The 3rd Division of the 40th Army led by Tao Zhiyue and the 41st Army led by Fang Zhenwu of the Second Group Army of the Northern Expedition marched into Jinan one after another, and the rest of the revolutionary army troops also arrived later.

Li Ling led the ** battalion to follow the First Army and stationed in Xinzhuang, and finally returned to Jinan. On that day, Li Ling rested at Ma Liang's house, found the Japanese ronin who had killed his brother, and chased after him, only to kill this person in Tai'an, and then he was hunted down and killed, and by chance he became an officer of the Northern Expeditionary Army. When I returned to Jinan again, I was very proud in my heart, and I was ready to set up camp and go to Jinan to show off, and the investigators sent information that a tragedy had occurred in Jinan.

At the end of April 1928, 5,000 people under the command of Hikosuke Fukuda, the commander of the Japanese Sixth Division, assisted three infantry squadrons stationed in Tianjin to invade Jinan on April 20, 1928, and built barricades in Jinan City to prepare to block the Northern Expedition of the Revolutionary Army.

On May 1, at this time, the Japanese army had already built fortifications on various roads in the city, laid power grids, and marched step by step. After negotiations, the Japanese dismantled the fortifications on the street on May 2. The Northern Expeditionary soldiers who entered the city were often opposed to the Japanese side.

On 2 May, a group of soldiers from the 65th Regiment privately and sporadically ran to the Japanese embassy area to fire fire, but it was not an organized act.

On May 3, a shootout broke out between the Japanese army and the He Yao Organization Department of the 40th Army, and the Jinan Massacre broke out. In this case, more than 17,000 Chinese officials and civilians were burned to death, more than 2,000 were injured, and more than 5,000 were captured.

On the same day, Cai Gongshi, a member of the ** Field Affairs Committee and director of the Foreign Affairs Office, Shandong negotiator, and 18 attachés went to Jinan to set up the Foreign Ministry Commissioner's Negotiation Office on Siwei 6th Road. After protesting in Japanese, Cai Gongshi had his ears and nose cut off, and then his tongue and eyes gouged out. The Japanese stripped the staff of the department, whipped them, and dragged them to the courtyard where they were machine-gunned. In the end, Cai Gongshi, Zhang Linshu and 17 others were killed.

Jinan is the center of Shandong Province, and Zhang Zongchang has been supervising Lu for eight years and has always regarded Jinan as his own territory. Chiang Kai-shek's Northern Expedition was about to succeed, and of course he regarded Jinan as his own territory. Fang Zhenwu was appointed commander of the Jinan garrison and made Jinan his jurisdiction. Even Li Ling's father-in-law, Ma Liang, once served as the envoy of Jinan in Beiyang, and his potential power was all over Jinan, and he regarded Jinan as a place for his comeback.

And Li Ling, although he grew up in Zhangqiu, spends most of his time in Jinan and has a deep affection for every flower and grass in Jinan.

This is where he studied, and his time in the middle school hall and the years at Qilu University have left infinite memories. This is also the place where he rose, and he led a group of young brothers to shed blood and struggle, fighting with the ruffians and hooligans in Jinan City for territory and fighting. Later, after Sun Yuzhu and Jinglian's combing, the gangsters and hooligans in Jinan City regarded Li Ling as the leading boss. Jinan has also become Li Ling's confiner.

Now that there has been a tragedy in Jinan, with tens of thousands of dead and injured, Li Ling is furious, I don't know what happened to the brothers in Jinan City, and what worries him even more is Lin Yazhi, as well as Cheng Ying and Tang Keer. He asked the ** battalion to be ready for battle, wait for orders from above, and be ready for battle at any time.

After waiting for several days, the military headquarters finally came down to inform the army to withdraw from Jinan City to avoid clashes with the Japanese army.

Li Ling was furious and resentful. Every soldier has a dream of being powerful, with a weapon in his hand, but watching the enemy slaughter his brothers and sisters. What's more, it was Japanese, not to mention in Jinan City.

Li Ling gritted his teeth and scolded Chiang Kai-shek, He Yingqin, Liu Zhi and a number of other high-ranking officers. When he was a child, he was regarded as a bear by others, and now the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expeditionary Army is crowned a bear. clamoring for the great cause of the Northern Expedition every day, even if the whole country is unified and the world is won, can it win the hearts of the people? Can you win the respect of other countries?

The other armies retreated one after another, but Li Ling asked the ** battalion to stand still. When Li Ling was angry, Li Changfu came here.

Li Changfu was a family worker of the Li family, and later became the leader of the Red Gun Society Zhangqiu, and now his power is thriving, and the Red Gun Society in Jinan is also under his jurisdiction. He came here to report to Li Ling the specific situation of the Jinan tragedy.

Now the city of Jinan has been occupied by the Japanese army, and the Kuomintang army and Feng Yuxiang's army have all withdrawn from Jinan and are preparing to make a detour to the Northern Expedition. The streets and alleys of Jinan City were all under martial law, and Li Ling's father-in-law, Ma Liang, became the president of the Jinan Maintenance Association, assisting the Japanese army in maintaining local order.

Li Ling suddenly had two words "traitor" in his mind. Although he didn't know how Ma Liang became the president of the maintenance association, Li Ling scoffed at it. I'll go back and ask for more information later. If Ma Liang really betrayed his compatriots and became a puppet of the Japanese, he should also break with this father-in-law.

After Li Changfu came, Wang Jian also came quietly. As a junior of Qilu University, Li Ling still defended him more and put him in charge of intelligence work. At this time, he came and brought a good news, after Zhang Zongchang led his troops to escape, he quietly transferred to the firearms repair station on Jingjiu Road in Jinan, and now he is on his way to Tianjin, if the hijacking is still too late.

