"Nima! It's a conspiracy! It's a crime! I'm cǎo! The army deceives people too much! Ma Jia, the former prime minister of the State Council who had just been called out of his nap by his secretary, the current commissioner of the South Duck Lake area, and the soul of the civilian faction, scolded angrily. He was originally a tantrum and trained the bureaucrats under him like grandsons on weekdays. He served as the premier of the Government Council for 13 years, and was also the only expert in the metallurgical industry in China, leading the establishment of several of the most important enterprises in China, such as Ping An Iron and Steel Plant, Dayuhe Arsenal, North Arsenal, Coking Plant, First Machinery Factory, and strong integration of Zhenhai County's shipbuilding industry chain, both in the civilian faction and in the military department, has considerable popularity and prestige.

At this moment, when he heard that his secretary had come overnight to report the latest conflict in the Corrales mining area, his temper suddenly became uncontrollable. Dressed in pajamas, he walked around the living room, scolding as he went, from the small army department staff officer to the high-ranking army chief. After being angry for more than ten minutes, the vest finally calmed down, and then he changed his clothes without saying a word, ready to go out and talk to some people.

Oriental County on the last day of August was restless. On this day, the mansion area next to the reservoir in Chengguan Town was full of traffic, and high-ranking officials in horse-drawn carriages shuttled back and forth, from time to time hurriedly entering the door of a certain high-ranking official's house, and then left in a gloomy manner after an hour or two. Everyone's faces were very stern, as if something terrible had happened. The police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who were guarding the place, were even more distressed on this day, because they were all high-ranking officials, and they seemed to be in a hurry. They can be reprimanded if they check their documents even later. It's so annoying.

The whole mansion area was restless for a whole day, and it was not until late at night that it calmed down a little. But it turned out to be just the calm before the storm. Because on the second day, Ma Jia, the soul of the civilian faction with great prestige, walked into the door of the War Department with a stern face in front of everyone.

Liao Meng, the Minister of the War Department, who was in the office, looked at the vest with an angry look on his face in some astonishment, and he understood what was going on, but he still pretended to be confused and asked: "Commissioner Ma, why do you have time to come to our War Department to inspect, what a rare guest!" Hehe! Secretary Sun, let's have a pot of dragon wells. ”

"No, I'm going to see Chairman Liu soon, and now I only ask you to do one thing. If you agree, then there is room for redemption, if not...... Hmph, you can do it yourself. Ma Jia said expressionlessly.

Liao Meng only took up the post of Minister of War with the support of Peng Zhicheng after returning from the overseas colonies at the end of 45, and in a certain sense, he was a generation shorter than Ma Jia and others. After all, he debuted with an army veteran like Peng Zhicheng, with extraordinary qualifications, and his political achievements are also quite good. He is a metallurgical professional, has presided over the construction of lifeline factories in many countries, and has served as the prime minister of the Government Council for a long time. If you see this kind of character, Liao Meng is not worried about it, it is impossible. At this time, it was obvious that the teacher was asking for guilt, and he had to deal with it carefully. Otherwise, it will be very troublesome.

"Commissioner Ma, is there something that can't be solved on your government's side? Well, you say come and listen, I will definitely not shirk what I can do. Liao Meng tried his best not to be full of words, and said with a smile.

Ma Jia glanced at Liao Meng deeply, then shook a piece of paper in his hand, and said: "Xiao Baitu, commander of the 6th Company of the Army, and Pu Ting, commander of the gendarmerie, these two people have no clues, they are provocative, and the situation is extremely bad. In addition, there is also Wei Boqiu, the head of the Statistical Investigation Section of Syphilis Patients, who can't run away, and I will go to Chairman Liu to talk about this matter in person in a while. You can give me a letter now, Xiao Baitu and Pu Ting, can you do it? ”

The smile on Liao Meng's face froze. Xiao Baitu, the commander of the 6th Company, still knows something about this person, Liao Meng, who is a complete opportunist, and delusionally wants to lead the radical soldiers to fight for the position. For this kind of person, Liao Meng is also extremely vigilant in his heart, because it will threaten his authority. However, Xiao Baitu's background is very hard, not only with Liu Ang, the captain of the South African pioneer team, but also with Zhu Liang, one of the veterans of the army, and finally this guy is said to be the vice president of the National Power Alliance, an association in the army, when their president Mo Ming was in the Far East, Xiao Baitu was presiding over the situation, and the network extended in all directions, and it was not easy to do him.

