In early June, Li Han, commander of the Security Army, came to Beiping at the invitation of Song Zheyuan, chairman of Hebei Province, to observe the military exercises held on 29 June. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

"Welcome Commander Li to Beiping, contemptible Zhang Zizhong, on behalf of the 29th Army, thank Commander Li for being invited to Beiping."

Zhang Zizhong smiled and said that Li Han's ability to come proved that he was willing to fight against the Japanese with the 29th Army. Zhang Zizhong was an out-and-out anti-Japanese general, and he was of course very happy to know that Li Han was willing to stand on the same front with them.

Hearing that it was Zhang Zizhong, Li Han was also a little flattered, and even forgot to reply, so he ran directly to Zhang Zizhong and saluted him solemnly.

Zhang Zizhong is a general of the national army whom Li Han respects very much, and he carried such a big black pot for Song Zheyuan in Hebei, and was regarded by the people of the whole country as a traitor who betrayed the country and sought glory.

In the second half of the three or seven years, most of the newspapers scolded him for "traitorous betrayal" and called him "Zhang Rebellion and Self-loyalty."

At that time, there was no Chinese literati who liked to make speeches, and no one did not scold Zhang Zizhong. Some major newspapers used eye-catching headlines to ridicule General Zhang's "self-righteousness", but in fact it was "after Zhang Bangchang".

In the midst of the scolding, Zhang Zizhong was always silent, but you can imagine how uncomfortable and painful General Zhang's heart was, obviously he was extremely loyal to the country, but he was regarded by the world as a traitor who was greedy for life and afraid of death and betrayed the interests of the country.

This also led to Zhang Jiangjun later choosing to use his body to break his bones to prove to the world that he was not a traitor, but an upright Chinese man. At the same time, he was also the highest-ranking general killed in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

"Commander Li, I can't afford your military salute, and ask Commander Li to get in the car first, we have already booked a hotel for you, the exercise will start tomorrow, and Chairman Song also invited ministers from various countries in Beiping to watch together."

Zhang Zizhong didn't know what Li Han was thinking, although when he was in the army, Li Han was still playing with mud.

But Li Han is now a lieutenant general like him, and Li Han is still a military commander, so Zhang Zizhong was stunned for a moment when he saluted Li Han to himself, but he immediately returned a military salute to Li Han.

Li Han smiled awkwardly, he also reacted that his performance just now was a little too enthusiastic, although General Zhang Zizhong's later performance on the battlefield was completely worthy of his military salute.

But now Zhang Zizhong is still only a division commander of the 38th Division, and he is indeed the commander of the security army, even if his own gold content is not very high, the strength of the security army is about the same as that of the 38th Division.

But at least the position is always there, and a military commander running over to salute the division commander is indeed weird enough.

"General Zhang, why did you invite the envoys of the great powers to Beiping in this exercise?"

Li Han asked, did Song Zheyuan want to show the military strength of the 29th Army to the foreign powers?

Li Han's guess was really right, the troops of the 29th Army participating in the exercise this time had two divisions, and their weapons and equipment were now even better than those of the Central Army.

The total proportion of Japan's troops stationed in North China is only a little over 10,000 now, and Song Zheyuan wants to tell the Japanese that the 29th Army has become strong through military exercises.

Let them weigh their own strength first when they do things in North China in the future, and they also hope that the European powers can stand on his side, after all, the European powers do not want the Japanese to be too strong in North China, because this will also damage their interests.

"To tell the truth, Chairman Soong is discussing the issue of purchasing ordnance with several major powers, hoping that through this military exercise, the great powers will change their views on our 29th Army."

Zhang Zizhong was in a good mood here, and he himself very much supported Song Zheyuan's decision, the Japanese repeatedly stirred up trouble in Beiping, and even sent soldiers to storm the barracks of the 29th Army, which seriously damaged the reputation of the 29th Army.

"I don't know how many troops Chairman Song plans to send in this exercise."

From Zhang Zizhong's words, Li Han knew that the scale of the 29th Army's exercise would not be small, and in addition, after taking charge of Hebei Province and Beijing and Tianjin, the 29th Army's financial resources had also become abundant.

He was able to talk about the business of arms trading with several envoys of the great powers, which made Li Han very envious in his heart, and he had not even had a legation of the great powers until now, and even if he wanted to buy arms from the ministers, he could not find anyone, so he could only contact the arms dealers.

"Anyway, the exercise will start tomorrow, it's no secret, this exercise troops mainly include my 38th and 37th divisions of Commander Feng Zhi'an."

Zhang Zizhong proudly said that the strength of their troops in the exercise alone was four times that of the Japanese troops stationed in North China, and he believed that after this exercise, the Japanese troops in North China should be more restrained.

"Chairman Song has made a lot of money this time, and Li Han is really waiting for such a large-scale military exercise!"

Li Han was also frightened by Song Zheyuan's generosity, don't look at them There are only two divisions, but Zhang Zizhong's 38th division alone has eleven regiments and more than 30,000 people.

