Chapter 826 825【Arrangement】

Just when Zhou Hexuan handed over the sulfa drug to Du Yuesheng, the 87th and 88th divisions of the national army's elite German weapons had secretly arrived near Shanghai. At the same time, the elite troops stationed in Suzhou put on the uniforms of the security regiment and secretly stationed in strategic locations such as Hongqiao Airport.

Obviously, although the National Defense Conference has not yet finished, Chang Kaishen has already planned to start a war in Shanghai.

In fact, until this moment, the Japanese General Staff had never thought of attacking East and South China. According to the "National Defense Policy Outline" formulated by Wanji Ishihara, Japan does not regard China as an enemy at all. Their imaginary enemies are the United States and the Soviet Union in turn.

In terms of specific strategies, Japan wants to "strive to maintain a good relationship with the United States" by occupying the Northeast and North China and curbing the Soviet Union's communism going south, so as to curry favor with the capitalist countries such as Britain and the United States. At the same time, Japan planned to expand its armaments crazily, negotiate with the Soviet Union with the backing of force, and "force the Soviet Union to give up its attempt to attack the Far East."

This is a major international strategy formulated by the Japanese General Staff Headquarters. Under this major international strategy, a small strategy for the war against China will be carried out.

It is very likely that some people will not believe it, but the Japanese Army Staff Headquarters is against the expansion of the war. The short-term strategic goal they set was to stabilize the Northeast and occupy North China, and then provoke a civil war in the Northwest. The long-term goal is to gradually infiltrate into Southeast Asia to obtain rubber and oil from Southeast Asia, and then squeeze out the British to try to eat the East Indies, so as to ensure the supply of strategic resources such as oil and rubber.

After taking Southeast Asia, and digesting the territory of Northeast China and North China, they can take the opportunity to get involved in Northwest China and East China, and take advantage of the trend to swallow the whole of China. At that time, Japan will not need to rely on the import of American resources, and it will be able to fight the "final war" with the United States. By defeating the United States, Japan can become the overlord of the Far East and the Pacific Ocean, and take advantage of the trend to eat up the Soviet Union's Far East territory.

The very whimsical and reasonable strategy shows that there are still sensible people in the Japanese General Staff Headquarters.

If this plan is followed, many forces in the country may see that the south and northwest are safe, and a civil war may break out again, making the Japanese army occupying North China smile and watch the show. Moreover, with the digestion of North China and Northeast China by the Japanese army, as well as the penetration into Southeast Asia, Japan's strategic resource reserves will become more abundant, and the attack on Pearl Harbor is very likely to be postponed, and the United States has no excuse to join the war so soon.

However, the Japanese Navy couldn't wait...

If the steps in the "National Defense Policy Outline" are strictly followed, at least within ten years, the Japanese navy will have no battles to fight. Without fighting, there will be no military merit, and without military merit, there will be no promotion. The Japanese Navy has no reason to ask for more military expenses.

Ever since, seeing that the Army was fighting smoothly in North China, and the General Staff Headquarters planned to negotiate peace with China (it was a real peace talk, and only wanted to occupy North China), the Navy finally couldn't help but start in Shanghai.

On August 9th, Lieutenant Isamu Oyama of the Japanese Navy and First Class Saito Yozo, drove military vehicles into the Hongqiao Military Airport. After being blocked by Chinese soldiers, they shot and killed a Chinese soldier, who was then shot dead by the airport guards on the spot.

The Japanese navy finally picked things up, and the war in Shanghai had to be fought if not fought. However, some officers and generals in the Ministry of War were not reconciled to occupying only North China, and they cooperated very well in helping the Navy to pick up troubles, forcing the Staff Headquarters to expand its war intentions, changing the original plan of only occupying North China to occupying the whole of China.

The Japanese General Staff Headquarters was still very sober at first, but seeing the army easily conquering Pingjin, it also felt that China was a super soft persimmon, so it pushed the boat along and shouted that China would be destroyed within three months.

Since the Japanese Marine Corps provoked trouble at Hongqiao Airport, the direction of the entire war has been out of the control of the Japanese military and government. It's like holding a few vicious dogs in your hands, and those vicious dogs run forward crazily. The person holding the rope can't hold it at all, and can only be led forward by the vicious dogs.

