"If there is no Northwest Army, as long as Zhang Xueliang is held in his hand, and then forced by the righteousness of the Anti-Japanese War, I don't worry that the Northeast Army will not be used by the commission. But at present, the main force of the Northeast Army is all in Shaanxi, and a small part is still in Hebei. Under the joint suppression of the 17th Route Army and the Northwest Army, coupled with the Northeast Army's eagerness to resist the war, most of the generals agreed with Jiang Li's active resistance to the war, and a few people who had contact with the central government before were now afraid of Jiang Li's might and did not dare to take action. Kong Xiangxi analyzed and said, "Holding Zhang Xueliang hostage now will not only fail to decompose the Northeast Army, but will cause disgust from the Northeast Army, but with the current situation, Nanjing cannot do anything to Zhang Xueliang." It's better to exchange him for some chips with the Northwest. ”

Chairman Chiang's brows furrowed, he knew that many people, including Kong Xiangxi, were quite moved by the conditions proposed by the northwest for the exchange of weapons between the two divisions. And the weapons provided by the Northwest are not bad, according to the reactions of some officers and soldiers, in addition to the artillery is slightly inferior to the German type, the rifle as the main force is even better than the Mauser, and the performance of mortars and machine guns is also good.

"Zhang Hanqing's net worth is not only two divisions, but at least five divisions." When Chairman Jiang thought of his situation in Xi'an, he felt a little resentful in his heart.

"Commission, the equipment of the five divisions may not be accepted in the northwest." Kong Xiangxi smiled bitterly.

"Asking for a sky-high price, sitting on the ground and paying back. Not only the equipment of the five divisions, but also the northwest has to make concessions on the Sichuan side, and the army in northern Sichuan has already transferred him out of Sichuan, but Nanjing will also have to resist the war, and Sichuan should obey the dispatch of the central government, and the northwest must not be overlooked. Chairman Jiang waved his hand and said, "You are responsible for talking to the people in the northwest about this matter." Let's try the bottom of the northwest first. ”

"Good. Let's talk to the people in the northwest first. Kong Xiangxi nodded.

While making his own calculations in Nanjing. At this time, the northwest had quickly made arrangements, and Liu Zhanxiong's 3rd Army was transferred to Liu Zhendong's 7th Division and Li Chunrun's 16th Division. Shaanxi Guard 3rd Brigade Sun Youru Division. Wu Keren of the 67th Army was transferred to the 107th Jinkuibi Division, Zhang Wenqing's 108th Division, and the 10th Tanzixin Cavalry Division. The two armies were divided into the Pingyu Group Army, with Zhao Tieshu as the commander of the 2nd Group Army, and Sun Liren's 2nd Mechanized Brigade directly assigned to the group army headquarters, and another 6 aviation squadrons were drawn. Several anti-aircraft battalions.

Although the young marshal has the responsibility of losing the Northeast, this time in order to promote the unanimous resistance of all forces, he did not hesitate to risk himself alone, regardless of his personal safety. Now the Northwest is negotiating with Nanjing to negotiate the return of the young marshal. However, although the young marshal has not returned, the great cause of the Anti-Japanese War is urgent, and this time in the Northeast, I hope that all departments will work together. This is a national war, whether it is the former 15th Route Army, or the later 17th Route Army, the Northeast Army. If there is a person who is afraid of the battle and does not move forward, he escapes from the battle. The commander escapes and kills the commander. The division commander fled and killed the division commander. All military law is conducted. If there is a dissenter, now he has stripped off his military skin, withdrawn from the military circle, and gone to the battlefield behind, if anyone wants to be a deserter, he will run to the south, and the south will not be able to protect him. Jiang Li got up with both hands and pressed the table with both hands, and said murderously to the senior generals on both sides of the conference table.

"Commander, rest assured, this is a national war, the country does not exist, what kind of face does my generation of soldiers have in the world, even if the 17th Route Army is exhausted, it will have to deal with the Japanese army to the end." Yang Hucheng responded first.

