In the city of Xuzhou, people from all walks of life gathered to gather and the stars twinkled, and the central political axe of the Nanjing Central Committee and the party headquarters of the Kuomintang made a great noise at the same time as Feng Yuxiang's arrival, and telegraphed the whole country, causing Chinese and foreign reporters to flock to the city, and everyone in the world had a premonition that the meeting of the commanders of the two major forces in the north and south of China would play an inestimable role in the direction of China in the future.

Since the evening of the 19th, the agenda of Jiang Feng's meeting has been tense, the security is extremely tight, and basically no valuable news has been released, An Yi was arranged to hold a press conference during the talks on the 20th, and the reporters from all walks of life who were waiting and anxious were panicking, and learned that General An Yi, a famous general of the Northern Expedition in Zhongtian, held a press conference, where would he let go of such a good opportunity, especially the astonishing remarks made by An Yi at the recent Bengbu press conference were partially fulfilled, and the shocking defeat of Si County Lingbi in less than three days after his official reinstatement, As a result, An Yi's news value and appeal have increased, and many newspapers have even portrayed An Yi as a legendary figure in troubled times.

An Yi, Yin Jinan, and Liu Shoujiang, dressed in military uniforms, appeared on the rostrum, accompanied by General Liu Wendao, deputy director of the Political Training Department, and Major General Kang Ze, staff officer of the chamberlain.

The press conference was presided over by Kang Ze, and General Liu Wendao first briefed the reporters on the good news that the Chiang Feng talks had reached many consensuses, and then focused on the political significance and revolutionary confidence of the Northern Expedition.

Liu Shoujiang then read out the petition of more than 10,000 officers and men of the Reading Force Division in his capacity as a party representative of the Reading Division of the First Army of the National Revolutionary Army.

The next Q&A questions became the stage for An Yi and Yin Jinan, Yin Jinan was real, he didn't say much, but he answered rigorously and carefully, and his will was firm, An Yi's language was plain and humorous, and brought bursts of laughter to reporters from time to time.

A reporter asked An Yi what he knew about General Feng Yuxiang? An Yi immediately praised Feng Yuxiang's hardship and simplicity, love for soldiers like a son, and other advantages, and in accordance with Kangze's requirements before the meeting, he called General Feng Yuxiang a pioneer of the revolution, a model for soldiers, and a man who took the overall situation into account with the world in mind.

Kang Ze and Liu Wendao, who knew An Yi's true views, were extremely emotional after listening to An Yi's words, and suddenly felt that it might be more successful to let An Yi change his career to politics.

For the first time, An Yi showed his rich knowledge of the economy to the outside world, from the revitalization of the nation to the boycott of goods, from the urgency of tariff autonomy to the height of national self-esteem, the expression is frank and plain, easy to understand, through a vivid example of grief and indignation, the ambition and cruelty of imperialism are fully exposed, according to the propaganda caliber of the Central Party Department, As a revolutionary soldier, he loudly warned that his army should immediately withdraw from Jinan and stop its aggression against China's sacred land.

In the end, An Yi, who was excited, suddenly stood up and issued a warning to Zhang Zuolin, a warlord of the Feng family:

"If it is convenient for friends, please convey a few words of advice to Marshal Zhang Zuolin on my behalf, don't do anything that is happy for relatives and enemies, the affairs of the Chinese people should be solved by the Chinese people themselves, don't leave a reputation for their own selfishness, and lead the wolf into the house.

Zhang Dashuai has experienced strong winds and waves in his life, and he will never forget such a philosophical saying left by his ancestors: Birds are good and bows are hidden, and cunning rabbits are dead and lackeys are cooked! I won't have any pity for the lackeys in their eyes, there will always be a day when Zhang Dashuai's lackey effect will be reduced, or when I am feeding, I will flip my fangs and reveal the unwillingness and anger in my heart, and I may be slaughtered and cooked by the sinister and despicable Yue himself! ”

As soon as these words came out, the whole house exclaimed, but An Yi sat down very satisfied, picked up the teacup and took a sip beautifully, looking extremely comfortable.

Liu Wendao turned to An Yi beside him, and said in a low voice: "You kid is sensational again, don't talk about this matter, otherwise you will be off topic if you talk about it, go back to the Northern Expedition." ”

An Yi approached Liu Wendao and laughed in a low voice: "With you, the juniors are much easier, the seniors are proficient in Chinese, French and English, and when the reporter asks questions, wouldn't it be okay for the seniors to change the meaning when they translate to the juniors?" Answering questions is also a diplomatic strategy, right? ”

Liu Wendao couldn't help grinning, shook his head and turned to Kang Ze to continue.

The reporters were very satisfied with the two-hour press conference, and with the exception of the sensitive and important question of the Chiang Feng talks, which was not answered because it was ongoing, other questions about the Northern Expedition, the relationship with the Wuhan political axe, the boycott of goods, the relationship between the military and the people, and the development trend of army building were all answered relatively clearly.

