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 storm was last night.

People around Bethany Monastery and Sheung Wan had just gone out to clean the front and back of their houses when they saw military vehicles roaring past on the road.

Not long after, shocking news 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, and a large number of British soldiers, led by police officers, launched large-scale searches of various hotels in the port city.

"Open the door!"

"Peng Peng Peng!"

In the morning, Zuo Zhong's door was knocked heavily. 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 luggage in the room. They didn't even let go of the clothes in their luggage and took them out one by one for careful inspection.

It wasn't 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 Zhongtanding 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 mahogany 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 Yankee Lao, 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 food and clothing.

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 customers, several waiters heard the news and quickly restored the room to its original state.

In order to apologize, the manager also sent a free breakfast as compensation before leaving, and also stated 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 was delivered 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 big 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 the three reports in the supplement, and the contents instantly attracted his attention.

The title of the first report was "The wife of Lieutenant General Abe's house was paid to Tsujimura / Eiko's tears of gratitude, the widow's book surprise / On the other side of the play, the sadness of Yukichanan".

The title is translated into Chinese, which means that after learning about the death of Lieutenant General Abe, a woman named Tsujimura rushed to Abe's house to express her gratitude to his wife.

The legendary star, 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) was annihilated by the subordinates who rescued Zhongzhongbo / The commander of the final front line / Detailed report of the death in the battle

》.

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 can I say? Since the founding of the Imperial Army, there have been many battles, 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 lofty 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 sky locust. 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 him from cursing out loud. He recalled in his mind the information collected by Juntong about Norihide Abe.

Speaking of which, this famous general's flower was actually a low-level student of Lu Shi. He was not at all as capable of fighting as the Japanese publicized, and his talent was at best average.

Abe Kihide was born in an ordinary family in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. He was inspired by the Sino-Japanese War during the Sino-Japanese War 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 the Lushi period, 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 left.

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 "Wuten 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 regiment, the 8th Division, 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 commander or a battalion commander, 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, 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.

From this point of view, 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, not long after Norihide Abe completed the gilding of the First Brigade, he was rushed by the Japanese military headquarters to the Second Independent Mixed Brigade.

What is an independent mixed brigade?

The Japanese army had independent mixed brigades 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". Its overall combat effectiveness is relatively poor among the Japanese army.

Of course, Norihide Abe's lieutenant general rank is genuine.

But upon closer inspection, his promotion experience is very strange. When he was promoted to major general in 1937, Abe was already 51 years old. He was promoted to major general at this age, which was obviously a bit late.

What is strange 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 both China and Japan. At least the famous flower of the general is a bit 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 they would soon bring the Republic of China to its knees. 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 relatively famous at first, transformed from a Tsubaki to a 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.
To be continued...