On August 13, the fifth day after Zhou Hexuan left Shanghai, Kiyoshi Hasegawa, commander of the Japanese Navy's Third Fleet, ordered air strikes on Nanjing, Guangde, and Nanchang, as well as a surprise attack on Shanghai Hongqiao Airport. In the next two days, the Japanese army dispatched 16 warships, carrying some marines, to land in Songhu. The Japanese cabinet also decided to send army reinforcements to Shanghai.

It is known in history as the August 13th Incident.

On the Chinese side, the Nanjing Nationalist Government issued the "Statement of Self-Defense and Anti-Japanese War", appointing Zhang Zhizhong as the commander-in-chief of the Ninth Army and Zhang Fakui as the commander-in-chief of the Eighth Army, to resolutely resist and attack the landing Japanese troops.

The attitude of capitalist countries such as Britain, the United States and France is to stand by and watch the Sino-Japanese war, and the United States continues to sell strategic materials to Japan. Germany ostensibly favors Japan, but continues to secretly sell large quantities of arms to China.

Regardless of international friendship and morality, the actions of the United States and Germany are all for making money.

Only the Soviet Union stood on China's side, and soon signed the "Sino-Soviet Nonaggression Pact." Under the special circumstances at that time, when the major powers adopted a neutral stance, the Soviet Union declared that it would not be an enemy of the Chinese side in the Sino-Japanese War. In fact, it was supporting China and identifying Japan as a potential hostile target.

The Soviet Union's approach also had nothing to do with international friendship and morality, which belonged to the category of geopolitics.

In any case, the signing of the "Sino-Soviet Nonaggression Pact" has brought great encouragement to China at a critical moment. Both the Nanjing government and people from all walks of life are extremely excited about the signing of this treaty.

When the news of the August 13th Incident came, Zhou Hexuan had already arrived in Nanjing and asked someone to find a gentleman—Xu Chuanyin.

"Why did Mr. Zhou make a special trip to visit me?" Xu Chuanyin felt a little puzzled. Although he is an official in Nanjing, his official position is not very high, so it is impossible for him to fall into Zhou Hexuan's eyes.

Why did Zhou Hexuan seek Xu Chuanyin?

Because this gentleman voluntarily stayed during the war, served as the vice president of the International Red Swastika Society, presided over the housing arrangements for refugees in the International Safety Zone, and became the only Chinese member of the International Relief Committee.

Under the auspices of Dr. Xu Chuanyin, a total of 25 refugee camps were built in Nanjing, accommodating about 200,000 to 300,000 refugees. He also provided two of his bungalows for the refugees to live in.

As the only non-traitor Chinese who was allowed to move freely in Nanjing, Dr. Xu Chuanyin witnessed the Japanese atrocities. He later became an important witness in the Tokyo Trial Court accusing the Japanese of the Nanjing Massacre.

Zhou Hexuan asked: "Dr. Xu, if the Japanese invaders captured Nanjing, would you leave with your family?"

Xu Chuanyin shook his head and said, "I probably won't leave. I'm not in good health, and my family business is also in Nanjing. I have to stay here to protect my family property. Mr. Zhou thinks the Japanese invaders will invade Nanjing?"

"It's hard to say," Zhou Hexuan sighed. "Judging from the military power of China and Japan, I'm afraid Nanjing will not be able to keep it. Moreover, as the capital of China, once the Japanese invaders capture Nanjing, there may be something like Lushun in the past."

"Massacre?" Xu Chuanyin stood up awkwardly.

"Don't be afraid of 10,000 yuan, just in case." Zhou Hexuan took out a money order of 200,000 yuan and said, "No matter what, when the war breaks out, the people will suffer. Dr. Xu will accept the 200,000 yuan and hire some ox carts and horse-drawn carts , to help those orphans, widows, old, weak, sick and disabled who are living in difficulties to evacuate."

Xu Chuanyin felt dizzy. He was just a small bureaucrat and capitalist. Zhou Hexuan somehow found him, and somehow gave him 200,000 yuan, and said a lot of inexplicable words.

It was not until a few months later that Xu Chuanyin truly understood Zhou Hexuan's intentions.

