Chapter 47: Farce Diplomacy

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  The Battle of Jiangqiao, Ma Zhanshan knew he was a lone army in the desert, with no reinforcements behind him, and his troops were poorly equipped. Compared to the Japanese army, everyone had machine guns, pistols on their waists, and sharp bayonets on their backs. There were also planes and heavy artillery covering them, making their combat power ten times stronger than ours. It was unreasonable to expect a long-lasting battle. However, as Zhao Xiaofeng said: Under the huge disparity in strength between the enemy and us, not resisting is no different from handing over our territory to others. If we actively resist with all our might, there is still some hope of turning things around. Now that it has come to the point where there is no room for hesitation, whether we fight or not, we will be defeated. Rather than not fighting and being defeated, why not make a desperate last stand to fulfill our duty? Fortunately, Zhao Xiaofeng's Northeast Anti-Japanese Army arrived! But could their over 1,000 troops resolve the crisis in Jiangqiao?

  Ma Zhan Shan clearly felt that the future was uncertain, but his unyielding character would not allow him to hesitate, lose hope, retreat or surrender. He commanded this bloody battle with the sword of the nation.

  General Xie Ke walked in and whispered to Ma Zhanshan standing in front of the map: "Chairman Ma, Qing Shui wants to see you."

  "What is he doing here at this time?" Ma Zhan Shan was taken aback.

  "Listen to what they've come up with now?" Xie Ke reminded.

  "When two countries are at war, they do not kill each other's envoys." Ma Zhan Shan said with a smile: "Let him in, it is also within the scope of the provincial governor's duties to meet with the Japanese consul."

  Hurriedly, the clear water entered the living room and immediately proposed: "To avoid armed conflicts between the two armies in Jiangqiao and throughout the province, we should resolve the armed conflict that occurred after midnight through peaceful means."

  Ma Zhan Shan immediately said with great magnanimity: "Alright, then how will the Japanese army resolve or avoid armed conflict?"

  Qing Shui said: "It is suggested that both sides form a ceasefire committee. The task is to rush to the Jiangqiao front line immediately, order their own troops to withdraw from their current positions, avoid escalating conflicts, and send personnel to repair the Jiang Bridge."

  Ma Zhan Shan sneered inwardly, but said on his lips: "This plan is good, let's do it this way."

  Ma Zhan Shan ordered the infantry third brigade staff officer Shi Lan Bin, secretary Han Shu Ye, and deputy officer Na Lian Su to form the Chinese delegation. The Japanese delegation consisted of Hayashi Yoshimasa and Secretary Official Hasaki. Both delegations took the same car to Da Xing Che Zhan defense area to negotiate with our defending troops and the Japanese troops crossing the bridge.

  Zhao Xiaofeng had returned to Ma Zanshan's office at this time, because Ma Zanshan did not want him to meet with the Japanese, so he was recalled on the grounds of urgent military affairs.

  At 8:00 on the 5th, the ceasefire committee arrived at the north bank of the river bridge.

  Shi Lanbin warned the soldiers: "Everyone must strictly observe military discipline. At this time, it is during the negotiation between the two sides and counterattack is not allowed."

  At this point in his speech, Lin Yi-xiu immediately showed his bandit face: "Mr. Shi said well, in order not to expand the war, please sign on the ceasefire agreement."

  Shi Lanbin immediately understood Lin Yixiu's intention, he wanted his own army to retreat and then take down Jiangqiao in one fell swoop.

  "This won't do!" Shi Lanbin refused to sign and said: "Mediation is the responsibility of both parties, the war was started by Japan, and Japan should guarantee not to invade Daxing Railway Station again."

  Lin Yixiu again rudely proposed: "In order not to expand the flames of war, please instruct the Chinese army to withdraw from the left-wing position."

  "Colonel Shih Lan-ping, the Chief of Staff, also retorted in a timely manner: 'Lieutenant-Colonel, I am the Chief of Staff of the 3rd Infantry Brigade and have no authority to command other troops in Jiang Province. Moreover, our soldiers have the responsibility to defend their territory and bridges, which is a legitimate defense. The Japanese army not only needs to stop attacking but also must stop advancing. Without equal conditions, Chinese soldiers will not agree.'"

