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In 1928, the northeastern warlord Zhang Zuolin fought from the northeast to Beiping. But he was destined to stay in Peiping for long.
On the one hand, Chiang Kai-shek's Second Northern Expedition put him under enormous pressure.
On the other hand, both his son Zhang Xueliang and the Japanese envoys realized that it was the best choice to hold the base camp, so they urged him to return to the northeast.
Forced by the helplessness of reality, on June 3, Zhang Zuolin embarked on the train back to the northeast.
Huanggutun is the only way for this train, and when the train arrives here, a series of explosions suddenly occur, and the sound is deafening.
The Japanese Kwantung Army planted a considerable amount of explosives under the railway station in advance, waiting for Zhang Zuolin to pass by and completely cut off his vitality.
Zhang Zuolin was not killed on the spot, but he was seriously injured and eventually died. When Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiichi Tanaka learned about this, he couldn't help but sigh in tears.
Zhang Zuolin and Japan are still in a cooperative relationship, why did Japan kill him? What is the reason for Yoshiichi Tanaka's tearful sigh?
Behind this complicated relationship, we may be able to understand what kind of person Zhang Zuolin is.
Denied cooperation, the Northern Expedition failed
The story between the Japanese and Zhang Zuolin can actually be traced back to 1894, after Japan invaded China through the Sino-Japanese War. However, at that time, Zhang Zuolin had not yet entered the eyes of the Japanese.
As we all know, Japan has always been an ambitious country. After they opened China's door from the sea, they wanted to further occupy Chinese land. Of course, in order to be justified, they must first support a Chinese.
Choosing from the warlords was the best thing they could do at the time.
As a result, Duan Qirui became the first choice of the Japanese.
They sent representatives to cooperate with Duan Qirui, and both sides took what they needed. The Japanese provided the warlords with financial and resource support, and when the warlords seized real power in the Chinese government, they had to cede some of their power to Japan.
Japan's wishful thinking was jingling, but they did not expect that after Duan Qirui got enough benefits from the Japanese, he turned his face and refused to admit it, unilaterally cutting off the cooperation between the two sides.
Are Japanese people angry? Definitely angry, but they have no choice at the moment. To be able to further control China, they must follow the same path.
And the second warlord to enter their line of sight was Zhang Zuolin, who was stationed in the northeast.
Zhang Zuolin is known as the king of the Northeast, but his power has actually grown little by little with the support of the Japanese.
Of course, the Japanese will not provide assistance for no reason. They demanded that Zhang Zuolin promise that the land and railway in the northeast must be handed over to them. Moreover, when the loan period expires, Zhang Zuolin must repay the loan immediately.
This is actually a surrender of sovereignty in disguise, and Zhang Zuolin himself knows it.
He agreed, and in order to prevent him from changing his mind, the Japanese also specially prepared an agreement. This time, Japan can completely feel confident and bold in lending money to Zhang Zuolin.
Under Zhang Zuolin's attitude of turning a blind eye, the Japanese Kwantung Army also gradually developed and grew. They dispersed to the lands of the three northeastern provinces, ready to gather strength for the final blow.
I thought everything would go smoothly, but this time, the Japanese also underestimated the extent to which Zhang Zuolin "did not want face".
On the day of the repayment date, Zhang Zuolin came to the Japanese conference room surrounded by his men. In the face of the Japanese demand for repayment, he flatly denied it.
"I can't read, and the name on the agreement is not signed by me at all. Lao Tzu put the words here today, and I don't want money here. If you really want money, then go to the Beiyang government and ask for it! ”
Obviously, the Beiyang government would not take care of the previous private transactions between the Japanese and Zhang Zuolin. So even if the Japanese were so angry that they jumped to their feet again, they had no choice.
I wanted to break off the cooperation with Zhang Zuolin, but the Japanese are really in a difficult state of riding a tiger.
