"A series of abnormal actions of the Sichuan army are worrying, and it would be a big mistake if we regard the Sichuan army's occupation of Yichang and the dispatch of troops to Daye as a simple act of interest!"

Speaking of this, Chiang Kai-shek stood up a little excitedly, his expression was very plain, his body was straight, his hands did not move, which made people feel a little stiff and clumsy, and he did not naturally produce great appeal with gestures like Wang Jingwei, but the official words of the Fenghua accent were clear and calm:

"I believe that what the Sichuan army has done in the past six months is completely a purposeful and planned expansion of its forces, and it will inevitably win the support of the political axe at all levels in Sichuan and the rapidly developing Mingzhuo Party. You might as well recall what Xiao Yimin, the overseer of Sichuan, and Zhang Lan, the governor of Sichuan, have done in the past year?

In the west, they did the most thorough and most successful, for five consecutive years in an orderly manner to adhere to the Xikang construction and Xikang resettlement plan, and achieved great results, the Sichuan army not only successfully occupied the whole of Xikang and most of the Tibetan province, but also continued to repair roads, assimilation of the Kang Tibetan natives, 30,000 battle-hardened, well-equipped Sichuan border army, is now advancing southward step by step.

It can be seen from this that the military and political circles in Sichuan have formed a consensus, and they do not hesitate to risk the counterattack of the European and American powers and the isolation of international politics, and do not hesitate to withstand the pressure of trade sanctions from the foreign powers, and use extremely rare tough means to force the British to make concessions

"However, three months ago, who did not scold the Sichuan side for its naïve ignorance and whimsy? Who doesn't make fun of Xiao Yimin's arrogance and lack of strength? ”

Sun Yat-sen slowly leaned back in his chair and pondered.

Wang Jingwei looked at Chiang Kai-shek, who he had in his impression of being more wooden than shrewd, and more actions than words, his eyes were extremely complicated, and the gentle and charming smile on his face slowly disappeared.

Only Liu Bingxian, who got along with Chiang Kai-shek day and night, couldn't help nodding his head and thought so.

I am afraid that in the entire revolutionary base camp in Guangzhou, only Liu Bingxian knew Chiang Kai-shek's profundity and wisdom, and only then did he understand Chiang Kai-shek's extraordinary thinking ability and far-sightedness.

Chiang Kai-shek subconsciously raised his hand, wiped the corners of his mouth itched by his short beard, and continued: "Judging from the current stability in the Kang-Tibet region and the reaction of the British, Sichuan has completely solved the problems of the threat from the west and the rebellion of the natives, otherwise they simply have no energy and ability to suddenly turn around and advance eastward.

"As a result, everyone has seen that the Jiang Defense Regiment, composed of a division and six gunboats of the Sichuan Army, has rightly occupied Yichang in peace and security, occupying this strategic point that holds the throat of the Yangtze River and connects the five provinces, and there is no chaos and war predicted by our comrades and the major forces in the country at all.

"Yes! At first, even I thought that Xiao Yimin would ride a tiger under the strong pressure of the local forces in Hubei, the Beiyang political axe and the Yue Ben, and the only way was to withdraw to Sichuan to eliminate the disaster of the war, and even Wu Peifu, the wise and brave Shaozhuang general in the Beiyang Army, made the same prediction, but the result was ...... What a surprise! Sun Yat-sen sighed with emotion and blamed himself.

Wang Jingwei was the person who was least optimistic about Xiao Yimin at the beginning, and all his remarks about the Sichuan army's dispatch to Yichang were all criticisms and ridicule of the Sichuan army and Xiao Yimin, and he never expected that things would be far beyond his understanding, so when he heard Chiang Kai-shek's words of implied anger and anger, and saw the self-blame and loss on Sun Yat-sen's face, Wang Jingwei also sighed for a long time, and did not open his mouth at this time to find uncomfortable.

"Kai-shek, sit down and continue."

Sun Yat-sen seemed to be greatly touched, and his expression became grim.

Chiang Kai-shek sat down with a sigh of resignation, and with great difficulty sorted out his thoughts scattered by excitement: "Since the First Sino-Japanese War, I am afraid that there is no military force in the whole of China that dares to confront the powerful warship, but Xiao Yimin dares to do it, so he has received a reward that none of us dare to imagine, although he still faces the retaliation and suppression launched by himself from all sides, but at least he occupies Yichang in a grand manner, occupying this bridgehead and traffic choke point that is extremely important to Sichuan, Thus laying the most favorable foundation for the Sichuan army to go out of Sichuan. ”

Secondly, before everyone could see his purpose clearly, Xiao Yimin immediately threw out the news that he owned more than 40% of Han Yeping's shares and wanted to completely acquire Han Yeping, which caused a huge shock in the whole country, and also aroused the patriotic enthusiasm of the people across the country, which was undoubtedly a major crisis for Yue Ben, who had just given up interfering in Yichang.

"I have been transporting millions of tons of iron ore from Hanyeping every year for more than ten years, where does I still have the energy to entangle with Xiao Yimin the lost interests of Yichang? As I can see, the development of the matter was that he had to put aside the agreement with the British, and let the political officials and the representatives of the entrepreneurs come forward to unilaterally negotiate with Xiao Yimin, who has become the largest shareholder of Han Yeping.

"Sir, ladies and gentlemen, these things are all the result of careful planning and long-term preparation, and every move is amazing and admirable, but before that, our party generally despised Xiao Yimin and Sichuan political axe, and even thought that the Sichuan military and political circles were extremely naïve and reckless, I don't know if you still hold such an opinion now?"

