Chapter 179: Sino-Japanese Peace Talks
When the cheers of Chinese soldiers rang out everywhere in Jinzhou City, Wei Jichen knew that this city was completely his own.
"Dig the entire city three feet deep and leave no enemy behind!" Wei Jichen lit a cigar and immediately issued this order with a nonchalant look on his face.
Although Wei Jichen did not want to let any Japanese go, his order was actually mainly aimed at the treasures looted by the Japanese. It was just that he was embarrassed to say that the whole city was looking for the money left by the Japanese.
"Yes, Commander Wei!" Several of the messengers looked down with admiration on their faces.
When Wei Jichen seized Jinzhou, in addition to performing a beheading operation, the most important thing was to seek the treasures. Therefore, he would not defend Jinzhou because Jinzhou is located at the center of Fuzhou, Dalian Bay, and the mouth of Lushun, so it is easy for the Japanese to escape. Attacks swarmed from all directions.
Therefore, as soon as he captured the city, he considered retreating. Of course, a symbolic occupation of two or three days was still necessary to add some chips to Li Hongzhang at the negotiation table.
"Commander Wei, we found a warehouse in the west of the city, containing countless gold and silver."
"Commander Wei, we found a warehouse in the east of the city, containing a mountain of copper coins."
…
While Wei Jichen was closing his eyes in deep thought, a sergeant came to report to him happily.
Wei Jichen, who had already explored the true and false situation of Jinzhou City, was not too surprised. His expression remained the same as he stood up and said, "Let's go and take a look."
Odera Anshun led a group of defeated soldiers and fled back to Dalian Bay in panic. While hurriedly reporting to the base camp, he actively contacted the Japanese troops in Lushun and Fuzhou to prepare to recapture Jinzhou City.
We have two brigades in Fuzhou, more than 5,000 people who have just arrived in Dalian Bay, and the garrison at Lushunkou. Daishi Anchun does not believe that Jinzhou cannot be recaptured.
Just thinking about the countless jewels and money in Jinzhou City made his heart ache.
Shimonoseki, Japan, Chunfan Tower.
China and Japan have already gone through the first negotiation, and today is the second confrontation.
Soon, the peace negotiators from China and Japan entered the venue one after another. After everyone sat down, they entered the negotiation process.
In addition to Li Hongzhang, the Chinese representatives also included counselors Li Jingfang, counselors Luo Fenglu, Ma Jianzhong, Wu Tingfang, and translators Lu Yongming, Luo Gengling and others.
The plenipotentiary ministers of Japan are Ito Hirobumi, Mutsu Munemitsu, plus several Ministry of Foreign Affairs personnel.
Li Hongzhang first chatted with Ito Hirobumi for a while.
Ito Hirobumi could not hide the pride in his eyes, but Li Hongzhang was submissive and did not dare to speak loudly.
Li Hongzhang took a peek underneath and saw that the chairs on which his own peace negotiators were sitting were half shorter than those on the Japanese side. He couldn't help but feel extremely sad, thinking that Li Hongzhang had been at home and abroad for more than ten years, and no matter which country he went to, he was not treated like a distinguished guest. , but now he has to be insulted here.
Fortunately, the Japanese themselves are short in stature, so the Chinese and Japanese representatives appear to be about the same height.
Li Hongzhang took out the imperial edict and the terms of the armistice and handed it to Ito. Ito also took out his own edict and handed it to Li Hongzhang while asking with a smile: "Does Wei Jichen hold any position in your country?"
Li Hongzhang was stunned. He didn't expect that he would ask about Wei Jichen. Fortunately, Li Hongzhang was also very concerned about Wei Jichen and replied: "Now he serves under Song Qing."
Hirobumi Ito laughed with a hint of sarcasm, and said: "Your country Wei Jichen has caused a lot of trouble for the empire. I thought he would lead an army alone, but I didn't expect it to be a small job."
Li Hongzhang smiled awkwardly and did not reply.
At this time, Luo Fenglu had already translated the terms of the armistice that the Japanese had replied to and explained them.
The so-called armistice terms are the price paid by both sides to stop fighting during the peace talks.
Of course, judging from the current situation where the Japanese army has the upper hand, China can only accept the attack. In Li Hongzhang's heart, it would be lucky to be able to cease the war. If the war continues, the whole of Shandong will not know whether it can still belong to China.
"Zhongtang, the Japanese asked us to do the following before we agreed to the armistice: Japanese troops should occupy Dagu, Tianjin, Haicheng, and all the cities and fortresses there. The Chinese troops stationed in the above-mentioned places must be All military camps and military supplies shall be temporarily managed by the Japanese army. During the armistice period, the military supplies of the Japanese army shall be subsidized by the Qing Dynasty.”
