Chapter 28: Experiencing September 18th

  "What's up?" Zhang Lieyang turned around with a fake smile and asked.

  "Lieyang, what's wrong with you today? You came to my house early in the morning and started sulking! What happened?" Xiao Yajie asked anxiously.

  "Today is a special day, Yajie will ask your father when you go back and you'll know what happened!" Zhang Lieyang said with a forced smile after taking a deep breath.

  "So I'll accompany you with Yuemei, how about that?" said Xiao Yajie after some thought.

  "It's useless!" Zhang Lieyang said and left. The three girls were left standing there.

  After a while, Xiao Yajie said to Tang Wanyue and Zhang Zihuan: "I'm going back now to find my father and ask him what happened today! How could Lieyang be like this?!"

  "Alright! You can go with peace of mind! We will take care of Lie Yang!" Tang Wan Yue said seriously.

  Zhang Lieyang, who had left school, arrived at the Pear Mountain warehouse. As he walked into the warehouse, he saw the family guards training. He took off his outer garment and quickly walked over to say: "Do you have such a practice? Remember that when dealing with enemies, you must be fast, accurate and ruthless! Emphasize one hit must be accurate! Don't go easy!"

  Xiao Yajie rushed home and searched the house in every possible way, but couldn't find her father anywhere. Seeing her daughter's anxious expression, Xiao Yajie's mother stepped forward to comfort her: "What happened, dear?"

  Xiao Yajie shook her head and said: "Mother, nothing! I just miss Father!"

  Until three days later, Xiao Shi Xiong brought Xiao Hai Ya back home. As soon as they entered the house, Xiao Ya Jie hastily served tea and asked: "Dad, what exactly happened these past two days?"

  "What's up?! What news did you hear?" Xiao Shi Xiong asked while drinking tea and looking at Xiao Ya Jie.

  "No, it was Lian Yang who came to find you early in the morning on the 18th. He was sulky all day that day!" Xiao Ya Jie said seriously.

  Just then, Zhang Lieyang arrived at Xiao Yajie's home. Seeing Zhang Lieyang arrive, Xiao Shixiong hastily pulled him into his study and closed the door. He circled around Zhang Lieyang curiously and asked: "Lieyang, when did you get the news?"

  "What's wrong? Uncle Xiao?" Zhang Lieyang replied, pretending to be completely unaware.

  Looking at Zhang Lieyang who pretended to be ignorant, Xiao Shixiong smiled bitterly and said: "When did you know about the thing in Northeast?"

  Upon hearing Xiao Shi-xiong's account, Zhang Lie-yang thought for a moment before saying: "Uncle Xiao! This is just the beginning! The Japanese will eventually launch an all-out invasion of China! It can be seen from the 'Tanaka Memorial' in 1927! Moreover, I learned from Smith a few days ago that the Japanese army has been rapidly mobilizing weapons, equipment and personnel from various aspects recently, and the Japanese army requires its troops to assemble before the 19th!

  "Are you deduced from Smith's words?" Xiao Shixiong asked in puzzlement.

  "This is one of my intuitions! It's an intuition that was fostered in military school!" Zhang Lieyang said after some thought.

  Upon hearing Zhang Lieyang's words, Xiao Shiyong took a deep breath and said: "On the evening of September 18th at around 10 o'clock, Japanese Kwantung Army's Island Honbu Dai's Kawashima Chūtai's Kōmoto Sueo lieutenant led several subordinates to blow up a section of the South Manchurian Railway near Liutiao Lake, about 800 meters south of Beidaying in Shenyang, and claimed that it was the Chinese military who destroyed the railway. The Japanese Independent Guard Brigade's Second Regiment immediately launched an attack on the Northeastern Army's garrison at Beidaying. On the morning of September 19th at around 4 o'clock, the Japanese Independent Guard Brigade's Fifth Regiment arrived from Tieling to join the battle. At 5:30, the Northeastern Army's Seventh Division retreated to Dongshanzi in Shenyang, and the Japanese occupied Beidaying. During the battle, over 300 Northeastern Army soldiers were killed or wounded, while 24 Japanese soldiers were killed or wounded. On September 19th at around 8 o'clock in the morning, the Japanese occupied all of Shenyang. The Northeastern Army retreated to Jinzhou." Xiao Shiyong looked at Zhang Lieyang and continued: "This is the news I have received for now! I hope you will keep it confidential after hearing it here, don't let it leak out!" As he spoke, Xiao Shiyong waved his hand, signaling Zhang Lieyang to leave.

