On the morning of 23 August, the West China Times published a special issue that reported in detail the course of the "21 August Massacre" in Wuchang, recounting the numerous crimes committed by the aggressors on Chinese territory from the beginning of the First Sino-Japanese War.

Starting at two o'clock in the afternoon, more than 50,000 teachers and students from colleges and universities in Chengdu and people from all walks of life took to the streets one after another to hold a grand tour. Lines of protests, miles of travel. Holding high large banners with slogans such as "Push me away," "Boycott the goods," and "Pay back the debts with blood," the procession shouted anti-slogans and angrily denounced the crimes of imperialism.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, seven unarmed squares composed of 1,500 cadets of the Sichuan Army Military Academy took to the streets. The line of teams was pleasantly surprised for a while, and they swam to the students who held high the battle flag and marched neatly. The team cheered enthusiastically.

The student team walked to the intersection of the Drum Tower and sang the tragic and high-pitched "Chinese Soul" in unison:

"Five thousand years of wind and rain, how many dreams are hidden, yellow face, black eyes, unchanged smile, eight thousand miles of splendid mountains and rivers sing war songs, no matter in the past or now, never give in! The same tears, the same pain, all the suffering, we remember in our hearts; Singing together, roaring together, all the humiliation, we remember it in our hearts! Hand in hand, you and I walk forward with our heads held high, let our ancestors watch us rise up and fight, hold hands and walk forward with our heads held high, let the world watch us recast the soul of China...... Hand in hand, you and I walk forward with our heads held high, let our ancestors watch us rise up and fight, hold hands and walk forward with our heads held high, let the world watch us recast the soul of China! ”

More and more students followed behind the cadet formation, singing the blood-boiling "Chinese Soul" over and over again, and the earth-shattering singing replaced all the uneven slogans, leading the footsteps of thousands of people to forge ahead, echoing in the sky over Chengdu for a long time.

The headquarters of the Sichuan Army in Beixiaochang seemed to suddenly stand still, and all the officers and men stopped in unison to listen to the loud singing from afar.

In the living room of the commander-in-chief's office, Bao Jiqing, who had been listening to the window for a long time, returned to sit opposite Xiao Yimin: "I didn't expect this song with a strange tune and plain lyrics that I just started to sing this morning to be so popular, which greatly surprised my expectations, and I am afraid that it will really spread all over China as you expected." ”

"Haha! A matter of course. ”

Xiao Yimin was complacent, and handed a long telegram to Bao Jiqing in his hand: "Look, the British are angry, and in today's issue of "Zilin Xibao", they accused us of massacring innocent people who fought for freedom of reading in the Xikang area, saying that Zhong Ying and his army were extremely cruel and extremely bad, and also mentioned burying prisoners alive, using a large number of dummies strictly prohibited by the 1905 Ivory Convention, etc., you can take a look. ”

Bao Jiqing took it, hurriedly read it and put it aside:

"Why didn't the British dare to mention the seven British [***] officers and the twelve Britons who had entered the country illegally to survey and were captured by us? Don't look at how loud they scream, I'm afraid that someone will soon come to the door and ask for negotiations. ”

"Talk about a fart! I don't see who comes. ”

Xiao Yimin turned to Tian Hanmin, the new adjutant who sorted out the documents: "Hanmin, how are the nineteen British prisoners?" ”

Tian Hanmin, who was only 24 years old and graduated from the Baoding Army Crash School, replied with a smile: "After being escorted to the Ya'an base yesterday, the 19 prisoners were immediately separated and detained according to the commander's orders, and the results of the interrogation are estimated to be delivered in the evening. ”

Xiao Yimin nodded with satisfaction: "You call Xie Dongliu again and tell him not to ignore the protests of those British [***] officials, that he must be interrogated separately, and that the prisoners cannot be allowed to meet each other in the near future, and if those British [***] officials do not cooperate again, they will torture me, as long as they are not killed." ”

"Yes!"

