Section 47 Analysis of Military Intelligence

  Although Wang Xiaotouzi was running, the Japanese officer's certificate was quickly handed over to Liu Mingjiu by Wu Tongjin. The words "Japanese Army Lieutenant Colonel, Kōda Tetsujirō, Kwantung Army" were read out by Liu Mingjiu, and the people around him also became serious. The Japanese have joined in, and a lieutenant colonel was killed here, it will be difficult to deal with the Japanese in the future.

  "What does this have to do with the Japanese? He's just a lieutenant, and if he asks questions, our superiors can't be like Feng Linhe was in the Zhengjiatun incident, can they?" Liang Cunze spoke up first as everyone else was fidgeting around like ants on a hot skillet.

  Sun Chuanzhao was also confused. This gave the Japanese a great opportunity to cause trouble for the Yi Army, which had never cooperated with them, and it became a problem whether they could protect their own territory. On August 13, 1916 (the fifth year of the Republic of China), at 3 pm, a Chinese child was eating melon on Yushi Street (Xinshijie) in Zhengjiatun Town, and accidentally threw a melon seed onto the body of Japanese merchant Yoshimoto Kiyoshi, who was strolling on the street. The Japanese were furious, grabbed the Chinese child, and beat him severely. Chinese soldiers from the 28th Division, stationed in Zhengjiatun, passed by the street and saw the Japanese beating the child. They rushed forward to stop them, but Yoshimoto Kiyoshi refused to listen and pushed the child aside, then slapped the face of the Chinese soldier repeatedly. The Chinese soldier could not bear it and was forced to fight back. At this time, the crowd around shouted in discontent, and the Japanese merchant feared that he would be outnumbered, so he fled quickly.

  At 4:00 pm on the same day, Japanese police officer Kawarai and Lieutenant Colonel Inoue Matsumoto led more than 20 Japanese soldiers, fully armed, to the 28th Division's barracks to identify Chinese soldiers involved in the clash that morning. Kawarai and two Japanese soldiers rushed forward to capture the sentry, seizing his rifle, while the remaining Japanese soldiers burst into the courtyard. At this moment, a Chinese guard emerged from a building with a rifle on his back, and the Japanese soldiers immediately pounced on him, taking away his rifle. In the ensuing struggle, shots rang out continuously, and the Japanese soldiers took advantage of the situation to open fire simultaneously.

  After more than half an hour of fierce fighting, 28th Division soldiers killed 5 people and injured 3 people, a Chinese passerby was injured; Japanese soldiers killed 6 people and several were injured.

  On the third day after the incident, Japanese troops were dispatched from Siping Street (now Siping City) and set up 5 large cannons on the outskirts of Zhengjiatun, threatening to flatten Zhengjiatun. At the same time, a notice was posted in Zhengjiatun: "From Zhengjiatun to Siping Street (within the railway line of present-day Siping City), Chinese people are not allowed to enter, violators will be killed without pardon."

  County Magistrate Jing Zhaofeng heard the news and immediately summoned the heads of the Chamber of Commerce and over 30 local gentry to go to the Japanese military camp, where they negotiated with the Japanese officers. County Magistrate Jing first acknowledged that the incident was a misunderstanding and expressed his apologies. He hoped to resolve the matter through peaceful talks. To show his sincerity, County Magistrate Jing was willing to stake his personal life and property as guarantee. Japanese Lieutenant Ikeda Matsutaro made a request to County Magistrate Jing, demanding that the 28th Division withdraw from Liaoyuan County immediately and not be allowed to stay. After consulting with the 28th Division, County Magistrate Jing decided to evacuate the city immediately to avoid another clash between Chinese and Japanese troops.

  On the evening of the 17th at 7 o'clock, 120 Japanese cavalrymen arrived in Liaoyuan County, and then another 320 Japanese soldiers came. They respectively occupied the garrison of the 28th Division.

  On the 21st, the Kwantung Governor-General ordered Zhang Zuolin to withdraw all Chinese troops within 30 li of the Siping Street railway line in Zhengjiatun. The Japanese army then occupied the Chinese barracks.

  On September 2, the Japanese Minister to Beijing, Kijūrō Shidehara, presented an eight-point ultimatum to Foreign Minister Chen Lu:

  1. Severely punish the commander of the 28th Division, Feng Linquan;

  2. Punish officers and soldiers who participated in military clashes and dismiss all commanders of the 28th Division;

  3. The Chinese government should publicly apologize to Japanese soldiers and order officials along the Northeastern border not to allow their troops to clash with Japanese forces;

  4. Japanese police would be stationed in all areas of Southern Manchuria;

  5. In Southern Manchuria and Inner Mongolia, Chinese armies could hire Japanese as military advisors;

  6. Hire Japanese as military instructors;

  7. Provide compensation to the families of Japanese who died;

  8. The Mukden garrison commander should apologize to Japan.

  In October, Japanese militarism took the opportunity to set up a consulate in Zhengjiatun. On November 10, it also forcibly added a police station in Zhengjiatun.

