Because the Sino-Soviet negotiations are over, the Northeast can be stabilized again, Zhang Xueliang is very excited. On the one hand, he sent a telegram to Song Zhewu, asking Song Zhewu to go south to Harbin as soon as possible, and he wanted to hold a "Conference to Recover the Middle East Road and the Western Front to Resist the Soviet Union" in Harbin.

Zhang Xueliang, who woke up the next day with a headache, had not finished breakfast, and Zhang Jinghui handed him a stack of newspapers. As soon as he read the newspaper, Zhang Xueliang's face immediately became gloomy.

It turned out that as soon as the Sino-Soviet talks ended, the Soviet side could not wait to inform the reporters of the terms of the talks between China and the Soviet Union, and the major newspapers that had won the treasure were immediately published on the front page of the next day.

Since the negotiations with the Soviet side were not authorized by Nanjing, in legal theory, the results of the negotiations between Zhang Xueliang and the Soviet side were illegal and had no legal effect at all, which caught Zhang Xueliang, who wanted to handle the matter in a low-key manner, very unprepared.

In the Soviet side's view, it did not matter whether Zhang Xueliang was authorized by the Nanjing political axe, because the Nanjing side was not able to influence the outcome of the negotiations at all, what mattered was Zhang Xueliang's attitude, as long as Zhang Xueliang agreed to the terms of the negotiations, then the results of the negotiations would be effective.

Although Zhang Xueliang wanted the outcome of the negotiations, he was also very worried about the attitude of Nanjing, and even more concerned about the reaction of domestic public opinion. He could imagine the anger of the Nanjing side after seeing this result, as well as the overwhelming crusade against Zhang Xueliang by domestic public opinion.

Sure enough, the Nanjing side announced on the same day, 'Nanjing Zhengaxe did not authorize Zhang Xueliang to negotiate with the Soviet side, and Zhang Xueliang's Northeast Frontier Office was only a local administrative unit of the Republic of China, and was not qualified to negotiate and sign any treaties and agreements with foreign political axes.' Therefore, the result of this negotiation has no legal effect, and the political axe of the Republic of China will never recognize this so-called "Harbin Armistice Agreement". ’

Immediately afterwards, it was the overwhelming criticism of Zhang Xueliang by domestic public opinion, which then developed into abuse and personal attacks on him Zhang Xueliang.

The tone of the Central Committee's newspaper was quite mild, and it only accused Zhang Xueliang of 'not asking the Central Committee for instructions and signing an armistice agreement with Soviet Russia without authorization.' He also said that without the authorization of the Central Political Axe, any agreement signed between Zhang Xueliang and the Soviet side is invalid, and the Central Political Axe will never recognize such an agreement. ’

After all, the Central Committee said that the newspaper was the mouthpiece of the political axe, and his remarks all represented the meaning of the national political axe, and even Chiang Kai-shek, so he naturally wanted to save more face for Zhang Xueliang. However, other big newspapers did not have so many scruples, and their words were naturally very mean. The language is full of scolding and attacking surnames.

“…… Manchuria defeated the Soviet army, annihilating nearly 60,000 Soviet troops in World War I, and losing more than half of the strength of the so-called Far Eastern Red Banner Special Army of Soviet Russia. Taking advantage of the internal chaos in Soviet Russia, the authorities in Northeast China were able to take back in one fell swoop the hundreds of thousands of Chinese territories in the Far East that Tsarist Russia had seized by force in the hands of the Manchu regime with unequal treaties. Even if the authorities in the northeast don't have the courage to recapture those lands, at least, they want to recapture the old tsar who was disregarded for his incorruptibility, and it is useless to even use an unequal treaty to cover up his shame, so they arbitrarily occupy Jiangdong 64 Tun ...... on the banks of the Jingqili River."

Then the author rebukes in a snarky tone.

"But, what did we, Young Marshal Zhang, do?"

