PS: In view of the strong protest of many readers, the complaint about the current situation in Ukraine is suspended today.

At the same time, I wish all female readers a happy Women's Day!

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While the travelers of the Shanghai Soviet Government were intensively planning a nuclear explosion that was about to shake Shijie, the fires that spread all over the land of China were still burning and spreading step by step......

On March 19, in the face of a falling apart and declining situation, He Jian, a Hunan warlord trapped in Hengyang, was forced to announce his resignation and resignation, and then his family moved to Hong Kong as a public residence. Chiang Kai-shek thus won the victory of the "War of the Two Lakes", extending the Shili range from Hubei to Hunan, and its collapse and decline were slightly reversed, but it fell into the faint encirclement of the Red Army of Guizhou, the Red Army of Sichuan and Shaanxi, the Red Army of Dabie Mountain, and the Red Army of Jiangxi.

On 20 March, Dezhou fell, and the Japanese army in North China invaded the hinterland of Shandong on a large scale -- because of the attitude of the Shandong warlord Han Fuqu, the lack of resolute will to resist, and the traitors of the Nanjing Nationalist Government who were doing everything possible to make trouble, the Shandong army on the north bank of the Yellow River almost collapsed without a fight. The 1st Division of the Japanese Army, which had just landed in northern Jiangsu, immediately attacked north from Lianyungang, forming a two-sided attack with the Japanese army in North China, and the situation in Shandong was precarious.

On 23 March, Zhang Xueliang, who was sitting in Xiangyang, rejected the threats and inducements of the Japanese envoys, and also rejected Chiang Kai-shek's proposal to invite him to serve as "vice chairman of the Military Commission of the Wuhan Nationalist Government." He turned to the active activities of the secret envoys of the Shanghai Soviet Government. Troops were assembled in Nanyang to prepare for battle, and at the same time the "Declaration of Joint Resistance Against Japan" was publicly issued. In the proclamation, it declared: "...... The Chinese nation has reached the moment of zuihou! Now there is no distinction between north and south, no distinction between the old and the young, no matter who they are, they all have the responsibility of defending the land and resisting the war, and they should all have the determination to sacrifice everything! After seizing the commanding heights of the anti-Japanese righteousness, Zhang Xueliang also called on all parties to form the "Central Plains Anti-Japanese Allied Army". In Henan, the birthplace of Chinese civilization, a decisive battle against the Japanese invaders was immediately met with a positive response from the Red Army under Xu Xiangqian in Yanghucheng in Shaanxi, Yanxishan in Shanxi, and Dabie Mountain.

The two Nationalist governments in Wuhan and Nanjing were furious. On the same day, a dismissal order was issued against Zhang Xueliang.

On March 24, the Jinan mutiny, and the pro-Japanese traitors and spies jointly attacked Han Fuqu's apartment and shot him to death. Forthwith. Shandong gentry established a maintenance association. Invite the Imperial Japanese Army to be stationed in Jinan, the provincial capital, to preside over the affairs of Shandong -- Shandong has thus fallen into the hands of the Japanese invaders!

On March 25, the vanguard of the Japanese army entered Jinan, and the Japanese newspapers once again published the good news -- "Jinan Bloodless Kaicheng"!

On March 26, after the change of ownership in Shandong, the United States and Britain, feeling deeply decided, were furious for a while when they saw that the Japanese Shili in China had been connected from the Heilongjiang River to the Yangtze River, but they still refused to make an effort to launch an attack on the Bolsheviks entrenched in Shanghai. An ultimatum was issued to Japan, instructing it to "not disappoint the expectations of its friends." as soon as possible to commit military liliang to the intended target", otherwise, "Japan will have to bear the responsibility of reneging on the alliance and will suffer unpredictable consequences." However, the Japanese side still went its own way, and once again mobilized two divisions into the North China battlefield.

On March 27, the vanguard of the Japanese army crossed the Yellow River and occupied Kaifeng, and the defenders surrendered without a fight.

On March 28, Sun Tongxuan led a part of the Shandong army, which refused to surrender to the Japanese, to retreat westward and join forces with Zhang Xueliang. The battle of the Central Plains is about to break out.

On the same day, in view of the fact that the Japanese army "refused to change its ways," the combined fleet of Britain, France, and the United States ended its attack on the east coast of China, turned around and went to the Japanese Sasebo Military Port, where it demanded fuel and supplies from the Japanese side in accordance with the provisions of the "Manila Convention," and at the same time staged an armed demonstration against the Japanese side.

On 1 April, reinforcements mobilized by the United States from all over the west coast arrived one after another along the eastern coast of Zhejiang......

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Under the blue sky, the turbid waves crashed against the ship's freeboard, splashing and turning into a white foam, and finally slowly falling back.

