『大東亜戦争への道』（展転社）
中村 粲
その５０ 第十三章 盧溝橋事件の真相 第１節 事件の発生と推移
昭和１２年７月７日夜１０時４０分頃、北京西方１２キロの盧溝橋北側の永定河左岸の河川敷で演習を終了した支那駐屯歩兵第１連隊第３大隊第８中隊に対して、突如数発の銃弾が河畔堤防の竜王廟付近から発砲されたのが盧溝橋事件の発端です。
この時清水中隊長、野地第１小隊長、岩谷軍曹、安保分隊長らは、堤防と盧溝橋城壁の中国兵の間に、懐中電灯の点滅による信号が交わされているのを目撃しました。すると、再び今度は十数発の銃撃が我が軍に向かって浴びせられ、我が軍は「伏せ」の姿勢でこれを避けました。
清水中隊長は岩谷曹長らを乗馬伝令として豊台に走らせ、一木大隊長に事情報告をさせました。大隊長らの報告を受けた北京の牟田口連隊長は、夜明けを待って盧溝橋城の中国軍営長と交渉するように命じました。又連隊長は北京特務機関に連絡、特務機関は不拡大方針に基づき、日支双方の代表からなる軍使を現地に派遣することに決めました。軍使は中国側は宛平県長・王冷斎、随員として冀察政務委員会の林耕宇、日本側は、特務機関から櫻井徳太郎・２９軍顧問と寺平補佐官、北京憲兵隊分隊赤藤少佐が同行しました。
この間、現地清水中隊は中国側に対して一発の応射もせず約２キロ東の西五里店に移動し、豊台を発した第３大隊に合流、一文字山を占領しました。その直後の３時２５分、再び竜王廟方向より３発の不法射撃がありました。連絡を受けた牟田口連隊長は、すでに彼我の識別が明瞭にできる自国であり、日本軍と知りつつ不法射撃を加えるのは侮辱であるとして戦闘開始を許可しました。
しかし、不拡大方針で交渉にあたろうとして、直ちに反撃しなかったのにつけ込んで、竜王廟の中国兵は猛射を浴びせてきたのです。ここに至り我が軍も５時３０分、最初の不法射撃を受けてから７時間後、反撃を開始し、たちまち竜王廟の敵を撃滅し、永定河の右岸に進出したのでした。
この戦闘で、敵兵の遺体をチェックした結果、手帳が発見され、その中に直系上官名として、第２９軍長・宋哲元から、第１１連長・耿錫訓までの一連の名が記されており、まぎれもなく２９軍正規兵であることが判明したのでした。我が部隊の７時間にわたる隠忍自重は我が方に開戦の意志が全くなかったことを立証するものです。
・その５０，第１３章１節 日本語原文： https://hassin.org/01/wp-content/uploads/Road50.pdf
・ 〃 第１３章１節 英訳文： https://www.sdh-fact.com/CL/Road50E.pdf
令和８年１月１３日
「史実を世界に発信する会」 会長 茂木弘道
協力者代表：神奈川大学教授 小山和伸
THE ROAD TO THE GREATER EAST ASIAN WAR
Nakamura Akira, Dokkyo University Professor Emeritus
(English Translation: Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact)
Part 50, Chapter 13: What Transpired at Lugou Bridge – 1
January 13, 2026
The incident took place on the evening of July 7, 1937. The 8th Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, China Garrison Army (Japanese), was conducting maneuvers on vacant land located 12 kilometers west of Beiping, on the west bank of the Yongding River, north of Lugou Bridge. The soldiers had just completed their exercises when, at about 10:40 p.m., shots suddenly rang out from a spot close to the Dragon King Temple on the riverbank.
Just then, 8th Company Commander Shimizu Setsurō, 1st Platoon Commander Noji Ishichi, Sgt. Iwatani Heiji, and Squad Leader Anbo Kiyoji noticed the exchange of flashlight signals between Chinese troops on the embankment and others on the walls of the Lugou Bridge fortress. Then more shots were fired, a dozen or so, this time raining down on the Japanese soldiers, who ducked to avoid them.
Company commander Shimizu dispatched Sgt. Iwatani and two buglers on horseback to Fengtai to inform Battalion Commander Ichiki Kiyonao of the incident. Once Col. Mutaguchi Ren’ya, commander of the 1st Regiment in Beiping, received telephone reports from battalion commanders, he issued orders that negotiations with the commander of the Chinese Garrison be held at Lugou Bridge at daybreak. Mutaguchi also contacted the Special Service Agency in Beiping, which made the decision, informed by a non-escalation policy, to dispatch both Japanese and Chinese envoys to the site of the incident. Chinese envoys were Wang Lengzhai, mayor of Wanping, and Lin Gengyu, a member of the Hebei-Chahar Political Council. On the Japanese side, Sakurai Tokutarō and Teradaira Tadasuke, advisors to the 29th Army, representing the Special Service Agency, were joined by Maj. Shakudō Shōji, commander of the Beiping Military Police Detachment.
Meanwhile, without returning even a single shot against the Chinese, the 8th Company at Lugou Bridge proceeded two kilometers eastward to Xiwulidian, where it joined the 3rd Battalion, which had arrived from Fengtai. Together, those units occupied Yiwenzi Hill. No sooner had they done that when, at 3:25, three shots were fired from the direction of the Dragon King Temple. On the basis of a telephone report received from Battalion Commander Ichiki about those shots, Regiment Commander Mutaguchi stated that “at 3:35 a.m., the definition between friend and foe was already clear.” He added how insulting it was for the Chinese to fire unlawfully twice, fully aware that they were aiming at Japanese soldiers. He then gave permission to commence hostilities.
However, because of the non-escalation policy, there was no immediate counterattack from the Japanese. Not until Chinese troops unleashed a fusillade of bullets from Dragon King Temple, having mistakenly attributed the failure of a Japanese response to cowardice, did the Japanese retaliate, at 5:30 a.m. on July 8. For a full seven hours after experiencing the initial, unlawful shots, they had demonstrated restraint and prudence. They had not fired a single retaliatory shot, but once they did attack, the Japanese quickly annihilated the enemy at Dragon King Temple and advanced to the right bank of Yongding River.
While checking the bodies of the enemy troops after the battle, the Japanese discovered a notebook. It contained the names of its owner’s immediate superiors from Song Zheyuan, commander of the 29th Army, to Geng Xixun, commander of the 11th Company. This evidence demonstrated beyond a doubt that the men who fired on the Japanese were regular soldiers attached to the 29th Army.
URL: https://www.sdh-fact.com/book-article/2417
PDF: https://www.sdh-fact.com/CL/Road50E.pdf
Moteki Hiromichi, Chairman
Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact