Although everyone did not understand the deeper meaning of this sentence, they still maintained a high degree of unity in their actions - they did not mention it to anyone.

After the meeting was dispersed, the former office of the Ministry of National Defense sent the situation of the Shandong battlefield. Like the other two, the Shandong battlefield is not optimistic. The Japanese army, with the 3rd and 5th Divisions as the main forces, landed in Qingdao and advanced to the Jinan line, and the Third Army stationed in Shandong was defeated and retreated to Jinan for a time.

Huang Ke was greatly surprised when he saw it, the overall environment is not optimistic, the situation on the front line is repeated defeats, and the Japanese army is still showing signs of increasing troops, he really doesn't dare to think about the prospects.

"What is the situation in Shandong now? How did you lose to Jinan in less than a week? "During the Northern Expedition, Huang Ke once led his troops to attack east from Jinan, and fought many battles with the reinforced Japanese Sixth Division, which was exchanged for the blood of tens of thousands of people, why did he give it away in less than a week?

Seeing that Huang Ke was on fire, his subordinates immediately sorted out the latest battle situation and delivered it. After some explanation, Huang Ke saw a familiar name - Han Xiangfang.

Shandong belongs to the Central Theater of Operations, and naturally Cui Wu is in charge. Although Cui Wu is a fierce general, he has little foresight in appointing people, and even says that he is a failure. Because Cui Wu's most important general in the Central Theater is Han Xiangfang, the commander of Shandong Province.

Han Xiangfang, whose name is Fuyu, is from Puqi County, Wuchang Prefecture, Hubei Province. In his early years, he followed Feng Yuxiang, and later led his troops to join the command of Cui Wu of the Middle Route Army of the Northern Expeditionary Army. He fought a lot of tough battles in the march of the Middle Route Army of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and was appreciated by Cui Wu, the commander of the Central Route Army. After the reform of the mechanized troops, the Shandong defense line was assigned to the Central Theater, and the Shandong unit where the East Route Army was originally located was reorganized into the Third Group Army, and Liu Jian was the first to form and reorganize the army.

Later, the war in the Northeast changed, Liu Jian was transferred to the Northeast, and the post of commander of the Third Army and chairman of Shandong Province fell to Han Xiangfang.

It can be said that Han Xiangfang still has some experience in leading troops and governance. In power, he asked Master Liang Shuming to guide him to promote basic education in rural Shandong, and vigorously supported the construction of Fu Jin's Hope School, which is obvious to all.

Militarily, Han Xiangfang also has some achievements. The Third Group Army was formed by various departments in Shandong and did not belong to the First Army. By the time Liu Jian left, the Third Group Army had basically completed its semi-mechanized modification, and the infantry of the whole army had been motorized, and it was already a mixed armed force with 30,000 men, and its combat effectiveness should not be underestimated.

After Han Xiangfang took over, he didn't interfere too much in equipment and training, and basically followed Liu Jian's set, which proves that he is still self-aware. However, in terms of personnel, he has carried out drastic reforms.

There are no more than two kinds of personnel in the troops, first of all, soldiers, and then officers. Han Xiangfang also began his own personnel reform in the context of the reorganization of the national defense force at that time, he first eliminated the old, weak, sick and disabled in the army, and recruited young intellectuals to join, in fact, the means was to improve the salary.

To be honest, this point is still very useful for improving the combat effectiveness of the troops. But what Han Xiangfang did next in the officer was a bit too much. The first target that Han Xiangfang aimed at was Cao Zhiyun, the deputy commander of the army. Cao Zhiyun is a native of Shandong, a subordinate of Jiang Xianyun of the former Eastern Route Army, who had average combat achievements during the Northern Expedition, and this person had average military talent, but he was very loyal and brave in battle.

In such a person, Han Xiangfang instructed his subordinates to report Cao Zhiyun for corruption and bribery, and took kickbacks when purchasing military products. At that time, it was the limelight of military reform, and it can be said that some people embezzled and took kickbacks at this time, which caused an uproar. The Central Theater Theater organized an investigation team to investigate Cao Zhiyun's case, and the investigation proved that Cao Zhiyun did accept bribes when he was in charge of logistics procurement.

As expected, Cao Zhiyun was dismissed from his post and investigated, escorted to the Nanjing Military Court for trial, and ended up in prison for ten years.

After that, it took him less than two years to replace most of the officers above the regimental level with his own hardcore, and it can be said that in this respect he had turned the Third Army into his own private soldiers.

Han Xiangfang did not have the enthusiasm to serve the country like many young people in Xiguan, and in the eyes of an old warlord like him, there was only the maximization of interests, so he had such an attitude when the Japanese army arrived.

When the Japanese army landed from Qingdao and other places, he immediately mobilized troops to actively defend. The two sides engaged in a number of battles in the area of Jimo and Jiaozhou, in which the officers and men of the Third Army not only defended the defensive line, but even attacked Qingdao, which was occupied by the Japanese at one point. In view of this, Cui Wu also reported to the Ministry of National Defense to commend Han Xiangfang.

However, as the number of Japanese troops increased, the battle became more and more difficult. By this time, the strength of the Japanese army had increased to more than 60,000 troops of two divisions and the defenders of Qingdao, and the navy also provided artillery and aviation support. Shandong's original superiority in forces no longer existed, and gradually turned into a disadvantage.

