The central authorities did not agree to negotiate a settlement of the "Middle Road Incident," which surprised Song Zhewu.

The attitude of the Central Committee is naturally the attitude of Chiang Kai-shek, does Chiang Kai-shek really think that China has the strength to fight with the Soviet Union? However, Song Zhewu immediately rejected this idea, and with Chiang Kai-shek's mind, he would not fail to see that the Soviets wanted peace talks, nor would he be so arrogant as to think that the Nationalist Axe now had the idea of fighting with the Soviet Union and winning the victory.

You must know that the emaciated camel is bigger than the horse, and although the Soviet Union had very bad relations with the West, especially the European powers led by Britain and France, it needed to keep the vast majority of its forces in the European part. But in this way, the more than 300,000 Soviet troops and hundreds of aircraft of the Soviet Union in the Far East could not cope with the Northeast Army. Even if the Chinese team wins a few small battles in local battles, it is not destined to win the border dispute in the short term, which will not only be time-consuming and laborious, but may also give Yue himself the opportunity to seize the opportunity to seize greater benefits in the northeast.

In particular, there are still many problems to be solved in the country, and the Northwest Army of the Gui Department and Feng Yuxiang has not yet been finally resolved, and they can resurrect at any time and make a comeback. Without a stable internal environment, if you want to win the national war, this is beyond imagination.

Since Chiang Kai-shek would not be so confused, then why did he disagree with the peace talks? It is very likely that the peace talks will achieve a very good result, that is, it is cost-effective to pay a large sum of money to redeem the "Middle East Road", and even this is in line with international practice. After all, Russia also spent money on building the "Middle East Road", and the Soviet Union also took the initiative to give up the compensation of nearly 200 million rubles for the "Gengzi indemnity" during the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

Regarding Chiang Kai-shek's disagreement to settle the dispute through negotiation, not only Song Zhewu was puzzled, but several others were also puzzled.

Tao Rong thought for a while and said: "I think the Soviets still want peace talks, although they are still increasing troops on the border, their purpose is to pressure us to negotiate with them to solve the 'Middle East Road' issue." Otherwise, with the current strength of tens of thousands of troops, and with the cooperation of the navy and air force, they are now fully capable of launching a local offensive near the border. ”

Li Wentian was a person with deep patriotic feelings, and as soon as he heard that the Soviets were going to invade Northeast China, he immediately exploded his lungs and became angry, but as soon as he calmed down at this time, the thoughts in his mind became clear. After listening to Tao Rong's words, he interjected: "Yes, I agree with Chief of Staff Tao's view, the Soviets just want to use force to pressure us to negotiate, and the central government may have other considerations if they do not agree to negotiate a settlement." ”

Ge Guangting nodded approvingly and said, "What Canxuan said is right, the Central Committee and Chairman Jiang do not agree to the peace talks because of other considerations. ”

"Have other considerations? Is it to be exchanged for a war that will cost a lot and may even fail? Xiao Guodong was a little puzzled. He felt that Song Zhewu's words were very reasonable, and if what could be obtained through negotiations, there was no need to resort to force.

Song Zhewu was very unimpressed with Xiao Guodong's question, Xiao Guodong, Wang Xu, and even Tao Rong and Li Wentian were all pure soldiers, and they only considered the problem from the victory or defeat of the war itself.

Ge Guangting snuffed out the cigarette in his hand in the ashtray and said helplessly: "Actually, I guess that Chairman Jiang in Nanjing is also in trouble. ”

Seeing that everyone was puzzled, Ge Guangting continued: "Of course, Chairman Chiang does not want a big fight between China and the Soviet Union, but since the 'Middle East Road' incident, domestic public opinion has been full of praise for Han Qing's move, and if Chairman Chiang agrees to the peace talks, it will inevitably be regarded as weak to the outside world and the public will be raging, and Chairman Chiang cannot but consider it. ”

Ge Guangting's words made Song Zhewu's eyes light up, and he basically understood the reason why Chiang Kai-shek did not agree to negotiate a settlement of the "Middle East Road Incident". He can also be sure that Zhang Xueliang must have told Chiang Kai-shek about taking back the "Middle East Road" by force, and Chiang Kai-shek must have agreed and supported it.

The Soviet Union's blind concession made Zhang Xueliang mistakenly believe that the Soviet Union was weak and could be bullied, and coupled with the encouragement of the people around him, Zhang Xueliang, a hot-blooded young man, was hot-headed for a while and adopted the strategy of forcibly retracting the "Middle East Road" by force. Moreover, the Soviet Union is also very responsible, and it is their repeated forbearance that gives Zhang Xueliang the confidence to solve the problem by force. However, this also can't blame Zhang Xueliang, after all, Zhang Xueliang is only a twenty-eight-year-old young man, and it is inevitable that he will do things rashly and inconsiderately.

Chiang Kai-shek's initial thinking should be similar to Zhang Xueliang's, and probably he also thought that the Soviet Union was now too busy dealing with the Western European powers to look eastward, and that it was just the right time to take back the "Middle East Road" and establish prestige at home and abroad. It's just that Chiang Kai-shek was more thoughtful than Zhang Xueliang, and he pushed Zhang Xueliang to the forefront, and the central authorities did not give Zhang Xueliang an explicit order, and even Zhang Xueliang was silent about the content of his meeting in Beiping, and it must have been at Chiang Kai-shek's request.