At the meeting, the erudite Liu Wendao and the humorous and frank An Yi were out of the limelight; Kang Ze made his debut as a political figure of the younger generation in the army, and won praise from the outside world for his calm, rigorous, and meticulous style; the performance of the two young generals, Yin Jinan and Liu Shoujiang, also left a deep impression on the reporters, and they generally appreciated the excellent quality of the generals in the revolutionary army.

At the end of the press conference, An Yi returned to the lounge on the second floor, Ye Qing and Zhou Chongan came together, Ye Qing sat on the sofa next to An Yi and reported anxiously:

"Just after receiving a telegram from Wuhan, General Tang Shengzhi announced at the military and political conference that he would crusade against Commander-in-Chief Chiang and the political axe in Nanjing, and he called on all armies to immediately prepare for war, and called on other armies of the revolutionary army to declare war on Nanjing."

An Yi was taken aback: "So fast? ”

Zhou Chong'an, who was sitting opposite An Yi, nodded: "Yesterday, General Yan Xishan expelled Kong Geng, the representative of the Wuhan side, and publicly stated that he would not accept the leadership and any appointment of the Wuhan side, maybe this matter will have a certain impact on the decision of the Wuhan side. ”

An Yi knew that General Yan Xishan had been persuaded by the envoy sent by Commander-in-Chief Jiang, but he couldn't tell his friend Zhou Chong'an such a confidential matter, so he could only analyze it from the side:

"It's very likely that Wuhan didn't hold the Fourth National Trade Union Congress yesterday? The original Kuomintang Shanghai faction also expressed its willingness to cooperate with Nanjing to strengthen the party's leadership, and Zhang Zuolin was solemnly inaugurated as the generalissimo of the army, navy and air force of Yanjing at this time, clearly telling the people of the world that he was the master of the northern political axe, and this series of events happened within two days, and it was possible that the Wuhan political axe of the army would have an impact. ”

"In this way, the outcome of the Xuzhou meeting is very crucial, Xiao Yi, what are your expectations for the meeting between Commander-in-Chief Jiang and General Feng Yuxiang?" Zhou Chong'an is not so easy to dismiss.

An Yi had no choice but to reveal to Zhou Chong'an: "The talks are going quite smoothly, and I am full of confidence in this, maybe the little brother will be ordered to go north tomorrow." The specific results of the meeting will come out tomorrow at the latest, and it seems that I can't wait tonight, if you are okay, I will invite you to dinner in the evening, otherwise the little brother will not know when he will see you. ”

Zhou Chongan's eyes lit up, nodded thoughtfully, stopped asking, and leaned on the back of the sofa to drink tea comfortably.

Ye Qing gave An Yi a palm: "Why don't you invite me?" ”

"Sister Qing, the little brother doesn't want to be infamous as a heavy color and light friend." An Yi made a joke, and Zhou Chongan laughed out loud.

Ye Qing pretended to be annoyed and glared at An Yi: "It's not serious, if you talk nonsense, I'll clean you up!" Usually the shouting of 'Sister Qing, Sister Qing' in her mouth is so sweet, and the true face of a stinky man is revealed at a critical time, hum! Ignore you, I'll tell my eldest sister when I go back. ”

An Yi grabbed Ye Qing's hand and asked her to sit down: "Sister Qing, since you all know that the little brother treats you like a family, why do you need to ask the little brother if you want to invite you?" It's your own heart that has distanced the emotions between us to be like this, you can't wronged me. ”

Ye Qing smiled "poof" and slapped An Yi's arm again: "Hey! Seriously, are you really going to the front? ”

"Soon, last night and this morning, the younger brother attended the military meeting, the Northern Expedition will be carried out as scheduled without stopping, the First Route Army has broken through several counties in Lunan under the command of Chief He, and the war has entered a stalemate, and the Second Route Army to which the younger brother belongs will not be interesting if it does not go up." An Yi replied with a smile.

Ye Qing nodded: "It's time to eat, go quickly, I'm going to starve to death." ”

An Yi stood up with a smile, walked to Liu Shoujiang and Yin Jinan to explain, and came back to walk downstairs with Zhou Chongan and Ye Qing out of the hotel, and walked towards Yunlong Pavilion, a time-honored brand famous for Huaiyang cuisine in the five provinces.

As soon as the three of them entered the hotel, the guest and the shopkeeper recognized An Yi at a glance, and hurriedly stepped forward to salute with extraordinary respect, and several girls in the store looked at An Yi, who was handsome and tall in a military uniform, and their eyes were straight.

went up to the private room on the second floor and sat down, Ye Qing was still joking about An Yi for the eyes of the girls just now, An Yi suddenly raised his head and showed a bright smile to the beautiful maid who poured tea, which made the gentle and beautiful little girl's pretty face flush and her hands trembled, An Yi hurriedly took the fine porcelain teapot and nodded to the girl to thank her, the little girl shyly twisted her waist and left, leaning against the wall and covering her hot pretty face after going out, panting, but An Yi's handsome smiling face appeared in her mind.

