The Nanjing meeting between Duan Qirui and Xiao Yimin completely dispelled the rumors that the Sino-Civil War was about to break out, and as Duan Qirui and his entourage left Nanjing and returned to the capital Yanjing after holding a high-profile press conference, people from all walks of life rarely sang praises for them.

As the crisis of war between the north and the south seemed to be about to break out in one fell swoop, the "Guangdong-Guizhou War," which lasted 50 days, quickly turned from a fierce battle at many points to a state of confrontation on all fronts, and the exhausted officers and men of the two sides quietly licked their wounds along the battle line of Shaoguan, Sihui, Zhaoqing, Yunfu, and Yangxi, which was more than 300 kilometers long from north to south, and gathered each other's corpses to bury and pay respects.

At the same time that Duan Qirui arrived in Nanjing to meet with Xiao Yimin, the hidden contradictions within the Guangdong political bloc suddenly became open -- Chen Jiongming, commander-in-chief of the Guangzhou Central Political Axe Army and commander-in-chief of the Guangdong Army, denied the demand of Sun Wen, president of the revolutionary party, to "convene a special congress and elect a statutory president" on the grounds that "the number of deputies did not reach two-thirds of the legal requirements." From then on, the irreconcilable and huge contradiction between the elite faction headed by Sun Wen and the local faction headed by Chen Jiongming was finally aroused.

Sun Wen and his faction condemned Chen Jiongming and others one after another for their "warlord behavior" and selfishness, and angrily criticized Chen Jiongming and other Cantonese military and political officials as political opportunists who tried in vain to betray the revolution at a time when the revolutionary cause was in danger by virtue of the guns in their hands, thus thoroughly exposing the ugly features of usurping the party and seizing power.

Chen Jiongming's faction thought that they had worked hard to fight for life and death, but in the end they were excluded from the core of the political axe, and the blood of countless Guangdong men was finally stained red by others, and then heard the merciless attack of Sun Wen's faction, and immediately ridiculed each other in a fit of rage, not only violently attacking Sun Wen's "Outline of the Political Axe Organization" at large and small meetings that violated the Constitution, but also refuting Sun Wen's request one by one The five powers of the president are the same as those of the Manchu Emperor, and denounced Sun Wen's attempt to take over the party, government, and military power in one body. At the same time, major local newspapers were mobilized to expose the extravagant and erosive private life of Sun Wen and his faction for a long time, and the lid of the sauce jar that had been tightly covered for more than ten years was lifted of "where are the huge donations of overseas Chinese in the world spent".

A large number of revolutionaries who had gathered in Guangzhou from all over the country were finally completely disappointed and left Guangzhou one by one, and as many as 100 members of the old League and well-known domestic political figures rushed to Shanghai to join the reorganized Kuomintang banner of Lin Sen, Yu Youren, Cai Yuanpei, and others.

By the time the core figures of the two factions, who were angry and attacking each other, came to their senses, nearly half of the revolutionary political axe departments in Guangzhou had been emptied, and all military and political affairs had been paralyzed.

At this time, under the order of Lu Rongting, the overseer of Guangxi, 120,000 Gui officers and soldiers once again launched a fierce attack on the entire line of the Guangdong army, which was fluctuating in people's hearts and frequent infighting.

On August 4, Baihuazhou, Meixian County, Guangdong, the front headquarters of the Right Route Army of the Guangdong Army.

Xu Chongzhi threw down the discouraging telegram in his hand, rubbed the corners of his tense eyes with his hands, took out the gold watch and glanced at it, and turned to the door: "Chief of Staff Jiang and Division Commander Liu haven't arrived yet?" ”

The adjutant hurriedly stepped forward and stood upright: "Report to the commander, Division Commander Liu had already called back yesterday afternoon and said that he would leave overnight, and now it is almost two o'clock in the afternoon, and it is estimated that they are almost there." ”

The sound of horses' hooves came faintly from the direction of Yuanmen, and the adjutant said happily, "It's here," and then ordered several staff officers not far away to quickly prepare tea.

