The true biography of Yaqiao, the first chivalrous king of the Republic of China

Chapter 49 "Letton Investigation Team"

On March 3, the investigation team of the League of Nations (referred to as the "League of Nations", the predecessor of the United Nations) that the world had been looking forward to for several months landed in Shanghai.The investigation team consisted of Lytton from the United Kingdom, McCoy from the United States, Claude from France, Heaney from Germany, and Marcourty from Italy, with Gu Weijun from China and Yoshida from Japan as consultants.Because Litton is the head of the team, this investigation team is commonly known as the "Litton Investigation Team".

The investigation team arrived in Shanghai and stayed in the "First Floor of the Far East" Shanghai Huamao Hotel (now the Peace Hotel). Within 12 days, Litton received a grand reception from the Chinese side, met with Song Ziwen, Wu Tiecheng, etc., and went to the "January 21th" war ruins to conduct field investigations. On the [-]st, he returned from an inspection tour in Zhabei and Jiangwan areas. In a letter to his wife, he described his impressions of Jinan University arranged by the Japanese: "It wants to impress us with Japanese respect for cultural institutions, because these There was not much damage to the building. If so, then the purpose was not served, as five other universities in the area were completely destroyed."

On the 24th, he wrote to his wife again, lamenting:
The Japanese are very firm realists.Although they lie like the Chinese and their propaganda is totally wrong, there are no unrealistic fantasies in their heads.They know what they are against. ...The opposite is that the Chinese are impractical.They live only in hallucinations, and so far they have offered us no practical advice.They are very poor, like children, always posturing, hating power and control, but can do nothing without it.Now they are very sad and very angry because they have been humiliated.Almost all countries have hurt them once and they have no real friends.When they are docile, they are cared for and protected; when they are rebellious, they are punished.They swallowed both.

Four days later, he visited Wang Jingwei, Chiang Kai-shek and other Chinese dignitaries in Nanjing.In the Diary he wrote:

(Wang Jingwei) is a very funny guy who looks about 35 years old.But I've been told that he's actually nearly 50 years old.He was well dressed, in black and blue silk, with the mind of a poet and the physique of an athlete, and he looked very gentle and charming.But earlier in the revolution he had attempted to assassinate the regent with a bomb, for which he was imprisoned for three years.It is obvious that he is an idealist and a man of great energy and determination.He has a beautiful house with Italian furniture and an Italian garden.

(General Chiang Kai-shek) lived in a summer cottage outside the city. ... The General was a very peculiar man.Despite being the commander-in-chief of the Chinese army, he dresses like a prisoner.With a shaved head, he wore a tight khaki jacket without any rank marks on it, not even a button to show off, and a pair of black pumps on his feet.The Commander-in-Chief lived a simple life and was deeply ascetic, but he was probably the greatest military leader in China today.He is still quite young and is often talked about as China's most likely dictator.

On April 4, the "Leeton Investigation Team" arrived in Shenyang and conducted investigations in Shenyang, Changchun, Jilin, Harbin and other cities for 21 days.In a letter to his wife, Lytton admitted: "Our first week here was a nightmare. The Japanese are very suspicious. We are forced to accept 'protection', we are actually regarded as prisoners." Japan for To create a false impression, each citizen of Shenyang was given one yuan to welcome the investigation team.

On September 9, after the "Letton Investigation Team" signed the "Report" in Beiping, they flew to Shanghai on a special plane provided by Zhang Xueliang.On the way, sitting on the clouds, Leighton, who was about to leave office, was full of worries. He didn't know what the Chinese would think of his "Report", let alone what was waiting for him when he arrived in Shanghai.Overlooking thousands of mountains and rivers, he asked himself:
How much do we really know about this country I'm overlooking?In other words, how much do the people of this country know about the Covenant of the League of Nations or the Nine-Power Pact?What we saw that day was only a small part of the country that stretches from Kashmir in the west to the Mongolian desert in the north.India seems to be a big country with a population of 3 million, but China is a huge country with a population of more than 4 million.Where is the start?Where is the end?
(End of this chapter)