Song Zhewu took the opportunity to drink water, carefully observed Chiang Kai-shek's facial expression, saw Chiang Kai-shek's thoughtful look, and knew that Chiang Kai-shek listened to his own words, so he put his mind at ease, and continued: "Once we reach this turning point, from now on, our combat skills and tactics will become more and more flexible and ingenious, and our combat effectiveness will become stronger and stronger. On the contrary, due to the gradual depletion of troops and strategic materials, the combat effectiveness of the army will become weaker and weaker, and it will even gradually retreat to protect itself. The initiative of the war will gradually shift to us. In a word, as long as we do not negotiate, do not compromise, do not surrender, and persist in resisting, in the end we cannot support it and are unable to fight again, it must be the original and not us. As the war gradually evolves, the international community will also wait and see and gradually turn to support our war of resistance, because none of them wants to see the emergence of a situation in which they will dominate China or even Asia. As the war continues to expand, it will gradually be unable to purchase all kinds of strategic materials it urgently needs from Europe and the United States on a large scale, and these materials are available in Nanyang and Southeast Asia. In order to obtain various strategic materials, he will definitely take risks. Moreover, there has always been a dispute within the top level and the military department over the direction of westward expansion into the mainland and southward expansion into Southeast Asia and the Nanyang Islands. These places are the spheres of influence and colonies of Britain and the United States, and once they go south, they will inevitably have contradictions and conflicts, or even wars, with them. Once this happens, Britain and the United States and other countries will inevitably increase their support for us so that the Chinese army will fight on both sides. What's more, Soviet Russia will inevitably support our war of resistance at the beginning of the war, because Soviet Russia is absolutely unwilling to keep a large number of troops in the Far East to guard against the European powers. ”

Seeing that Chiang Kai-shek's brows were slightly furrowed when he talked about Soviet Russia, Song Zhewu added: "Although we don't like Soviet Russia, it must be Soviet Russia that first gives us assistance and support in the war, because the occupation of China will be directly related to their vital interests." Moreover, the assistance we needed so much at that time. ”

Chiang Kai-shek thought for a while and asked Song Zhewu: "It seems that Wen Ge thinks that there will be a battle between China and China, and this time will not be too long?" What you just said is your view of the Sino-Chinese war? ”

"Yes, what Fang just said is Zhewu's view of the battle between China and China, and the conclusion is that we will win, and we will lose. At the time of the war between China and China, Zhewu thought that he would attack the Northeast within three or two years, and then he would encroach on North China. If we endure humiliation and give in at this time, we will have to make an inch, and we will inevitably launch a full-scale war of aggression against China within 10 years. Song Zhewu said in a low voice. Although he knew that the time of the "July 7 Incident" was in 1937, and there were still eight years to go, he did not dare to say so exactly, and he really hoped that through his efforts, the occurrence of this war could be delayed.

"According to what you said, we must gradually resist, abandon all large and medium-sized cities, and retreat inland to resist the war. Where do you end up retreating? Is it the two lakes region or Sichuan? Or is it Shanxi? Moreover, although the fall of these large and medium-sized cities has not completely rendered us incapacitated, the impact on our war potential cannot be ignored. In addition, how to solve the problem of food and ammunition for the troops left behind enemy lines? Chiang Kai-shek asked thoughtfully.

Song Zhewu had to admire Chiang Kai-shek and immediately grasped the main point of his words in such a short time.

Song Zhewu leaned forward and carefully explained to Chiang Kai-shek: "Chairman, when I say abandoning all large and medium-sized cities, I do not mean giving up all large and medium-sized cities easily, some coastal cities can do this, such as Tianjin, Yantai, Qingdao, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, etc., but Shanghai and Nanjing must resist, and it is the most fierce resistance. If these two areas are easily abandoned, it will greatly affect morale and people's morale. In the inland cities, large and medium-sized cities should also take advantage of the army's eagerness to occupy the cities and control the lines of communication, resolutely resist according to the battle situation, and even launch a campaign of appropriate scale under the superior forces and powerful terrain, inflicting huge casualties on the army. It is necessary to make the army continue to pay a heavy price and consume its strength. The final base and rear area of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression should be in Sichuan, where the terrain is dangerous, the transportation is inconvenient, and the superior weapons and equipment of the country cannot exert their due power here, which is extremely conducive to our perseverance, especially the vast rear area, which can connect Soviet Russia in the west and Southeast Asia in the south, so as to facilitate international assistance. However, the two lakes area has a large water network and rivers, and most of the area is mountainous, which should be the frontier area of our frontal resistance. As for Shanxi, the territory is small, and although it is conducive to defense, it is also convenient for the army to besiege and blockade. It can only be used as a secondary base for the Anti-Japanese War. As for the loss of cities, it will naturally affect our war potential to a certain extent, but all our factories are not very large in scale and easy to relocate, and we do not have many such factories, so the impact on us is very small. Moreover, our weapons and equipment are relatively rudimentary, and as long as we have a supply of light weapons and ammunition, we can hold on, and the materials and consumption required are not as large as those of the Chinese army. As for the troops that remain behind enemy lines, it is even better to do so, even if the Yue army occupies half of China's cities, but he cannot completely control the countryside, because he cannot have so many troops, and if he wants to control all the areas that have been occupied, he cannot do it without a few million troops. As the territory occupied became larger and larger, they could only control the cities and the surrounding areas of the communication lines, and they could not do anything about the vast rural areas. The troops left behind enemy lines can be partially fed on the spot, and ammunition can be reliably operated through the open areas occupied by the Japanese army, although it may need to be transferred by detours. ”

Chiang Kai-shek stood up, waved his hand to stop Song Zhewu, who was about to get up, and paced back and forth with his head down in the small pavilion alone. Song Zhewu knew that Chiang Kai-shek was thinking and weighing his own words, and he didn't bother Chiang Kai-shek, just drank tea silently.