Just yesterday, this Young Marshal Zhang, despite the opposition of the central political axe, signed the so-called "Harbin Agreement" with Soviet Russia without the authorization of the central political axe, and ceased war with Soviet Russia. The most outrageous thing is that this Young Marshal Zhang actually promised Soviet Russia in the agreement that 70 percent of the annual profits of the Middle East Road would be used to redeem the ransom of the Middle East Road that had been recovered by force in accordance with Chairman Chiang's orders, and that he would have to pay it for ten consecutive years. ”

"The Sino-Soviet border war in Northeast China lasted for half a year, and tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Northeast China were killed and wounded. Could it be that the heroic Fourth Route Army, which was ordered by Chairman Chiang and traveled thousands of miles to the northeast to participate in the war, exchanged the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers for a great victory in Manchuria, and could be so easily thrown away by Zhang Shaoshuai? If the dead soldiers know the spring, they will definitely hate it! There is such a "good son", that is, the dead Zhang Dashuai is under Jiuquan, and he is afraid that he is ashamed to see people. ”

“…… What a pity! What a pain! What is the difference between this young marshal Zhang and the national thief! ”

This is an article in "Ta Kung Pao" signed by the bereaved people of Jiangdong. And this is just one of the many spicy and bitter articles attacking Zhang Xueliang.

If Zhang Xueliang can not care about the reaction of the national political axe, he can't care less about the punishment of domestic public opinion, which makes Zhang Xueliang, who cares about his reputation very much, annoyed.

As a local administrative unit of the Republic of China, he was indeed not qualified to sign any treaties or agreements with the Soviet side, and this was also one of the reasons why he dared to negotiate with the Soviet side. Once the national political axe is needed, any treaty agreement signed by Zhang Xueliang is a piece of waste paper. Zhang Xueliang did not have the luxury of asking Nanjing to recognize the agreement he signed, and he believed that it would be best for Nanjing not to recognize it, so that the national government would have unlimited room for maneuver in the future.

Moreover, he Zhang Xueliang does not dare to sign any kind of agreement, such as the demarcation proposed by the Soviet side, he thinks that Song Zhewu is right, that matter is by no means something that he Zhang Xueliang can do, now the Republic of China and Soviet Russia have territorial disputes in Northeast China and Xinjiang Province, if he and the Soviet side demarcate the border privately, it is likely to leave a false pretext for the Soviet side, in that case, he Zhang Xueliang will really become a national sinner.

Fortunately, the people in the Northeast still support Zhang Xueliang, after all, this war happened in the Northeast, in their hometown, the older generation has experienced the Russo-Russian War of that year, and the scene of Lao Maozi and Xiao Yueben wreaking havoc in the three northeastern provinces is still fresh in their memory, and they don't want to have such an experience again.

Therefore, public opinion in the northeast is overwhelmingly in favor of Zhang Xueliang, and the vast majority of public opinion supports the "Harbin Armistice Agreement" signed by Zhang Xueliang and Soviet Russia, which makes Zhang Xueliang feel some comfort in his heart.

However, in the face of surging public condemnation, just silence and inaction were not the solution, and in the end, Mo Dehui gave Zhang Xueliang the idea, that is, to hold a special meeting to congratulate the victory, and take this opportunity to explain to the public opinion circles the bitterness of the Northeast in signing the "Harbin Armistice Agreement" with Soviet Russia.

Zhang Xueliang, who had been criticized by public opinion, immediately adopted Mo Dehui's suggestion, and on the one hand informed the press that a meeting should be held to congratulate the Soviet prisoners of war, and on the other hand ordered Wan Fulin to postpone the repatriation of Soviet prisoners of war, so that only the wounded Soviet soldiers could be repatriated through Manchuria first, and all the remaining Soviet prisoners of war should be escorted to Harbin, and these prisoners of war should be repatriated in Harbin after the celebration meeting.

