He Chengjun hesitated slightly, and finally said: "First, I want to have absolute command over these troops. ”

"There's no problem with this, Jingzhi is just your backup, and besides, his main task is to deal with Li Zongren's northward troops, and he won't interfere with your command." Chiang Kai-shek readily agreed.

"Second, the weapons, ammunition, equipment, and salaries of these troops must be guaranteed to be the same as those of the Central Army."

For military salaries and other treatments, there has always been a difference between the central military descendants and these miscellaneous cards, which these people are very clear, and He Chengjun also understands, you must know that these miscellaneous cards may not be able to say which day they will change their courts? Chiang Kai-shek was reluctant to hand over his weapons to troops who would turn over and bite him at any moment. It is precisely because of this mentality that the Central Army at all levels generally has a discriminatory mentality against these miscellaneous armed forces, so their military salaries and treatment are different from those of the Central Army, and sometimes some of them are even deducted.

Chiang Kai-shek Zhengse said to He Yingqin: "All units that accept the reorganization of the Central Committee and join the Central Army series are the Central Army, and the weaponry, equipment, and military salaries should naturally be the same as those of the Central Army. ”

Although the weight of the Central Army and these miscellaneous armies in Chiang Kai-shek's heart will never be the same, but at this time, Chiang Kai-shek will not be stupid enough to make these miscellaneous generals dissatisfied, as for the gradual transformation of these miscellaneous armies and gradually turning them into real troops that Chiang Kai-shek can completely reassure Chiang Kai-shek, that is a matter for the future, and the current hurdle will be passed first.

"Third, please ask the chairman to allocate 300,000 yuan to me."

He Chengjun hesitated and said: "How to use the 300,000 is up to me." ”

He Chengjun means that no one else should interfere with how to spend the money. Moreover, since He Chengjun said this in front of Chiang Kai-shek, it was by no means that he wanted to enrich his own pockets, and there must be other uses that he thought were necessary.

Chiang Kai-shek thought for a while, nodded happily and said: "I will grant you a special fee of 500,000 yuan, which is completely at Xuezhu's own disposal and no one can interfere." If you need it again, you can report it to me again. Moreover, Xuezhu, you can only report the amount of money I need, and don't explain the usefulness to me. ”

Chiang Kai-shek's last sentence indicated that he did not ask about the use of the money, and He Chengjun knew that Chiang Kai-shek roughly understood what he meant, and He Chengjun was very grateful. Besides, the use of the money is very unspeakable, and it is better not to let Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the national political axe, who is clean and self-conscious, clear.

Chiang Kai-shek fully supported him He Chengjun, and he also wanted to give Chiang Kai-shek a reassurance, He Chengjun straightened his chest and said: "Please rest assured, with the full support of the chairman, I am sure that the Northwest Army will be blocked north of Wusheng Pass on the Western Front." ”

Chiang Kai-shek nodded and said to He Chengjun: "Xuezhu, I will entrust you with all the battles west of Pinghan Road, and I hope you will not live up to my expectations." In addition, I have transferred most of the Air Force aircraft to Wuhan to fully support you in the battle. The German advisers attached great importance to the role of aircraft in the war, and demanded that not only bomb the enemy's positions before our troops attack, but also absolutely ensure that our planes bomb and strafe over the enemy's positions when our troops attack, and this will cause tremendous psychological pressure on the enemy troops. ”

"We have few troops on the Western Front, and you have to maintain a certain amount of pressure on the Northwest Army, which is really difficult for you! Therefore, I ask you to only do defensive offenses, do not risk breaking through, and you will be a great contributor to stabilizing the situation on the Western Front. ”

After admonishing He Chengjun, Chiang Kai-shek said to Zhang Zhizhong: "Wenbai, now that our troops are tight, I want to use the military academy teaching regiment as the basis to form a second division for teaching, weapons and equipment have been shipped from Germany, and soldiers and soldiers have been prepared." This teaching second division is two brigades and six regiments, plus two artillery regiments, I want Wen Bai to be the commander of this division, I don't know what Wen Bai wants? ”

Zhang Zhizhong is more willing to do the work of education and training, and has little interest in leading troops to fight, but at this time it is not possible to talk about conditions. "At this point, when the party-state is in danger, the ruling party is willing to share the worries of the chairman."

"Good! Good! Chiang Kai-shek praised repeatedly.

He was very appreciative of Zhang Zhizhong's fact that he never talked about the conditions every time he was ordered to be in danger, and he didn't even care about the rise and fall of his official position and actual power, and nodded and said: "Wenbai, I mean to teach the second division to be the division commander, the chief of staff is Lan Tengjiao, and the two brigade commanders are Tang Enbo and Luo Tiehua respectively, Wenbai to see if it is feasible?" If you have any other requirements, please bring them together. ”

Tang Enbo is now a military instructor at the Central Army Military Academy and the captain of the student corps, and he is Zhang Zhizhong's subordinate, and Zhang Zhizhong still knows this vulgar and unkempt Tang Enbo very well. After Tang Enbo wrote "A Study of Infantry Squadron (Company) Instructors" the year before last, he was deeply appreciated by Chiang Kai-shek. Although Tang Enbo was not born in Whampoa, he was a graduate of the non-commissioned officer school in Zhejiang, and this met two of Chiang Kai-shek's criteria for employing people in Huang, Lu, Zhejiang, and one place, so he naturally had to be reused.