Li Hongzhang was shocked. He didn't expect the Japanese to be so harsh.
The armistice clauses were only prepared for the purpose of negotiating peace. The two sides stopped fighting and sat down to negotiate. Unexpectedly, the Japanese actually wanted to obtain through the armistice clauses what they had not yet obtained on the battlefield.
Li Hongzhang shook his head quickly and said: "These three places are all dangerous places. If the armistice expires and the peace talks fail, and your army takes over this place, our army will not be able to defend it."
Ito Hirobumi said expressionlessly: "The current situation is like this. Your country has no intention of negotiating peace, but I have always wanted to negotiate peace. If these three places are not used as pledges, I am afraid the situation will change again. Besides, our army All the generals in the army do not agree with the armistice and hope to invade Beijing. How can I convince the generals in the military if we don’t capture these three places?”
Li Hongzhang knew that his army was at a disadvantage. During the peace negotiation period, the Japanese might be able to capture these places with guns and artillery, but he couldn't do it if he were asked to give it up. He had to say: "It is extremely difficult to agree to this."
Ito raised his eyebrows and sneered: "Nakadou should think it over carefully when we go back and then give an answer. I'll give you three days and give me the answer after three days."
After Ito finished speaking, he led a group of Japanese negotiators and walked out slowly.
Li Hongzhang was so angry that his beard stood up again and again, but he was helpless.
"Go back and send a telegram to ask the Zongli Yamen." Li Hongzhang stood up weakly.
It is said that Ito Hirobumi and Mutsu Munemitsu had just returned to their place of stay when they received a secret telegram from the Hiroshima headquarters: "Wei Jichen broke through Jinzhou City, and Yamaji Motoharu unfortunately died for the empire."
Ito Hirobumi was shocked. He didn't expect that this incident would happen at the critical moment of peace talks. He immediately called back the headquarters: try to retake Jinzhou City at all costs.
"The Army Department is a bunch of rubbish. They even lost Jinzhou." When Mutsu Munemitsu was the only one left in the room, Ito finally couldn't help but burst into anger.
"Li Hongzhang must not know about this. We must delay for a few days until Jinzhou returns to the hands of the Empire of Japan before we can renegotiate." Mutsu Munemitsu said with a frown.
"Don't worry about this. The calls between Li Hongzhang and the Qing Dynasty's Zongli Yamen were all sent through the imperial telegraph department. It's no problem to delay for a few days. I'm just worried about whether the army can recapture Jinzhou." Ito Hirobumi said with a look of annoyance. If he had pressed Li Hongzhang a little more, Li Hongzhang might have agreed.
"The imperial army must strengthen the offensive on the Shandong Peninsula to weaken the impact of the fall of Jinzhou City, and immediately send troops to Penghu to prepare for the acquisition of Taiwan in the next peace talks." Ito Hirobumi walked around the room for a few times and thought of these methods.
After returning to his residence, Li Hongzhang also sighed.
"The Japanese armistice terms are really incredible. Father, in my opinion, we should put aside the negotiation of the armistice terms and talk about the peace terms first." Seeing this, Li Jingfang next to him had to persuade him.
Li Hongzhang shook his head and said, "If we don't negotiate the terms of the armistice first, I will feel uneasy. If the Japanese increase their troops and expand the war during the peace talks, the terms of the peace talks will be even more harsh."
"Let's see how the Zongli Yamen responds first." Li Hongzhang said with a tired face.
That night, Li Hongzhang telegraphed the Japanese armistice terms to the Zongli Yamen.
At this time, Guizi Liu, Sun Yuwen, Xu Yongyi and others were in the Zongli Yamen. They had received a telegram from Liaodong to recover Jinzhou not long ago. Surprised, they hurriedly sent a telegram to Japan, asking Li Hongzhang to discuss it as appropriate.
Who knew that not long after the telegram was sent out, the Japanese armistice terms were taken back. Looking at the terms above, even the faces of the few people who strongly advocated peace were completely gloomy.
If these places were ceded to the Japanese, the Japanese army would be able to graze horses in Beijing at any time. Who knows whether they will believe in the armistice agreement? If they don't, they won't even have a place to cry.
"The Japanese actually ignored our army's recovery of Jinzhou. It seems that they are determined to continue the war." Xu Yongyi said worriedly.
"Alas, at this time, we can only ask Li Hongzhang to negotiate as soon as possible. As for the armistice agreement, we can put it aside for now. We should get the peace terms as soon as possible and end this war." Guiziliu and Li Jingfang agreed that they should ask for the peace terms first.