Peace talks behind the battlefield of the Battle of Nanjing (3).
Todmann reported the conversation to Berlin. Berlin said: "At the moment we do not want to go beyond the status of a postman". This directive of Germany** has to a certain extent suppressed the enthusiasm of Ambassador Todmann, who is running for peace.
On November 2, Dixon telegraphed Todman and conveyed seven peace conditions proposed by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs: 1. Inner Mongolia would be autonomous, and its international status would be similar to that of Outer Mongolia2. To demarcate a demilitarized zone in North China along the border of Manchukuo to the south of Tianjin and Beiping, with the Chinese police force to maintain law and order. If a peace treaty is concluded immediately, the administrative power in North China will still be entirely vested in Nanjing**, but it will be headed by a pro-Japanese person, and if a peace treaty cannot be concluded immediately, a new political power will be established3. Expand the demilitarized zone in Shanghai and establish an international police force to control itFourth, the cessation of the anti-Japanese policy;5. Common opposition to communism;6. Reducing tariffs on Japan;7. Respect the rights of foreigners in China. Germany** also telegraphed Todmann, believing that it would be more appropriate to use the conditions proposed by the Japanese side as a basis for starting negotiations. However, it did not convey the content of the threat that Japanese Foreign Minister Hirota Hiroki had finished talking about in addition to the seven peace conditions: If Japan were to continue the war, Japan would continue until the final collapse of China, at which point the conditions would be greatly increased. On November 3, the Brussels International Conference was held in the case of 800 brave men of the **88 Division alone guarding the Sixing Warehouse, and 19 countries including China, the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union participated in the meeting, and the Soviet Union was also invited to participate in the meeting as a non-member of the Nine-Power Convention, and Japan and Germany did not attend. Gu Weijun, a representative of China, asked the participating countries to put moral, material, and economic pressure on Japan. On the same day, Chiang Kai-shek convened a meeting to study the Japanese peace "memorandum" that Manaimu had entrusted Falkenhausen to convey to Chiang Kai-shek. Some participants were of the view that Japan did not demand recognition of the puppet Manchurians, nor did it demand reparations, and that the conditions were not harsh. Because the battle of Songhu was still unpredictable at this time, and Falkenhausen was not enthusiastic about this "memorandum" of peace talks, which also affected Chiang Kai-shek's judgment, Chairman Chiang decided that the Sino-Japanese negotiations must be based on the participation of a third country in the negotiations. It was not until November 5, after the successful landing of the Japanese 10th Army at Jinshanwei, that Chiang Kai-shek received Todman, and the Japanese peace conditions were officially conveyed to China**. Chiang Kai-shek still pinned great hopes on the League of Nations at this time, on the one hand, he took the military confrontation in the Battle of Songhu as a weight to cooperate with the "Nine-Power Pact" meeting, and pinned his hopes on the harder China's resistance and the more confident the League of Nations would be in its adjustmentOn the other hand, they were also worried that the cunning Japanese would backtrack. Therefore, Chiang said that as long as Japan does not return to the status quo ante before the July 7 Incident, he will not accept any of Japan's conditions. After the meeting, Todman reported Chairman Chiang's opinion to Berlin. On 7 November, the League of Nations meeting in Brussels adjourned for one day and sent another note to Japan, urging it to participate. On November 8, Dixon reported China's views to Japanese Foreign Minister Hiroki Hirota. He also said: China is cooperating with other countries at the Brussels meeting, so it cannot officially admit that it has received Japan's request. On this day, Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province, fell, and the defenders on the south bank of the Suzhou Creek began to withdraw. On November 9, when Falkenhausen discussed the current situation with Kong Xiangxi, vice president of the Executive Yuan, and Bai Chongxi, deputy chief of the general staff, he emphatically emphasized that "the war situation is serious" and reminded Kong Xiangxi to pay attention to the fact that "if the war drags on, China's economy will collapse, and communism will occur in China." On the one hand, Falkenhausen was concerned that the squadron was gradually disadvantaged on the battlefield, and on the other hand, he also began to worry that China's closeness to the Soviet Union would damage Germany's interests in China. But at this time, Chiang Kai-shek still had great hopes for the Brussels international conference, so the peace negotiations were effectively at a standstill. As the Brussels International Conference drew to a close, Japan** feared that the conference might adopt a resolution that would be unfavorable to its side, and on November 12, Japan formally rejected the League of Nations' invitation again. On the 13th, when the Chinese side was studying the matter of peace with Japan and Italy, Chiang Kai-shek believed that the international situation was favorable to China at this time, and that the terms of peace with Japan should not be considered for the time being. Emphasis should be placed on the strategy of moving the capital and waging guerrilla warfare against Japan. On 15 November, the State Government convened a supreme meeting on national defense, at which it was decided that the Kuomintang and the Kuomintang Party headquarters would be moved to Chongqing, and that the location of the Military Commission would be decided by Chairman Chiang at his discretion. It can be seen from this that China no longer has much hope for international mediation. On November 16 and 21, the Brussels meeting was adjourned, during which China and Japan** paid close attention to the situation, and China** announced the news of moving the capital to Chongqing on the 20th, which is expected to have a positive impact on the resolution of the meeting. On November 22, Japanese Foreign Minister Hiroki Hirota informed Dixon that although Japan had won successive victories in China, the conditions for the basic peace talks had not been escalated, and he hoped that Germany would convey this intention to China. During this period, Shanghai fell, the Japanese army drove straight in, and the squadron became more and more vulnerable.
The Brussels Conference, which ended on November 24, although it clearly internationalized the Sino-Japanese war and reached a consensus on peace-loving countries to isolate the invading forces in the world, was also the starting point for the Soviet Union, the United States, and Britain to seek to support China and isolate Japan. However, it failed to pass the request of Chinese representative Gu Weijun, which is the most urgent need of China's participating countries to impose economic sanctions on Japan, stop providing loans, military supplies, and provide military assistance to China. Italy voted against the resolution and Norway, Sweden and Denmark abstained.
Chiang Kai-shek, while eagerly awaiting a resolution from the Brussels Conference that would benefit China, deployed resistance on all defensive lines, but because most of the elite troops failed to be repaired after the Battle of Songhu, the combat effectiveness of the troops, especially the morale, was low despite the replenishment of new troops. On the other hand, the morale of the officers and men of the Japanese army was unprecedentedly high through successive victories, and the battlefield morale of the two armies, which had already suffered a huge gap, opened up a large section of the combat strength of the two armies.