To set up a second division and have Zhang Zhizhong as the division commander, Lin Wei had secretly sent a letter to Zhang Zhizhong in advance, Zhang Zhizhong had already prepared, the appointment of the two brigade commanders was not something he could say, but he had the right to decide on the candidates for the six regiment commanders, and he wanted to take this opportunity to promote Lu Da's capable instructors and the students he was familiar with.

Zhang Zhizhong pretended to think for a while and said: "Chairman of the National Committee, since they are instructors, then these officers must be selected as elite generals, and I want Guan Linzheng, Hu Qisan, Hong Xiancheng, Li Yuan, Wang Wanling, and Zhao Dingxian to be the infantry commanders, and Tang Zhongxun and Li Pinghuai to be the two artillery commanders, and I also ask the chairman for approval." ”

These people Chiang Kai-shek knew, in addition to the instructors of Lu University, and then the Whampoa students, which was also in line with Chiang Kai-shek's intentions, so he generously waved his hand and said: "Wen Bai is doing things, I am at ease, you can appoint the officials at all levels and report to the Ministry of Military Affairs." ”……

Whether it was Chiang Kai-shek, Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan, they were all stepping up preparations for the upcoming big war, not only expanding the army and training troops, but also fighting a war of words, both sides were aware of the importance of public opinion, and both wanted to win the support of public opinion, so a telegram polemic that was not inferior to real knife and real gun fighting began before the collision of the two armies.

At the inauguration ceremony presided over by Wu Tiecheng, Yan Xishan delivered a speech with the main theme of "Shang Zhi Zhi Zhi In view of the incessant fighting at home, the common people and all political forces are thinking about the idea of stability and nation-building, and grasp the most unpopular things of Chiang Kai-shek to give full play to whether they are "peaceful reunification" or "reunification by force"; "The party governs the party, and the people govern the country" or reading politics; and the Kuomintang "Third Plenum Congress" unified the three sides of the criticism of Chiang Kai-shek.

These are Chiang Kai-shek's shortcomings, and he didn't want to be entangled with Yan Xishan on this, but Chiang Kai-shek felt that not fighting back on these issues would mean being ashamed and acquiescing, so he had to fight back. Moreover, Chiang Kai-shek felt that the Central Army was not ready, so he still hoped that the relationship with Yan Xishan could buffer for a while. Especially if it has the upper hand in public opinion, it is more conducive to the upcoming big war. From this, there was a telegram to Yan on February 12:

Commander-in-Chief Yan Baichuan Xunjian: Steaming electricity is informed. Promise comity for the country, and the unification of force is not suitable for the party rule, meet with the same shoulder, deeply admire the words of compassion for the people and the country! However, if you have to do business, revolution to save the country is an obligation, not a right; Rights should be sacrificed, and obligations should not be shirked. At this time, the national crisis is urgent, and it is not the time for my generation to be arrogant. If the reactionaries are plotting rebellion and ignore the heavy responsibility of the party-state and them, with the arrogance of Zhang Ruoxian, it is a reward for chaos and disputes, and it is counterproductive to the purpose of comity for the country! Since the completion of the Northern Expedition, the central authorities have always taken peaceful reunification as their mission, and have made preparations for the organization and dispatch of all of them public. Gou is not a part of the reactionary movement, which is regarded as a tool for disruption, and the whole country has an early cessation of arms, and the central authorities absolutely have no intention of using force lightly. However, for those who seek to endanger the party and the state by force, what more means can be used to achieve the goal of peaceful reunification? This is not only forgiven by the people of the whole country, that is, the elder brother has resolutely stepped out to eliminate the reorganization faction as his own responsibility, and this is also the intention. In April last year, he announced the end of the military and his resignation; Unfortunately, there were mutinies, and the responsibility was not fulfilled, so that the younger brother had to continue to do his best, and the heart of death was gone. Success or failure is blunt, and it is not reversed; The original intention of the revolution to save the country could not bear to be abandoned. My brother is a revolutionary father, and the security of the party and the country is at stake, so we must not be fat and evacuous, and I will not lightly shirk the heavy responsibility of saving the country. It is said that the current party-state is in extreme danger, but it is not very difficult for our generation to be able to work together with one virtue and one heart to help and eliminate the opposition. Once the peaceful reunification is truly completed and the national revolution proceeds unhindered, if you have the pleasure of traveling overseas, Zhongjing should follow your peers, and now is by no means the right time. I hope to adopt foolishness, not to be a little negative, to cancel the intention of going into the wilderness, and to save the country.

Chiang Kai-shek's telegram first put forward the theory of "obligation" and regarded itself as the central government, saying that non-force was not enough to quell the rebellion. The slogan of "peaceful reunification" must be backed by force, and all the rulers of modern China have taken this as their guideline. You, Yan Xishan, don't sing high notes there.

After the victory of the Northern Expedition, Chiang Kai-shek, who held the central power, used force to flatten or weaken one military group after another through "dispatch" and "rebellion," making the 1st Army the most powerful military group in China, and the leadership of the "national revolution" was naturally unyielding.

Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek told Yan Xishan that "unfortunately there have been mutinies one after another, and the responsibility has not been fulfilled", but I can't leave now. If I want Chiang Chung-cheng to go into the wilderness, I have to wait until 'the peaceful reunification is truly completed and the national revolution is carried out unimpeded', and as for when that time comes, it depends on the process of me Chiang Zhongzheng leveling you warlords.

Chiang Kai-shek's attempt to lead Yan Xishan to the path of "conspiring with the central authorities" to engage in polemics is naturally a topic that is very self-justifying for local forces like Yan Xishan.

(To be continued)