Ge Guangting sighed and said: "In fact, this agreement was quite fair, and people of insight from all walks of life in China at that time enthusiastically cheered for it, praising it as the first equal treaty signed by China since the Opium War. ”

Song Zhewu nodded and said: "If this agreement is implemented, it should be said that this is the beginning of the Soviet Union's shift from Tsarist Russia's invasion of the Northeast and hegemony of the Far East to treating China as an equal and cooperative." But in this case, why did not go through negotiations between the central government and the Soviet Union, but adopted the extreme method of taking back by force? It would be a great thing if we could negotiate the redemption at our expense. ”

The reason why Song Zhewu remembers Ge Guangting is because when Ge Guangting was the chairman of the Jiaoji Railway Committee in Beiyang Zhengaxe, he gradually turned this section of the railway into a profit, and finally redeemed the Jiaoji Railway from himself by making a profit, and finally nationalized the railway in 1922, and the Jiaoji Railway was also rated as a national model railway.

Ge Guangting sighed and said: "If you can redeem it, it will naturally be the best, but Nanjing is not willing to do this." Wang Zhengting, the foreign minister in Nanjing, advocated "revolutionary diplomacy" and the abolition of all unequal treaties. Nanjing will not come up with this money. ”

"However, if we take some money against the stocks and bonds of the 'Eastern Railway' handed over to us by the Soviet Union, or even take other means to raise some money, first redeem the 'Eastern Railway' and then make a profit from the operation of the railway, and gradually repay the loan? Why must it be recovered by force, you must know that once the war begins, the military expenses and the price paid may be far greater than the cost of redeeming the railway. Tao Rong, who had not spoken, asked puzzled.

Ge Guangting smiled bitterly and said: "Chief of Staff Tao's words are very reasonable, and I also have this idea, but ......"

Ge Guangting looked like he wanted to speak and stopped, and stopped talking by drinking tea.

Song Zhewu knew that Ge Guangting had something to say, but it was okay for him to fight, after all, this was a battle against a foreign enemy, and it could be called defending the country. is selfishly speaking, rescuing Zhang Xueliang can not only win Zhang Xueliang's favor and make some preparations in advance for the aftermath of the Central Plains War, but also improve his prestige in front of the Chinese people. But if he doesn't know what is going on, it's hard to say whether to send troops, after all, he still has to consider the problem of Shanxi, and he has to prepare to face the upcoming Central Plains War.

Song Zhewu's face turned straight, and he said: "Mr. Jingcen, to tell you the truth, I really want to send troops to help Deputy Commander-in-Chief Zhang and his Northeast Army, because after all, this is a battle against a foreign enemy." But if I don't let Song Zhewu know the true situation of the matter, I will never send a single soldier, even if Chairman Jiang gives an order. ”

After being silent for a long time, President Ge Guang sighed and said, "That's it! Since the general said so, Jing Cen told the truth about everything I knew today, but asked the general to lead the army to help in the face of the fathers and elders in the northeast. ”

"Mr. Jingcen, please speak." Song Zhewu leaned forward, ready to listen carefully. It is certain to lead the army to help, and it is precisely because of this that he must understand the real situation, he does not want his soldiers to die in vain, he also needs these elite soldiers to fight hard, and he has to do a lot of important things related to the rise of the Chinese nation.

Ge Guangting lit a cigarette, took a puff, and said faintly: "Originally, it is okay for us to redeem the Middle East Road, even if the central government does not pay for it, I also persuade Han Qing to contribute to the Northeast itself, with my years of experience, the profitability of the Middle East Road is ten times that of the Jiaoji Railway, and we will definitely earn back this money in less than ten years, and Han Qing also agreed in principle." However, in the second half of '27, the Soviet political axe, stimulated by the "Manchurian and Mongolian" policy, and especially intimidated by China's strong call for recovering sovereignty over the Middle East Road, was ready to transfer the Middle East Road to Yue himself in order to keep its actual interests on the Middle East Road from being infringed upon. In mid-October of the same year, the deputy director of the Soviet side of the China Eastern Railway went to Dalian to hold secret talks with Jotaro Yamamoto, president of the Namman Society, and signed the "Draft Agreement on the Middle East Road." The contents of the draft agreement include: this order is to order the South Manchurian Society to handle the Middle East Road; It was said that the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union jointly opposed China's repossession of the Middle East Road; The South Manchurian Society allowed the Soviet Union to send troops to protect the northern section of the Middle East Road, but limited to 5,600 people; The Middle East Road and the Ussuri Railway give preferential treatment to freight transportation; The Middle East Road first ceded the south bank of the Songhua River to the South Manchurian Society, which was implemented within one year; It was said that the Soviet Union should assist in laying railways in Inner Mongolia and North Manchuria, and that the Soviet political axe sent engineers to plan everything together with the personnel of the Soviet side; The interests of the Soviet Union in Outer Mongolia were negotiated between the two countries on the principle of equality; Siberia, Heilongjiang forests, coal, iron, oil mines, etc., Su Yun said that this mining, and so on. Although the "Middle East Road Draft Treaty" was signed in secret, the news still leaked, and Zhang Dashuai at that time was quite surprised when he learned about it, and asked Yue Ben about it. The Chinese side defended itself: 'What the Soviet Union ceded is a right belonging to the Russian side. Its rights belong to the Chinese side, which still exist, and are absolutely not affected by Russia's concessions. In other words, it is very likely that before we can negotiate with the Soviet Union, or even the Soviet Union will not seriously negotiate with us at all, it will collude with Yue himself and sell part of the rights and interests of the Middle East Road to Yueben. If another person is added, it will be even more difficult to recover this Middle East Road. Therefore, Han Qing thinks that the matter of recovering the right of way is sooner rather than later, which is one of them. ”