Li Ling was angry for a few days before his mood improved, the army of the ** battalion could not be used now, he was ready to send brothers to intercept it, but Jinan was under martial law, and a large number of brothers in the city could not come out, and more than 30 brothers around him were still hiding in Mount Tai under the leadership of Ge Changxing. He Jiatang had to ask He Jiatang to rush to Mount Tai to inform everyone and prepare for action.

The military headquarters repeatedly urged the retreat, but Li Ling gritted his teeth and ordered everyone not to take a step back, preparing to verify the deployment of the Japanese army brought by Li Changfu, and then give the Japanese army a severe blow.

Qin Mushu, Liao Yaohui and the others sighed secretly. Although Li Ling is no longer the battalion commander, his influence in the ** battalion is huge, and no one can go against his wishes. But his insistence on going his own way is simply a moth to a fire, not to mention whether he can compete with the Japanese, it is enough to be shot if he disobeys the orders of the military department, but Li Ling is unaware. Liao Yaohui reminded him several times, but it was all in vain.

And Li Changfu went straight to the garrison of the Ninth Army without stopping, which was the unit where Li Ling's eldest brother Li Yantang was, and he also wanted to report the latest situation in Jinan City to Li Yantang.

Li Yantang is now promoted to the deputy commander of the Third Division of the Ninth Army of the Northern Expeditionary Revolutionary Army, and after hearing Li Changfu's report, he felt that some news was of great value, so he led Li Changfu and several guards straight to Tai'an. Chiang Kai-shek, commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition, was in Tai'an at this time.

Chiang Kai-shek went to the front line to supervise the war, and just happened to encounter the Jinan tragedy. The situation has finally been deteriorating and the situation has finally been suspended. The victory of the Northern Expedition was in sight, and if there was a conflict with the Japanese army, the consequences would be unimaginable. Although he hated the Japanese, he was helpless. The Japanese did not want to see a unified and powerful China, which was not in their interests, so they obstructed the Northern Expedition everywhere. Chiang Kai-shek understands that the tragedy in Jinan is happening now, what if it happens next time, or will he regress?

He sat at a loss, and his wife Song Meiling gently put the tea on it, knowing why he was worried, he said: "This matter is a foregone conclusion, and it is useless for Darling to worry." You have to take care of your body, and the Northern Expedition depends on you to sustain it. ”

Chiang Kai-shek smiled reluctantly and said, "It's already deep at night, you go to sleep first!" Looking at the stack of documents in front of him, he said, "I'll take a break when I deal with some more things!" ”

Song Meiling sighed slightly, since the wedding was held in Shanghai, Chiang Kai-shek has been working every day without sleep and food, just wanting to uphold the premier's last wish to unify China, recover the concession, and establish a strong Republic of China. The revolutionary army from a small place in Guangdong, with only a few thousand people. Now the entire Northern Expeditionary Army has an army of five or six hundred thousand. When the Jinan tragedy broke out, all sectors of society, while condemning the Japanese, also felt humiliated by the authorities and insulted the inaction of those high-ranking officials who held the army. And the brunt was Chiang Kai-shek.

Song Meiling said: "I'll help you relax!" He came behind him and rubbed his hands at his temples. Chiang Kai-shek closed his eyes and enjoyed the warmth.

"Report, Deputy Division Commander Li Yantang of the Ninth Army requested a meeting." The guard outside the door broke the silence and reported loudly.

Chiang Kai-shek frowned, someone came to see him so late, waved his hand to Song Meiling, signaled her to stop, and said, "Let him come in." ”

Li Yantang wore a straight military uniform, walked without squinting, stood up and saluted, and said loudly: "Student Li Yantang came late at night, please give the principal a lecture." ”

Chiang Kai-shek was very fond of the first phase of Huangpu, and Li Yantang, as a descendant of Huangpu, has been following him as the principal, which made him very satisfied, and nodded and said: "There are not many Huangpu students from Shandong, and now that you are fighting in Shandong, you should contact the local armed forces to cooperate with the actions of our revolutionary army." I originally intended you to return to your hometown and serve as the local magistrate, but the Jinan tragedy happened, these things should be kept in mind and acted with shame. ”

"Students have no intention of serving in the local area, they just want to follow the principal to the north and south and listen to the principal's instructions every day." Li Yantang swore and said: "When the Northern Expeditionary Army arrived in Xuzhou, I sent a letter to my home, and now the Red Gun Society, a non-governmental organization in Shandong, has been secretly supporting our Northern Expeditionary Army, and Li Changfu, the former long-term worker of our Li family, is now the leader of the Red Gun Society. He had recently come from Jinan to find out some news about the Japanese, so I brought him to meet the principal. ”

"Yes!" Chiang Kai-shek was very satisfied with Li Yantang's attitude, there was no shortage of talents under him, and what he wanted was loyalty. Last year, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party split, too many Whampoa students and talents ran to the opposite side, and now the rest should be well encircled, after all, Chiang Kai-shek started with the Whampoa Military Academy, and he said with a pleasant face: "Then let your long-term worker come in." ”

Li Changfu was panting and sweating nervously. He lived to be in his thirties, which was the highest ranking official ever seen. Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Expeditionary Army! A military commander in command of hundreds of thousands of troops. When he came to the front, he didn't know where to put his hand, so he just stood aside, lowered his head and was silent.

When Li Yantang saw this, he said to him: "The commander-in-chief is here, and he will tell you all about what you have seen and heard in Jinan and all the subordinates of the Japanese army. ”

Li Changfu was taken aback, hurriedly saluted, and said: "Report to the commander-in-chief, I have drawn the military deployment of the Japanese army and the number of existing personnel, and ask the commander-in-chief to take a look." He took out the secret information he had with him and handed it over