Glorious Mission 1937

()Chapter 240 Two: Declare War (Seek subscription, ask for monthly ticket, ask for various kinds!!!)

The bombing was over, but intelligence personnel from Shanghai reported that the fire at Wusongkou was getting bigger and bigger, and there were explosions from time to time.The city of Shanghai is also under martial law today. A large number of Japanese field troops have taken to the streets to patrol the streets. Even people from Britain, France and other countries are prohibited from walking on the streets.

That night, the Nationalist Military Control Bureau intercepted an urgent telegram sent to the Japanese Army Base Camp in Tokyo. The telegram was sent by Lieutenant General Fujita Susumu, head of the Third Division of the Japanese Army stationed in Shanghai.After deciphering, this is a loss report, which proves that the Japanese army lost 77 warships during this bombing, of which 29 were sunk, 24 were seriously injured, and 24 were slightly injured.

另外还损失了264架战机和大量的小型船只，还有3128名士兵在这次轰炸中丧生4236名士兵受伤。更重要的是ri军第三舰队司令官长谷川青中将和丰田副武中将都在这次轰炸中被炸死，同时被炸死的将官还有第三舰队第11战队水上机母舰神川丸指挥官近藤英次郎少将、第4水雷战队指挥官细萱戊子郎少将、第1连合航空队指挥官戸冢道太郎少将、第2连合航空队指挥官三并贞三少将、上海海军特别陆战队指挥官大川内传七少将、第四舰队第5水雷战队指挥官后藤英次少将、第3潜水战队指挥官锄柄玉造少将，一战ri军损失了2个中将7个少将，大佐以下的军官伤亡人数则是更多。

Ships sunk in this bombing included the aircraft carrier Hosho and the flagship of the Third Fleet, Izumo, as well as Hirado, Tenryu, Tsushima, Tokiwa, Ataka, Uji, and Fushimi , Sumida, Seta, Hira, Hotsu, Katada, Toba, Atami, Kuma, Yakumo, Naka, Abukuma, Yura, Myoko, Nagara, Tenryu Tatsuta

During the Fourth Fleet, Ashigara was seriously injured.The Notoro, the capital ship of the Third Fleet, was stranded and severely damaged. It can be said that after this battle, the two major fleets of the Japanese Army have been severely damaged.Although the Japanese army had more than 160 ships berthed at Wusongkou Naval Port at that time, and less than [-] ships were sunk by bombing, but because the Chinese Air Force had a clear goal, the [-] ships lost by the Japanese army were all from the Japanese army. The main ship of the two fleets.

More importantly, the 30 tons of heavy oil stored by the Japanese army in the Wusongkou military port was blown up. At that time, this huge oil depot was located in an underground fortification two kilometers away from Wusongkou, and the Chinese Air Force did not know in advance that there was a large amount of oil stored there. oil.But unfortunately, a national government bomber was hit by ground artillery fire from the Japanese army, and the pilot died on the spot.The warplane also caught fire and lost control.And this fighter plane crashed on this oil depot by coincidence.What's more, the ammunition carried in this bomber is still very sufficient.The power of dozens of aerial bombs exploding together is quite powerful. Just like that, the hundreds of thousands of tons of heavy oil that the Japanese army has worked so hard to accumulate will be completely scrapped.

Once something like heavy oil catches fire, it cannot be extinguished by any kind of fire fighting method. A fire caused by hundreds of thousands of tons of oil is a disaster.The spreading fire gradually burned to Wusongkou.From the morning of the 15th to the night of the 15th, everyone has been burning.Fortunately, after the Japanese army captured Shanghai, they drove away all the residents near Wusongkou.Otherwise, it's unknown to what extent the fire will burn.

In addition, the Chinese Air Force not only blew up the main ships of the Third and Fourth Fleets of the Japanese Army, but also blew up all the docks that the Japanese themselves set up near Wusongkou.Because Chen Feng had exchanged opinions with Liu Nijia and others beforehand, if the Japanese army's dock had not been blown up. The ships of the Japanese army that survived by chance will dock smoothly, and the damaged ships may be repaired on the spot, so not only the ships will be blown up, but the docks will also be blown up.

