Chen Gongbo sat down and looked at Chiang Kai-shek again, and Chiang Kai-shek pondered for a moment and then suddenly asked: "Gongbo, what do you think of Wang Jingwei's return to China?" ”

Chen Gongbo was surprised, he was very surprised by Chiang Kai-shek's words, and from his heart, his relationship with Wang Jingwei was not shallow, since returning to China, first Liao Zhongkai and then Wang Jingwei, both of them were extremely appreciative of him, the former led him into the political arena of Guangzhou, and the latter boldly promoted and used him, so that he was in a high position at a young age, and he was grateful to both of them. Therefore, after Wang Jingwei left, he felt very hesitant for a while, and almost planned to resign, but Chiang Kai-shek was still reusing him, but he didn't like the military spirit of Chiang Kai-shek, and he couldn't turn his back on Wang Jingwei emotionally.

"That's naturally good, if you cooperate with Mr. Wang, the national revolution will be successful." Chen Gongbo cautiously said that he had always regarded himself very highly, and had very few friends, and that his contact with Guangzhou was cut off after the Northern Expedition, so he was not very clear about the situation in Guangzhou, but he heard some sayings: "Mr. Wang has a high prestige inside and outside the party, and his return will be of great help to the unity of our party." ”

Chiang Kai-shek thought for a moment and then said slowly: "People can't have heads, but they can't have too many heads; The same is true for a party, he can only have one leader, not two leaders, if Mr. Wang must come back, I can let Xian. ”

Chen Gongbo was shocked, he didn't expect Chiang Kai-shek to have such a deep prejudice against Wang Jingwei, and the difference between the two was so big: "Commander-in-chief, don't, the commander-in-chief shoulders the heavy responsibility of the Northern Expedition, and in the process of pacifying the Dongjiang River and southern Guangdong, didn't Mr. Wang and the commander-in-chief cooperate very well?" ”

"Gongbo, you don't know how many small moves Wang Jingwei played behind his back, but fortunately I was careful to dodge,..., forget about this, you should tell me about the situation in Wuhan." Chiang Kai-shek originally wanted to mention the Zhongshan ship, but after thinking about it, the matter of the Zhongshan ship has not yet been clarified, whether Wang Jingwei really has that kind of plan, and whether Ji Jiashan really joined forces with it, has not found conclusive evidence, and it is not clear to say.

However, although he didn't want to say it, Chen Gongbo suddenly got into the horns: "Commander-in-chief, I have always believed that the best combination of our party after the prime minister is that you are in charge of the military, and Mr. Wang is in charge of the party and government. Our party is now in great confusion, and we must not do it again. ”

Chiang Kai-shek looked at Chen Gongbo and was very disappointed, he Chen Gongbo was very appreciative, even if he knew that his relationship with Wang Jingwei was not ordinary, and he could be reused in the south, but he didn't expect..., Chiang Kai-shek said with a calm face: "Forget it, forget it, don't talk about these things." Then he stood up and said, "Go back first, and we'll talk about it tomorrow." ”

Chen Gongbo stood up dumbfounded, he knew that what he had just said had disappointed Chiang Kai-shek, and Chiang Kai-shek had told him so much that he hoped that he would contact Guangzhou and spread the word so that the Guangzhou side could understand his determination, so that he could be more cautious in making a decision, so that the situation would not immediately fall out of Chiang Kai-shek's control.

After Chen Gongbo left, Chiang Kai-shek was a little disturbed, Wang Jingwei's influence was greater than he estimated, he originally thought that with the Nanchang military exploits, at least the party comrades would realize that the current situation needed him more, and they were somewhat restrained from welcoming Wang, but Chen Gongbo's words made him find that the military exploits did not work at all in politics. How to open up the current situation? Chiang Kai-shek fell into deep thought.

After Deng Yanda came out, he did not go back directly but went to the residence of Tienida, who was the political adviser of the General Headquarters, but he did not go to Jiangxi with Chiang Kai-shek during this time, but assisted Deng Yanda in the siege of Wuchang.

After recounting Chiang Kai-shek's words to Tienida, Deng Yanda asked: "Mr. Advisor, do you think it is appropriate to move the capital to Wuhan now?" ”

After thinking about it, Tienida said: "Whether the relocation of the capital is suitable or not depends on the needs of the situation, General Chiang's purpose is to use the central government to suppress Tang Shengzhi and welcome Wang's reinstatement, I support one purpose, Tang Shengzhi is not a real revolutionary, whoever pays a high price will sell himself to whom, Wuhan, a city with an important strategic position, cannot be handed over to him, nor should it be handed over to him, from this point of view, I support the relocation of the capital to Wuhan." However, as for the latter, I still don't praise it, saying that Mr. Wang Jingwei is the leader of your party, and General Chiang is also the leader of your party, and I support the cooperation between the two of them, but if General Chiang thinks it is inappropriate, Mr. Wang can not come back for the time being. ”

Tenida said it very tactfully, for the former is his personal opinion, for the latter is Moscow's instructions to them, but he said it as a personal opinion, and the truth is that he is also worried about Chiang Kai-shek's right turn, the current Chiang Kai-shek has too much power in his hands, once he turns right, the blow to the Chinese revolution will be fatal.