Xu Chongzhi tidied up the spotless military uniform on his body, buckled the discipline button unhurriedly, took the big cap handed by the adjutant and put it on his head upright, took a step out of the door, smiled on his face, and stood under the fierce voice and waited patiently.

Chiang Kai-shek and Liu Bingxian, who were covered in dust and sweating profusely, rode their horses surrounded by a group of guards, and when they were more than ten meters away from Xu Chongzhi, they restrained their horses, jumped down, and both came to Xu Chongzhi to raise their hands and salute, and entered the headquarters together under the warm greeting of Xu Chongzhi and another deputy division commander.

After sitting down with each other and serving fragrant tea, Xu Chongzhi waved away the staff officers and guards in the room, took out a telegram and handed it to Chiang Kai-shek, who was sitting opposite: "Did Brother Kai-shek also receive the same notice?" ”

Chiang Kai-shek took it and took a look, handed it to Liu Bingxian beside him, faced Xu Chongzhi, and nodded humbly: "I really can't imagine that the entire battle situation will take a sharp turn for the worse in three days, alas! ”

Xu Chongzhi shook his head helplessly:

If he hadn't led his troops south to Yingde without authorization, the Dian army and the Hunan army that remained on the front line of Shaoguan would not have surrendered to the Sichuan army Wang Zan Xu, who was attacking on a large scale, and the Fourth Army of the Gui Army and Maji would not dare to go south in a big way, and encircled Zhaoqing with the Third Army of Shen Hongying of the Gui Army, thus causing the tragic situation of our Zhaoqing defenders being killed and wounded on both sides by the enemy, and finally having to retreat with hatred."

Liu Bingxian thought about it and truthfully put forward his opinions:

"You are brother, Li Liejun is probably on the order of the base camp to lead his troops south, right? Although there is no explanation in the telex circular, if you think about it, you can see that there are many irrationalities. ”

Xu Chongzhi did not fail to take into account the complex political factors, but in any respect, he was biased towards the localists headed by Chen Jiongming, and the so-called revolutionary armies of Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Jiangxi, and Hunan that had been stationed in various parts of Guangdong for many years were insatiable, and the cruel plundering and oppression of the people in Guangdong Province had reached the point of anger and resentment. So unconsciously, Xu Chongzhi's political stance also quietly changed, and he no longer had the revolutionary passion that he had when he followed Sun Wenshi.

After a short silence, Xu Chongzhi asked kindly, "When will Brother Zicheng lead his troops back to Guangzhou?" ”

Liu Bingxian knew that Xu Chongzhi was very shrewd, and he must have deduced from the report that Sun Yat-sen was going to mobilize his headquarters to defend the Guangzhou base camp, so he didn't hide anything:

"Yesterday morning, I received a telegram from Mr. Sun, and I discussed it with Brother Kai-shek and decided to report to you first and ask for instructions, and then decided to set off for Guangzhou."

Chiang Kai-shek added: "Li Houji in Fujian is about to move, and the call for the expulsion of our revolutionary army in the whole province of Fujian is rising, and we are all very worried that after the evacuation of Chaoshan, Li Houji's troops will attack on a large scale. ”

Xu Chongzhi nodded with satisfaction: "Thank you, in fact, since the entire territory of Zhejiang was annexed by Xiao Yimin's Nanchang camp, the military and political circles of Fujian have also been loyal to Nanjing, in this case, I really don't want to continue to be stationed on the front line of southern Fujian without an ally."

"Don't worry, I have ordered the Seventh Brigade to evacuate Longyan and return to Jiaoling, and the Eighth Brigade is also leaving the defense area south of Zhangzhou and withdrawing to Chaoshan to take over the defense of your department, and my headquarters is still in Meixian for the time being."

Chiang Kai-shek and Liu Bingxian understood as soon as they heard that Xu Chongzhi was gradually shrinking and preserving his strength, and he was neither willing to continue to follow Mr. Sun's wishes to attack Fujian, nor was he willing to return to Guangzhou to face a difficult choice, so he simply continued to stay in the relatively wealthy Chaomei area and wait and see how the situation changed.

