At 10 o'clock in the morning of May 19, the 27th year of the Republic of China (1938), General Toshiroku Hata, commander of the Central China Front Army of the Chinese Army, who had just returned to Nanjing from the Xuzhou front, could not wait to hold a press conference at the headquarters, openly announcing to the reporters from various countries attending the meeting that the main force of the Baoshan Brigade had been annihilated, and Yue Weihan only led a small number of remnants into the Weishan Lake area.

As soon as the news came out, the whole world was in an uproar, and German journalists, who were already clearly inclined to the Japanese newspaper, published articles in the newspapers one after another, praising the unprecedented victory of the Chinese army, while the Chinese [***] team suffered a major setback, and the situation of China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was worrisome.

What made the Chinese people even more unsettling was that Zhao Xinyi's war story was suddenly interrupted.

This seems to verify my clamor from the side, could it be that something really happened to the Baoshan Brigade?

…………

Wuhan Xingying, the official residence of Chairman Chiang.

Chairman Chiang was pacing back and forth in the study with his hands behind his back, looking anxious.

At this moment, not only the people of the whole country and the vast number of overseas Chinese are in a fog, but in fact, even Chairman Jiang and the high-level officials do not know what happened in Xuzhou, let alone whether the Baoshan Brigade has broken through now, or whether it has really been basically wiped out as the army claimed.

Since 10 o'clock last night, the radio station of the Baoshan Brigade has been silent.

In the sound of hurried footsteps, General He, chief of the General Staff, General Li, commander-in-chief of the Fifth Theater Commander-in-Chief, and General Bai, deputy chief of the General Staff, rushed in. ”

Chairman Jiang paused and turned his head, and asked Vice President Bai with a gloomy expression: "Jiansheng, what do you think?" ”

Deputy Chief Bai said: "Commission, the situation is already very obvious, before Yue Weihan sent several urgent telegrams requesting to blow up the Yellow River embankment, just to confuse the Yue army and force the main force of the Yue army to withdraw from Xuzhou, so as to leave a gap for the Baoshan Brigade, now it seems that Yue Weihan's goal has been achieved, and the Baoshan Brigade must have broken through from Xuzhou." ”

Chairman Jiang said gloomily: "You mean, the news released by the army is true? ”

Deputy Chief Bai shook his head and said: "It is definitely true that the Baoshan Brigade has broken through from Xuzhou, as for whether the Baoshan Brigade has been basically annihilated as claimed by the Yue Army, and Yue Weihan only led a small number of remnants to transfer into the Weishan Lake District, it may not be, as for the current situation of the Baoshan Brigade, then we can only wait for Yue Weihan to contact us himself." ”

Admiral He said worriedly: "Commission, there is everything in the international community now, but I am more worried about the reaction of the people of the whole country and the vast number of overseas Chinese after learning the news, if this matter is not handled well, I am afraid that it will greatly dampen the determination and morale of the entire [***] people to resist the war, and it is also very likely to endanger the entire situation of the war of resistance." ”

"And it doesn't stop there." Chairman Jiang said angrily, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has just received a diplomatic note from the US Embassy, and the bill on economic aid to China that was originally scheduled to be discussed this afternoon has been shelved again. ”

Admiral Li next to him suddenly pouted, as far as he knew, the reason why the Americans shelved the economic aid bill to China was not because of the Baoshan Brigade, but because the National Political Axe was unable to reach an agreement with the American Political Axe on many details, to put it bluntly, the American Political Axe hoped that the money could be used to buy American goods, while the National Political Axe wanted to use the money to buy German goods.

Admiral He said: "Commission, do you want to hold a press conference to clarify public opinion?" To reverses the adverse effects? ”

"Clarification? How to clarify? Chairman Jiang said coldly, "I don't know the survival of the Baoshan Brigade, and the life and death of Yue Weihan are unknown, how can this matter be clarified?" How do you clarify to the Chinese people? ”

Admiral He's face was full of bitterness, this matter is really hard to clarify, unless the Baoshan Brigade has definite news!

Otherwise, you just released the news here that the Baoshan Brigade has successfully broken through, but you suddenly caught Yue Weihan over there, it would really be a big joke, and the face of the entire national political axe should be lost.

Admiral Li suddenly suggested: "Commission, I think it is better to openly admit in the major media that the Baoshan Brigade has suffered heavy losses, but the main force still exists, and it is persisting in guerrilla warfare in Shandong, and calling on the soldiers and civilians in the occupied areas to learn from the Baoshan Brigade and persist in the War of Resistance, so that they may be able to turn the passive into the active and win the first opportunity!" ”

Chairman Jiang's expression suddenly moved slightly, and he said to General He: "Respectfully, just do what the neighbors say." ”

"Yes." Admiral He snapped and said, "I'm going to arrange a press conference." ”

…………

In the afternoon of the same day, General He held a news conference in the press briefing hall of the Ministry of Military Affairs.