Speaking of this, Chiang Kai-shek accentuated his voice: "Then, why did Xiao Yimin suddenly dispatch a regiment of heavy troops to occupy the Daye mining area and the wharf in the name of quelling the strike of the Daye iron miners at the critical time of the negotiation with Yue?" Could it be that he has repeatedly challenged his own interests, so that he is not afraid of retaliation from his own side? Is there any other political interest in him doing so that we can't see?

"At present, the delegation led by Tan Yanmin of Hunan is still visiting Sichuan, and Zhang Xun, who is vainly trying to be restored, has just been ousted from power by the two factions of Beiyang and our Kuomintang, and the coastal provinces are in great turmoil, but they still cannot cover the huge shocks that Xiao Yimin and the Sichuan army have brought to the whole country again and again.

"So, I've been thinking, what does Xiao Yimin want to do? What's next for him? And how should we deal with Sichuan? If public opinion attacks Xiao Yimin again, will Xiao Yimin sever contact with us from now on? Will not even a single bullet be sold to us? ”

After Chiang Kai-shek finished speaking, he sat down straight, sweat streaming down his face, but there was a sense of relief.

Chiang Kai-shek had never said so many things in public during the years of the revolution in Guangzhou, including during the years of the revolution in Shanghai, so he still felt nervous after sitting down, but a sense of joy welled up in his heart.

Sun Yat-sen's eyebrows twitched frequently, nodded to Chiang Kai-shek with great appreciation, and then fell into a long period of contemplation.

Wang Jingwei looked at Chiang Kai-shek with a smile, the look in his eyes was extremely complicated, there were surprises, admiration, and a kind of indescribable loss, Chiang Kai-shek had seen many essences that Wang Jingwei had not seen, and at the same time put forward the important choices and crises encountered by the Kuomintang in its strategy, Wang Jingwei was shocked in his heart, but also saw Chiang Kai-shek's broad vision and lofty ambitions, as well as the depth and ambition that Chiang Kai-shek had never expressed.

After a quick taste and a little weighing, Wang Jingwei realized very clearly that Chiang Kai-shek had attracted the great attention of Mr. Zhongshan, and was no longer a simple military general, but that Chiang Kai-shek was using his unique wisdom and actions to prove his ability to Mr. Zhongshan, and step by step towards the inner circle of the Kuomintang.

At this time, Sun Yat-sen was faced with a painful choice, military defeat, political split, and many factions in the revolutionary camp, which consumed his huge energy and time, and the revolutionary regime he established in the south was crumbling, and perhaps the next decision was made, which would be the beginning of the split in the revolutionary camp.

Under the strong pressure of the northern regime and the warlords in the provinces, Sun Yat-sen nominally ruled the whole of Guangdong, but did not have any financial power and military jurisdiction, and the vast majority of the so-called revolutionary parties and revolutionary armed forces in the country were all painstakingly camping for the interests of their own small groups, and all their actions seemed to be carried out in the name of the revolution and Sun Yat-sen. Only the newly formed guard brigade led by Chiang Kai-shek and Liu Bingxian, who followed him loyally, was the only army he could rely on.

However, at this extremely complicated time, Sun Yat-sen could not achieve the choice and change that Chiang Kai-shek and Liu Bingxian hoped for, and the composition of the entire southern revolutionary party camp was too complicated, with a mixture of fish and dragons, and many factions, no matter how you look at it, it gives people a sense of powerlessness from the accumulation of organizational chaos and inability to return, and any change and choice may lead to splits.

Sun Yat-sen's position seems to be solid, but in fact the decrees issued have been greatly invalidated, and there are many violators, not to mention the guest armies that occupy all parts of Guangdong in the name of revolution and then extort and violently enrich themselves. The so-called revolutionary armies entrenched around Canton did not listen to any dispatch of the central political axe with him at the core, and any political split in the revolutionary camp could lead to a civil war.

The study was uncomfortably quiet, Chiang Kai-shek and Liu Bingxian didn't even dare to breathe loudly, and the two, like Wang Jingwei, looked at Sun Yat-sen, who was deep in thought and his face was constantly changing.

After more than ten minutes of silence, Sun Yat-sen lifted his spirits again, and his firm gaze slowly swept over the faces of Wang Jingwei and Chiang Kai-shek, and finally stopped on Liu Bingxian's face: "Zicheng, what do you think?" ”

Liu Bingxian gritted his teeth: "United!" Unite with the Sichuan Army! If the student's speculation is correct, General Tan Yanmin may have reached a cooperation agreement with General Xiao Yimin, plus General Cheng Qian and General Xiao Yimin have always been in contact and appreciate each other, as long as General Xiao Yimin makes a certain commitment and support to General Cheng Qian, he can bring together the two major forces of Cheng Qian and Tan Yanmin, who have no contradictions in principle and surname.

In this way, the situation in Hunan will change dramatically, and once the Tan Yanmin Division, which is inclined to revolution, and the Cheng Qianbu Division, which has already raised the banner of revolution, are combined, they will become the largest military force dominating Hunan, and if Xiao Yimin's Sichuan army maintains pressure on the front line of western Hubei and Jingxiang, the Beiyang armies will not dare to go south to fight against Tan Yanmin and Cheng Qian, and Hunan will be able to embark on the road of reunification that Sichuan is taking.

"Therefore, we must unite with Sichuan and Hunan, and the key to this is with Sichuan! Sir, I suggest you write a letter to Xiao Yimin. ”

Wang Jingwei stared blankly at Liu Bingxian, who looked firm, and then turned to Sun Yat-sen, whose face was cloudy, and there was a suppressed silence in the study again.

Sun Yat-sen stood up, walked to the window step by step, and looked at the green Yuexiu Mountain outside the window for a long time.

(To be continued)