The Fifth Army, which had already achieved semi-mechanization, marched quickly from its assembly area in Gansu to the front line in Xinjiang in less than five days, which everyone did not expect.

However, after arriving at the front line in Xinjiang, the vanguard of the Fifth Army did not immediately start fighting as many expected, and took the enemy by surprise. On the contrary, they unhurriedly stationed themselves in the same place to repair, and only after all the troops arrived at the predetermined position and the air force and various supplies were in place, Lin Zuoda gave the order to march to Dihua.

At this time, Dihua had been completely occupied by the provincial army composed of Sheng Shicai's provincial army and the Soviet Red Army, they knew about the arrival of the Fifth Army, but they did not think so, they were ready to wait for the annihilation of the Fifth Army in Dihua.

The reason why he formulated such a plan was that Sheng Shi was confident, and he not only had tens of thousands of provincial troops, the Jilin Northeast Army, and the Tsarist Russian Naturalized Army, but also a varying number of Soviet Red Army members. The most important thing is that behind him stood the already strong Soviet Union.

Sheng Shicai didn't really buy Stalin's account, and he didn't say anything about the Rauschism, but he was very interested in the strength of the support of the Soviets.

The Soviet Union promised him direct support from the armed forces in addition to weapons, ammunition and loans. Relying on this support, Sheng Shi realized that he could maintain the semi-independent state of Xinjiang, so that the central government in Nanjing could not set foot in it at all.

And it turns out to be true!

The first thing Sheng Shicai wanted to eliminate was Ma Zhongying. Sheng Shicai and Ma Zhongying can be said to have a long-standing grudge, during the Northern Expedition, Wang Maocai's troops entered the northwest, and the Gansu Five Horse forces began to develop to Xinjiang. This led to conflicts in the prosperous era of Xinjiang at this time, and the two sides fought many times.

I have to say that Ma Zhongying is a figure with considerable military attainments. He led the cavalry composed of * and Sheng Shicai to start a big battle in Daban City, and defeated an elite armored battalion under Sheng Shicai and the naturalized army composed of Lao Maozi, and then went out of Dihua.

This battle can be described as a great defeat.

However, with the stationing of the National Defense Forces in the northwest, both sides nominally submitted to the central government, and on the surface they maintained the provincial army and the national army in the northwest, but secretly they were people with deep blood feuds.

This time, Sheng Shicai decided to annihilate Ma Zhongying's other national armies in one fell swoop and establish his position in the northwest.

Under the powerful firepower of the provincial army and the artillery fire of the Soviet Air Force, Ma Zhongying's troops suffered heavy losses, and the team that originally wanted to wait for work was lost, and Dihua was also lost.

When Dihua was lost, Ma Zhongying sent dozens of telegrams to the central government in Nanjing, in which he accused Sheng Shicai of colluding with foreign enemies and attempting to split Xinjiang, and said that he would continue to fight until the last soldier.

Ma Zhongying failed to fulfill his promise in the end, and when Dihua City was broken, he also disappeared! There is no elite left under his command for many years.

A few days later, the Nanjing government issued a statement on the situation in the northwest region, solemnly declaring that Xinjiang is Chinese territory and no one can be divided, and at the same time it will use force to suppress the war in Xinjiang.

Shortly after the Nanjing government issued a statement, Lin Zuoda, who had already arrived under the city of Dihua, issued an order to attack Dihua.

Tens of thousands of troops of the Fifth Army counterattacked Dihua with the cooperation of hundreds of fighters of various types. Dozens of large-caliber artillery pieces shelled the military stronghold in Dihua for a day, and aerial bombers also cooperated in the bombing......

The heavy artillery fire and bombardment caught the provincial troops, who had hoped to wait for their work, and they resisted for a while with the help of Soviet artillery, but only for a moment, their artillery positions were completely covered by Wehrmacht fire.

After a day-long bombardment, the city of Dihua was in ruins, and although the attacks were aimed at military targets, many civilians were still killed. Then the 3rd Panzer Regiment, the most mechanized, and other motorized brigades began to attack the city of Dihua.

Subsequently, Wehrmacht soldiers wearing dark green steel helmets lined up in a skirmish line and began to attack with the cooperation of tanks and armored vehicles.

In less than three days, the defenders attacked Dihua, Sheng Shicai was very knowledgeable, and did not start a street battle, after the city of Dihua was broken, they gathered their troops and began to retreat to the north of Yining, Dihua returned to the hands of the central government again.

Lin Zuoda led the army to hold a majestic entrance ceremony, and at this time, the people of Dihua and the spies mixed in it found that the Wehrmacht was no longer the army they had in their impression of being dressed like the Huazi team, they had been equipped with a large number of tanks and armored vehicles, and they were an army that could be comparable to the Soviet Red Army, or even better equipped than the Soviet Red Army.

After being stationed in Dihua, the national defense forces did not start to deploy defenses, they just immediately restored local order, and the national defense officers and soldiers began to repair the damaged houses and provide free rations to the common people, and soon Dihua resumed its former liveliness.