More than 100,000 soldiers and civilians participated in the meeting, and in addition to Harbin, representatives of celebrities from all walks of life were sent from all over the three eastern provinces. Nearly 100 reporters came, not only from various newspapers in Northeast China, but also from all major newspapers in Guannai, who had sent a large number of reporters to Harbin before the armistice.

Under the gaze of more than 100,000 pairs of eager eyes, Zhang Xueliang and Song Zhewu walked hand in hand to the rostrum and sat down, followed by Han Guangdi, Liang Zhongjia, Li Wentian, and then behind them were Wang Shuchang, commander of the First Army of the Northeast Army, Wan Fulin, the current commander of the First Army of the Defense against Russia, and celebrities from the three provinces.

Under the attention of the public, Zhang Xueliang delivered an enthusiastic speech.

Zhang Xueliang first vigorously praised the heroic performance of the military and people in the northeast in the war against the Soviet Union, saying that the great victory in the war against the Soviet Union was the inevitable result of the hard work and selfless sacrifice of the army and people in the northeast.

Zhang Xueliang praised the two men for not only withstanding the rampant attack of the advanced Soviet army on Zalainuoer and Manchuria, creating conditions for the Fourth Route Army to encircle and annihilate the Soviet army on the Western Front, but also inflicting huge casualties on the attacking Soviet army at the same time. According to Zhang Xueliang, that is, without the heroic battles of Han Guangdi and Liang Zhongjia and their troops, there would have been no great victory in Manchuria.

Of course, the reason for the great victory in Manchuria is obvious to all, and Zhang Xueliang cannot but mention Song Zhewu and his Fourth Route Army. However, he praised the Fourth Route Army, and the focus was deliberately placed on Song Zhewu's thousands of miles of righteous assistance, and he only brushed aside the victory over the Soviet army in Manchuria. Zhang Xueliang even took the opportunity to tell the participants that in order to help the young Fourth Route Army, the Northeast Army had sent their most outstanding generals, Han Guangdi, commander of the 15th Brigade, and Liang Zhongjia, commander of the 17th Brigade, to the Fourth Route Army.

In the end, Zhang Xueliang also felt sorry for Song Zhewu, and announced at the meeting that all the 3.5 million oceans donated by merchants in Shenyang, Harbin, Changchun and other places to the Northeast Army would be transferred to the Fourth Route Army to thank the Fourth Route Army for its support to the Northeast Army.

When it was Song Zhewu's turn to speak, Song Zhewu first strongly praised Zhang Xueliang for his heroic behavior of recovering the Middle East Road and resolutely resisting the Soviet invasion, and then greatly praised the Northeast Army for its heroic resistance to the Soviet army in Manchuria and Zha Lai Nuoer.

In the end, Song Zhewu said that he could accept the 3.5 million oceans that Zhang Shaoshuai gave him, but he would not take away a piece of ocean. Because his grandfather's grandfather was born in the Northeast, he Song Zhewu is also a native of the Northeast, and he Song Zhewu fought to defend his hometown, how could he collect money? With the 3.5 million oceans, he will set up a fund in Shenyang to support students from the Northeast to study abroad, hoping that these funded students will return to the Northeast after completing their studies to contribute to the construction of their hometown. Song Zhewu's speech ushered in the warm cheers of the Northeast military and people, and at the same time, the Northeast military and people had a great sense of closeness to Song Zhewu.

In the subsequent interview, Song Zhewu not only praised Chiang Kai-shek and Zhang Xueliang again, but also explained the "Harbin Armistice Agreement" signed by Zhang Xueliang and the Soviet side. With Song Zhewu, a big hero, coming forward to defend him Zhang Xueliang, this is naturally more convincing than his own defense. This made Zhang Xueliang so happy that on the photo of Zhang Xueliang and Song Zhewu holding hands with smiling faces in the newspaper the next day, the wrinkles in the corners of Zhang Xueliang's eyes were smiling.

(To be continued)