In fact, the national government has been organizing the evacuation of Nanjing citizens in a planned way since November this year. For the refugees who moved inland, the government set up refugee camps in cities and counties along the way, and issued refugee certificates and a small amount of travel expenses free of charge. At the same time, it also contacted charitable organizations such as the Red Cross to provide assistance.

Before the outbreak of the war, Nanjing's permanent population was 1.015 million, but by the time Nanjing fell, there were only 500,000 left, and those who could leave had already left early.

Those Nanjing citizens who do not want to leave can be roughly divided into five categories:

One was ordered to stay. For example, the police assigned to the international security zone, such as the Kuomintang and Communist Party agents, and the left-behind employees of schools, hospitals, and government agencies.

The second is to stay voluntarily. For example, Dr. Xu Chuanyin, vice president of the World Red Swastika Society, and Ms. Cheng Ruifang, who assists in managing the refugee camp at Jinling Women's University, all voluntarily stayed to help refugees.

The third is the reluctance to leave the homeland. No one expected that Japan would engage in massacres. Many ordinary people worked hard for half their lives and finally worked hard to create a little family business, such as storefronts, real estate, and land. It is difficult for them to make up their minds if they leave these industries behind and leave their homes and head towards an unknown distance.

Four is difficult to take place. These people lived in poverty. During the mass evacuation, the fares were expensive and transportation was difficult to find, so they could only move a little bit by foot. It was too hard, and their lives were not guaranteed, so they were unwilling to leave.

The fifth is the pro-Japanese faction. These people relied on their connections with the Japanese, or had business dealings, or were traitors directly, and thought that they would be promoted and rich when the Japanese invaders came. As a result, many of them died in the massacre in a daze.

Historically, the Nanjing Gendarmerie went door-to-door to mobilize the evacuation, and exhausted their verbal efforts, they were unable to persuade those citizens to leave.

What can Zhou Hexuan do?

Even if it is publicized everywhere that the Japanese invaders are going to commit a massacre, someone has to believe it!

The only thing Zhou Hexuan can do is to leave a donation to reliable people, to provide help to refugees who are living in difficulties, and to save the lives of those who want to leave but are unable to do so. For example, in this case, a family that would not leave despite the gendarme’s persuasion—the widow pointed to the bedridden mother-in-law and several children and asked the gendarme: How do you want me to move?

With Zhou Hexuan's support, at least those orphans and widows can leave.

Zhou Hexuan bowed in salute and said, "Dr. Xu, please help me, please!"

This trick is very effective. Most people really can't stand Zhou Hexuan's great gift. Xu Chuanyin hurriedly supported him and said, "I will accept the money, and I will give you a receipt. If you don't need it, I will return it to you later. That's it." How are you?"

"Thank you!" Zhou Hexuan clasped his fists and said.

After sending Zhou Hexuan away, Xu Chuanyin stood on the balcony and said to himself: "What's the mess?"

Before the Nanjing Massacre, Xu Chuanyin was just an ordinary person, he had not yet obtained the sublimation of soul and personality.

Of course, since Zhou Hexuan was promised to help, a good person like Xu Chuanyin who has a sense of responsibility will definitely try his best to provide assistance to those in need.

After leaving Nanjing, Zhou Hexuan made a special trip to Hankou to inspect the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge under construction.

It's summer, and Hong Xun is approaching.

The water level of the Yangtze River in the three towns of Wuhan has risen significantly. It is estimated that in half a month, the construction of the bridge will be temporarily suspended again, because the annual flood is coming soon.

Zhou Hexuan inquired about the progress, and the answer he got was that the bridge would not be completed until at least next spring, and if there were any problems, it might be delayed until summer or autumn—then the Battle of Wuhan was being fought.

Zhou Hexuan decided to follow Mao Yisheng's example and asked the construction party to reserve a hole for placing explosives on the pier so that the bridge would be blown up when the Japanese army came.

This bridge is very important in north-south transportation. If it is completed one day earlier, it will facilitate the transportation of wartime supplies and soldiers, and at the same time facilitate the crossing of the river for refugees fleeing from the north.

I hope it can be built as soon as possible and blow up smoothly.