At the press conference, General He gave a brief introduction to the beginning and end of the defense of Xuzhou, and declared that the Baoshan Brigade had successfully completed its mission and had been ordered to break through to the mountainous areas of central Lu.

As soon as the news came out, the anxiety in the hearts of the people across the country suddenly disappeared.

Although the Chinese side was full of hope that the Baoshan Brigade incident would greatly blow the morale of the Chinese people, it was a pity that it backfired, and the Chinese side reacted quickly, but instead took advantage of this opportunity to call on the military and people in the occupied areas to learn from the Baoshan Brigade and rise up to fight behind enemy lines against the invaders.

…………

Weishan Lakeside, Qingshanquan Town.

At this time, Yue Weihan did not know that the breakthrough of the Baoshan Brigade had had a great impact on the entire situation of the Anti-Japanese War, and the political axes of the two countries even started a propaganda war because of this.

At this time, Yue Weihan was rushing to break out of the encirclement of the army.

Qingshanquan is a little-known town in the southwest of Shandong, before the completion and opening of the Jinpu Railway, it was even a small village of three or five families, until the opening of the Jinpu Railway, because of the proximity to Xuzhou, it gradually became the distribution center of goods from the north and south, and gradually became lively.

Yue Weihan took Zhao Youting, Chu Zhongtian and Liu Tiezhu, and a group of four people dressed up as disciples of the Qinggang and swaggered into Qingshan Town.

When Yue Weihan and his entourage had walked far away, the puppet soldier next to him who was carrying an old sleeve asked in a low voice, "Squad leader, who are these people?" So horizontal! ”

"They are members of the Anqing Righteous Society." The squad leader of the puppet army said awe-inspiringly.

"Anqing Morality?" The puppet soldiers were suddenly silenced.

On the ground in Shandong, no matter how much information is closed, the farmer has definitely heard of the Anqing Daoyi Association that has just been established, the so-called Anqing Daoyi Association is nominally a branch organization of the Qing Gang, but in fact, it is the Han Annihilation Gang organization that assists the army in governing Shandong, and Qian Baoxiang, the president of the Anqing Daoyi Association, is now also the president of Jinan.

On the street in front, Liu Tiezhu asked Zhao Youting curiously: "Youting, what did you say in a mess just now?" Look at the two dogs, the fart is about to scare you out. ”

"Nothing." Zhao Youting said indifferently, "I just told them a few words of jargon." ”

"The jargon of your Green Gang?" Liu Tiezhu said in a speech, "The power of the Green Gang in Shandong is so big? ”

Zhao Youting's expression suddenly became extremely embarrassed, there is a big man in the Shandong Youth Gang who is the chairman of the Han Dynasty maintenance committee, and he is also the Qian Baoxiang of his grandfather's generation, why are you embarrassed to let him say it? It happened that a fried bun shop appeared in front, and there was a sturdy young man sitting on the street inside the shop, Zhao Youting hurriedly said to Yue Weihan: "Boss, there is a door." ”

Yue Weihan bowed his head slightly, and Zhao Youting bent down and walked into the fried bun shop.

When the man sitting in the shop saw someone coming in, he picked up the teapot and poured it into the two tea bowls in front of him, then picked up one of the bowls with both hands, and then stretched out three fingers of his right hand to Zhao Youting.

Zhao Youting strode forward, picked up another tea bowl and drank it all.

The man put down the tea bowl and asked, "Where did your friend come from?" ”

Zhao Youting wiped his mouth and said indifferently: "From Kengzhou." ”

The man said, "Where are you going?" ”

Zhao Youting replied: "Go to Wutai." ”

The man said again: "The boss's surname? ”

Zhao Youting replied: "At home, I changed my father's surname to Pan. ”

The man said: "There is a cloud in the northwest, and a lotus flower is full of pots. ”

Zhao Youting replied: "Fight the king, fight the people, don't fight the Anqing family." ”

This incision is all right, because the predecessor of the Qing Gang is the Anqing Gang, the founder's surname is Pan, the Anqing Gang entered Shanghai Beach in a big way at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, and was renamed the Qing Gang.

Zhang Qing invited Zhao Youting and Yue Weihan to his residence.

Through Zhang Qing, Yue Weihan knew that Chi Dianwen had now officially taken refuge in Yue himself, and his armed forces had also become a water garrison to maintain order on the Jining section of the canal and Weishan Lake, but Yue Weihan didn't care about this, because he knew that this Chi Dianwen was by no means a Han annihilation in the real sense.

During the eight-year Anti-Japanese War, the Jinjiyu Advance Detachment provided a lot of intelligence to the Weishan Lake guerrillas, assisted a lot of materials, and saved a lot of anti-Japanese fighters and cadres.

(To be continued)