Although the 37th Division did not have as many people as the 38th Division, it still had nearly 20,000 troops in seven or eight regiments, and the two divisions together had nearly 50,000 troops.

While talking, they had already come to a hotel called Peace Hotel, because of Li Han's identity, Song Zheyuan chartered this hotel as a place to entertain Li Han.

"Commander Li, you have been tired all the way, please rest here for a day first, and tomorrow I will come again to invite Commander Li to watch our army's exercises, I don't know if Commander Li has any other requirements." Zhang Zizhong asked.

"Thank you General Zhang for your hospitality, I don't have any opinion." Li Han nodded and said.

After coming to the Republic of China for so long, it was the first time for Li Han to stay in such a luxurious hotel, and of course he was very satisfied. Moreover, this big hotel now only has him and the soldiers of the guard company, which is also beneficial to Li Han's next operation.

"Military seat, Jin Long, the head of the guard regiment, is here to report." At night, Jin Long secretly came to the Peace Hotel.

"Jin Long, thank you for your hard work, is there any news from the Japanese?"

Since the last time he exterminated Liu Guitang's bandit army, Jin Long was platoon by Li Han to Beiping, responsible for investigating and monitoring the movements of the Japanese in Beiping.

"Junza, that is, it is a matter of the past two days, because in the past few days, large-scale military exercises will be carried out on the 29th, and a large number of troops of the 29th Army have been transferred to the Fengtai and Beiping areas, and the troops in other areas have been greatly reduced, and the Japanese plan to use this opportunity to send silver to Tianjin."

Jin Long said that although the Japanese were not afraid of the 29th Army, the amount of silver was not small, as the saying goes, 'sake is red, and money is moving'.

If Song Zheyuan knew that there were eight million silver dollars worth of silver, passing through the territory under his rule, it was hard to guarantee that Song Zheyuan would not have other ideas. The Japanese are not willing to gamble with such a large sum of money, whether Song Zheyuan dares to do it.

Now that the United States has just passed the "Silver Act," the fluctuations in silver in China are not very large, and this Song Zheyuan is engaged in military exercises in Beiping, and his attention is all focused on military exercises, and they can transport silver to Tianjin without realizing it.

"Good! Well done! Continue to monitor the Japanese and report to me as soon as there is any movement. ”

Li Han said excitedly, whether the security army can turn an old hen into a duck depends on this time.

After coming to Beiping, Li Han felt more and more the aggressiveness of the Japanese, and the 29th Army now had 80,000 or 90,000 troops, and was well-equipped and well-trained, but it still could not stop the Japanese from coveting North China.

His security forces were inferior to the 29th Army in terms of strength and equipment, and if it weren't for the fact that Chahar was not as important as Hebei and Beijing-Tianjin, he might be the one who was going to hold military exercises this time.

On June 6th, it was still a sunny day, the blue sky was floating with white clouds, the summer sun hung high in the sky, and the scorching light and heat were constantly released, and at a glance you knew that today was a good day.

Li Handu was a little skeptical that there were demi-immortals in the ranks of the 29th Army, otherwise how would Song Zheyuan know that the start date of the exercise was set for June 6.

"Welcome Commander Li to the 29th Army to observe the military exercise, the exercise is about to begin, please go to the rostrum and sit down."

Seeing Li Han, Song Zheyuan greeted him with a smile on his face, although he had long known that Li Han was very young, but when he saw the real person, he was still a little surprised, and even faintly jealous in his heart.

He was still studying in the martial arts academy when he was like Li Han, but Song Zheyuan was an old warlord after all, and he was quickly erased by this idea.

Zhang Xueliang became the leader of the three northeastern provinces at the age of twenty-eight, and he was still working under him at that time, and now his 29th Army is not much worse than the Northeast Army, and the most important thing is to go to the end.

However, Song Zheyuan was still very emotional, when he first heard Li Han's name, at that time Li Han was only a battalion commander, and he was rushed to Chahar by the Japanese from Rehe.

But when he intersected with Li Han for the second time, it was to incorporate the Chahar Anti-Japanese Alliance Army for the Nanjing government, and at this time Li Han had already been promoted by the Nanjing government to the commander of the Chahar Provincial Security Army, and Song Zheyuan also had to admire Li Han's good luck.

"Hello Chairman Song, the 29th Army is famous for its prestige, and the Japanese who fought it were terrified, and they are really a model for our generation of soldiers, and it is my honor to come to watch the 29th Army exercise today, which is my honor for Li Han."

Li Han said with a smile, Song Zheyuan was the first big man he saw in the Republic of China, to be honest, he was still a little excited in his heart, and this speech was better than usual.

Of course, Li Han is not saying that Zhang Zizhong and the other generals he met are not big shots, but that the big guys are those who occupy one place and establish their own independent kingdoms.

Although Li Han came from the Northeast Army, he thought that his position was too low, so he never met Zhang Xueliang.