The typhoon season and rainy season in Hong Kong City are generally concentrated from May to September, with August being the strongest. But on this night in November 1939, a sudden wind and rain hit the city.
However, the wind and rain came and went quickly. When the sun rose again the next morning, it was as if nothing had happened. Only the dead branches on the ground proved how violent the wind and rain were last night.
People around Bethany Monastery and Sheung Wan had just gone out to clean their houses when they saw military vehicles roaring past the highway.
It didn't take long for a piece of shocking news to slowly spread - more than a dozen plainclothes officers from the Criminal Investigation Department were killed last night, and there were several big explosions.
Before the people could guess who the murderer was, temporary checkpoints quickly appeared in the streets and alleys. A large number of British soldiers, led by police officers, launched large-scale searches of various hotels in the port city.
"Open the door!"
"Bang bang bang!"
In the morning, someone knocked heavily on Zuo Zhong's door. When he opened the door with sleepy eyes, he was immediately pointed at several guns and a group of military police rushed into the room.
These people didn't ask any questions and just rummaged through the boxes in the room. They didn't even let go of the clothes in their luggage, and they took them out one by one and inspected them carefully.
It was not until it was confirmed that there were no suspicious items that the British officer leading the team breathed a sigh of relief, and then sternly motioned for Zuo Zhong to hand over his documents, with a very bad attitude.
In the eyes of the white people in the British Hong Kong government, all people in the Republic of China are inferior people, and the rules of civilized society do not apply to them.
Zuo Zhong calmly took out his passport and handed it to the other party. After the officer took it, he glanced at the U.S. official coat of arms on the passport, his expression changed slightly and he asked.
"Bruce Lee?"
"Well Well."
"Are you an American citizen?"
"Yes."
"The purpose of coming to Hong Kong City?"
"Purchase a batch of redwood from the Ngee Ann Chamber of Commerce and Industry."
After hearing this, the officer narrowed his eyes and handed the passport back after hesitating. Although the British Empire was not afraid of Yankees, there was no need to make matters worse.
Moreover, the other party came to Hong Kong City to purchase supplies and provide tax revenue for the empire. There must always be some preferential treatment for the food and clothing parents.
Just as a standard gentleman, hating Americans is the most basic virtue and requirement, so he still warned Zuo Zhong in a cold voice.
"Mr. Bruce Lee, welcome to Hong Kong City. I want to remind you that this is a colony of the British Empire. Please pay attention to your words and deeds."
After saying that, he turned around and left with the soldiers and police officers.
Dong Qiang, who was at the back of the crowd, looked at Zuo Zhong, nodded slightly without saying anything, and walked out of the room among the searchers.
Not long after, Gui Youguang knocked on the door and walked in. He looked at the messy luggage and the messy room, cursed a few times, then walked out again and called the manager loudly.
When something like this happened, the hotel was naturally very nervous. For fear of offending the customers, several waiters heard the news and quickly restored the room to its original state.
In order to apologize, the manager also sent someone a free breakfast as compensation before leaving. At the same time, he said that the hotel would lodge a protest with Mr. Governor.
Zuo Zhong waved his hand expressionlessly and sent the other person away with a cold voice, fully demonstrating the arrogance of Americans.
After the hotel staff left, he and Gui Youguang went to sit down at the dining table on the balcony, eating bread and reading the newspaper that came with breakfast.
Perhaps it was a mistake, perhaps it was intentional, but this newspaper was clearly the Japanese version of the Asahi Shimbun.
Zuo Zhong frowned and asked the bald man to contact the front desk to send another Chinese or English newspaper. A Chinese-American should not be able to read Japanese.
details make a difference.
There was such a big commotion last night, and now they have to be careful in everything they do, and they must not reveal any flaws.
As Gui Youguang left, he threw the newspaper on the table, but out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of three reports in the supplement, and the contents instantly attracted his attention.
The title of the first report is "The wife of the former Lieutenant General Abe's wife of the village / Yingmin's gratitude, the widow's にはお诧 / The face of the drama, the sorrow of the surging chanan".
The title is translated into Chinese and means that after learning about the death of a lieutenant general named Abe, a woman named Tsujimura rushed to Abe's house to express her gratitude to his wife.
The legendary star Hana, mountain warfare expert Norihide Abe is finally dead?
As a later visitor and deputy director of the military command, Zuo Zhong was naturally familiar with this name. This man was the brigade commander of the 2nd independent mixed brigade of the Japanese North China Front Army stationed in Mongolia, with the rank of lieutenant general.
According to the report, the opponent was ambushed by the underground party in Huangtuling, Hebei Province a few days ago and died under a mortar. This was the first time in the Republic of China that a Japanese officer of the rank of lieutenant general was killed.
