Episode 61 Forcibly marching into Ankang

On the morning of November 1, in a conference room of the General Headquarters, Shen Rongxuan, several ministers, and several core generals of the military held a small meeting on the possible assistance of the Soviet Union to the Northern Qing Dynasty.

The meeting was of a temporary emergency nature. Because at present, there is only the sentence "Molotov went to Beijing" in the current information about the Soviet Union's aid to the Qing Dynasty, and there is no more. Now there is an extreme lack of intelligence. Until the follow-up information comes back, it can only be guessed. As for how the Ming Dynasty should respond, politically, several ministers advocated waiting and seeing, keeping an eye on several newspapers in the Soviet Union and the Northern Qing Dynasty, and their broadcasts, to see if they had any new official articles coming out, or if there were any big people speaking. Then figure out what that means, and then analyze the next steps to deal with. For extremely closed countries, this is the best way to speculate about their domestic situation except to use spies.

Militarily, several generals of the Ming army believed that the possibility of the Soviet Union directly sending troops on a large scale was almost non-existent. However, it may be in the form of a "volunteer army" to assist some high-tech arms of the Northern Qing Dynasty, most likely the Air Force, followed by the armored troops. It may only provide assistance to aircraft and tanks, but it is more likely to be a direct dispatch of troops with "volunteer air force" and "volunteer armored troops".

The Soviet army's air force and armored forces were a generation stronger than the Qing army. This is also the weakest point of the Qing army in the face of the Ming army. If the Soviet Union really did this, then it could really make up for the shortcomings of the Qing army to a great extent. It is even quite possible that in terms of ground armored forces, it will overwhelm the Ming army.

Of course, it all takes time. But for now, the Soviet Union can have a move that will have an immediate effect. It was to withdraw a large number of troops from the far east border of the Soviet and Qing dynasties and gain the actual trust of the Northern Qing Dynasty, so that the elite troops deployed by the Northern Qing Dynasty on the far eastern border of the Soviet and Qing Dynasty could go south to reinforce the Central Plains.

Several generals agreed that they should quickly take Qinling and Hanzhong, and then immediately start the Central Plains Campaign. We can't wait for the Soviets to act. As long as the south of the Yellow River can be taken before the Soviet Union launches aid to the Qing Dynasty, no matter what moves the Soviet Union makes, the situation in the Ming Dynasty will not be too bad.

Zhu Yourong added two opinions, that is, what Xiang Xiaoqiang told her yesterday, two diplomatic actions, one bright and one dark. She didn't say that she told Xiaoqiang, but directly "took it for herself". However, the effect was good, Shen Rongxuan and several ministers all smiled, admitting that this was indeed what should be done at the moment.

……

Now that the decision has been made, it is imperative to get the silent front moving.

The negotiations at Wuwang Villa continued, but under pressure from the press, the high command sent a spokesman to explain to the press, admitting that negotiations were now underway with the Northern Qing Dynasty and that the cessation of troops in Shanxi was the result of the talks. But correspondingly, the surrender of the Hanzhong Basin was also the result of negotiations. However, for more details, the spokesman said, it is still inconvenient to disclose, please understand.

As soon as this news came out, it immediately confirmed a number of speculations in the press. Many newspapers ran front-page headlines that afternoon, and the two major broadcasters broadcast the big news.

Da Ming is negotiating secretly with Qing Yu! The news immediately shocked the nation. All kinds of opinions in the country immediately boiled over, and on Xinjiekou Square and on various main roads, all kinds of protesters, supporters, civil society organizations, and political parties came out to express their opinions again. The pros and cons are basically half and half. Again, as before, the older people, the middle class, and those with higher education levels are mostly in favor of negotiations. In their opinion, it's time to negotiate too:

The purpose of the Northern Expedition of the Ming Dynasty was almost achieved. Jianghuai got it, and Nanjing was freed from the threat of artillery fire; Shaanxi and most of Shanxi got it, and the foundation of the Ming Dynasty in the north was also firmly established. The war has basically gone smoothly so far, and the Ming Dynasty has not suffered any major casualties, nor has it paid any too much price, so it is time to accept it when it is good. Just like speculating in futures, "closing positions" now is the time when the benefits are maximum. If the fight continues, the logistics will be tight, and when winter comes, it will also lose the advantage of the initial "surprise attack", and it may not be so smooth. At that time, it will not be so easy to think about a truce after suffering a big loss. At that time, it may be "trapped". Once they fall into the quagmire of a long war, the people of the whole country will suffer with it.