After a while, Chiang Kai-shek stopped, looked at Song Zhewu and said with some embarrassment, Wen Ge, what you said is very reasonable, I will think about it carefully, we will talk about the topic between China and China today. You want to train the whole army in Shanxi, this idea is very good, and I support you. However, after listening to your words, I have decided that once Feng Huanzhang's Northwest Army and Yan Xishan's Jin Sui Army are settled, I am not prepared to use troops on a large scale against other local forces, and I need to seize the time to restore the economy and carry out industrial construction, especially the construction of the national defense industry. That will require a lot of money, and the central government will not be able to give you its own support, and it will be very difficult for you to implement it. ”

Song Zhewu knew that Chiang Kai-shek had not yet fully believed in the Sino-Chinese war, and China would win. Historically, Chiang Kai-shek attached great importance to Chiang Baili's "Theory of National Defense" and even built a large number of national defense fortifications in the Beijing-Shanghai-Hangzhou area, and he also invited German advisers to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the northwest and southwest regions of China and where China's political axe would set up its rear in the event of a war. If Chiang Kai-shek had believed himself on the basis that the "September 18" incident had not yet been launched, it would be too rash.

However, it doesn't matter, his revised version of the national defense theory appeared seven years earlier, and as soon as the "September 18" incident occurred, Chiang Kai-shek would immediately carefully consider his words today, and he would also make arrangements ahead of history.

The most important thing is that he finally personally showed Chiang Kai-shek the reason why he wanted Shanxi, and eliminated Chiang Kai-shek's idea that he wanted Shanxi because he wanted to be Yan Xishan's second, which was the biggest gain of his trip to Hubei.

When Chiang Kai-shek mentions money now, he is just telling him, you can train the army, but I don't have money. Fortunately, Song Zhewu never expected Chiang Kai-shek to give him this "miscellaneous card" to solve the problem of funds. Moreover, the amount of funds he needs is very large, and he estimates that Chiang Kai-shek just wants to give it to him, and I am afraid that he will not be able to take it out. He had to solve this money by building factories and developing industry and commerce in Shanxi.

However, it is just right to take this opportunity to ask for more benefits for yourself, and also for the development of Shanxi in the future, so that people with red eyes have nothing to say.

Song Zhewu said with a sincere expression: "Chairman of the National Committee, Zhewu knows that the central government needs a large amount of money to develop the economy. Most of the expenses that Zhewu needs in Shanxi are still solved by my family property, but there must still be a big gap, and I would like to ask the chairman of the committee to promise me that in the future, I will only pay salt tax, customs duties, stamp duty, mining tax and other taxes in Shanxi, and leave the rest to Shanxi.

Chiang Kai-shek thought about it for a while, and according to the newly divided national and local tax divisions, he only left the unified tax to Shanxi, and Song Zhewu did not ask for other taxes. Since he agreed with Song Zhewu to train troops in Shanxi, if he didn't pull out a dime, he couldn't say anything. He nodded and said, "Yes, I agree with this." However, in the future, the central authorities will only pay you military salaries and ammunition according to the establishment you have reported this time, and if you increase the number of troops in the future, you will have to settle all the costs yourself. ”

Chiang Kai-shek was afraid that Song Zhewu would have ideas, so he hurriedly added: "If the central government has sufficient finances in the future, I will still give you additions, I hope Wen Ge can understand the difficulties of the central government!" ”

Song Zhewu stood up and said: "The country is a big matter, but Shanxi is a small matter. The chairman of the committee shoulders a heavy responsibility, and Zhewu can't share the worries for the chairman, and he is very ashamed! ”

Chiang Kai-shek said with a solemn face: "Wen Ge, the troops in the central government have begun to move against the Northwest Army, Feng Huanzhang will soon notice that your troops must leave Hubei immediately, otherwise once they block Wusheng Pass, you will have to go back, and you will have to take a detour." ”

Song Zhewu immediately said: "Chairman of the committee, I will rush back to Xiaogan today and immediately arrange for the troops to return to Laiyuan." ”

Chiang Kai-shek shook his head and said: "No, don't go back to Laiyuan, I have already sent a telegram to Yan Baichuan, you send a division to escort the two divisions and the recruited recruits to Laiyuan, and you personally lead a division, cavalry brigade, and guard brigade to find a way to stay in the Zhengzhou area and prepare for war with the Northwest Army." ”

Song Zhewu Lizheng said: "Resolutely obey the orders of the chairman. ”

Chiang Kai-shek said with a smile on his face: "Okay, Wenge, I hope you will make great contributions to the party-state." In addition, I estimate that Han Fuyu will also go back soon, you have to have a good relationship with him, and you have to do more work for me. ”

(To be continued)