In fact, from the bottom of his heart, Liao Meng is still very willing to do Xiao Baitu, who made this guy dance too happily. It's just that reason tells him that he can't do this, because this will lead to endless troubles, and maybe his political life will be terminated in an instant. can handle Xiao Baitu without causing big trouble, and it seems that Peng Zhicheng, a retired army veteran, is just one person, but will he do him? Maybe there is this guy behind this incident who is still trying to control the situation remotely after retreating, this thing is really a headache!

As for the commander of the gendarmerie, Pu Ting, this person is even more difficult to handle! This guy turned out to be the head of the discipline police, and in the country he strictly investigated crimes that were not conducive to assimilation, such as speaking foreign languages, wearing foreign clothes, and spreading cults; later, after the discipline police and some agents of the Ministry of the Interior were reorganized into the gendarmerie, Pu Ting naturally ascended to the throne of commander of the gendarmerie. His men were a violent man, and countless Guaraní, Charrua, and even Spaniards died at their hands.

Liu Yun, a member of the Internal Affairs Council and director of the State Intelligence Bureau, once inspected the prison of the Gendarmerie once, and he was deeply impressed by the hellish scene on earth, so that he also had a more real understanding of Pu Ting as a person. This man is a ruthless guy! If he offended him, the trouble seemed to be no less than offending Xiao Baitu, so Liao Meng suddenly hesitated.

Seeing that Liao Meng didn't speak, Ma Jia sneered twice and scolded: "The current War Department is all a group of bad people, and there is no normal person!" Forget it, don't embarrass you, I'll go to Peng Zhicheng later. It's not interesting to talk to your rubber stamp, so I won't embarrass you! After saying that, he turned around and left, and really did not hesitate.

And Liao Meng stood in place with a gloomy face, and his face felt a burst of heat. The words "rubber stamp" spit out of Ma Jia's mouth really made him feel embarrassed, and his face felt as uncomfortable as if he had been slapped hard. He is also a dignified Secretary of the Army. Although he has not yet been co-opted as a new member of the Central Executive Committee. But why do these "old cadres" not regard themselves as human beings so much!

Honestly. Since he took over the post of army secretary at the beginning of this year, who left his post due to illness, he has had a very unpleasant life for more than a year. Although he himself was well-known in the Army, commanding the last major battle with the Spaniards in '33, he had been a non-subordinate staff officer in the War Office for ten years due to personality and other reasons. It wasn't until a few years ago that he caught up with the expansion of the army, and he took an opportunity to serve as an army company commander, which can be regarded as a preliminary breakthrough.

By January of this year. He himself rose to the post of Minister of War with the support of Peng Zhicheng. At first, he was happy, but soon this excitement was worn out little by little by many things, such as the unruly military leader, the subordinates who obeyed the yang and the contempt of the naval faction, which often made him sigh because he could not do many things by himself.

At this moment, he was called a "rubber stamp" by the vest in front of him, and his face immediately couldn't hang up, and Xiao Baitu and others, who hated making trouble very much, secretly wondered that this time he must give these guys a little color to see, who made them usually not give themselves face! The clay man still has three points of fire, and the tiger is not powerful. When I was a sick cat!

No matter what Liao Meng thought at this time, in short, Ma Jia rushed to the Executive Committee with a joint petition from almost all civil officials to meet Chairman Liu Weimin. After more than two hours of discussion in the secret room. He hurriedly drove to the port of Merlin and had a long conversation with Peng Zhicheng, a veteran of the army, who was there.