  Lin Yixiu was speechless and could only say: "Let's go, we can only discuss this further when we return to Heilongjiang."

  The special train took the armistice committee members back to the provincial city.

  Shi Lanbin, Chief of Staff, immediately reported Lin Yixiu's abnormal behavior to General Ma Zanshan and Commander Zhao Xiaofeng.

  Ma Zhan Shan sneered coldly, "He'll have new tricks up his sleeve, but he's just trying to use his diplomatic status to personally investigate our military industry and troop deployments."

  "What should we do?" asked Shi Lanbin, the chief of staff.

  Zhao Xiaofeng looked up at General Xie Ke and said, "Tell Xu Baozhen to instruct all troops to take cover and not let the enemy's artillery find their targets."

  "Alright!" Xie Ke picked up the phone.

  Suddenly, the sound of cannons came from Jiangqiao direction again. Ma Zhan Shan and Xie Ke almost simultaneously raised their wrists, with the hour hand pointing to 11 o'clock.

  Ma Zhan Shan sarcastically said to Xie Ke: "If we can't talk it out, then let's fight. If we can't win the fight, then we'll keep talking until the end."

  Zhao Xiaofeng shook his head helplessly and said, "Big brother! Don't treat the Japanese as guests! We should kill them with a single knife whenever we see them!" Zhao Xiaofeng strongly opposed Ma Zhanshan's negotiations this time, thinking that it was all a waste of time and energy.

  At this time, the Japanese artillery launched a fierce bombardment of the northern defensive position of the bridge, and ten fighter planes also took off from Taonan and rose into the sky above Jiangqiao, firing wildly at Daxing Station. Daxing Station was already a sea of flames.

  Under the cover of aircraft, more than 2,000 Japanese troops, with the coordination of ten armored trains and hundreds of mountain guns, launched a fierce attack on Jiangqiao Daxing Station, attempting to wipe out the Jiangsu Provincial military resistance in one fell swoop.

  "Report to the squad leader! The enemy plane is bombing us on one side and taking pictures of us on the other!" a soldier shouted.

  Xu Baozhen immediately bellowed: "Pass on my order: no one is allowed to laugh!"

  Suddenly, a row of earth-shaking "rumbling" sounds came from the mountain slope on the side, fifty mortars and one hundred "Krupp" artillery, together with dense and angry shells, shot towards the arrogant enemy planes. In an instant, several planes that were just showing off their might dived down, and one of the planes that was shot down happened to fall into the Japanese army, instantly, the battlefield was in chaos, and the remaining three planes immediately turned around and ran away.

  In fact, the Hejiang Bridge Battle was in a very unfavorable position for the Black Army. The enemy was an invading army equipped with new-style weapons and with military training, which could gather several divisions of troops. There was also a Zhang Haipeng rebel army equipped with Japanese weapons to serve as a vanguard for the Japanese army to sell out the country's territory.

  They have a considerable number of new bombers and various mountain guns, field guns, and heavy artillery to cooperate in combat, with extremely high hit rates, and sufficient supplies of war materials and continuous reinforcements. It is precisely because of this that they are fearless and dare to launch a crazy attack.

  However, they underestimated the anti-Japanese forces of the Northeast Army, the patriotic sentiment and tenacious fighting spirit of Zhao Xiaofeng and Ma Zhanshan's officers and men. They did not expect that Ma Zhanshan's troops, who were "isolated in the desert, with no reinforcements behind them, and their equipment was outdated", would fight bravely from top to bottom, with high morale, bravery, and skill, repeatedly repelling the enemy's attacks, making the Japanese army pay a heavy price for every step forward. Moreover, they did not expect that their archenemy Zhao Xiaofeng was also in Jiangqiao.

  Xu Baozhen's vanguard team, which was in charge of the frontal defense, suffered relatively heavy casualties, but the soldiers who had been "red-eyed" fought to the death without retreating.

  Wu De-lin's unit was also subjected to the enemy's artillery bombardment, and through the slowly dispersing smoke dust, they saw that in addition to the Artemisia and small trees flying into the sky, there were also the limbs of soldiers who had been blown up, guns and equipment.