Chiang Kai-shek saw that Liu Bingxian was reluctant to speak again, so he had to remind Xu Chongzhi head-on:

"Brother Ru, there is one thing that Zicheng and I can't judge, I don't know if the Sichuan army Wang Zan Xu took Shaoguan and reached a secret agreement with the Gui army, if so, the Sichuan army will definitely continue to attack our army jointly with the Gui army in the next time, and it is reported that Li Houji of Fujian rushed to Nanjing a few days ago to meet Duan Qirui and Xiao Yimin, so it is very likely that Nanjing has reached some kind of agreement with Li Houji, so it has to be guarded against!"

Xu Chongzhi was awe-inspiring in his heart, he carefully weighed the possibility of Li Houji's counterattack, but did not take into account the two Jiangxi armies under Xiao Yimin, and now it seems that since Wang Zan Xu can fight jointly with Ma Ji, the general of the Gui army, it is entirely possible to jointly attack the Chaomei area with Li Houji's troops in Fujian.

Thinking of this, Xu Chongzhi, who had a dignified face, stood up and solemnly thanked Chiang Kai-shek and Liu Bingxian: "Thank you Kai-shek, thank you Zicheng!" If it weren't for the two of you, I would still be in a daze! ”

Chiang Kai-shek and Liu Bingxian hurriedly stood up and saluted back, Liu Bingxian said sincerely: "Brother Ru, after we led our troops to leave, there are only three brigades left in your hands, and the seventh brigade that withdrew to Jiaoling has been fighting continuously for more than a year, and has not yet received due replenishment. ”

Xu Chongzhi nodded gratefully: "Thank you Zicheng for reminding me, Brother Fool will definitely deal with it carefully...... Before, the foolish brother had a lot of misunderstandings about Zicheng, which really shouldn't be! Today, the foolish brother apologized to Zicheng, and I hope Zicheng will forgive me a lot! ”

"Brother is serious!"

Liu Bingxian hurriedly stepped forward, held Xu Chongzhi's hands, and didn't let Xu Chongzhi bend down: "In fact, there is no grudge between Bingxian and his brother at all, but there are differences in understanding in some aspects. ”

Chiang Kai-shek smiled when he heard this: "Okay, okay!" That's fine, in fact, I know that there is no great estrangement between the two, no, although Mr. Sun urged him very tightly, Zicheng still insisted on coming to say goodbye to his brother first, which shows that the two still cherish each other in their hearts, haha! ”

Xu Chongzhi's eyes were slightly red, he grabbed Liu Bingxian's hand, and didn't let go for a long time: "Don't go first, you have to have a drink before leaving, since you came to Chaoshan to garrison, we haven't had a meal together, two joint operations and several meetings, and we all rushed to each other when we saw each other, and I feel ashamed when I think about it!" ”

"Good! The younger brother stayed and had a drink with his brother, otherwise, he would probably regret it for the rest of his life. Liu Bingxian happily agreed.

In less than two hours, the fiery sun was still hanging on the clear blue sky in the west, and Xu Chongzhi, Liu Bingxian, Chiang Kai-shek and others were already toasting and talking under the big banyan tree on the riverside.

Just as he was talking about the happy place, Xu Chongzhi's adjutant and several guards arrived with an officer whose legs were bloodied and almost out of strength, Xu Chongzhi and the others knew that something was wrong at a glance, and hurriedly stood up and strode over.

Liu Bingxian saw the person with a face full of mud and sweat stains, his heart shook violently, he rushed up in two steps and shouted to dodge, hugged his henchman Liu Jixian, the deputy division commander who was almost unrecognizable, and shouted loudly: "Fourth brother! What the hell is going on? ”

Liu Jixian, who escaped from the Chaozhou military camp and rode a horse for more than 200 miles, was already tired and dying at the moment, he collapsed in the arms of his brother Liu Bingxian, and opened his bloodstained lips with difficulty:

"Big brother, the army has mutinied...... Xiao Fei, the commander of the first brigade, Xu Tongyao, the commander of the second brigade, as well as the teaching team and the special service battalion...... They suddenly attacked and arrested Director Wu and seven political instructors stationed in the base camp...... Kill them all......"

(To be continued)