At this time, Lin Zuo rashly recklessly attacked the 3rd Motorized Infantry Brigade and the Armored Regiment of the 5th Army, because they received news that the night before yesterday, shortly after the loss of Dihua, the 8th Cavalry Regiment of the Soviet Red Army had secretly crossed the border into Yining, joined up with Sheng Shicai's army, and was ready to counterattack at any time, that is, the Soviet Red Army had directly intervened in Xinjiang affairs.

Lin Zuoda, who was thinking of winning Sheng Shicai in one go, now has to rethink and deploy. According to intelligence, the Eighth Cavalry Regiment of the Soviet Red Army is a strengthened fully mechanized infantry regiment, with a strength equivalent to a fully equipped mechanized infantry brigade, which has been on the battlefield for a long time and is well-equipped.

"To fight or not to fight?" Lin Zuo was very worried, and he didn't know what kind of judgment to make at this time. He personally went to call Huang Ke, and after thinking about it, Huang Ke told him to prepare for the call.

At this time, Lin Zuoda began to think about the next deployment. The combat effectiveness of the two armies is equal. What's more, the Fifth Army still has to stay behind to defend in Dihua and other places, so the Fifth Army occupies a disadvantaged position in terms of strength.

How to fight, how to fight? This is a difficult problem in front of Lin Zuoda.

When Lin Zuo was worried about how to deal with it, Huang Ke and others in Nanjing were also discussing this matter. In the conference room of the Nanjing Central Congress, the heads of political and military affairs were also engaged in a heated discussion in the conference room.

Wang Jingwei, chairman of the state government, Sun Ke, minister of administration, Kong Xiangxi, minister of finance, Huang Ke, minister of national defense, and others gathered together, and they all discussed the affairs of the northwest.

An officer of the intelligence agency under the Military Staff introduced the situation, he straightened his waist and said: "Late at night four days ago, the Eighth Cavalry Regiment of the Soviet Red Army secretly entered the border under the jurisdiction of Sheng Shicai, and then entered Yining to station, and now it has joined Sheng Shicai's department. ”

"The 8th Cavalry Regiment of the Soviet Red Army, called the Cavalry Regiment, was actually a reinforced regiment with several configurations. Its troops are well-equipped and highly mechanized. At the same time, the department is also equipped with a unit of military aircraft for reconnaissance and operations against the enemy, in addition to an artillery battalion, a tank company, and military cars and motorcycles for the use of the whole regiment. ”

At the same time, such a unit is also equipped with workshops for ironworkers, carpenters, electricians, repairers, etc., as well as large boilers, chainsaws, steam hammers and other equipment. The regiment has more than 3,000 soldiers, including factory workers and other administrative personnel and their families, totaling about 5,000 people. Among the soldiers, there are many Uzbeks and Tajiks, and their combat effectiveness is relatively strong......"

After the staff officer introduced him, he returned to the back row and sat down, and everyone sitting in the first row turned their eyes to Huang Ke and Wang Jingwei, and Wang Jingwei said in an inquiring manner: "What do you think?" Did the Soviets fight or talk? ”

Wang Jingwei will now be left and right, he is neither willing to offend Jiang Zhongzheng and his faction, nor Huang Ke and his family, and now he has become a complete two-faced light.

Jiang Baili of the Military Staff casually flipped through the information and said: "Before this, we made a simple comparison between touching you. The Fifth Army on the front line was on par with the Eighth Regiment and Sheng Shicai's team, and no one had any advantage. Militarily speaking, it can be a dozen. ”

"We are not facing a single Soviet cavalry regiment, but the forces and troops behind them. In the short term, we are on par with the Soviet cavalry regiment, and even have some chance of winning, but in the long term? Our country borders the Soviet Union in Xinjiang, Mongolia, and Northeast China, and the war here is a whole body, and I think the bottom line is to give Yining to Sheng Shicai, which nominally belongs to the central government. ”

An official put forward his own opinion in a-for-tat manner. After he finished speaking, Wang Jingwei continued to ask, "What other opinions do other people have?" ”

Next, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs talked with the heads of some departments about their views, which is nothing more than strengthening communication with the Soviet side now and getting the Soviet troops to withdraw from Xinjiang.

One side is the main player, the other side is the main talk, and the two sides are inseparable. Wang Jingwei asked Huang Ke for his opinion, after all, Huang Ke controlled the army in the northwest. Huang Ke looked at the crowd: "I listened to it just now, what you said is right, fighting is not the goal, talking is the goal." However, we cannot help but fight the troops of the subjugated people, and we will fight for the sake of better talks, and if we can't get along, we will have to fight. The old man is insatiable and must be beaten hard, I am in favor of beating! ”

Huang Ke's words made everyone present stop talking, they all understood this truth, but except for Huang Ke, no one has the strength to control the northwest, and what he said now can basically set a tone for the handling of the situation.

After some discussion, a vote was held, and it was finally agreed that the surplus people who had postponed the march to continue the march to Yining. In the end, the Nanjing Central Government and the National Defense Army officially issued an order to Lin Zuo's Northwest Theater to march to Yining.