1928: The Rise of Giants

January 1932, the twenty-first year of the Republic of China (1).

Yesterday, Murai issued an ultimatum to the Shanghai City Hall authorities, demanding that Wu Tiecheng and others give a satisfactory response to the four demands raised by Shichitaro Yada before 28:18 on the th, otherwise necessary action would be taken.

As a last resort, at the request of the Nanjing National Government and various sectors in Shanghai, Wu Tiecheng replied to Wencunjing at 13:45, expressing his willingness to accept all the unreasonable demands put forward by the Japanese side.

At the same time yesterday afternoon, Chief of the General Staff Zhu Peide and Minister of Military Affairs He Yingqin dispatched the 6th Military Police Regiment to formally take over the defense work of the 19th Route Army in the Zhabei area of ​​Shanghai.

The regiment boarded the train from Jinling Railway Station at 8 o'clock yesterday evening and arrived in Zhenru at noon today. Its first vanguard battalion arrived at the North Station in the afternoon, preparing to take over the defense work of the 29th Regiment of the 78th Brigade of the 156th Division of the 6th Route Army in Zhabei at dawn the next day (th).

At Ye Luo's suggestion, Cai Tingkai went to Suzhou City to discuss defense matters with the senior generals stationed there. Everyone quickly reached a consensus that they should guard against the Japanese invaders strictly and not let down their guard.

Unexpectedly, Cai Tingkai received the order to hand over defense work just after he got on the train back to Shanghai.

In desperation, Chen Mingshu, Jiang Guangnai and Dai Ji had to adjust their troops while discussing countermeasures.

Of course, the two reinforced companies they promised Ye Luo did not withdraw, but were openly stationed in the open space near Ye Mansion, striving to protect the Ye family from the war.

In response, the foreigners in the Municipal Council protested, believing that these Chinese soldiers had violated the concession regulations and had no right to enter their territory without permission.

The protests did not last long.

Because Ye Luo went directly to the British and American consulates general, and the British Consul General Patton was Ye Luo's old friend, after receiving the guarantee that the army would not attack the concession, he let it go.

As for the United States, Huixin is a local senator. Who dares not to give her face?

Even the current Chinese ambassador to China, Ma Murray, has to give Huixin some face.

Wu Tiecheng's compromise and the inaction of the current Nanjing National Government have caused complaints from all walks of life.

Zhang Hanqing in the north was severely criticized for "non-resistance". Although he held out in Jinzhou for two months, he still could not escape the criticism.

The reputation that was previously built up by various things was destroyed in an instant, which shows the destructive power of public opinion on these warlords.

Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang took the opportunity to return to China to stir up trouble and establish their new political system in the north. However, when it came to disputes with the Japanese invaders, the two men shrank their heads like turtles and showed no intention of intervening.

In Sichuan and Chongqing, uncle Liu Wenhui and nephew Liu Xiang were fighting fiercely, and the city of Qing was attacked several times, which showed that Liu Wenhui was really angry.

In Shandong Province, Han Fuju was still dreaming of defeating Zhang Hanqing and unifying the north. He didn't care about the lives of the people affected by the floods. He even went to put pressure on various companies invested by Ye many times, causing various public outrages.

It can be said that the warlords in the country are now like a stagnant pool, and none of them are reliable.

The principal finally experienced the feeling of sitting on the throne, he was in a carefree mood, and hoped that the Japanese invaders would cause a bigger incident in Shanghai so that he could come back early and take power again.

This time the principal got what he wanted.

At 1:28 p.m. on January 11, the Songhu Police Department suddenly received a reply letter from the Japanese side's Murai to Wu Tiecheng and the Police Department. He expressed "satisfaction" with Shanghai's acceptance of Japan's four demands, but on the grounds of protecting overseas Chinese, he demanded that the Chinese army must immediately withdraw from Zhabei.

It was already 11:25 when Ma Yongzhen received the telegram. He first notified Ye Luo and then sent a letter to Wu Tiecheng.

After Ye Luo received the telegram, he immediately forwarded it to Chen Mingshu and others, reminding them not to completely evacuate Zhabei tonight. Even if they needed to change guard, they could do so tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

Unfortunately, the communication equipment of that era was too slow, and the telegram could not be transmitted over there before the war broke out.

At 11:30, without waiting for a response from the City Hall, the Japanese army launched an attack on the Zhabei garrison troops that were in the process of handing over defense.

Weng Zhaoyuan's troops from the 78th Brigade of the 156th Division of the 6th Route Army immediately rose up to resist (part of the th Regiment of the Military Police that came to relieve the defense also fought back), and the Battle of Shanghai broke out!
The surprise attack was launched by the Japanese Marine Corps led by Major General Shiozawa. The 156th Regiment of the 6th Brigade of the th Route Army (led by Zhang Junsong) stationed there immediately launched a fierce counterattack against the enemy.

Subsequently, the Japanese army, with more than 20 armored vehicles as the vanguard, divided into five routes and launched an attack from various intersections in Zhabei.

After receiving the report about the Japanese attack and Ye Luo's message, Jiang Guangnai, Cai Tingkai and Dai Ji rushed to Zhenru Station on foot at night at the headquarters of the 19th Route Army, set up a temporary command post, and ordered the rear troops to advance quickly to the Shanghai Beach in accordance with the original deployment.