  Leaving Xiao Shi Xiong's study, Zhang Lieyang met Xiao Ya Jie who was anxiously waiting at the door. He walked forward and hugged her tightly, whispering in her ear: "I've worried you for these few days!" Just as Xiao Ya Jie was about to say something, she heard her mother say: "I think it's better if you two get married early! Otherwise, we'll be driven mad by all of you young people!"

  Upon hearing her mother's words, Xiao Yajie blushed and struggled free from Zhang Lieyang's arms, pouting as she said: "Mom! Who gets married off to someone else in such a hurry?" As she spoke, Xiao Yajie turned around and ran away.

  Seeing Xiao Yajie leave, Zhang Lieyang looked at Xiao Yajie's mother with embarrassment and said: "Aunt, I won't disturb you anymore! I'll go first!"

  "Be careful on the road!" Xiaoyajie's mother said with a smile, looking at Zhang Lieyang's concerned expression. As she spoke, Zhang Lieyang left the Xiao family home.

  The next morning, it was another overcast and rainy day. In the morning, Zhang Lieyang drove to school as usual. As soon as he entered the Zhejiang University campus, Zhang Lieyang felt that the atmosphere on campus was different from usual. With a curious heart, Zhang Lieyang got out of the car with three girls and walked towards the teaching building.

  On the way, they occasionally met several classmates with gloomy faces, but only exchanged brief greetings before hastily parting ways, without stopping to chat as usual. After a while, Liu Kaifeng appeared in front of them. As soon as he saw Zhang Lieyang, Liu Kaifeng hurriedly grabbed Zhang's hand and exclaimed loudly: "Everything you said has come true!"

  "Is everything all right? Can't you speak in a lower voice?! Don't let others think we have an improper relationship!" Zhang Lieyang said with a smile.

  Upon hearing Zhang Lieyang's words, Liu Kaifeng looked around with a sly expression and said in a low voice: "On September 18th, the Japanese army fully occupied Northeast China!" As he spoke, Liu Kaifeng glanced at Zhang Lieyang.

  At this time, Zhang Lieyang said calmly: "I knew this a long time ago! This news is new to you, but it's old news for me!"

  Xiao Yajie, who was on the side, seemed to have thought of something and asked, "Liang Yang, no wonder you've been acting strange those few days, until you talked with my father, you recovered!" Tang Wan Yue curiously asked, "What's going on?"

  Zhang Lieyang looked around and smiled, saying: "Let's let Kai Feng tell you what happened!" As soon as Zhang Lieyang finished speaking, everyone turned to look at Liu Kaifeng.

  "Look around, this is not the place to talk about these things, follow me!" Liu Kai said, leading everyone into a small forest on the campus of Zhejiang University. After making sure no one was around, he spoke seriously: "In July and August 1931, Japan created the 'Wanbaoshan Incident' and 'Nakamura Incident' in Northeast China. On September 18, Japan staged the 'Liutiaohu Incident', and at 10 pm that night, Japanese Kwantung Army Lieutenant Colonel Kawabata led a group of soldiers to blow up a section of the South Manchurian Railway near Liutiaohu Lake, about 800 meters south of Beidaying in Shenyang. The Japanese set up a fake crime scene and placed three bodies wearing Chinese military uniforms, falsely accusing the Chinese army of sabotaging the railway. The Japanese Independent Guard Brigade launched an attack on the Northeast Army's base at Beidaying. The next morning at 4 am, the Japanese Independent Guard Brigade arrived from Tieliang to join the battle. At 5:30 am, the Northeast Army's Seventh Division retreated to Dongshanmiaozi in Shenyang, and the Japanese occupied Beidaying. In the battle, over 300 soldiers of the Northeast Army were killed or wounded, while the Japanese suffered only 24 casualties. This was the shocking September 18 Incident that shook China and the world. The Nationalist government adopted a policy of non-resistance to Japan's aggression. Before the incident, Chiang Kai-shek sent a telegram to Zhang Xueliang on August 16: 'No matter how Japan provokes us in Northeast China, we should not resist, and avoid conflict.' On September 12, he met with Zhang Xueliang in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, and said: 'Recently, I have received reliable intelligence that the Japanese army is about to take action in Northeast China. Our strength is insufficient, and we cannot fight back. I think the only way is to ask the League of Nations to mediate justice and resolve the issue peacefully.' After the incident, the Nationalist government sent a telegram to the Northeast Army: 'The Japanese army's actions are just ordinary provocations, and in order to avoid expanding the conflict, we must adhere to non-resistance.' At that time, there were only over 10,000 soldiers of the Kwantung Army, while the Northeast Army had 165,000 troops stationed in Northeast China. The Northeast Army received orders not to resist several times, and when the Japanese army launched a surprise attack, except for a small number of soldiers who disobeyed Chiang Kai-shek's orders and resisted, most retreated without fighting. On September 19 at 8 am, the Japanese army occupied all of Shenyang almost without resistance. The Northeast Army withdrew to Jinzhou. The largest arsenal in China, the Shenyang Arsenal, as well as over 95,000 rifles, 2,500 machine guns, 650 artillery pieces, 2,300 mortars, and 260 aircraft, along with a large amount of ammunition, equipment, and supplies, all fell into Japanese hands. According to statistics, the losses in Shenyang alone on the night of September 18 exceeded 1.8 billion yuan."