"The Northeast Army has never retreated this time, if there is a deserter, don't need the commander to do it, I will personally lead the soldiers to pick his skin." Liu Duoquan, He Zhuguo, Yu Xuezhong and others have expressed their positions.

"This time for the multi-party cooperation, the Japanese army is strong and our side is weak, if we still hold the previous view of the door to deal with the Japanese, before the battle has been defeated by three points, I believe that the military order is like a mountain, I don't need to say more. So don't hold the idea that the generals of the Northeast Army command the Northeast Army and the Northwest Army command the Northwest Army. If the war is delayed because of this, I will kill him to the end, no matter who he is. Those who cause serious consequences shall be sent directly to a military court. Yang Hucheng followed his words and said that among the several forces, his Shaanxi army was originally the weakest. However, this time he went east to Shaanxi and went north to resist the war, as the commander of the 3rd Group Army, in addition to the original lineage of soldiers and horses, there were two divisions belonging to the 15th Route Army, two divisions of the Northeast Army, and an artillery brigade. A cavalry division. Compared with Zhao Tieshu's 2nd Army, there is one more army establishment.

Large-scale mobilization was being done in the northwest, and the 29th Army's fighting spirit was quite high, but Song Zheyuan, who had a very firm position in the Great Wall War of Resistance, wavered to a certain extent at this time. At this time, Nanjing also realized that the Japanese army wanted to make a big move in North China, and Chairman Chiang personally sent a telegram to Song Zheyuan, asking Song Zheyuan to rush back to Beiping or Baoding as soon as possible. However, Song Zheyuan did not obey the order, and immediately called Chairman Jiang on the same day, saying that the war would stop this morning. The North China troops have the responsibility to defend their territory and should make every effort to cope with the current situation. Song Zheyuan did not listen to the order to arrange the front as soon as possible and actively resist the war, but asked Zhang Zizhong to negotiate with the Japanese army. And Song Zheyuan himself also stayed in Tianjin, and did not directly rush to Beiping or Baoding to preside over the overall situation. Instead, he stayed in Tianjin and made contact with the Japanese, trying to make certain concessions in exchange for the Japanese to stop fighting.

However, Japan's actions at this time have become more and more obvious, and Nanjing and the northwest have obtained five divisions of the Japanese army mobilized and dispatched in China at the same time, and the movement of transferring troops and dispatching generals has not stopped in the slightest. The number of troops that the Kwantung Army has successively transported to the area of Tiandangzhen has reached 20 trains. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nanjing held several talks with Japanese envoys in China on the issue of the Lugou Bridge incident. Chairman Chiang also made a speech in Lushan on his determination to resist the war. At the same time, he personally met with the British, American, German, and French envoys to China, and tried to prevent Japan's invasion of China through diplomatic activities, but unfortunately to no avail. At this time, although the Northwest Army took advantage of the situation to rise, Jiang thought twice and did not give up his plan to intervene in the situation in the north. After consultations with his subordinate generals, it was decided to designate the north as the first North China Theater, with Chiang himself as the commander of the theater and Jiang Li as the deputy commander. Yan Xishan was appointed commander of the Shanxi Second Theater of Operations. The Central Second Army and Wei Lihuang's 14th Army, led by Chiang's henchman Liu Zhi in Henan, also had considerable weight in North China.

While the Japanese army was negotiating peace, it sent troops to press forward step by step, so that Song Zheyuan also woke up and hurriedly deployed defenses, but unfortunately it was too late. Precious time slipped through your fingers. The Japanese arrived at the intended place of attack on July 20. Si Yue Xiangqing decided to first purge the Chinese troops stationed at an important station between Tianjin and Peiping on the Bac Ninh Railway. A few days later, under the pretext of repairing power lines, the Japanese army launched an attack on the Chinese garrison in Langfang. Since the Lugou Bridge, the Japanese army has made preliminary preparations, and the war has completely broken out at this time. (To be continued.) )