After dawn on the 29th, the Japanese army launched a series of fierce attacks under the cover of armored vehicles. Japanese planes also took off from the aircraft carrier "Notoro" and bombed the Zhabei area. The war spread rapidly. The 156th Brigade of the defending army stubbornly resisted the Japanese attack, used cluster grenades to deal with the Japanese armored vehicles, organized death squads to destroy the enemy armored vehicles by stealth, held every position, and launched a timely counterattack against the enemy under the cover of artillery fire, repelling the continuous attacks of the Japanese army.

The desperate Xinwen and Shenbao immediately dispatched war correspondents to the front lines to provide real-time reporting.

Soon the battle report from the front line reached Ye Mansion. Ye Luo stayed up all night, reading the telegram in the study accompanied by Xiao Aqiao and Bai Xiuzhu.

"Fortunately, Brother Luo, you were well prepared and evacuated all your properties to the concession first." Xiao Aqiao felt a little scared.

The most numerous industry in Zhabei, the county suburbs, the county town and other places is the entertainment industry. If she had not evacuated in advance, her Ye's Dance Industry would have suffered the most serious damage, followed by Lin Ruxian's Ye's Film Company.

"It is also thanks to my husband that he reminded several superiors. They are prepared and should not be defeated in a fight." Bai Xiuzhu whispered while hugging Ye Luo.

These days, Bai Xiongqi was depressed because of the suppression. He didn't even go to the City Hall all day, and stayed in Baigongguan drinking tea and reading newspapers.

Bai Xiuzhu went to see her brother several times, but she never got a good response from him.

Bai Xiongqi believed that after the principal stepped down, Ye Luo had many ways to keep his position as deputy mayor, but he just didn't do it, which made Bai Xiongqi very puzzled.

After the relationship between the two families became a little strained, the hostess Bai Xiuzhu suddenly felt under a lot of pressure.

Fortunately, Ye Luo's harem was very harmonious. After the Bai family became like this, Xiao Aqiao, Meng Xiaodong and other girls all stood on Bai Xiuzhu's side and helped her share the pressure.

As for the January 28 Incident, the telegram said: "The fighting was extremely fierce," "The streets were on fire everywhere, flames filled the sky, and the battlefield was extremely miserable."

Although the words are few, they can all feel the cruelty and intensity of the war.

Now we can only pray that the 19th Route Army can withstand the offensive and not be defeated by the Japanese invaders.

At around 29 a.m. on the 10th, Japanese planes dropped bombs, and the Commercial Press headquarters and Oriental Library in Zhabei were burned down by fire. Fortunately, with Ye Luo's assistance, most of the more than 30 books in the collection, including ancient rare books, had been transferred in advance.

Under the cover of powerful artillery fire and armored vehicles, more than a thousand Japanese troops launched fierce attacks on the intersections of Baoshan Road and Qiujiang Road in an attempt to occupy the North Railway Station.

North Station is one of Shanghai's land transportation hubs. Its gains and losses are related to the safety of the entire Zhabei area. Dai Ji immediately sent troops to reinforce and began to consciously ignore the retreat order from the Nanjing National Government.

At 29 p.m. on the 2th, the Japanese army launched a fierce attack on the North Station. A company of the defending military police had to withdraw from the North Station after fighting with the Japanese army for an hour.

At 29:17 on the 156th, the main force of the th Brigade joined the battle and launched a counterattack, retaking North Station and Tiantong'an Station. They pursued the victory and captured the Japanese Marine Corps Headquarters in Shanghai, forcing the Japanese army to retreat to the area east of North Sichuan Road and south of Target Road.

The Japanese army's first offensive ended in failure!

The main reason why this surprise attack was able to be prevented was that Chen Mingshu and four others insisted on defending the military order. After being reminded and advised by Ye Luo, they finally did not completely withdraw their troops from Zhabei, and therefore returned to defend quickly.

During this process, they also received a large amount of military support from Jiacheng.

These weapons were all produced by Ye Luo's arsenal, and this time they were unconditionally supported to the 19th Route Army.

After the Japanese attack was thwarted, on the afternoon of the 29th, the British and American consuls stepped forward to mediate, and the Chinese and Japanese armies reached an agreement to stop fighting at 29:20 on the night of the th.

The 19th Route Army knew that this was a delaying tactic to wait for reinforcements, but it had to agree to a ceasefire because its own army also needed to adjust its deployment.

At the same time, the 60th Route Army also strengthened its deployment, urgently ordering the 61th Division stationed east of Zhenjiang to move into Nanxiang and Zhenru, and transferring the 78st Division to Shanghai. The th Division stationed in Shanghai was fully deployed to the front line to strengthen defense and be ready for battle.

Also on January 1, under the tremendous pressure of internal and external troubles, Sun Ke was forced to resign from the post of Premier. The pro-Chiang faction took the opportunity to propose a motion to "welcome back the president", which was immediately passed.

The Jinling National Government quickly sent an invitation to the president, hoping that he could return as soon as possible to lead the war.

The principal is hesitant and refuses to express his opinion. You want me to leave so I can leave, and you want me to go back so I can go back?
Wait, I haven’t rested enough!
He wanted to use this to gain greater power and completely destroy the prestige of Wang and his group in the Kuomintang.

As for the situation of the Battle of Songhu, he was not concerned for the time being. (End of this chapter)