On the afternoon of September 2, Ma Jia, who had returned to the capital, had secret talks with the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Materials, and other civilian forces that had always been neutral (perhaps inclined to the military department). Perhaps the result of the negotiation was satisfactory to him, but only then did the face of the vest that had been tense show a slight smile.

This time the matter is really too big! Due to the strong backlash of the civilian-official clique with the threat of non-cooperation, Shao Shude, Xiao Bailang, and others, who had always been neutral and even sympathetic to the military forces, suddenly spoke one after another, accusing Xiao Baitu and others of their wanton and reckless behavior.

On September 4, seeing that the matter was getting bigger and bigger, army veteran Peng Zhicheng also publicly reprimanded Xiao Baitu and Pu Ting for not stressing politics, setting a bad example for the whole army and must be punished. Peng Zhicheng's statement can be regarded as completely driving these two people into the abyss, and the removal and investigation have become inevitable.

On the evening of 4 September, the Executive Committee held an enlarged meeting to discuss how to deal with the burning of the barracks. In addition to the members of the executive committee, there were many high-ranking officials of the government and the military department, as well as some "veteran cadres" who had retired but still had influence. The meeting lasted all night, with many debates and arguments, but finally a formal decision was made before dawn.

Xiao Baitu, who was directly involved in the barracks burning incident, was dismissed from his post as commander of the 6th Company of the Army and assigned to serve in labor on Xinhuaxia Island. It is worth noting that this is the second time that Xiao Baitu has been removed from his post, and it is also the second time that he has been assigned to the colony. Because Pu Ting, commander of the gendarmerie, had the manpower to protect him, and he explained a lot of information in a timely manner when organizing the questioning, plus he knew how to lose his pawn and protect the car, he was only transferred from the post of commander of the gendarmerie, and he was only given a warning that did not hurt or itch.

Finally, there is Wei Boqiu of the Mei Agency. This person is really wronged, because he really doesn't know, his subordinate Sun Heiqi was proved to be very suspicious in this incident, and it is very likely that he was a nail planted by the National Intelligence Administration, and this time he was probably cheated. According to his always neutral attitude and style, the matter of mixing and entering is very puzzling in itself. Therefore, when someone interceded, he was demoted and transferred to the deputy commander of the gendarmerie, and together with his subordinate Han Zhen and others, he was assigned to the Far East overseer Mo Dashuai. At the same time, the deputy commander of the gendarmerie, Bao Chenan, who is now in the Far East, will be recalled to the post of commander of the gendarmerie. As for the Mei organs, they are temporarily under the trusteeship of the Executive Committee.

Sun Heiqi, the leader of the Mei Organ's Action Group, who cheated Wei Boqiu, hid in the Navy Club after the incident and never showed up again. On September 6, he was found dead in the laundry room of the Navy Club, with seven bullets in his body and multiple bullets in the head, chest, abdomen, and legs. The joint investigation team composed of the State Intelligence Administration, the Mei Agency, and the Gendarmerie unanimously determined that Sun Heiqi died by suicide, and the incident came to an end.

After dealing with this matter, it was time to face the choice of war with the Spaniards. Things have come to this point, and the choice is clear. Therefore, on September 7, Liu Weimin, chairman of the executive committee, picked up his private seal and signed his name tremblingly on a declaration of war. This declaration of war was accompanied by a national mobilization order, a plan drawn up by the military headquarters for a cross-sea attack on La Plata, and an order for the establishment of a planning and production management committee and the entry of the state into a wartime system.

At noon on the same day, Foreign Minister Hsu Xin summoned Raul. Baron Bravo officially announced to him that the Eastern Republic of China and the Kingdom of Spain had entered a state of war, that the Kingdom of Spain had twenty-four hours to prepare, and submitted a declaration of war. (To be continued......)