The shrewd and capable Tian Hanmin immediately walked to the confidential room in the east, secretly surprised in his heart, he didn't expect the commander Xiao Yimin to be so ruthless to the British, and Xie Dongliu, an interrogation expert who had never dared to do anything, was afraid that he would make a great contribution this time.

Bao Jiqing has long been accustomed to Xiao Yimin's toughness, and no longer talks about the British prisoners, but pays more attention to Yue's own reaction:

"Judging from the telegrams sent back by Yanjing and Shanghai in the past two days, it is said that I am still exerting pressure on the central government's political axe, the situation in Shanghai and Wuhan is very tense, and three more warships have left Shanghai and are heading upstream, and if Ma Gang and them succeed, it is estimated that the situation will be even more tense, and in addition, we have recently expelled more than 30 people who are wandering around in the name of tourism, and maybe this warship will sail to Yucheng to threaten us."

Xiao Yimin lit a cigarette: "As long as he dares to come, I will dare to fight, just bombard him in the section of the Three Gorges River, just give Wang Lingji's newly formed artillery regiment to practice live ammunition shooting, and then transfer the artillery scientists of the military academy and the mortar regiment directly under him for training, no matter how many warships come over can cripple him, Lao Tzu does not believe that Xiao Yue really dares to send troops into Sichuan." ”

Bao Jiqing couldn't help grinning: "Tsukasa Yuan didn't let his baby daughter look for you?" ”

"I called twice, invited me to her house for tea, I replied that there was no time, it is estimated that the Tsukasa family is not at peace now, the students are all enthusiastic young people who are easily excited, even if they just shout a slogan around the shops and yards of Tsukayuan, they can make Tsukasa ringing in the ears for a few days." Xiao Yimin said with a smile.

Bao Jiqing also smiled: "The Chengdu Police Department and the Provincial Procuratorate arrested fifteen officials and wealthy businessmen who had close contacts with Tsukasa Yuan at once, and that old fox in Tsukasa Yuan must know that we have guessed his true identity, I don't know what he will do next?" ”

Xiao Yimin thought carefully for a moment:

"Yucheng is also engaged in a big tour of 10,000 people. Okay, I said that the consulate would definitely be thrown into a lot of broken shoes and rotten vegetables, and the four Yueben trading companies that had been rooted in Yucheng for nearly ten years would definitely be angry in this national boycott, but I said that I had nothing to do with us, I would only go to Yuan Dashuai and shout, what I am worried about now is Yuan Dashuai's reaction. ”

"Well, it is estimated that Yuan Dashuai and the high-ranking officials of the Central Political Axe will not be able to sleep again, and after the publication of your article in the Far Eastern Post the day after tomorrow, I am afraid that it will have the effect of adding fuel to the fire, regardless of whether the head of the revolutionary party has signed the "Sino-Chinese Secret Treaty" that is widely circulated among the top leaders in China, Sun Yat-sen and others must give a clear answer, otherwise the people will abandon them.

"In this way, my energy will be scattered in all aspects, the most important thing for them is the boycott of goods by the whole country, Europe has greatly reduced foreign trade because of the war, and the United States has continuously squeezed out the share of foreign trade through abundant capital and developed industry and commerce.

Bao Jiqing's vision is very broad, and his vision is becoming more and more acute and far-reaching.

Xiao Yimin nodded: "This time the chaos is not so easy to quell down, since Yuan Dashuai is bent on reforming and becoming the emperor, we don't need to take care of his face, no matter what his purpose, how much reason and hardship, he can't go against the tide of history, as long as he becomes the emperor, he will definitely be opposed by the whole Chinese people, even if we want to help him, don't we dare Xu Shichang and Duan Qirui, the two generals, also have a lot of complaints about this?" Even these two generals who are most valued by Yuan Dashuai are not the same heart, how many chances does Yuan Dashuai have to win? ”

Bao Jiqing sighed: "That's right...... What are you going to do? ”

"I'm going to the German consulate for a banquet in the evening, Mr. Fu Diegeng is going to leave office and return to China, I have to send this old friend, tomorrow I will go to Dayi first, and meet with Liu Wenyuan, the American wants to invest in Dayi chemical plant and cement plant, he has already called me three times to help me get an idea.

