"Clever!" Wu Chaoshu exclaimed: "We always want to do this and that, but as soon as Chiang Kai-shek made a move, he went straight to their lifeline, which was ruthless enough." ”

Li Yanguo also nodded approvingly: "This is the basis for their vast appeal, and if this foundation is shaken, it will be difficult to deceive people." ”

Only then did Ji Yuan fully understand that this kind of high-level fighting had surpassed his political ability, so he could only be a political marginal.

"Jiyuan has to cooperate this time," Wu Chaoshu said to Jiyuan after the silence meeting: "You have to remember that you can't just hold on to opposing the Northern Expedition as usual, which is counter-revolutionary, and the purpose of Soviet Russia's assistance to us is for their own interests, so once their goal is achieved, they will also betray us." ”

Then he said to Li Yanguo: "Yanguo, you also have to write more articles in this regard." ”

At this time, Wu Chaoshu was like a commander commanding a big battle, mobilizing all kinds of forces in his hands.

"Mobilize all our newspapers and periodicals, and remember that the center should be all focused on the Northern Expedition, and all on the counter-Northern Expedition, which is counter-revolution; To praise Chiang Kai-shek, the higher the praise, the better. In the end, he sneered and said, "I'll see how [***] will deal with it this time." ”

"Okay, Yun Lao, don't worry, I'm responsible for contacting colleagues in the press." Ji Yuan rolled up his sleeves and shouted with a wave of fists.

Li Yanguo did not speak, but nodded solemnly.

The next day, the "Republic of China Daily" published Chiang Kai-shek's speech in full, followed by Ji Jiashan's speech in full, and the Guangzhou media immediately became lively, with "Qunbao" publishing "True Revolution and False Revolution", "Revolutionary Youth" publishing "The Real Reason for Soviet Russia's Opposition to the Northern Expedition", "Why the Revolution Is Not Revolution.......ary", and even "Seventy-two Squares", which had never been very concerned with politics, also published an article "The Northern Expedition, the Touchstone of Revolution."

With the successive publication of articles, a large number of young people are debating loudly in places where young people like to gather, such as major colleges and universities in Guangzhou, teahouse parks, etc.; Signs against [***] appeared on the streets, and members of the Sun-Wenist Society took the opportunity to organize rallies in various schools, and even organized petitions to the Central Party Headquarters and the Kuomintang, opposing the alliance with Wu Peifu and demanding an extraordinary meeting to discuss the steps of the Northern Expedition.

In this article, the author unnamedly recounted the actions of Soviet Russia in China in recent years, pointing out that Soviet Russia first wanted to unite with Wu and proposed to Wu Peifu a deal to exchange aid for Outer Mongolia, but only after Wu Peifu refused did he go south to cooperate with the Kuomintang. Then he pointed out that the purpose of the Soviet Union and Russia to Wu was twofold, one was to suppress the Kuomintang, support [***] and Wu Peifu, and make it confrontation with the Kuomintang, so that it would be more convenient for Soviet Russia to control the Chinese regime; The second is in exchange for the establishment of the Outer Mongolia, the Soviet Union has been striving for the establishment of the Outer Mongolia because of the extreme importance of Outer Mongolia to its national security, and the dispatch of troops from Outer Mongolia can easily cut off the communication from Soviet Russia to the Far East, so the Soviet Union is bound to win Outer Mongolia, whether the Kuomintang is in power or the [***] is in power, the Soviet Union and Russia must separate Outer Mongolia from China. The author also refutes the so-called right of national self-determination, pointing out that there can be no real national self-determination under the bayonets of the Soviet army, and that Outer Mongolia is part of the Republic of China, and national self-determination should be the entire Chinese nation that decides whether Outer Mongolia can read or not, and not just a small group of people in Outer Mongolia.

The author's nameless writing is old and spicy, his rhetoric is sharp, and his arguments are sufficient, and the article immediately caused a sensation as soon as it was published, and "New Youth" and "Guide" immediately refuted it, pointing out that Soviet Russia's assistance to the national political axe was unconditional and costless, and that the nameless attack on Soviet Russia was to undermine the prime minister's three major policies.

Chiang Kai-shek took the article and asked Feng Yi if he wrote it, Feng Yi shook his head, he thought for a long time and didn't think of anyone in Guangzhou who could write such an article, and finally he guessed that it was written by Zhuang Wenge, Chiang Kai-shek called Zhuang Jihua in front of Feng Yi, and Zhuang Jihua flatly denied it.

For the same question, Wu Chaoshu also asked Ji Yuan, the editor-in-chief of "Group Daily", and Ji Yuan's answer was that he didn't know, the article was sent to him by anonymous delivery, and it was sent to him by a child, and the text was also crooked, so he couldn't see it at all.

The nameless author of this article has become a mystery in the press circles of the Republic of China, and no anonymous articles have been published since then.