The effect of this bombing was very good. The air force not only focused its attack on the Japanese navy on the ship, but also did not ignore the machinery factory and the 30 tons of heavy oil stored there.Without these fuels, it will be impossible for the Japanese fleet and land combat vehicles to launch any combat operations from Shanghai in a few months.

And the death of those 9 generals made Ri himself even more painful. These are 9 generals, including two lieutenant generals, and they are all well-known generals in the Japanese navy. I didn't expect it to be like this It was easily confessed to Wusongkou, and Lieutenant General Hasegawa Qing didn't even find his body.

After Dai Li sent the information to the camp in Wuhan, Lao Jiang's frown relaxed because of the upcoming battle in Wuhan, and he was excited to confirm whether the results of the battle were true.After getting a definite answer, Lao Jiang praised Chen Feng and all the air force officers and soldiers without hesitation, and even ignored that it was already past nine o'clock in the evening and insisted on asking the attendants to send him to the Aviation Committee.

Lao Jiang did this on a temporary basis, and Zhou Zhirou was not notified. When Lao Jiang rushed to the Air Navigation Commission building, he found that there was only one platoon of guards inside, and most of the officers, including Zhou Zhirou, were absent.After inquiring, it turned out that Zhou Zhirou was celebrating the achievements of all the pilots at Wuhan Airport.

While he was happy, Lao Jiang didn't pay much attention to these things, so he asked the attendant to send him to Wuhan Airport.The Wuhan airport at this time was very lively, where thousands of people toasted to invite the bright moon. Of course, the Air Force officers and soldiers did not have this kind of elegance, but drinking is indeed real.

More than a hundred tables of wine and food filled the entire airport, even the airstrip was filled with tables. Everyone drank and ate meat in large bowls, and there was no shortage of seasonal fruits and the like. The atmosphere at the scene was very lively.

That night, the old man who had been advocating a new life and giving up drinking and smoking got drunk, and finally his wife came to pick him up in person.It's hard for the old man, for more than a year, he has never been as happy as today. Although there were big victories before, those victories still couldn't make the old man happy.One is that those victories have nothing to do with him at all. Whether it is the Pingxingguan of the Eighth Route Army or the repeated victories of Chen Feng's troops, they cannot compete with his Central Yang Army. Jiang's incompetence, yes, is incompetence.

The main force of the Kuomintang government has also won many battles.But what frustrates Lao Jiang is that every big victory is often followed by a big defeat.I think Tang Enbo fought very tenaciously and well when he was guarding the south entrance, and he gave the arrogant Itagaki Seishiro's Fifth Division a head-on blow.However, the result was that Nankou fell, and hundreds of thousands of troops in North China fell thousands of miles.

Let's talk about how the battle of Taierzhuang was fought, well, nothing to say, more than 2 enemies were wiped out, and a lot of them were captured, which played the prestige of the Chinese army.But what about the result?The Nationalist government retreated steadily in the Xuzhou Battle.If it wasn't for Chen Feng's side reinforcements.I'm afraid that the front line of Lanfeng has already been breached by the Japanese, and the flames of war will spread to the Central Plains.

But today's battle is different. Although the northern air force participated, Chen Feng deserves a share of the credit.But Lao Jiang believed that this was led by the central yang army.The supreme commander is Zhou Zhirou.The field and more than half of the ammunition were also issued by the Nationalist Government.The information was also provided by the Military Control Bureau, and this credit belongs to him, Lao Jiang, and no one can take it away.

More importantly, the result is gratifying.Thinking about the elimination of 9 generals of the Japanese army in World War I, Lao Jiang's heart was beating non-stop, how could he be so elated!

It's a pity that before Lao Jiang was happy for a long time, he heard bad news after he woke up from a hangover. The Japanese government publicly broke off diplomatic relations with the Republic of China. The two sides were in a state of war. China declares war.

Although the two sides have been fighting since the Marco Polo Bridge Incident last year, from the forests and snow fields in the northeast to the vast plains in the south of the Yangtze River, from the grasslands in northern Saibei to the loess-covered Shanxi Plateau, the two sides fought hard together with all their strength, but since 1937 During the four years from the start of the war in July to the outbreak of the Pacific War in December 7, neither the Chinese government nor the Japanese government declared a state of war, nor did they formally announce the severance of diplomatic relations.

