 shells (whether they can be used are unknown) were also sold to the government. It's not that the Soviets generously sold so many shells, it's really useless to keep these shells, and even spend money to destroy them!

It turned out that the government had no choice and naturally accepted the "kindness" from the loving father Da Linzi, and now there is Wen Hui, an inexplicable guy, in the face of the Soviet Union's Qing family, the national army whose appetite has been raised by Wen Hui will definitely look down on their things. You must know that you can get better things here in Wenhui for the same price, and if you don't care about the price of weapons, you can also buy Schneider artillery from World War II! Although Wen Hui does not take out loans, the final settlement method is the same as that of the Soviets, bartering goods, and considering the transportation distance and delivery speed, Wen Hui has the advantage between the two.

Seeing that the war was expanding in scale, the government urgently added ten divisions of equipment behind the third batch of orders, and also pulled a batch of gold over as a deposit, which means that it can urgently supply them with a batch of munitions. Of course, the connection with Maozi's side has not been broken, and no matter how many weapons there are during the war, it is not too much, and after it becomes a double election, there is naturally more room for bargaining, and maybe you can get some better weapons on the Soviet side.

"I don't care whether they sign the non-aggression pact or not, how much benefit they can get depends on their diplomatic negotiation skills. But we can't let the Soviets treat them like Kaizizai, tell them that they can ship them by mid-September at the latest, and the Soviets will buy their things, and don't run out of money to pay the bills by then. Wen Hui thought about it, and sent a small batch to Nanjing for combat consumption, and then shipped directly to Wuhan, so that the government would not have to be slaughtered, and the mineral materials could also fall into Wen Hui's pocket, and there was no need to destroy or fund the enemy on the spot when he evacuated Nanjing.

"I see!" Yelena was not satisfied with Maozi's title, but she had no objection to Wen Hui's decision to grab food, after all, Wen Hui was the boss.

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PS: Why are books so expensive now! A set of war materials (4 volumes) costs 420 oceans, or buy online. Books are really ...... I think when I bought the textbook, it was priced at the book, and when I sold it, it was a few cents a kilogram, alas!!

By the way, today is the first big chapter! Rare, rare.