Soon, the "Republic of China Newspaper" reported that the arms of Soviet Russia were paid for by the national political axe, except for the initial 8,000 guns.

Jiang Xianyun published a signed article pointing out that the development of the revolution has been obvious to all since the premier decided on the three major policies of the United Russia and the Communist Party to support peasants and workers, that the military weapons run by the Whampoa Military Academy were all unconditionally aided by Soviet Russia, and that the formation of the party army was also funded by Soviet Russia, that without Whampoa and without the party army, there would have been no victory in the two Eastern Crusades, and without Whampoa there would have been no victory in counterinsurgency, that the general strike in Hong Kong and Hong Kong and the victory of the May Revolution were the result of the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and that the Northern Expedition was advocated by our party. The temporary alliance with the warlords is only a matter of strategy, and the prime minister has also joined forces with Zhang Zuolin and Duan Qirui of the Feng department to oppose the direct direction, so it cannot be said that the prime minister is also a counter-revolutionary.

Jiang Xianyun's article finally blocked the attack of Sun Xuexue, but on the whole [***] was still in a passive position, in this case, Chen Yannian convened a meeting to discuss countermeasures, at this meeting Deng Zhongxia and Peng Pai believed that this was a conspiracy of Chiang Kai-shek, and [***], who served as secretary of the Propaganda Department, suggested that the Propaganda Department should come forward to organize the "Republic of China Daily" and "Political Weekly" to counterattack, but there was an important issue in the counterattack that must be clear, that is, the attitude of the Northern Expedition.

Zhou En said: "The elimination of warlords is what our party has always advocated, and the reason why the Northern Expedition was not passed this time is because the time is not ripe and the conditions are not met, and after passing the Northern Expedition bill, Wu Peifu will be alerted, and his main force will not go north, which is not conducive to the overall situation of the Northern Expedition." ”

"Well, it's right, the elimination of warlords is our party's proposition, the conditions for the Northern Expedition are not ripe, and we must firmly grasp the banner of safeguarding the prime minister's three major policies." When the Northern Expedition was discussed within the party, most of the comrades advocated supporting this bill, but Ji Jiashan resolutely opposed it, and took out the instructions of the Comintern, demanding that they must veto the proposal of the Northern Expedition, so that the party comrades had to submit, which led to the current passive situation.

"Comrade Enlai, do you think this matter has anything to do with Chiang Kai-shek?" [***] took a puff of cigarette and asked, his smoking situation is very special, others are holding the cigarette with the index finger and middle finger, he is holding the cigarette with the middle finger and ring finger, and the whole palm of his hand is covered on the mouth when smoking.

"Definitely." Zhou Enlai said affirmatively.

"Why did he do that?" [***] asked again.

"I guess I am dissatisfied with the rejection of the Northern Expedition bill." Zhou Enlai thought about it and said: "President Jiang is a very stubborn person, and he will never do what he believes, I think his move may have two purposes, first, to force us to make concessions; The second is to take this opportunity to attack the prestige of our party and to make a big show for the Kuomintang. ”

"Well, is it possible for him to turn right?" Yang Kuangan asked with some concern.

"It seems that it is not yet, but the victories of the two crusades have given him high confidence, and he has always regarded himself as a student of the prime minister, and politically he can be regarded as a centrist." However, Zhou Enlai remembered that Chiang Kai-shek asked him for a list, and added: "However, Zhang Jingjiang had a great influence on him, and although Zhang Jingjiang did not participate in the Xishan Conference faction, he was their sympathizer, and we had better guard against Chiang Kai-shek." ”

"So he wants to be China's Kemal!" Deng Zhongxia's emotions came up, and he stood up and shouted, "Down with him!" ”

The overthrow of Chiang Kai-shek is a very serious issue, and the Kuomintang regime is currently cooperating with Wang Chiang, Wang Ching-wei is in charge of politics, and Chiang Kai-shek is in charge of the military. Whether Chen Duxiu will agree or not is a question.

After thinking about it, Chen Yannian said: "At present, Chiang Kai-shek is still a centrist who can be won over, and the central government's policy towards the centrists is to strive for it as much as possible. ”

Wang Ching-wei, who had just successfully concluded his first party congress as chairman, was caught off guard by the news war that had erupted in Guangzhou, and he quickly decided that Chiang Kai-shek was behind the promotion, although he also believed that this was just to vent his frustration that the Northern Expedition had not passed.

The Kuomintang had the upper hand in the polemic, and although he was secretly happy, he was also a little annoyed that Chiang Kai-shek had acted without ventilating in advance.

"This Chiang Kai-shek, unruly, really not idle." Chen Bijun saw Wang Jingwei shaking his head while reading the newspaper, so he said with some dissatisfaction.

"If we grasp this opportunity well, we can expand the influence of our party; There are also bad aspects, which are not conducive to the cooperation between the KMT and the CPC. Wang Jingwei made a positive evaluation.