As for Tsujimura, she was the wife of the captain of the 1st Independent Infantry Battalion under Abe. Hearing that Abe personally commanded the troops to rescue her husband and died in the battle, Tsujimura felt deeply guilty and came to pay his respects.
Looking at the photo of two women kneeling in front of the coffin in the newspaper, Zuo Zhong cursed inwardly and sneered before turning his attention to the second report.
The title of the second report is "Heroic, Lieutenant General Abe died in the battle at the Chanan Mountains / The bandit army in Shangzhuangzi (Ji Province) rescued Zhongzhongbo when the bandit army destroyed it / The commander of the final front line / Detailed report of the death."
This report was written by the Japanese army based on the battle report written by Tanaka Shinichi, the chief of staff in Mongolia. It introduced in detail the specific process of Abe Norihide's two ambushes and death in battle. The article tried to beautify this devil whose hands were stained with the blood of the people of the Republic of China.
What to say, the Imperial Army has gone through many battles since its founding, and there has never been a case of a Lieutenant General-level soldier dying in the incident. The sacrifice of Lieutenant General Abe now shows that the battle in this incident has reached a noble level regardless of class levels.
Such a shameless report made Zuo Chong laugh in anger. Was the war between China and Japan started by the Republic of China?
It was the Japanese government that caused the death of countless people in the Republic of China. It was that dog P. He suppressed his anger and continued to look down.
The third report is even more disgusting. It contains records of interviews with Abe Norihide's family, including Abe's wife and five children, by a reporter from the Asahi Shimbun.
Abe Kihide's wife said that her husband wrote to his family before his death, hoping that his healthy sons could apply for the Army School in the future and serve the country loyally.
After learning about his father's death, his eldest son Shuichi Abe decided to apply for the Army Military Academy, hoping to become a flower that protects the country and scatter in the Taihang Mountains like Abe.
He was clearly the executioner who invaded other countries, but in the writings of the Japanese journalists, Abe Norihide became a loving father, a loyal general, and a brave warrior.
When it comes to confusing right and wrong, the Japanese argue that they are second, and no one dares to claim to be first.
Seeing this, Zuo Zhong raised his hand and flipped the newspaper back to prevent himself from cursing loudly. He recalled in his mind the information collected by Juntong on Abe Norihide.
Speaking of which, this famous general was actually a scumbag from Lu Shixue. He was not as good at fighting as the Japanese propaganda said, and his talent was at best average.
Norihide Abe was born in an ordinary family in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. He was inspired by the Sino-Japanese War of 1998 when he was young. He determined to become a soldier and studied hard. Finally, he was admitted to the Army Sergeant School at the age of 20.
However, during his time at Lushi, facing young people from all over Japan, he seemed a bit mediocre. In the graduation ceremony, he failed to make it into the top five seats and received a pocket watch from Tian Locust, which represents the symbol of Lushi academic excellence.
In addition, in the Japanese Army, unless they are special forces (artillery or other arms), students who have not graduated from mainland universities are not allowed to hold general positions.
Even at the grassroots level, non-Mainland officers are promoted 3-4 years later than those in Mainland China, and their military career basically ends when they reach the rank of colonel.
After Mr. Lu graduated, students from the same class as Abe and even the next class were admitted to Mainland China University one after another. However, Norihide Abe failed repeatedly and was rejected by Mainland University.
Since the graduation certificate of Mainland China University is very similar to the coin pattern of Japan's Tenho period in the old calendar, Mainland University graduates always call themselves the "Tenbao Money Group", while those without Mainland University qualifications are derogatoryly called the "Wanten Group".
For this reason, for a long time, Norihide Abe was ridiculed by his classmates as the "King of the Muten Group", which shows that he was not taken seriously in the military.
Looking at his positions, Norihide Abe has successively served as the adjutant of the 8th Division of the Regiment, the staff officer of the 18th Division, the student captain of the Sendai Army Training School, and the major general brigade commander of the 1st Brigade.
Judging from his resume, he has never served as a squadron leader or a group leader, the two chief officers of grassroots combat units. Logically speaking, he cannot even be a general.
It was only that the Japanese army suffered heavy losses in the war, the rapid expansion of the army was in urgent need of officers, and the seniority was high, so the other side took advantage.
More importantly, at 22-6 o'clock, Abe led his troops to participate in the Ping rebellion as the adjutant of the Eighth Division, thus gaining the trust of the ruling faction.
Looking at it this way, Zuo Shige can be regarded as Abe Norihide's benefactor. After all, without Zuo Shige's involvement, he would not have been able to assume the position of brigade commander so quickly.