The Japanese army immediately concentrated its forces to attack the Jimo and Jiaodong lines, and the defensive line organized by the Third Army was quickly broken, and the troops suffered heavy casualties.

Han Xiangfang, who was supposed to mobilize heavy reinforcements, but at this time, for the sake of protecting his own strength, he narrowed the defensive line and abandoned Jiaodong, Jimo and other places, causing the Japanese 3rd and 5th Divisions to sing triumphant songs and march all the way to Luxi and Lunan areas.

After Luxi, we will go to Puyang, and the strategic position of the Zhongyuan oil field in Puyang is extremely important, so the originally inconspicuous Shandong battlefield has attracted attention because of the Japanese army's entry into Jinan and Dezhou.

Although Huang Ke knew the position of Han Xiangfang, the commander of this battle, in the long river of history, he still maintained restraint, after all, history is written by the victors. He didn't quite believe that a person who led the troops to fight the devil for his life was unlikely to be a complete hardcore traitor as some histories say.

Without further ado, Huang Ke immediately organized a special military conference room for the Shandong battlefield.

After analyzing the existing situation on both sides, the senior generals attending the meeting came to the conclusion that the strength of the troops in Shandong was seriously insufficient, and it was necessary to strengthen the strength of Shandong, because the main force of the defense forces in Shandong turned out to be only a semi-mechanized Third Army, but on the contrary, the Japanese army had invested in the third and fifth divisions, which were far superior to the Third Army in terms of strength and equipment.

Second, the question of the selection of generals. Although Han Xiangfang resisted stubbornly in the early stage and achieved certain results, after the Japanese army increased its troops, he abandoned a large amount of land in order to preserve his military strength, which is not an exaggeration to kill him. Therefore, the meeting adopted the second decision: to dismiss Han Xiangfang, commander of the Shandong region and the commander of the Third Army, and escort him to Nanjing for trial.

Changing generals before the war is a taboo for soldiers, especially for troops like the Third Army, which Han Xiangfang has been running for many years, and a slight mishandling may provoke a mutiny before the battle, if that is the case, it will be more than worth the loss.

However, Huang Ke insisted on his opinion, and he insisted on replacing Han Xiangfang.

"Replace Han Xiangfang, who will take over the command from Shandong?" Someone asked.

Huang Ke thought for a while and said: "Send Liu Jian, he was the acting commander of the Third Army when the Third Army was reorganized, and he is familiar with it, so it is most suitable for him to go." ”

Jiang Baili and the others had no opinion. However, how the order was conveyed and who went to Jinan to bring Han Xiangfang back to Nanjing was a big problem. Obviously, a simple working group will not work, Han Xiangfang is not an ordinary official, he is a person with heavy troops, and he once had a history of being a warlord on the separatist side, and the people sent are not enough to be killed by him. If he kills it, he will really take refuge in Japan......

When it comes to the end, no one dares to be careless. Huang Ke thought for a moment and said, "Send Yang Yibing!" ”

Jiang Zhongzheng shook his head: "Yang Yibing is engaged in pre-work and clean government work, and sending him is tantamount to telling Han Xiangfang that he is going to do something to her." ”

Then there was silence for a while, and after a while, Jiang Baili said, "I'll go myself." I went to inspect the Third Army when it was formed, and it had some prestige in it. Besides, I still have some personal friendships with Liang Shuming, and this time I heard that he was also in Jinan, and I happened to visit him when I went. ”

Jiang Baili said this, and everyone dissuaded him, since Han Xiangfang may mutiny, isn't it a tiger's mouth to deliver food at this time? What's more, Jinan is no longer the rear at this time, and the Japanese army has already approached the city, and the danger of going this time is self-evident.

However, Jiang Baili overrode public opinion, and he said calmly: "As the chief of military staff, it is necessary to inspect the actual military situation on the front line. I had an idea before, but I wanted to go to Shanghai at that time, and now it seems that I should go to Shandong first. As for the danger you are talking about, Han Fuyu doesn't dare to do anything to me at this time, don't worry! ”

Huang Ke knew that Jiang Baili had made up his mind, and he agreed.

He said to Jiang Baili: "Brother Baili, I won't say anything long-winded, you just have to go with confidence this time, and everything in the rear will be dispatched by me." In this way, I will let Liu Jian go to Zhengzhou to wait for you, and you can set off together from Zhengzhou. ”

Jiang Baili nodded.

Huang Ke turned his head to the others: "Telegraph Cui Wu to immediately mobilize the 45th Group Army stationed in the northern Henan region to enter Shandong, and the air force will give full support, focusing on protecting the air supremacy safety in the Zhongyuan oil field area." ”

Xu Shaozhou nodded, and wrote it down in his notebook.

In the afternoon of the same day, Jiang Baili took off from Nanjing Dajiaochang Airport on a special plane and went to Zhengzhou to meet Liu Jian. The two will go to Jinan together to supervise the battle, and at the same time announce Liu Jian's appointment to succeed Han Xiangfang.

Before leaving, Huang Ke went to the airport to see him off in person.

"It's been hard all the way to Jinan, and I will take the whole army and the whole country to thank you." Huang Ke said with a smile.

Jiang Baili shook his hand with a smile and did not speak.

The roar of the rumbling plane sounded, Jiang Baili waved goodbye to Huang Ke and the others, turned around and stepped on the spiral staircase.