Deng Yanda heard it, he frowned and asked with some dissatisfaction: "This is your personal opinion?" ”

"Yes." Tenida said: "I suggest that you have a good talk with Comrade Borodin after you arrive in Guangzhou. ”

Deng Yanda looked at Tienida's eyes, pondered the meaning of his words repeatedly, and felt that there was a lot of strangeness in it, whether Borodin had any other ideas, he came to Tienida was vaguely aware that the trip to Guangzhou would definitely not be so smooth, and wanted to find some wind from him, but he didn't expect the wind to come out, but this wind blew from Moscow to Siberia, and from Siberia across the Great Plain of North China, turning nine bends and eighteen turns, and I couldn't figure out whether it was true or false.

The next day, Deng Yanda flew to Guangzhou with a stomach full of questions.

When Deng Yanda's plane was flying in the sky, Chiang Kai-shek held a military and political meeting in Wuchang to discuss the next battle plan.

At the beginning of the meeting, Tang Shengzhi first raised the question of the Hubei provincial chairman.

"Wuchang Kefu, the whole territory of Hubei is cleared, and someone needs to be responsible for the political, economic and administrative affairs, and the team of Hubei political axe should be set down as soon as possible, and we will continue the Northern Expedition."

"What suggestions does General Meng Xiao have?" Chiang Kai-shek asked with a smile.

"That's all for my suggestion, and I have another request," Tang Shengzhi ignored Chiang Kai-shek's attitude at all, and directly put forward what he wanted: "The Eighth Army now has 60,000 people, which has long exceeded the establishment of one army, and the commander-in-chief sees if it can be expanded to four armies?" ”

"The Eighth Army has made outstanding achievements in war, and it should have been expanded, but how to expand it, whether you expand one army or all armies, this needs to be discussed with the commanders of each army, Commander Li, Commander Zhu, Commander Cheng, and Commander Lu Dai are still on the front line, I need to reach an agreement with them, come up with a plan, and the military committee can only implement it after discussion, and how to solve the military expenditure after the expansion, these must be discussed in advance." Chiang Kai-shek gave Tang Shengzhi a nail without being hard or soft.

Knowing that Chiang Kai-shek was shirking, but his words were high-sounding and reasonable, Tang Shengzhi felt a little punched on cotton, and he felt very uncomfortable.

"As for the political axe of Hubei Province, this can only be decided after discussion by the central government." Chiang Kai-shek continued.

"In his position, he must seek his own affairs, and the commander-in-chief can make his own decisions, and according to the organizational regulations of the commander-in-chief, the commander-in-chief also has the right to make decisions." Tang Shengzhi forced a sentence.

"Meng Xiaowow," Chiang Kai-shek showed a bitter face: "No, some people are already saying that I am arbitrary, and if I am arbitrary, others will say that I am a scholar." ”

Read the talent! Tang Shengzhi couldn't cry or laugh, he also said this in private, but he didn't expect Chiang Kai-shek to use it to gag him at this time.

"What about Wuhan? You can't leave it alone. Tang Shengzhi asked unrelentingly.

"Well, I can decide this now," Chiang Kai-shek said, looking at the venue: "The Fourth Army fought two bridges in blood, and was known as the Iron Army, and defending Wuhan would definitely protect Wuhan." ”

Chiang Kai-shek's voice did not fall, Chen Keyu's face showed joy, and Tang Shengzhi's face was pale, but Chiang Kai-shek's voice changed: "However, the Jiangxi battlefield still needs to increase troops, Sun Chuanfang mobilized reinforcements from Anhui and Zhejiang, in an attempt to counterattack Nanchang, so the first part of the Fourth Army must be transferred to the Jiangxi battlefield, my opinion is that General Chen Mingshu should be appointed as the commander of the Wuhan garrison, and military management will be implemented in Wuhan, and General Zhang Fakui will go to Jiangxi to participate in the war." In addition, Xia Douyin, the second division of the Hubei Army, was stationed in Yichang and was responsible for guarding the west gate of Hubei. Wang Tianpei's division of the Tenth Army was transferred to eastern Hubei, and at least two divisions of the Eighth Army were transferred to accompany the Tenth Army. ”

After the victory in the Battle of Nanchang, Gallen drew up a battle plan for northern Jiangxi, with the goal of completely annihilating Lu Xiangting's division in the middle of the Nanxun line, and these two armies shouldered the task of attacking Chen Tiaoyuan from the north.

