Chapter 143: Six Days Until The Marco Polo Bridge Incident
The assassination of Marine Corps Commander Denshichi Okawauchi indeed drove the Japanese Marine Corps mad, continuously dispatching large numbers of intelligence officers everywhere to collect detailed information on the assassins.
Unfortunately, whether it was the Marine Corps, or Japanese Army Headquarters, or Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe, and Navy high-level personnel, all were incredulous; they had spent five months collecting intelligence, yet still hadn’t found the culprit behind the scenes.
And time had entered July 1, 1937, less than a week before the Marco Polo Bridge Incident.
From June 1937 onward, the Japanese Army stationed in Fengtai continuously held provocative military exercises.
Regarding the Japanese Army’s blatant provocative actions, the 29th Army endured them without engaging in large-scale conflict or combat with the Japanese Army, though the gunpowder scent between both sides grew increasingly intense, ready to ignite at any moment.
At this time, Zhou Wenhua had already deployed his troops into Beiping for several months, but all were completely disguised as workers in his various factories, security teams, and shops.
Therefore, they did not attract the attention of Japanese intelligence officers, the Military Statistics Bureau, or the officers of the 29th Army.
“There are only 6 days until the outbreak of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident! It seems peacetime is about to end forever, at least we must endure the harsh years of the Eight-Year War of Resistance!”
“The Japanese invaders’ intent to annihilate our country has never changed!”
“So all these damned things deserve to be killed!”
“It’s just a pity that the 29th Army and Yan Laoxi in Taiyuan are no match for these Japanese troops, especially Yan Laoxi in Taiyuan, who was defeated even faster!”
“Even his hometown Taiyuan and the arsenal were completely occupied by the Japanese Army!”
“I don’t know how many Japanese troops I can kill in this battle!”
“Forget it! Killing more is better than none!”
“But it will absolutely give these damned Japanese troops a huge surprise!”
“At least take out one or more regiments of their troops, or even a division’s troops here in Beiping, or there in Taiyuan! Then I’ll see how many divisions they have left to deploy here!”
“Or transfer from here to Shanghai to participate in operations!”
Zhou Wenhua sat alone in the private room on the third floor of his restaurant, gazing at the bustling street scene, murmuring to himself.
At the same time, he was also eating and drinking.
And thinking about annihilating how many Japanese troops in Beiping and the Taiyuan area.
Meanwhile, on the Kwantung Army side,
Garrison Army Commander Lieutenant General Wanichiro Tashiro, Lieutenant General Kiyoshi Katsuki, and Garrison Army Infantry Brigade Commander Major General Shozo Kawabe were at their garrison, having a dinner party while chatting.
“Has Company Commander Setsu Shimizu of the 8th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of Kawabe Brigade followed our operation instructions and prepared to provoke those Chinese Army troops in six days?”
“This time we must provoke the Chinese 29th Army into battle, then we can directly dispatch a large army to encircle and annihilate this annoying Chinese Army in one fell swoop!”
After taking a sip of clear sake,
Commander Lieutenant General Wanichiro Tashiro asked Brigade Commander Major General Shozo Kawabe.
“Yes! He has already followed our combat deployment and begun leading troops in the designated area, continuously provoking the bottom line of the Chinese 29th Army!”
“And in six days, he will lead troops from Fengtai side all the way to Lugou Bridge to continue real combat provocations. Of course, our final provocation target is to surround Wanping County Town guarded by the Chinese Army and occupy this city!”
“This is the first step of our operation plan to attack Beiping in China, and our goal is to fully occupy all of Beiping within a week in China, then continue marching to Taiyuan side and occupy as much Northern China territory as possible!”
“It’s time to launch a new war for our Empire’s territorial expansion!”
“China must belong to our Imperial Army, not to these Chinese troops with inferior weaponry and zero industrial capacity!”
“For our Empire’s prosperity, China must become entirely our Imperial Army’s occupied territory within three months!”
“Then, leveraging this vast land’s resources, our Empire will definitely develop rapidly, and we won’t need to fear the foreigners’ troops anymore; we can even surpass these arrogant, damned foreign powers!”
“Then our Empire will become a powerful country that captivates the world’s attention, standing tall in the East!”
After Commander Lieutenant General Wanichiro Tashiro finished speaking, Lieutenant General Kiyoshi Katsuki suddenly felt very cheerful and interjected.
Pouring out his most ambitious goals and purposes from deep within his heart.