It is impossible for them to watch the fat in their hands fly away, and as long as they want to further expand their power in the northeast, they cannot let Zhang Zuolin leave it alone.
In the subsequent cooperation, Zhang Zuolin continued to implement the three words "not admitting the account" to the end. Especially when the Japanese proposed to want land and railways in the northeast, Zhang Zuolin directly refused.
Zhang Zuolin broke the agreement several times, which greatly annoyed the Japanese. And what really made them think that Zhang Zuolin had lost his value was his defeat in the Northern Expedition.
A warlord's troops are limited in number and not advanced in training.
When they confront a large army under the unified control of the government, a quick victory may be the best approach. Once the war enters into a stalemate, they are bound to fall to the downside.
It's just that Zhang Zuolin was a little blindly arrogant, and he didn't realize it at the time. And the result of the defeat of the Northern Expedition gave him a head-on blow.
What he did not know was that the attitude of the Japanese towards him had quietly changed. Since this person has no use value, it is better to get rid of it quickly.
Forced back to the northeast, the station was ambushed
After much hardship and great cost, Zhang Zuolin finally occupied Beiping. This is a milestone for him in his warlord career.
So when he heard his request to return to the northeast, his first reaction must be to refuse.
This request was made to him by the Japanese envoy Fang Ze, who believed that Peiping would not only not become the fruit of Zhang Zuolin's victory, but would also put him in shackles.
Even if he took Peiping, he did not have the ability to defend Peiping.
So at this moment, the most important thing Zhang Zuolin should do is to return to the Northeast Base Camp. If possible, it is better for him to retreat outside the pass and form a separatist force.
Fang Ze threatened him: "If you still insist on staying in Peiping, then our government can tell you clearly that we will break the cooperation with you and no longer provide you with any armed assistance." As for the northeast, we will have our own way to get it. ”
This is a naked threat from the Japanese, and Zhang Zuolin cannot allow the Japanese to unilaterally sabotage cooperation, nor can he watch northeast China fall into the hands of the Japanese. So he only had one path to choose from, and that was to go back.
Zhang Zuolin was full of sorrow, but Zhang Xueliang was not impressed.
He told his father: "From the day you hit Beiping, we should be mentally prepared, staying in Beiping is not a long-term plan. Now Chiang Kai-shek is putting so much pressure on us, once the Second Northern Expedition is successful, if we do not defend in the northeast, I am afraid that we will not even be able to preserve our original strength. ”
Zhang Xueliang saw the score clearly, so he made the most pertinent advice to his father. It was also his son's words that really made Zhang Zuolin make a decision.
But he didn't know, he thought that the trip home was smooth, but in fact, the destination was not his northeast, but under the nine springs.
On June 3, Zhang Zuolin embarked on a train back to the northeast. Along the way, his mood was very low, because giving up Beiping meant that he gave up the results he had personally won.
More importantly, he saw the real situation at the moment. Even if you are a warlord, he does not have the ability to fight the Beiyang government head-on.
The next day, when the train gradually approached the Huanggutun station, Zhang Zuolin saw a lot of Japanese Kwantung Army, but he did not raise his vigilance.
The Kwantung Army grew up under his indulgence, so he didn't think these people would end up biting him back.
But in fact, before he passed the station, the Kwantung Army had already planted explosives under the ground in advance, and the amount was enough to kill him. The Japanese were determined to leave Zhang Zuolin's life here.
Unguarded, he fell into a massive explosion. The entire train cars 9 to 12 were all blown up, and their shape was terrible.
Zhang Zuolin's henchman was shot through the head by explosives on the spot and immediately stopped breathing. And Zhang Zuolin himself was also seriously injured.
But to the surprise of the Japanese, Zhang Zuolin did not die on the spot, and he struggled to climb out of the broken carriage.
Although he was covered in blood and could not see his face clearly, he did escape from the most dangerous place with one breath.