  Upon hearing Liu Kai Feng's words, Zhang Zi Han curiously asked: "How did you get this information?"

  Liu Kai-feng took a deep breath and said, "One of my friends works at the newspaper office. In recent days, they have been receiving urgent telegrams from Northeastern colleagues, hoping to publish these messages, but were blocked by the editor-in-chief, saying that without government permission, such news cannot be published. Moreover, they also said that these things may just be accidental, and if they are casually published, it will cause international disputes."

  "What can lead to international disputes! It's clear that these editors are afraid of taking responsibility, but we can't blame them either, after all, their family members still have to rely on them for a living!" Zhang Lieyang sighed and added.

  Upon hearing Zhang Lieyang's words, Liu Kaifeng hastily stepped forward and said: "Lieyang, I only told a few people in our literature club about this matter. You must keep it confidential! Others still don't know yet!"

  Zhang Lieyang looked at Liu Kaifeng with a puzzled expression and said, "How many people did you tell?! Why does it seem like the whole school knows now?! We're supposed to keep this a secret!" Hearing Zhang Lieyang's words, Liu Kaifeng sighed and said, "These little rascals! Are they trying to get me in trouble?! I told them when I spoke with them that we shouldn't spread the news before it's confirmed!"

  Usually lively Zhang Zihuan sighed at this time, and comfortingly said: "This is not necessarily a bad thing! The people of the country should have the right to know that their territory is being lost, their compatriots are being enslaved!"

  Liu Kaifeng said in a low voice: "You're not afraid of anything, just afraid that when the time comes to investigate the leak of information, it will be traced back to me. Because this should be a glorious thing, but instead I'll be caught and taken away. At that time, I'll really die with my eyes open!" When they heard Liu Kaifeng's words, Zhang Lieyang and the three girls couldn't help but burst out laughing. Tang Wanyue laughed so hard she was gasping for breath, saying: "Don't worry, if you're really caught because of this, then you'll at least be a patriotic martyr! The people will definitely remember you!"

  Liu Kaifeng angrily said: "You can even joke about this kind of thing! The country is in crisis, and you're still playing around! Moreover, I just proposed to Zihuan, and I haven't married her yet, how can I bear to give up?!

  Upon hearing Liu Kaifeng's words, Zhang Zihuan suddenly blushed bright red, bashfully lowered her head, and occasionally glanced at Liu Kaifeng.

  Seeing Liu Kaifeng and Zhang Zihuan's appearance, Zhang Lieyang, who had stopped smiling, sighed: "Don't we know? Don't worry, it's been several days since the incident happened. Even if Ningbo newspapers don't report it, Shanghai concession newspapers must have reported it by now. At that time, you can just say you saw it in a Shanghai newspaper, and that will be the end of it."

  Hearing Zhang Lieyang's words, Liu Kaifeng smiled helplessly and then pulled Zhang Zihuan, who was pouting beside him, to walk away in the distance.

  Watching them disappear into the distance, Zhang Lieyang sighed in frustration: "What's going on! Our own territory is being occupied and our people can't even know about it! Not to mention discussing it!"

  Upon hearing Zhang Lieyang's words, Xiao Yajie and Tang Wanyue both unconsciously drew closer to Zhang Lieyang's embrace. Looking at the pair of jade-like people in his arms, Zhang Lieyang secretly steeled himself, determined to protect them well!