Ge Guangting said a little depressed: "Second, at the beginning of the year, Han Qing ordered the recovery of the Middle East telephone rights, and the Soviet Union acquiesced. In April, Hanqing sent Zhang Jinghui and Lu Ronghuan to negotiate with the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union made some concessions in the negotiations, allowing the Chinese to serve as the directors of six divisions, including commerce, aircraft maintenance, vehicle maintenance, general affairs, accounting, and payment, but asked the Chinese side to recognize the Soviet trade union on the Middle East Road. Therefore, Han Qing thought that the Soviet Union had a weak attitude, and soon withdrew the Harbin Meteorological Observation Station of the China Eastern Railway, trying to determine the bottom line of the Soviet Union, but the Soviet Union unusually acquiesced. Headed by Lu Ronghuan, the director of the Middle East Road, Zhang Jinghui, the governor of the Eastern Provincial Special Administrative Region who was in charge of diplomacy with the Soviet Union, Zhang Guochen, director of the Education Department of the Special Administrative Region, and Zou Shangyou, director of the China Eastern Railway, who handled diplomacy with the Soviet Union under Zhang, all the more believed that the Soviet Union had nothing to offer. They listened to the lies of a White Russian adviser, Tomavsky, who said: 'There is a great famine in the Soviet Union, the people are dying, they are extremely dissatisfied with the [***] regime, and the countries of Europe and the United States also have hatred for the Soviet Union. If China can take advantage of this opportunity to take back its sovereignty over the Middle East Road in one fell swoop, not only will the Soviet Union be powerless to resist at this time, but even the world powers will have their hands held high and approve of China's actions. Therefore, they repeatedly instigated Han Qing to take back the right of way by force, and Han Qing also felt that the Soviet Union repeatedly tolerated it, but it was not able to take care of the Far East, and their experience was left to the West and the country. According to the information we have obtained, they have already massed a large number of troops in Boli, Sanjiangkou, and Manchuria in the border areas of the east and west, and it seems that they are going to attack the northeast. ”

"But such a big thing was done without the consent of the central government, and Zhang Shaoshuai was too bold!" Xiao Guodong said with some dissatisfaction.

Ge Guangting smiled bitterly and said, "You don't know Han Qing's character. Han Qing is a person who is upright, heroic, trustworthy, and chivalrous. Since he has changed banners and assumed the post of deputy commander-in-chief of the army, navy, and air force, it is natural that he must consult the Central Committee and Chairman Chiang for instructions on everything. To tell you the truth, on July 7, Han Qing dismissed Chairman Chiang in the northern plane, and when he returned to Mukden, he began to arrange the matter of recovering the Middle East Road. ”

Tao Rong asked with some surprise: "Is Chairman Jiang agreeing?" ”

Ge Guangting hesitated for a moment and said: "Back to Fengtian, Han Qing just told us that he had met Chairman Jiang in Beiping, and also talked to Chairman Jiang about the issue of the 'Middle East Road', as for whether Chairman Jiang agreed with Han Qing or not, we asked him just smiled and did not answer, I guess Chairman Jiang must have agreed, otherwise Han Qing's personality would not have disobeyed the orders of Chairman Jiang, the leader of the political axe." ”

Seeing that Song Zhewu and the others were thinking about his words, Ge Guangting said with regret: "It should be said that the Soviet side has been very restrained in the series of incidents since May, and at the beginning it only asked us to release the people, and said that we could start negotiations on the issue of the 'Middle East Road'. It's just that we thought the USSR was weak and could be bullied, and ignored them. Even now, although they have massed up a large number of troops on the eastern and western fronts and are constantly crossing the border to provoke by force, they have always retreated to the Soviet side on the same day and have not stopped on our side. Han Qing believes that this is because they are not ready to go to war, and once they are ready, they will attack us in a big way, and even not only for the purpose of retaking the 'Middle East Road'. Therefore, I implore General Song to lend a helping hand and help Han Qing through the difficulties. ”

After speaking, Ge Guangting looked at Song Zhewu expectantly.

Song Zhewu did not answer Ge Guangting's request, but stared at Ge Guangting and said: "Mr. Jingcen, since the Soviet side has the intention of negotiating to solve the 'Middle East Road', why does Deputy Commander-in-Chief Zhang not negotiate with the Soviet Union, and if we can get the results we want through negotiations, why do we have to fight?" ”

Ge Guangting said helplessly: "Not only did I persuade Han Qing, but even the assistant commander Zhang Zuoxiang tried his best to persuade Han Qing to accept it when he saw it, negotiate with the Soviets, and don't force Lao Maozi to be in a hurry." Han Qing now regrets that he did this recklessly, and he also wants to negotiate with the Soviets now. ”

"Since Deputy Commander-in-Chief Zhang also thinks that it is necessary to negotiate, what is there to talk about?" Song Zhewu asked strangely.

Ge Guangting said with a wry smile: "It's just that the problem now is that Han Qing wants to negotiate, but Nanjing resolutely does not agree to negotiate with the Soviets, and Han Qing is now in a difficult situation, so this war with the Soviet Union is inevitable." ”

(To be continued)