After being discovered by his subordinates, Zhang Zuolin was also urgently sent to Shenyang and immediately received treatment. But his injuries were too serious, the large arteries on his body had ruptured, and even the most skilled doctors were powerless.
A generation of tyrants was completely wiped out of the political arena by the Japanese.
Some people say that there are traitors in Zhang Zuolin's carriage.
The Prime Minister of Japan, looking up to the sky and sighing
Throughout Zhang Zuolin's trip, two people behaved very suspiciously. Without exception, both of them got off before the train passed through Huanggutun Station.
One person is Zhang Zuolin's sixth wife, Ma Yueqing, and her most suspicious point comes from her network of relationships, among which there is an important person, Yoshiko Kawashima.
This person's name must be familiar to everyone, she is a female agent trained by the Japanese at great expense, and she has caused great damage in the work of the anti-Japanese coalition forces in the northeast.
From Ma Yueqing's body, she may have obtained important information and understood Zhang Zuolin's plan. For the sake of friendship, she hinted that Ma Yueqing could get off the bus in advance on the way.
Another figure is Zhang Zuolin's secretary Jin Yunpeng. His contacts with the Japanese were very close, even closer than Zhang Zuolin himself. Behind Zhang Zuolin's back, he and the Japanese government may have reached some kind of agreement.
Therefore, he disclosed all of Zhang Zuolin's plans to the Japanese in advance, and it was also convenient for the Kwantung Army to set up an ambush at the Huanggutun Station. And he knew what was going to happen ahead, so he would naturally get off early in the middle of the way.
Of course, whether the above two are traitors or not, so far there is no clear conclusion. All kinds of inferences are speculation, and there is no evidence to prove it.
But what we can be sure of is that there is one Japanese who does not want to see Zhang Zuolin die, and this man is Takema Machino. Before Zhang Zuolin set off, he said a word.
"You can change your plans and choose to leave during the day. At night, the road ahead is not clear, and the safety factor will definitely be reduced. ”
Zhang Zuolin did not take his words to heart, remained stubborn and chose to travel at night. But he was indeed killed at night. If he listened to Machino Takema's words, maybe he could get away with it.
Machino Takema's approach actually represents the attitude of another faction in the Japanese government.
This faction is headed by Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiichi Tanaka. They do not want to take the initiative to tear the veil of cooperation between the two countries, nor do they want to see war coming.
However, Yoshiichi Tanaka still got the news of Zhang Zuolin's death from the newspaper. When he saw this news, he rubbed his eyes vigorously, and he was a little incredulous for a while.
The Japanese government has dealt with Zhang Zuolin for so many years, and knows very well what a cunning and difficult character Zhang Zuolin is.
Such a person is really difficult to solve, but he dies in an unexpected way, so it causes a huge psychological gap.
When Yoshi Tanaka finished reading the entire news word by word, he couldn't help but look up to the sky and sigh and burst into tears.
The secretary next to him saw him like this and quickly asked the prime minister what was wrong.
Yoshiichi Tanaka replied: "Zhang Zuolin's death represents that Japan has lifted the mask of hypocrisy. His son, Zhang Xueliang, will definitely not give up with us. We could have taken the northeast into our hands in a more conciliatory way, but now, we have to admit that we can only invade the northeast through war. ”
Despite his ambitions, Yoshiichi Tanaka did not really want to see war happen. War is not just a matter between two countries, and once it expands, it will even affect the whole of Asia and the whole world.
And the Japanese government will inevitably pay the price in the war, whether it is human or financial, it will pay more than Zhang Zuolin was alive.
Once a war starts, no one can stand alone. Even the victor must go through various tribulations to finally achieve victory.
Therefore, Yoshiichi Tanaka sighed, lamenting the imminent arrival of war and lamenting the imminent occurrence of grief.
If Zhang Zuolin is comprehensively evaluated, he is also worthy of the title of a generation of tyrants, leaving a figure on the stage of modern Chinese history.