In fact, after the outbreak of Japan's war of aggression against China, the governments of China and Japan were very careful about declaring war, and each had fully deliberated and discussed it. However, considering various factors, they did not formally declare war, nor did they formally announce the severance of diplomatic relations , the two sides only diplomatically recalled their respective ambassadors to each other.

As early as a few days after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, Chiang Kai-shek had instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to issue a statement against Japan's aggression.At that time, the Beiping Jicha authorities had signed an armistice agreement with the Japanese army.When discussing Chiang Kai-shek's instructions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs believed that the local government was dispatching troops and generals to declare war on Japan, which seemed to be disconnected and out of coordination between the central government and the local government.At this time, instead of declaring war against Japan, Zhong Yang should express his desire for peace.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs forwarded this opinion to Chiang Kai-shek, and the matter of issuing a statement was dropped.

In addition, there is another consideration for not declaring war, that is, China's military supplies cannot be self-sufficient and must be imported from foreign countries. If war is declared, first of all, Japan, as a belligerent country, can notify all countries to prohibit all military supplies and military supplies from being imported into China. The Japanese navy has an absolute advantage over the Chinese navy, and China has no ability to protect foreign aid materials imported into China by sea.Secondly, the Chinese nationals in Japan will be expelled or arrested, and China has no ships to carry the nationals back to the country, so the nationals cannot get the protection they deserve.On the contrary, the Japanese overseas Chinese and the Japanese in the Japanese concession can move into the concessions of Britain, France and other countries, and they can still continue to serve their country's aggressive policy, and the Chinese government cannot expel or intervene.In short, after declaring war and severing diplomatic relations, it will do more harm than good to China.

The Japanese government also did not declare war. At the Japanese Imperial Conference, Hirohito and his ministers also discussed the issue of declaring war and severing diplomatic relations.However, after the summit, land, sea, and foreign ministers exchanged views on the issue of declaring war, because the benefits and benefits of declaring war to Japan were complicated, the consensus of the meeting was to shelve this issue.After the Battle of Songhu started, some people from the General Staff Headquarters of the Japanese Army and the Army Ministry demanded that the government declare war on China, but many people opposed it. In mid-September, Prime Minister Konoe believed that judging from a country's due actions and seeking an early end to the war, it might be feasible to declare war.He appointed Chief Cabinet Secretary Feng Jianzhang to negotiate the matter with the Army and Navy.However, the consensus of the army and navy is that it is better not to declare war.The reason is: Although declaring war can prevent economic exchanges between China and third countries, Japan is a country lacking in resources, and most of the raw materials for military materials are imported from foreign countries. If war is declared, the import of military materials required by Japan will be very difficult Zi you, will cause damage to national defense forces.

Soon after, the Japanese army fighting in China put forward a request to declare war. The reason was that there were many inconveniences in not declaring war. regime, some pro-Japanese factions doubt Japan's determination, so they are not very enthusiastic.In this regard, on November 1937, 11, Japan Zheng Fu set up a committee in the cabinet to study the issue of war declaration. The study of nature.The research has reached a consistent conclusion: the declaration of war is not good for Japan, so there is no declaration of war.

After fighting for such a long time, neither side declared war. Lao Jiang did not expect that the Japanese government would declare war after waking up overnight. This is not good news for him and the entire national government.Once China and Japan declare war, there will be no room for maneuver in the future, that is, the possibility of peace talks with Japan will be cut off.Secondly, other countries will be forced to remain neutral and will not be able to assist China. For example, the aid to China from the Soviet Union and Germany will stop, and it will be even more difficult for China without international aid.The third is the issue of diaspora. Japanese diaspora in China can quickly evacuate to the British Concession and the French Concession, but Chinese diaspora in Japan have nowhere to go, and China has no ability to send ships to transport diaspora back to China, which is not good for China. Japan's sudden declaration of war pushed Lao Jiang into a corner, and Lao Jiang's mood became depressed again in less than 12 hours after he recovered. (to be continued...)