Zhou Chongan and Ye Qing smiled when they saw An Yi covering their mouths, but An Yi poured tea for the two of them seriously, put down the teapot and asked in a low voice: "Two, what do you think the outcome of the meeting between General Feng Yuxiang and Commander-in-Chief Jiang will be?" ”

"I'm very optimistic, at least so far, there has been no negative news about the talks between the two sides, and your press conference in the afternoon can easily create a sense of optimism, and I guess many colleagues think the same way as me." Ye Qing replied with a smile.

Zhou Chongan saw An Yi looking at him, smiled and said in a low voice: "I remember you told me last time that fighting a war is fighting logistics, and to put it bluntly, it is fighting money.

I deeply agree with this, and by analogy, compared with the rich Nanjing political axe and the poor Wuhan political axe, it is not difficult to guess the choice of General Feng Yuxiang, not to mention that the army under the Nanjing political axe is not worse than the Wuhan political axe, look at General Li Delin's Seventh Army, as well as your reading division and well-equipped First Army, the result is obvious. ”

An Yi nodded admiringly: "It's easy to talk to you, but it's a pity that the younger brother can't drink if he wants to have a meeting in the evening, otherwise he will definitely toast you." ”

Ye Qing smiled: "Just open a bottle, just taste it, don't I know how much you drink?" Don't you feel sorry for money? ”

An Yi laughed: "Shopkeeper, bring us a bottle of good wine!" ”

"Okay—"

…… In the afternoon of the following day, the much-anticipated meeting between Chiang and Feng finally came to an end, and Commander-in-Chief Chiang and General Feng Yuxiang held a grand celebratory banquet and press conference at the Garden Hotel.

Outsiders did not know the twists and turns and difficulties of the talks, but An Yi knew that this series of consensus was not easy to come by, and the two sides hid needles in the negotiations, and the sharp edge was not revealed, but they were always calculating each other, fighting wits and courage, and finally Commander-in-Chief Chiang had a head start, and immediately seized this opportunity to force Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Army to attack Wuhan from Henan after Wuhan announced the Eastern Crusade.

Commander-in-Chief Chiang ignored the advice of General Li Zongren and was determined to withdraw all the troops on the front to southern Anhui and western Zhejiang, and prepare for a decisive battle with the troops from Wuhan to the east.

Feng Yuxiang and Li Zongren knew very well that the decisive battle between Ning and Han was by no means in line with their respective interests, so they persuaded Chiang Kai-shek bitterly and made concessions together, Li Zongren expressed his support for the Northern Expedition and obeyed the leadership of Commander-in-Chief Chiang, Feng Yuxiang publicly telegraphed that night, demanding that the Wuhan political axe expel Borodin, the chief representative of the International Communist Party, demanding that all activities of the Communist Party and its organizations, trade unions, and peasant associations be severely restricted, and urging Wang Jingwei, Tang Shengzhi, and Zhang Fakui to lead the army back to Henan and continue the Northern Expedition.

Chiang Kai-shek knew that as soon as Feng Yuxiang's telegram came out, it meant that the relationship between Feng Yuxiang and Wuhan was no longer sustainable, and the possibility of Feng Yuxiang's alliance with Wuhan was thus reduced to the lowest point, which played an irreplaceable role in intensifying the internal contradictions that had always existed in Wuhan.

Li Zongren also praised Feng Yuxiang's clear attitude, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, so that Feng Yuxiang would not only not pose a threat to Li Zongren and his Gui army, but would once again fall into the infamy of being untrustworthy, so that all factions in Wuhan secretly resented him, and Feng Yuxiang's political future would sprout countless obstacles because of his fickleness and speculation.

After Feng Yuxiang made his position clear, Chiang Kai-shek no longer mentioned the withdrawal of troops to fight in Wuhan, and Feng Yuxiang quickly made a guarantee to a cadre of Kuomintang elders to eliminate [***] in the Northwest Army, and telegraphed his decision to purge the party to Wang Jingwei, Sun Ke, Tan Yanmin and other important Kuomintang members in Wuhan.

After the biggest position was determined, Jiang Feng and Feng quickly reached a consensus, and finally came together, and sent a joint declaration to the whole country:

…… Jiang Feng, together with hundreds of thousands of soldiers, will fight for the Sanming Righteousness, and together with the National Revolutionary Army, they will fight for the Sanming Righteousness, ignoring all temptations, avoiding all difficulties, and not fearing sacrifices...... The impact of the issuance of this joint declaration far exceeded the expectations of various groups and parties, and as a result, the contradictions in Wuhan intensified and quickly split, from hatred of the same enemy to cannibalism.

Feng Yuxiang also received a great benefit from the Commander-in-Chief Chiang's proposal for the approval of the political axe because of his cooperation with the Nanjing Political Axe: Starting in July, the Nanjing Central Political Axe paid the Northwest Army a monthly military subsidy of 2.5 million yuan to sympathize with the difficulties of the military and the people in the northwest, rapidly increase the military strength, and restore the people's livelihood.

Since then, Feng Yuxiang has completely broken away from the Wuhan political axe and turned to the Nanjing camp, which has played a huge catalytic role in the rapid changes in the situation since then.

(To be continued)