"After that, I want to go to the Ya'an base to meet those British [***] officials, through Leshan, Syria to walk around, and then to Qijiang to negotiate with the Yankees, the recent international market steel premium is nearly ten times, the Yankees want not to implement the remaining three years of 80,000 tons of carbon steel supply contract, I have to go to knock and knock them, and finally go to Yucheng for a few days, to enlighten and enlighten my second brother, since the return of the book he has been in pain, if it is not for his worship brother Chiang Kai-shek to persuade him, I am afraid he will really publish the newspaper to announce his separation from the Kuomintang." Xiao Yimin replied.

"I'm asking you how you plan to deal with Yuan Dashuai?" Bao Jiqing doesn't care about Xiao Yimin's business at all.

Xiao Yimin smiled bitterly: "I can only hide, I must not bow to any force at this time, as long as I get through, I will be better in the future." ”

Bao Jiqing was noncommittal, and he could only follow Xiao Yimin's wishes, and he had to stay at home to help him take care of the troubles he had caused.

The "Far Eastern Post", which was in the limelight, finally published a signed James. Bond's current commentary article, entitled "Who Is Betraying China's Interests?", as a bystander, exposed the process and purpose of forcing Yuan Shikai to sign the "Fourth Treaty of the People's Republic of China", unceremoniously pointed out that while Yuanben harmed China's interests, it also harmed the interests of European and American countries in China, implicitly criticized Britain's repeated tolerance of its ally Yuben as surprising, briefly discussed the current situation and development trend of Sino-US relations, and praised the United States for its continuous fruitful achievements in war-torn Europe and in the Chinese market. It is predicted that Britain's interests in China will gradually weaken from now on, and the traditional balance formed by the interests of European and American countries in China has been broken.

In the last part of the article, he quoted the "detailed terms of the "Sino-Chinese Secret Treaty signed by Mr. Sun Yat-sen, a politician in exile," which had been widely rumored for half a year, and analyzed his real surname one by one, seized on the Kuomintang's abortion plan to betray China's United Iron and Steel Enterprise "Han Yeping Company", put on a posture of doing everything for fairness and truth, and loudly questioned why the Kuomintang, which advertised that everything was for the sake of the country and the nation, collectively lost its voice about the "Fourth Treaty of the People's Republic of China" signed between China and China. He then boldly questioned the purpose of Yuan Shikai's political axe and the Kuomintang, and called on Chinese and foreign people and institutions to unravel the truth as soon as possible, restore proper and reasonable order, and adjust China's relations with other countries in a reasonable position.

When the article came out, it immediately triggered a major earthquake in public opinion.

This is the first time that the published media has boldly questioned the front, analyzed and compared them with reason, and arrived at appalling predictions.

The Chinese newspapers and Chinese organizations in the Nanyang area were in an uproar, questioning and besieging Yang Shukan, Hu Hanmin, Deng Keng, Xu Chongzhi, and others assigned by Mr. Feng Sun Yat-sen to raise funds for the revolution in Nanyang.

Newspapers throughout China almost immediately plunged into the controversy, and the Kuomintang organ newspaper "Minli Bao" had to come forward and vigorously refute the rumors. The people of "Bond" are individual careerists and conspirators with ulterior motives.

The angry Kuomintang finally could not bear the slander of the Kuomintang by the newspaper under the Yanjing Zhengaxe, and suddenly threw bombs at the Shanghai branch of the Yanjing Zhengaxe's "Asia Daily" newspaper, killing and injuring more than 10 people at once, triggering an uproar from all walks of life throughout the country.

Yuan Shikai seized on this incident and began to launch a nationwide campaign to hunt down and kill Kuomintang members, and explosions and deaths were carried out every day throughout the country, and the world-shattering political celebrities were strewn in a pool of blood, which finally led to armed rebellion across the country.

(To be continued)