  The defenders could hear the enemy's shouting and yelling on the Jiang Bridge, but due to the geographical advantages of the bridge being easy to defend and difficult to attack, and with only one floating bridge available for the large army to advance, they were unable to enter the northern shore of China after fighting from morning till noon.

  Honjō Shigeru urged the massacre of Mǎ Zhànshān while sending Hayashi Kiyoshirō to meet him again, intending to solve the Jiangsu problem thoroughly with both military and diplomatic means.

  At 3:01 pm, Lin Yixiu and Secretary-General Matsumoto came to Ma Zanshan again to propose a personal trip to the front line for mediation.

  Ma Zhan Shan sneered coldly: "Mediation? Is Mr. Lin Yixiu telling a 'Thousand and One Nights' story?"

  Lin Yixiu was ordered by the Consul of Qingdao to negotiate with Ma Zhanshan. Although there were not many differences between the Japanese Army Central Department and the Kwantung Army in judging the situation in northern Manchuria, the Kwantung Army wanted to solve the problem of occupying northern Manchuria with big guns, while the Central Department flatly refused. The reason for the refusal was to shake off the condemnation of various countries on the Man-Mong issue before the International League Council meeting on November 16, and the Kwantung Army had a strong intention to enter northern Manchuria, so there appeared a ridiculous situation where one side bombarded with big guns while still demanding diplomatic solutions.

  Lin Yixiu inclined towards the opinion of "this is a great opportunity to send troops to North Manchuria", but as a diplomat, he could only follow diplomatic needs: "I think this is an absolute misunderstanding, I suggest that we dispatch members of the mediation committee to the scene to judge who is right and who is wrong."

  Ma Zhan Shan knew that Lin Yi Xiu was up to his old tricks again. Since he wasn't afraid of big guns and planes, why be afraid of the insignificant Lin Yi Xiu? Therefore, on one hand he agreed to Lin Yi Xiu's request, while on the other hand he ordered his troops to prepare for an even larger scale battle.

  The special train carrying Shi Lanbin, the Chinese plenipotentiary, his secretary and aide-de-camp He Ruzhang, Lin Yishun, a Japanese lieutenant colonel, and Hayashi Gonsuke, a Japanese secretary, headed for Jiangqiao.

  The special train had just arrived at the Daxing Railway Station on the Chinese side when two Japanese bombers suddenly dived down and launched a fierce attack on the train, which was immediately overturned by the bombs. Lin Yixiu and Shi Lanbin were both thrown out of the train, and Lian Su received serious injuries. The two planes flew away triumphantly.

  Shi Lanbin looked at Lin Yixiu with a hint of sarcasm: "Is this probably the true sincerity of Mr. Lin Yixiu?"

  "This, this......" Lin Yixiu was speechless.

  Commander Xu Baozhen of the front-line command sent soldiers to escort them back to the provincial capital. Upon hearing the news, Zhao Xiaofeng immediately flew into a rage: "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you kill those little devils?"

  No one dared to speak under his command, Ma Zhan Shan immediately called Zhao Xiao Feng after hearing the report: "Brother! Don't get angry, this is what diplomacy is all about! We still need help from the international community, we can't do things that make others point at our spine. Two countries at war don't kill envoys, brother, you must not forget!"

  "Pah!" Zhao Xiao Feng angrily said: "Do Japanese count as humans? They are just a pack of wolves in sheep's clothing! Big brother, you absolutely cannot be soft-hearted towards them again!"

  "Alright! Alright!" Ma Zhan Shan immediately smiled and dispersed the crowd, saying: "The big battle is about to begin, brother you must be careful!"

  Zhao Xiaofeng had just hung up the phone when the Japanese army launched an even more ferocious attack on the defending troops. Xu Baozhen, the regimental commander, reported to Zhao Xiaofeng from the forward observation post: "At 3:25, the Japanese army launched a comprehensive offensive against our position. The main direction of attack is still on the left wing of our army's position, about 4 or 5 li away from Daxing Railway Station. There are approximately 4,000 troops, with field artillery cooperating in the attack."