Kuomintang assassins have murdered Zhang Zuolin in cold blood. This is an outrageous act by the Kuomintang to destabilize Fengtian. We will not allow the Kuomintang to succeed in their goal. To counter this the Fengtian legislative assembly must elect a new President to a 5 year term. Fengtian needs strong leadership and we will ensure this.

First, there will be a massive operation to bribe the Guangfuxi. The Guangfuxi are the largest “party” in the legislative assembly, but are more of a lump of loosely connected fallen generals and ministers. They are easily susceptible to bribes, a fortunate situation for the Japanese. Japan’s government can afford bribes far in excess of what any Fengtian politician could afford without breaking a sweat. Combined with the loyal Xiehehui, the legislative assembly should be favorable enough to elect Yang Yuting to the Presidency.

However, bribes are not the only tool Japan has at her disposal. The Kwantung army has over 300,000 troops stationed in Fengtian territory. Most are at the front, though this is sometimes already in population centers, like in Chengde. However, there are also already 20,000 security personnel in Fengtian’s major population center. The 1st, 3rd, and 5th Cavalry Divisions will be pulled from the Mongolian front to reinforce the security divisions. The mounted cavalry will act as police and further secure Japanese control over Fengtian. Additionally, the 5th and 6th Security Divisions from Japan will be sent to Fengtian to further reinforce the garrison.

The end result will be 70,000 Japanese security forces and military police controlling all the major population centers, with hundreds thousands more stationed in and around Fengtian if anything funky happens. The goal of this deployment is twofold. First, it will make sure bribed officials keep their promises once paid. Secondly, it will intimidate the opposition into not showing up or voting for Yang Yuting. Once Yang Yuting is in power, Japanese Security forces will help Yang establish control of the country.