After Chiang Kai-shek finished speaking, he looked at Tang Shengzhi and asked: "General Meng Xiao, the Eighth Army has 60,000 people, and the transfer of two divisions will probably not affect the defense of northern Hubei." ”

Tang Shengzhi's mouth was full of bitterness, what could he say now? 60,000 people is he said, the two divisions are only more than 10,000 people, and there are 50,000 people, plus Chen Mingshu stationed in Wuhan, in the face of Wu Peifu's remnants of the defeated generals, of course there will be nothing wrong in northern Hubei.

Tang Shengzhi suddenly thought eagerly: "Commander-in-chief, Yang Sen of the Sichuan Army is attacking western Hubei and must be attacked, I think our Eighth Army can undertake this task, and Yuan Zuming is plotting against him in Xiangxi, and I am trying to transfer two divisions back to Hunan." ”

"Yuan Zuming and Yang Sen jumped off the ears of the clown, there is no need to worry, as soon as the army arrives, it will naturally disappear, so let's do it, General Zhang Fakui's troops will not go to eastern Hubei first, and General Peng Hanzhang's Ninth Army, and then transfer a division from the Eighth Army to jointly counterattack western Hubei." Chiang Kai-shek didn't care at all, these two people were typical speculation, Yang Sen Deng Yanda said that Zhu De had gone, of course, he didn't know who this Zhu De was, but since Deng Yanda was so sure, as long as he won two battles, Yang Sen wouldn't be obedient.

After Yuan Zuming announced that Yi Zhi accepted the leadership of the national political axe, he sent troops to the Northern Expedition, and Wang Tianpei belonged to his Guizhou army system. Wang Tianpei admired Sun Yat-sen, and the morale of his troops was extremely high, and he led the Tenth Army to rush in front of the whole army, from Changde, Lizhou, to Gong'an, Shishou, and then through the Yangtze River, Xiasha City, Jingzhou and other important towns, all the way over, swept through Hunan and Hubei, invincible. Yuan Zuming himself stopped in Xiangxi and did not leave, but hooked up with Wu Peifu again, preparing to attack Changsha and cut off the back road of the Northern Expeditionary Army. This guy's brain must have been thundered, and he dared to do such a thing at this time.

Hunan is Tang Shengzhi's old nest, of course, he will not take it lightly, Yuan Zuming's actions have long been found out clearly, but the main force of the Tang Department has been out of Hunan Province, and there is only one instructor in the entire Hunan, Tang Shengzhi ordered Zhou Lan, the instructor and division leader, to prepare for preparation, and on the other hand, he was ready to transfer troops back to Hunan.

As for Yang Sen, it is even more funny, as soon as the Northern Expeditionary Army arrived in Changsha, he sent people to contact him and asked to be attached to the Northern Expeditionary Army, Chiang Kai-shek gave him the number of the 20th Army, and it can be seen from the number that he was earlier than Liu Xiang, but after Liu Xiang had announced his appointment as the commander of the 21st Army of the National Revolutionary Army, he countermobilized troops, took advantage of the emptiness in western Hubei, and joined forces with Lu Jinshan, the remnants of Wu Peifu, to counterattack, conquer Gong'an, Shishou, Songzi, Zhijiang and other places, and his arrogance was very arrogant for a while.

"It is not appropriate for the Eighth Army to be dispersed and used in this way, it is better for the Eighth Army and the Ninth Army to attack western Hubei like this, General Zhang Fakui's troops and Commander Wang still attacked Western Hubei according to the original plan, but the two divisions transferred to Commander Wang will not set off until the battle in western Hubei is over." Tang Shengzhi had no choice but to retreat to avoid the troops being dispersed.

"Senior Commander Zhang, Commander Wang, what are your opinions?" Chiang Kai-shek asked Zhang Fakui and Wang Tianpei, and Tang Shengzhi's helpless appearance made him very happy.

"I follow the orders of the commander-in-chief." Wang Tianpei's face was dark, and his voice had a strong Guizhou accent.

Chiang Kai-shek's eyes flickered across his face, and he noticed Wang Tianpei's reply.

Zhang Fakui was silent and said after the meeting: "After Wuchang, although the troops have been rested, the ammunition has not been replenished, can the commander-in-chief allocate some ammunition to us?" ”

Chiang Kai-shek chuckled in his heart, what's wrong with this Zhang Fakui? Could it be that Chen Mingshu was dissatisfied with becoming the commander of the Wuhan garrison?

"There is no problem, I'm afraid that there will be no ammunition for guarding the Hanyang Arsenal, hehe, don't worry, Xiang Hua, I will definitely replenish your ammunition before the troops are deployed."

Chiang Kai-shek's words made Zhang Fakui unable to bear it any longer, and he stood up awkwardly.

(To be continued)