Even so, Norihide Abe was rushed to the independent mixed second brigade by the Japanese military not long after the first brigade completed the gold plating.
What is an independent mixed brigade?
The Japanese army had an independent mixed brigade in 1931, but it was officially established last year. It usually has five independent infantry brigades, as well as cavalry, artillery, engineers, and heavy equipment units directly under the brigade. .
The total strength of the entire brigade is about 5,000, and its firepower, mobility, and combat capabilities are quite low. They are purely second-line troops organized for static garrison tasks on the battlefields of the Republic of China.
Because it is not affiliated with a certain division, it is called "independent".
And because there are many arms such as infantry, cavalry, artillery, engineers, and baggage troops, it is called "mixed". The overall combat effectiveness is relatively poor among the Japanese army.
Of course, Norihide Abe's rank of lieutenant general is genuine.
But upon closer inspection, his promotion experience is very strange. Abe was already 51 years old when he was promoted to major general in 1937. He was promoted to major general at this age, which was obviously a bit late.
The strange thing is that just two years later, that is, last month, the opponent was suddenly promoted to lieutenant general by Tokyo, which was completely inconsistent with the promotion rules of the Japanese army.
It only took two years to go from major general to lieutenant general. Even in the war years, this promotion speed was relatively fast, not to mention that Abe had no military exploits worthy of early promotion.
why is that?
The answer is actually very simple. According to the "hidden rules" of the Japanese army, if general-level officers have no hope of further promotion, they will usually be promoted to one level and then retire in order to improve their post-retirement benefits.
Abe was promoted to lieutenant general at the age of 53, which was obviously a consolation prize. What awaited him next was to be transferred back to the country, but he had to lead his troops to fight in person, and eventually died in Huangtuling.
Therefore, Abe Norihide's reputation was largely created by the joint efforts of China and Japan. At least the name "Famous General Flower" is somewhat undeserved.
Why the hype?
There is only one reason, and that is that his death came at a critical time point.
Before the war, the Japanese thought that the Republic of China would soon surrender. Unexpectedly, after more than two years of fighting, there was still little progress, and the public mentality was generally impatient.
In order to speed up the progress of the war, the Japanese army wanted to use the death of Norihide Abe to create deeper hatred between China and Japan, so that Japan would "share the same hatred of the enemy."
As for the national government, it urgently needs such achievements to inspire the military and civilians and let the people know that the Japanese are not invincible.
As a result, Norihide Abe, who was originally quite famous, transformed from a Tsubohong into a world-famous general "recognized" by both China and Japan.
In short, the "strategic significance" brought by Abe Kihide's death is far more important than his death itself.
Look at how the Asahi Shimbun praised it in the end.
"Lieutenant General Abe went to the front line in person to inspect the enemy's situation and issue orders at any time. An enemy artillery shell suddenly flew to the side and exploded. Lieutenant General Abe was injured in several places on his right abdomen and legs.
However, he was not seriously injured and succumbed. He still shouted loudly and begged everyone to persist. He forced himself to bow his head and bowed to the east, leaving behind the words "This is the duty of a warrior", and then "sacrificed a heroic sacrifice".
Even though he was hit by a cannonball, he could still say so many words and still bow. Nori Abe showed off. It was a real show.
After thinking about it, Zuo Zhong said a few words to Gui Youguang, who had just returned, and asked him to contact the headquarters and ask if there was any new news from Shancheng.
Being robbed by the underground party, showing his big face, and using his butt to guess, someone is definitely going to do something wrong again.
Sure enough, Gui Youguang returned to the hotel two hours later and brought back a piece of magical news - the government was launching a crackdown on corruption!
Someone feels that the reason why the Guo army is not as good as the underground party is because corruption is endemic in the army. As long as a group of corrupt elements can be eliminated, it will definitely be transformed.
Not surprisingly, this arduous task fell on the military commander, to be precise, Zuo Zhong, who was a famous intelligence expert.
Using the same methods as spies to deal with corrupt officials is not easy. Someone still trusts a certain fellow.
After hearing the news, Zuo Zhonggang's smile froze on his face. If he wants to fight corruption, he should go to the military to fight corruption. This is because he hates himself for not dying.
Are those people easy to mess with? I'm afraid that before he reaches the front line, he will be shot eight times and "kill himself", and the entire army will eat together.
MD!
My fellow countryman misunderstood me!
Zuo Zhong's vision went dark, and his mind was racing, thinking about how to get rid of this damn task. He still wanted to be useful and continue to serve the party and the country~
After thinking about it, he suddenly thought of someone, and immediately turned his eyes to Gui Youguang's ear and whispered a few words, asking the other person to send another telegram.