However, the majority of young people, especially the ten-year-old enthusiastic youth, and the poor of the lower classes, were resolutely opposed to negotiations with the Qing prisoners. In their opinion, this is tantamount to making a deal with the devil, and those who are in harmony with the Lord are traitors and traitors, and they should all be pulled out and cut down. They waved the national flag and sang the national anthem, gathered in front of the "Jiangbei Fall Monument" in Xinjiekou, braved the cold autumn wind, and swore an oath in unison to destroy the Qing captives. They gave loud speeches and loudly promoted to passers-by, encouraging everyone to sacrifice their egos on the occasion of the glorious rejuvenation of the Han nation, even if they tightened their belts and starved, they should support the Ming Dynasty to set the Central Plains in the north, wipe out the Qing captives, and completely recover the entire Ming Dynasty. With tears in their eyes, they swore loudly that everyone would do their best to be loyal to the country, and that they would fight their way out of the border and bring back the entire Nurgandusi until the Trans-Khingan Mountains and Lake Baikal were recovered.

That night, Xiang Xiaoqiang stayed by the radio, listening to the live interview of the Voice of China with the enthusiastic young people, listening to the waves of national anthems, impassioned slogans and oaths on the scene, and couldn't help but be infected.

He said to Hu Jiong with emotion:

"No matter whether we fight or make peace next, these hot-blooded young people are the wealth of our country! They may be a little simpler now, but their loyalty and courage can't be exchanged for money. ”

Hu Jiong was also very emotional, nodded and said:

"Yes! My lord, my subordinate was one of these young people a few years ago! ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang turned his head to look at him and smiled:

"And now? Is it still now? ”

Hu Jiong was stunned for a moment, and said with a smile:

"Now...... Alas, after all, there are fewer edges and corners, but the blood is still there. Even if the adults send their subordinates to kill the enemy now, the subordinates will still carry a gun and go. ”

……

The next morning, on November 2, there was still no progress at the negotiating table in the Ankang Basin. Yonggui swore that Beijing was actively coordinating to promote the surrender of the Qing army in Ankang, but it would take time, and he asked the Ming side to give him another day and a half.

Xiang Xiaoqiang and Fourteen Gege glanced at each other, both smiled slightly, and shook their heads. They know that there is no hope at the negotiating table. It's time to go according to the plan.

At 10 o'clock in the morning, the Ming army, which had already occupied the Hanzhong Basin, started its engine, light tanks and armored vehicles took the lead, and the military vehicles followed in a long line, driving up the mountain road and heading for Ankang.

In two and a half hours, we drove to Shiquan County. Shiquan County is a county between Hanzhong and Ankang, nestled in a valley between two basins. I drove all the way here, only to encounter a few Qing army bunkers on the side of the mountain road. There was only one outpost of the Qing army, and there were no troops at all, only an infantry platoon, not even a heavy machine gun or a mortar.

A powerful Ming army suddenly appeared on the road, and the Qing soldiers of this platoon were completely dumbfounded. They did not receive any notice or warning from above, and they did not know that Hanzhong had surrendered, and that they had "surrendered". In the concept of these Qing soldiers, although their own defense area cannot be called a "big rear", it is at least a "small rear", and a large army of the Ming army will not appear without warning in any case!

As in countless scenes that have already appeared, the Qing soldiers of this platoon stood on the side of the road in a daze, watching the light tanks of the Ming army speeding over, the top cover was lifted with a "bang", and a commander came out of it, brandishing a submachine gun and ordering them to lay down their weapons and stand aside.

More than 20 Qing soldiers looked at each other, and then looked at the Ming army convoy behind them, and immediately made a wise choice.

The convoy of the Ming army drove past this first checkpoint in a steady stream.

An armored car was parked here, and the ten Ming military policemen in the car were holding submachine guns, directing the Qing soldiers of this platoon to gather all the weapons together, and then they were about to escort them to the rear.

At this time, the telephone rang in the small bunker.

Several gendarmes looked at each other, and then the squad leader pulled the submachine gun and tilted his head at the Qing platoon commander:

"Go, answer the phone!"