1931 was a shameful year in Chinese history. In this year, the Japanese Kwantung Army bombarded the Beidaying in Shenyang and brazenly launched the "
918 Incident ", conquering all the three northeastern provinces of . So, where did Zhang Xueliang , who was the highest commander of Northeast Army at that time, went to 18 that night?
Zhang Xueliang on the eve of September 18th
Zhang Xueliang took over the Northeast Army after the outbreak of the Huanggutun incident in June 1928. After his father " Northeast King " Zhang Zuolin was killed by a Japanese spy in Huanggutun , Zhang Xueliang secretly sneaked back to Shenyang and took charge of the situation in the Northeast. After investigation, Zhang Xueliang learned the truth that his father died at the hands of the Japanese. Inspired by the hatred of killing his father, Zhang Xueliang announced in December 1928 that the Northeast changed flag , and was classified as under the rule of , Nanjing National Government .
Seeing that Zhang Xueliang's attempt to split the Northeast completely miscarried, the Japanese authorities conspired to to invade the entire Northeast by force. Since 1929, the Japanese Kwantung Army has greatly strengthened its infiltration into the Northeast, and at the same time instigated the war with Zhang Xueliang's Northeast Army in the pass, attracting the main force of the Northeast Army. At this time, the Japanese Kwantung Army was ready to invade the Northeast.
, but Zhang Xueliang relaxed his vigilance after changing his banner in the Northeast . At that time, he was appointed as the deputy commander of the Army, Navy and Air Force of the Republic of China by Chiang Kai-shek, and was in charge of the pass. In other words, neither Zhang Xueliang himself nor the main force of the Northeast Army were in the Northeast on the eve of the September 18th Incident. This gave the Japanese Kwantung Army an opportunity to take advantage of.
Why, as a warlord in the Northeast, did not personally take charge of the Northeast? In Zhang Xueliang's memories later, he was Peking Union Medical College Hospital disease at that time due to the sequelae of drug use. It can be seen that the reason why Zhang Xueliang easily lost to Northeast China was closely related to his drug addiction.
Night of September 18
Before Zhang Xueliang received an urgent report on the situation in the Northeast by his subordinates, September 18 was originally a dull day. That night, Zhang Xueliang attended the Peking Opera evening organized by the Beijing Zhonghe Theater. A large number of celebrities attended this Peking Opera evening. The reason is very simple - the first Peking Opera actor Mei Lanfang will perform on stage in this evening.
Later, the memories of Mrs. Mei Lanfang Fu Zhifang proved Zhang Xueliang's attendance, and she also said that those who walked with Zhang Xueliang included his wife, Yu Fengzhi and some nurses and guards. It can be seen that at this time, Zhang Xueliang was in the daily leisure state of and was not psychologically prepared for the outbreak of the September 18th Incident.
It was not until around 10 pm that Zhang Xueliang, who was enjoying " empty city plan " in the Zhonghe Theater box, received an urgent report from the Kwantung Army attacking Beidaying in Shenyang. At this time, Shenyang Beidaying was still in a state of fierce resistance, but because was outnumbered to , it urgently needed support from friendly forces.
Zhang Xueliang had no intention of watching the show after receiving this news, so he hurriedly left Zhonghe Theater . Mei Lanfang, who performed at the time, recalled the night of September 18: When he saw Zhang Xueliang's nervous look, he knew that something big might happen to in Northeast China .
After returning home, Zhang Xueliang still has time to issue an order to resist the Kwantung Army and support Beidaying . But the "no resistance" order that Chiang Kai-shek followed made Zhang Xueliang fall into trouble.
Chiang Kai-shek said that the Northeast Army should retreat to Jinzhou as soon as possible to avoid conflicts with the Kwantung Army. In the future, the Northeast issue can be left to the League of Nations organizations to decide, and use the power of Europe and the United States to form a "favorable diplomatic situation." Under Chiang Kai-shek's pressure, Zhang Xueliang chose to surrender to and finally issued an order to "not resist" to the Northeast Army.
Due to Zhang Xueliang's non-resistance order, Shenyang quickly fell into the hands of the Japanese Kwantung Army. The next day, Changchun, Siping , and Yingkou also fell one after another, and the main force of the Northeast Army evacuated from Heilongjiang and Jilin.
After the September 18th Incident broke out, the entire China was shocked by the fact that Northeast fell . In people's impression, even if the Northeast Army with perfect military equipment and well-equipped equipment is defeated by the Japanese Kwantung Army, it will at least have a bloody battle with the Japanese army for a long time. Unexpectedly, the Northeast will be lost in less than a month. Therefore, Zhang Xueliang, the highest commander of the Northeast Army, became the target of public criticism.
Tianjin "yongbao " published a "disclosure" of Zhang Xueliang's itinerary on September 18 in October, especially mentioning the romantic affairs of Zhang Xueliang "danced with the red pink beauty Hu Die at the Liuguo Hotel in Peking". Once this article was published, it immediately aroused countless people's anger, and people insulted Zhang Xueliang's behavior of "betraying the Northeast".
However, as a popular star, Hu Die herself refuted the rumor of this statement . In Shanghai's " declaration ", she stated that she was shooting a movie in Shanghai that day and participated in an event to boycott Japanese goods, and it was impossible for her to appear in Peking at all. Although Hu Die's refutation of the rumor denied Zhang Xueliang's rumor that he "indulged in the red fans in the national crisis", it still failed to change Zhang Xueliang's reputation as "not resisting the general" in domestic public opinion.
At this time, Zhang Xueliang was also well aware of the fact that his reputation had plummeted . He was depressed and had a lot of opinions on Chiang Kai-shek's "no resistance order". In April of the following year, half a year after the September 18th Incident broke out, Zhang Xueliang was interviewed by European and American reporters and delivered a famous anti-Japanese speech.
In his speech, Zhang Xueliang expressed his opinion: The three northeastern provinces has always been part of China , and 30 million people in Northeast China are also willing to fight for their hometown to the end. At this time, Zhang Xueliang's heart had already sown the seeds of launching the Xi'an Incident in the future and forcing Jiang to resist Japan.
19
1936, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng launched the Xi'an Incident , forcing Chiang Kai-shek to agree to unite with the forces of the Communist Party of China and unanimously fight against Japan from the outside world, thus establishing the anti-Japanese national united front . It was not until this time that Zhang Xueliang completely made up for the regret of issuing the "non-resistance" order in the Northeast.
