After the July 7 Incident, Song Zheyuan, the highest official in North China, was repairing ancestral graves in his hometown. The senior generals of the 29th Army urgently sent a telegram to Song Zheyuan, and then sent people to Shandong to ask Song Zheyuan to return quickly and support all contingency matters. Song Zheyuan's attitude was to hope that the matter could be resolved peacefully.
In the all-out War of Resistance, what was the level of military power between China and Japan? He Yingqin said in his statement report that year that Japan had 17 standing divisions and regiments in active service, with about 380,000 people. China's active military strength is 1.7 million, and the first phase can mobilize 1 million people to participate in the battle. The 1 million people include armies from all over the world, both the Central Army and the Miscellaneous Army.
The Japanese cabinet's algorithm is that in addition to the 380,000 active military personnel, Japan can immediately mobilize 4 million people to participate in the war, including Japanese veterans, and plan to solve the war in three months.
When the Japanese army provoked an incident at the Lugou Bridge, Song Zheyuan returned to his hometown in Shandong under the banner of repairing graves, in fact, he deliberately avoided the entanglement of the Japanese army. When the people from Peiping explained to him the incident at the Lugou Bridge, he mistakenly thought that it was just the Japanese army looking for trouble, so he issued an order that "only resist, not attack".
Song Zheyuan believed that he could solve the Lugou Bridge incident through peace talks. At that time, Zhang Zizhong also believed that peace talks were the best way to solve the problem. After Song Zheyuan went to Beiping, he secretly sought peace with Zhang Zizhong, and this practice was supported by Zhang Zizhong. Soon, Song Zheyuan ordered that martial law be lifted in Beiping, that the 29th Army be strictly forbidden to friction with the Japanese army, and that dozens of captured Japanese troops be released.
However, at this time, the japanese Kwantung Army and the head organs of the Japanese Army in Korea frequently proposed to the Japanese military headquarters that the Lugou Bridge Incident should be used as an opportunity to make a decision and completely conquer China. Soon, 100,000 Japanese troops sailed to China.
After the incident, the former commander of the Japanese Garrison, Tashiro Wanichiro, became seriously ill and his death was approaching. Song Zheyuan and Zhang Zizhong met with The newly appointed commander of the Japanese Garrison, Kiyoshi Kazuki, and when they returned, they announced to the outside world: "The talks have been very good, and there is no problem in peaceful settlement."
However, this was nothing more than a trick for the Japanese, and at this time, Kiyoshi Kazuki set a trap to deceive Song Zhang and the two, and his real purpose was to wait until reinforcements arrived. Just when Song Zheyuan thought that the big thing was getting smaller, nearly 10,000 Japanese troops stationed in Korea had quietly driven to Tangshan and Tianjin. Three brigades of the Japanese Kwantung Army have been secretly transferred to North China one after another. In addition, there were 160,000 Japanese troops, who were traveling day and night to Pingjin.
In the early morning of July 20, 1937, Zhang Zizhong, who had been surrounded by pro-Japanese elements and advocated peace talks, and his brother-in-law Zhang Yunrong, on behalf of the Jicha Administrative Affairs Committee, signed the "Details of Xiangyue" with Kiyoshi Kazuki, the main contents of which were: China formally apologized to the Japanese army, the Chinese army retreated, including the withdrawal from Peiping, and punished and dismissed anti-Japanese personnel.
The Japanese succeeded in confusing the 29th Army and completely disarming the Chinese army. Peace talks, peace talks, and non-stop peace talks are all tactics played by Kiyoshi Kazuki to slow down the army. Once the troops were in place, the Japanese army quickly revealed its ambitions.