A Journey Through the Flames of War in the Republican Era

Wang Zhi pointed to a New York Times headline, "Lytton Commission of the League of Nations Established to Conduct On-Site Investigation in the Far East," and asked Song Hongfei, "This long-awaited League of Nations commission is finally coming. What do you think about this?"

Song Hongfei smiled bitterly: "Both the Chinese National Government and Marshal Zhang have been clinging to the League of Nations as a lifeline. If it were truly useful, the Japanese would have withdrawn their troops long ago, instead of continuing to reinforce the League of Nations in their own way."

Zhang Yi seemed to have an epiphany and said, "Yes, the only true principle is that your own fist is strong."

"That's right! It's just a facade of civilization erected by the great powers to bully the weak, a hypocrite who wants to have his cake and eat it too!" Song Hongfei said disdainfully. "Between nations, interests come first, and strength reigns supreme! If the Japanese were to invade India, I'm afraid the American fleet would have already arrived."

Wang Zhidao: "Hongfei, do you mean that since Britain and France, who control the League of Nations, have little interest in the Kanto region, they should just stay out of it?"

Song Hongfei nodded.

The Fengcheng Incident was not only an infringement on China's sovereign territory, but also a blatant challenge to the Versailles-Washington system established after World War I through the Paris Peace Conference in 19 and the Washington Conference in 21.

On September 19, after receiving a telegram from Marshal Zhang informing them of the events, the Central Committee of the Chinese government held an emergency meeting and resolved to appeal to the League of Nations to lodge a strong protest against Japan and to notify the nation that it must unite to resist foreign aggression.

On September 21, an emergency meeting of the Central Standing Committee was held, and a strategy was formulated to "unite internally, unify China, resist Japanese pirates, emphasize diplomacy, awaken the people, and restore the Kanto region." At the same time, a complaint was lodged with the League of Nations, requesting an investigation and mediation, and demanding that the United States invoke the Kellogg-Briand Pact to lead the signatory countries in stopping Japan.

The Kanto region is vast and rich in resources, including abundant coal and iron, and possesses a relatively strong modern industrial base. The powers of Japan, the Soviet Union, and the United States are deeply intertwined. Japan's desire to monopolize Kanto would naturally harm the interests of the United States, the Soviet Union, and other major powers; this is the premise for international mediation.

At that time, Guandong was the territory of the powerful regional governor Zhang Shaoshuai, who had great autonomy over all affairs, while the Huaxia National Government only had nominal authority to issue orders.

Faced with the thorny situation presented by Zhang Xueliang, the Chinese government's plan was: Zhang Xueliang must first find a way to save himself, and at the same time use the League of Nations and the great powers to intervene and make peace at the lowest possible cost.

Because there were successful examples of "international intervention to return Liaodong" in the past, the Chinese government and Marshal Zhang Xiaoping both bet on the League of Nations mediation and intervention by European and American powers.

However, this is in accordance with common sense. After the Japanese won the victory without lifting a finger, their ambitions swelled to an extreme. Their madness and obsession could no longer be fathomed by common sense.

Out of consideration for its own interests, the Soviet Union did not want a direct conflict with Japan. Apart from verbal condemnation and protests, the Soviet Union twice expressed to Japan that it would not interfere in the conflict between China and Japan.

Other Western powers did not have much direct interest or influence in the Kanto region, so they had to rely on the United States.

The Chinese government had long anticipated the US's role in counterbalancing Japan in the Kanto region. Starting in the late 20s, it formulated a strategy of "allying with the US to suppress Japan," strongly supporting American capital in Kanto trade. US capital supported the Kanto Transportation Committee's plan to construct three railways originating from Hulucheng.

However, the Japanese would not sit idly by. Before the United States could even implement its massive investment plan in the Kanto region, the incident had already broken out.

Aside from issuing a few perfunctory condemnations, the United States has actually adopted a conciliatory approach, advocating that both sides cease the conflict and engage in negotiations.

US Secretary of State Stimson told Japan's Ambassador to the US, Katsuji Izubuchi, that the US would not interfere with Japan, but the Japanese government should stop the military from escalating the situation and ensure that its actions in the Kanto region are limited to the area north of Jinzhou.

The United States has always been a business-oriented nation, prioritizing profit over morality. At the time, major powers such as the United States, Britain, and France were all mired in a severe economic crisis. These countries all had close and profitable trade relations with Japan, and naturally, they were unwilling to offend Japan and harm their own economic interests.

The League of Nations, controlled by the two European powers, Britain and France, was well aware of the stakes involved. It kept an eye on the United States and, seeing that the United States was unwilling to mediate, continued to play hard to get.

This is also a major reason why the Chinese government has repeatedly requested the United States and the League of Nations to impose economic sanctions on Japan, but has been refused.

On September 22, the League of Nations passed its first emergency resolution, demanding that both sides exercise restraint, cease all conflict, and withdraw their troops. While this resolution appeared "fair" on the surface, it actually obscured the truth and favored Japan.

Japan was the aggressor, and China was the victim. To demand that China exercise restraint and withdraw its troops, treating the aggressor and the victim equally, is utterly absurd!

In fact, after the League of Nations Council was re-elected in September of that year, Japan, along with the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy, were five permanent members. Naturally, it strongly opposed any resolutions that were unfavorable to it.

Emboldened by the favoritism and indulgence of the League of Nations and Western powers, Japan became even more reckless and took advantage of the situation to continue its expansion and advancement.

Clearly, the League of Nations and the great powers were no longer reliable, and the hopes of the Chinese government had become mere illusions; ultimately, they could only rely on themselves. But the best opportunity had already been wasted, and the Japanese had gradually gained a foothold.