  In January 1917, the Zhengjiatun incident was settled, with China basically yielding to Japan's demands. The Chinese government agreed to reprimand the commander of the 28th Division, punish relevant officers, display a notice welcoming Japanese people, apologize to the Japanese Kwantung Governor and Consul General in Fengtian, and compensate Japanese merchant Yoshida Kijiro. After these five demands were met, on April 14, 1917, Japanese troops withdrew from Zhengjiatun.

  Even the governor of Fengtian couldn't afford to offend the Japanese, and in the end, the high-ranking officials in Beijing had to do things completely according to their wishes. Now his own troops have actually killed a lieutenant colonel, Sun Chongyou can't help but be held responsible.

  When the crowd was in chaos, Liu Mingjiu also feared that his own troops would get into trouble. At first, he knew it was a Japanese kill and then quickly disappeared, after all, that officer was his first hand-to-hand combat. With current strength, if there is a result like Zhengjiatun, even if oneself is not preserved, it's okay, but this is equivalent to giving the Japanese devils an excuse to enter Rehe ahead of time, which means indirectly bringing disaster to the people on this land.

  However, Liu Mingjiu soon turned over in his mind the history of this period as seen by later generations. In early 1919, during the "Paris Peace Conference", Japan had obtained the rights to Shandong that originally belonged to Germany under the protection and indulgence of other countries, but it did not dare to openly flaunt its victory. Moreover, the rights of the Japanese people had not been recognized by the Beijing government, and the Japanese did not have the overall strength to launch a full-scale war against China. To the north was the Soviet Union, in the center were various warlords supported by Britain and the United States, to the south were their own Anhui warlords and other small and large warlords supported by foreign countries, and there were also revolutionaries in Guangzhou who were fighting for national rejuvenation. The Japanese should not have dared to use their army of less than 800,000 at that time to fight against a China with such complex and intertwined forces.

  From a political perspective, after taking over Rehe, Jiang Gui's army also bought arms from various imperialist powers, but the Yi Army was never reliant on or controlled by any imperialist power. Opium had caused great harm to the Chinese people, but it supported the Yi Army and allowed Rehe to remain outside the sphere of influence of major imperialist powers during Jiang Gui's rule, unlike other provinces. The Yi Army also had a deep-seated hatred for Japan dating back to 1894, so if Japan were to pressure the Beijing government, Liu Mingjiu believed that even the warlords from Zhili, Anhui, and Fengtian would not dare provoke the Rehe army, which was known as the "Ten Thousand" and had eight divisions. Therefore, politically speaking, Liu Mingjiu believed that Jiang Gui would not follow in Zhang Zuolin's footsteps, as the old warlord was conservative and corrupt but would never kowtow to Japan.

  Finally, considering the military strength, and according to the promise of the two regimental commanders, leaving the weapons for themselves, the Beining Sixth Town is now preparing an army of over 9,000 people. If a real fight breaks out, young people of suitable age can probably pull out twice as many troops. The training model he has now, which is completely modern, can complete new recruit training in at least three months to half a year in that era. However, in this chaotic world, with just half a month or at most one and a half months, new recruits can be trained to become soldiers who can go to the battlefield on an equal footing with other troops of this era. Calculating this way, he can organize an army of 10,000 to 30,000 people at any time, and in the middle, he can also pull out an army of 15,000 people. The superiors gave him such a large space, which is the result of classifying himself with them, thinking that his soldiers also rely on recruitment, but not knowing that Beining Sixth Town has formed a trend of enthusiasm for the military, as long as he recruits soldiers on a large scale, those villagers will be very willing to send their sons and younger brothers into this army with high welfare and high compensation. The Japanese can't defeat him easily without 30,000 or 50,000 people if they attack Beining area. Moreover, now the second division of Chaoyang, the third and fourth divisions of Shuangsheng (now Chifeng), the eighth division of Tongliao, and the first, fifth, and seventh divisions near Chengde, most of the regimental commanders and above are old soldiers who participated in the Sino-Japanese War. If Japan dares to attack Rehe, they will definitely not sit idly by, and for both public and private reasons, they will fight with Japan to the death.