Chen Bijun's nostrils snorted softly, she flipped through the newspaper, suddenly raised her head and asked suspiciously: "Fourth brother, can you master Chiang Kai-shek?" ”

Wang Jingwei was slightly stunned, looked up at Chen Bijun, and Chen Bijun explained: "What is the purpose of Chiang Kai-shek's doing this? Just venting your frustrations? And no other political ambitions? ”

Chen Bijun's reminder made Wang Jingwei rethink, and after a while he said: "It is possible to say that there are other ambitions, but the [***] side will definitely counterattack, and the Soviet Russian side will also secretly stop it, so Chiang Kai-shek will only increase his prestige, and nothing else is possible." However, Chiang Kai-shek's biggest weakness is that his qualifications are too shallow, and he only entered the Central Standing Committee at this congress, so there will be no problem for the time being. ”

"It seems that Chiang Kai-shek is still ambitious, and he also knows that his prestige and qualifications are insufficient, so he desperately advocates the Northern Expedition." Chen Bijun closed the newspaper and said in a conclusive tone.

"In my opinion, Wang Dongcheng should be promoted as soon as possible, and if Chiang Kai-shek is really disobedient, he should be replaced by Wang Dongcheng." Chen Bijun then added: "Don't forget the lesson of the prime minister. ”

Wang Jingwei said: "For the time being, it has not reached that level, this time in addition to the Northern Expedition proposal, Kai-shek is still very cooperative." ”

Ji Jiashan personally approached Wang Jingwei to express his concern about the current tone of the news media in Guangzhou, believing that this would seriously damage the relations between Soviet Russia and the Kuomintang, and proposed that in order to promote Sino-Soviet friendship and strengthen the ties between the two parties, the Kuomintang could assign some young people to study at Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow, and all expenses would be borne by Soviet Russia; Wang Jingwei agreed with Ji Jiashan's view and welcomed Ji Jiashan's suggestion. Subsequently, Wang Jingwei summoned the Propaganda Department and the editors-in-chief of the newspapers and periodicals under its control, and asked them to publicize more propaganda on the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and more on the three major policies of the Prime Minister to unite with Russia and support the peasants and workers, so as to counter the attack on Soviet Russia.

Wang Jingwei went to negotiate with Chiang Kai-shek, who was scratching for a while, and finally agreed to persuade the Sun Wenist Society to die down, and in exchange, Wang Jingwei agreed to speed up the formulation of laws and prepare financially and militarily for the Northern Expedition.

"New Youth" and "Guide" also published articles to refute the argument that disapproval of the Northern Expedition was a fake revolution, taking Sun Yat-sen's Northern Expedition in 1924 as an example, implying that Chiang Kai-shek also opposed Sun Yat-sen's Northern Expedition at the beginning, believing that the most important thing at present is to implement the premier's three major policies, consolidate the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and prepare for the Northern Expedition.

The "Political Weekly" declared that unhealthy factors in the current political atmosphere in Guangzhou were increasing, and that the Second National Congress had dealt with the Xishan Conference faction in the open and the Xishan Conference faction hiding in the shadows was still active, and it was ridiculous to judge whether the revolution was in favor of the Northern Expedition or not. The Northern Expedition was not only a military operation, but more importantly a political and economic policy promotion, especially on the rural land issue, which made it clear that it would oppose the Northern Expedition until a corresponding policy was formulated.

Jiang Xianyun led the comrades of the Youth Army Association to go deep into the colleges and universities, and the Sun Society launched an open debate, Jiang Xianyun, Yang Qigang, Yu Shandu and other backbones of the Youth Army Association have gone into battle, in this face-to-face confrontation Huangpu Phase III Kang Ze stood out, this face is broad, slightly ugly people defeated Yu Shandu and Yang Qigang, only in the confrontation with Jiang Xianyun, one of the two heroes of Huangpu.

After Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Jingwei reached an understanding, he told Zeng Kuoqing that it was appropriate to stop, and Zeng Kuoqing understood it, and Sun Xuexue suddenly died down, leaving only the newspapers and periodicals under the influence of Wu Chaoshu, such as "Qunbao" and "Shibao", were still chattering about the purpose of Soviet Russia. So they attracted the firepower of "New Youth" and "Guide", and after they found out that Chiang Kai-shek had ceased fire, Jiyuan couldn't help but scold Wang Bailing for not notifying.

The propaganda controversy caused by the Northern Expedition came to an end before the Spring Festival in 1926, and Chiang Kai-shek was considered to have made a small gain in this dispute, and he became a symbol of revolutionary soldiers in the eyes of some young people; On the whole, the prestige of the Kuomintang has increased, [***] has suffered a small setback, Soviet Russia has suffered the greatest loss, and the worship of Soviet Russia by young people is no longer so strong.

(To be continued)