On September 30, the League of Nations passed its second resolution, a vague and ineffective proposal suggesting that Japan withdraw its troops. This proposal, of course, lacked any concrete measures and was not feasible in any way. Naturally, Japan rejected this withdrawal resolution.

As the Soviet Union grew increasingly powerful, Western powers such as Britain, France, and the United States both hated and feared it, with "preventing the Soviet Union and preventing communism" being the most deeply ingrained ideology. They actively pursued a so-called "appeasement policy," not wanting to directly clash with Japan, but instead trying their best to win Japan over to deal with the Soviet Union.

The Western powers' calculation was: to refrain from interfering with Japan's vested interests in Northeast China, to confine Japan's aggression and expansion to the area outside the Great Wall, to let Japan and the Soviet Union fight each other like the snipe and the clam, and to reap the benefits while securing their own interests within the Great Wall.

At the most sensitive moment, the Western powers pursued this self-serving "appeasement policy," much to the delight of the Japanese. As a robber, the Japanese would naturally not take the initiative to negotiate with China, much less spit out what they had already taken.

On October 8, the Japanese Kwantung Army began probing bombings of Jinzhou and threatened to launch another military operation. The League of Nations had taken a tougher stance because if the Japanese army crossed Jinzhou, it would invade North China, where the West held significant interests.

On October 24, the League of Nations passed its third resolution, demanding that Japan withdraw to the area before the incident by November 16, and proposing that China and Japan negotiate directly after the withdrawal of the Japanese army.

Surprisingly, the United States, which was attending the meeting, did not support the League of Nations' resolution. Stimson even stated: "As long as China agrees, the United States will not oppose Japan achieving its goals in the Kanto region through non-military means."

It must be admitted that the Eastern Kingdom's maneuvering was very successful. It made full use of the differences in interests among the United States, Britain and France, and determined that the League of Nations had neither the intention nor the ability to interfere with the Eastern Kingdom's aggression.

On October 26, Japan issued its Second Government Statement on the Manchurian Incident, continuing to falsely accuse China and refusing to withdraw its troops under the pretext of protecting regional security and Japanese nationals. The League of Nations resolution once again became a dead letter.

In early November, the Japanese army began its invasion of Heilongjiang Province.

The British and American powers were overjoyed, believing that their plan to divert the trouble from the East to the Soviet Union was about to succeed. The American consul in Harbin also stated in his report that "the actions of the East are aimed at the Soviet Union."

On November 16, the very day that the League of Nations resolved the deadline for the withdrawal of Japanese troops, the Japanese army began a large-scale troop reinforcement, launched an attack on northern Manchuria, and cut off the Chinese Eastern Railway.

However, the Japanese army did not march north to attack the Soviet Union as the Western powers had expected, as it dared not provoke the powerful Soviet Union rashly. After capturing Qiqihar, the capital of Heilongjiang Province, the Japanese army turned its attention to southern Manchuria, heading straight for Chengdu, ignoring the demands of the Japanese government, and preparing to advance south.

The Japanese army undoubtedly slapped the League of Nations and the Western powers in the face in front of the whole world.

Stimson then realized: "The Japanese government has no control over the military; the entire East is completely in the hands of a bunch of mad dogs."

Subsequently, the United States announced economic sanctions against Japan, and the Japanese government immediately backed down. On November 21, the Japanese Foreign Minister announced that Japan would withdraw its troops from Qicheng as soon as possible.

At this critical moment, whether intentionally or by coincidence, the relatively rational Wakakizaki cabinet collapsed on December 11, and the hardliner Inukai Tsuyoshi formed a new cabinet, fully implementing the policy of aggression against China and pressing towards Jinzhou, the gateway to the Kanto region.

Shi Zhaoji, the representative of China, requested the League of Nations to impose economic sanctions on Japan. Stimson told Britain, France and other countries: "We do not oppose economic sanctions, but we will not participate."

To put it bluntly, it's cunning: I approve of you going, but I won't go myself.

Ultimately, the United States issued a statement: it did not recognize Japan's gains from its aggression in the Kanto region, but it would not impose sanctions on Japan. This is the famous "Stimson Doctrine."

In fact, as early as September 21, the Chinese government requested the League of Nations to organize an international investigation team to investigate the truth of the Fengcheng Incident, with the aim of using the power of the League of Nations to stop the invasion of the Eastern Kingdom and recover the territory and sovereignty of the Kanto region.

It wasn't until December 10th, at the repeated request of the Chinese government, that the League of Nations passed a resolution to establish an investigation team.

The League of Nations investigation was not formally established until January 21 of the following year.

The investigation team, led by Sir John Lytton, a native of the United States, and composed of representatives from five countries—Britain, the United States, France, Germany, and Italy—departed from France on February 3 of the following year.

This symbolically dispatched investigation team, however, seemed to have embarked on a decadent leisure trip, indulging in a world of song and dance, and did not play any substantial role other than "muddying the waters".

The Western powers were not against Japan's aggression against China; they were merely concerned that after occupying Northeast China, Japan would expand further into the interior, harming their interests. They were not concerned with upholding China's sovereignty; they were concerned with protecting their own interests within China.

There is no inherent friendship between nations, only enduring interests.

The law of nature dictates that the strong prey on the weak and the weak are vulnerable to attack.

Instead of rising up to resist immediately, the Fengtian Army retreated step by step, allowing the Eastern Kingdom to occupy this bridgehead of its full-scale invasion. A weak nation has no diplomacy, and the Chinese government was helpless, placing its hopes on the League of Nations and the great powers for matters concerning national interests. Warlord conflicts, political instability, poverty and weakness, and internal and external difficulties meant that the country had to rely on others for everything.

This is the root cause of the tragic and heroic disaster that led to the Chinese nation's 14 years of suffering.