Chiang Kai-shek's plan should be such that if the Soviet Union swallowed this bitter fruit, he would stand up and accept the praise of the countrymen, and his own prestige at home and abroad would also be greatly enhanced, which would be of great benefit to his imminent recovery of various local forces in the country; And once the Soviet Union sent troops in anger and caused a war between China and the Soviet Union, the culprit was also him, Zhang Xueliang, who had nothing to do with him Jiang Zhongzheng, and his prestige would not be damaged in the slightest. Even at that time, if the central government came forward to negotiate a solution with the Soviet Union, his prestige would be enhanced. Of course, Zhang Xueliang's prestige will plummet, but this is exactly what Chiang Kai-shek wants to see most.

Although Chiang Kai-shek's wishful thinking is good, it can only be used on Zhang Xueliang, a hairy boy full of chivalrous demeanor, if it is changed to the body of the powerful in other parts of the country, it will not work, these people will see through Chiang Kai-shek's "sinister" intentions, not to mention Li Zongren, Feng Yuxiang, Yan Xishan, these old and cunning people.

The reason why Chiang Kai-shek does not agree to negotiate a solution to the "Middle East Road" issue is precisely based on the above-mentioned ideas, and now the domestic public opinion has greatly praised Zhang Xueliang's approach, which has greatly increased the prestige of Zhang Shaoshuai, and if Chiang Kai-shek negotiates with the Soviet Union at this time, he Chiang Zhongzheng will be a sinner who betrays the interests of the country and the nation in the domestic public opinion, and it is possible that the GCD and the reorganization faction headed by Wang Jingwei will scold him that Chiang Zhong is the Han Dynasty.

Chiang Kai-shek waited a little longer, he would not negotiate until Zhang Xueliang was defeated, and even if it was a negotiation, Zhang Xueliang would have to negotiate with the Soviets.

But this war cannot be lost, at least not badly, if then the price paid by China will be too great. Chiang Kai-shek would not be aware of this price, but Song Zhewu, a traverser, was very clear.

Historically, it was precisely because of the defeat of the Northeast Army that although the Soviet Union withdrew its troops after restoring the rights and interests of the "Middle East Road", they did not withdraw to their former so-called borders, but relied on the Black Blind Island on the Heilongjiang River.

But even so, the Russians felt that they had been greatly humiliated. Moreover, China has since lost control of the main waterway of the Heilongjiang River; This is only one of them, what is more serious is that there was originally a skirmish between China and the Soviet Union at the junction of Inner and Outer Mongolia in 27 years, and the Soviet Union, because it was busy dealing with the threat of the Western powers, could not afford to establish another potential enemy in the East, and had withdrawn all the Soviet troops stationed in Outer Mongolia to the territory of the Soviet Union. However, after this war, the ambitions of the Soviets swelled again, and the Soviet army not only returned to Outer Mongolia, but even blatantly transferred most of the Tangnu Ulianghai region of Outer Mongolia to the Soviet Union.

Song Zhewu also believes that perhaps it was this Sino-Soviet war that gave Yue himself greater self-confidence and stimulated them to have greater ambitions for China. He must participate in this war, even if the Fourth Route Army pays a great sacrifice, he will not hesitate to do it!

However, Song Zhewu still had some doubts, that is, since Chiang Kai-shek secretly supported Zhang Xueliang to take back the "Middle East Road" by force, and did not agree to negotiate with the Soviet Union now, in order to appease Zhang Xueliang, it was impossible for him to turn a blind eye to the threat of the Soviet Union in the northeast, and even if he made a pretense, he would agree to Zhang Xueliang to send troops to support. However, why did Zhang Xueliang ask him for help from Song Zhewu? Could it be that Chiang Kai-shek was unwilling to increase troops in the northeast?

Even if he agrees to send troops to the Northeast, presumably Zhang Xueliang will not expect his Fourth Route Army to pour out of the nest, if it is only a partial army, how much of a role can it play? Now not only Zhang Xueliang, but also Chiang Kai-shek and Yan Xishan do not know that his real strength is more than 300,000, and the Fourth Route Army is known as 250,000 to the outside world, and if it sends troops, it will be 100,000 at most. But Zhang Xueliang's Northeast Army has more than 400,000 people, is it just about 100,000 of his troops?

Song Zhewu told Ge Guangting his question, and he needed Ge Guangting to give him a clear explanation. Song Zhewu's words also reminded several other people, who also had the same questions as Song Zhewu.

Song Zhewu's question made Ge Guangting silent for a while, and only after a while did he blush and whisper with some embarrassment: "Han Qing, this is also helpless!" Chairman Chiang had made it clear that he would send the Central Army out of the customs to support the Northeast Army in fighting the Soviet Union, but ......"

Seeing that Ge Guangting wanted to speak and stopped, Li Wentian couldn't help but urge Ge Guangting: "Since Chairman Jiang agreed to send troops, why did Zhang Hanqing still ask our Fourth Route Army for help?" ”

(To be continued)