  "Hehe, the two officials don't need to bother anymore. This time, Little Japan is sending troops to assist the bandits and shouldn't repeat the 'Zhengjiatun Incident' on us." Liu Mingjiu thought clearly and after taking a cigarette from Ding Shaokuan, smiled and said to the two superior officers.

  Sun Congzhou and Liang Cunze immediately stared at this young general with suspicion, and in unison asked: "Why not?"

  Liu Mingjiu still smiled and sat back on the temporary bed, looked at everyone and opened his mouth: "Our big marshal is not Zhang Dajun of Fengtian, those people in Beijing know that our big marshal has a feud with the little Japanese, this is the first point. Our Rehe is not Fengtian Province, Jilin, or Heilongjiang, now only a few places in the country are self-sufficient and do not rely on Western devils and Eastern devils, the little Japanese can't handle us, this is the second point. Even if we start fighting, our surrounding division commanders and regimental commanders, which one did not participate in the Sino-Japanese War? The little Japanese will not be unclear that they will have to formally declare war if they want to fight us, although we only have a million troops, but their available Kwantung Army is also around this number. If they want to fight us, it must be a life-and-death struggle for the whole country, not just our region, this is the third point. Even if we start fighting, now our military equipment is enough to arm how many people, I think you two are more aware of this than me. Which county does not have some military supplies and personnel hidden in the security team? The little Japanese will not be able to hide again when they reach their doorstep. Once these are used up, our military will not be just one million, it can become 1.5 million, 2 million, or even 3 million in a short time. Even if the direct system does not come out to block the Japanese, as long as the Feng army does not join in to take advantage of the fire. Do you think we will win or the little Japanese will win? Can't they give up the three eastern provinces and Taiwan, Fujian, and transfer 800,000 troops just for Rehe? Even if they all come, don't forget that there is a polar bear behind us staring at the little Japanese, this is the fourth point. In summary of the above four points, hehe, I think the little Japanese will not take this matter seriously and will not send troops to fight with us. They do not have the ability to fully wage war against our entire country, even if they fight, hehe, my subordinates can always pull out enough troops to make them drink a pot. At least 3,000 or 5,000 loyal and brave soldiers, the little Japanese want to eliminate me, it's just a dream without 10,000 or 20,000 people. Moreover, their logistics supply line is too long, most of which are in our China, as long as the local people make trouble with them again, they can't eat or wear and can be looted on the spot, this is a battle without guns or bullets, how can they fight?

  "Haha, good kid, what kind of brain do you have? You came up with so many weird things so quickly? And they all make sense." Sun Congzhou couldn't help but relax his originally furrowed brow after listening to Liu Mingjiu finish speaking.

  Li Zongze burst out laughing and said, "No wonder General Xu Minghui said that in the future you will be an irreplaceable leader among our Yi Army brothers. You really have the talent of a great general and the aura of a divine strategist."

  The officers of the two troops present, after listening to Liu Mingjiu's analysis, also couldn't help but praise him repeatedly. However, soon Sun Congzhou thought of another question: "Then what about this little Japanese guy? After all, our brothers have already found out that there are Japanese involved in this matter. Can't just say that Japan sent a lieutenant and then nothing happened after he didn't return?"

  "Hehe, thank you for the praise, I'm not worthy of it. Captain, I only ask you one question, how did this Japanese person come here?" Liu Mingjiu made a bow with his fists to the surrounding officers who were at least one rank higher than him and smiled as he stared at Sun Congzhou.

  He followed 'Xiba Tian' and his mustache army.

  Liu Mingjiu no longer spoke, but turned his smiling face to one side and stared at Liang Cunze. Although Liang Cunze was straightforward, he could get the love of his elder cousin, which also showed that he had real skills. After a moment's hesitation, he met Liu Mingjiu's gaze and smiled: "Since we are bandits, where have we seen Japanese people? Brothers below, don't create Sino-Japanese friction for no reason and damage the harmonious relations between the two countries."

  "Haha, Director Liang is indeed formidable." Liu Mingjiu's smile turned into a sly grin, he glanced at Liang Cunze and then swept his gaze around the crowd before picking up the Japanese lieutenant's ID, opening the lighter from his pocket and setting it ablaze.

  Everyone present saw the two men's performance and immediately knew what to do. The scene suddenly became lively again. The 400 Japanese soldiers actually became the first victims of Liu Mingjiu's resistance after he arrived in this era. Lieutenant General Isawa Itarō, commander of the Kwantung Army, and Honjō Shigeru, military advisor to Zhang Zuolin, also escaped back to Japan after the war and heard about Liu Mingjiu for the first time, remembering his name as a captain at that time. However, they could only swallow their anger and do nothing, and the matter was settled just as Liu Mingjiu had analyzed.

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