Colonel Whitney, with the neighing of seagulls and whining whistles, swirled with a hunting Star-Spangled Banner on the mast in the sea breeze, and Colonel Whitney, with a corncob pipe in his mouth, stood leisurely under the mast, squinting at the hazy land at the end of the horizon.

There is a saying in the United States, "Merchants in the North, soldiers in the South", and this is true.

-- The southern states of the United States, enclosed by swamps, forests, muddy roads, and large private plantations, have always carried the image of barbarism, barbarism, and ignorance in the modern history of the United States. Compared to the shrewd northerners, the sturdy southerners were better at war.

During the civil war between the North and the South in the 19th century, although the Northern Army had absolute superiority in morality, economy, finance, personnel and logistics, the South still had the courage to take the initiative to provoke the war, and let the brutal war drag on for four whole years, and the Northern Army suffered heavy losses -- this great achievement was largely due to the famous commander of the Southern Army, Robert Brown. General Lee's superb command art, as well as the fierce bravery of hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the Southern Army.

So, even after losing the Civil War, the Americans in the southern states still believed that they were the bravest warriors in the Americas.

Colonel Whitney, from Georgia, was so confident that he led a regiment of southern boys across the vast Pacific Ocean to ancient China to "punish" the tyrannical Bolsheviks, and by the way to earn merit and medals for himself.

According to Colonel Whitney, this should be an unusually easy and pleasant task—those black, thin, and lewd Chinese with long braids and opium smokers were more than enough to deal with ten by themselves—and his men thought the same, and several of the cowboy soldiers also brought cow nooses to show off their skills in captives on the battlefield.

However, when Colonel Whitney and his boys from the southern states of the United States, who were seasick and dizzy, they finally set foot on Chinese soil in early April. The cruel reality gave him a blow in the face.

-- On the eve of the Qingming Festival, the land of eastern Zhejiang is the perfect season for the spring breeze to blow and the greenery to germinate. The eastern Zhejiang region, which is surrounded by mountains and seas, has always had beautiful scenery with beautiful mountains and rivers. But under the ravages of war and gunsmoke. Ningbo's Beilun port area has become a huge garbage dump.

From the deck of the merchant ship "Llama", in which Colonel Whitney was aboard, I looked ashore and saw a devastated land across a turbid yellow water: old temples in ruins, bomb breaks and craters, craters on the beach, charred houses and trees. There are also countless military materiel that has been smashed and discarded. Scrapped cars and trucks, cannons with missing wheels, and charred crates stand in the way whenever the tide goes out. Parts of weapons and machinery, as well as mutilated corpses, can be found on the beach. On the blackened side of the trestle, several shipwrecks were crooked in the sand, revealing the bow and bottom of the ship overgrown with shells and algae. It's extremely miserable.

“…… You really shouldn't be in China at this time. Captain! There is no victory and glory here, only death and despair. ”

Colonel Foster, Colonel Foster, a former former subordinate and now the supreme commander of the US forces on the Ningbo front, stood on the pier of Beilun Harbor to greet the reinforcements, and unabashedly said the above discouraged words that shook the morale of the army - after a month of hard fighting in Chinese mainland, Lieutenant Colonel Foster looked so powerful that Colonel Whitney was almost unrecognizable. His hair was unkempt. The beard was long, dark and thin. The crumpled uniform was covered with mud, his knees and elbows were torn, and his eyes were covered with red silk, like Robinson on a desert island.

“…… Don't say that, dear old Foster, take your spirits, you look terrible! Colonel Whitney frowned, "...... Don't be depressed any longer, reinforcements have arrived, and we're going to beat these damned Bolsheviks out of their bodies in no time! ”

“…… The problem is that our souls have long been beaten out of the body. And in less than a week, you will be like me, sir, and in this haunting place, the living will become ghosts. Lieutenant Colonel Foster muttered, "...... If your troops can hold out on to the mainland for a week without being driven out to sea by those red-brained bastards in that week......"

“…… Driven overboard? I seem to have heard something incredible...... "Colonel Whitney's eyes widened in disbelief," ...... When I set out from Manila, the newspapers were full of your victories! ”

“…… That's because of the lag in information, sir. Lieutenant Colonel Foster replied with a wry smile, "...... Indeed, we had landed on the beach of Ningbo under the cover of battleship fire, and then launched a counterattack with the local Chinese government army, advancing 150 kilometers along the railway line and crushing a regiment of the Bolsheviks...... But the problem is that then, after we got carried away and continued inland, we unfortunately ran into an iron plate, and after a fierce battle, the whole army was broken up, and we were beaten back to the starting point.

After this crushing defeat, the strength of the four regiments we landed with, 3,000 American boys, and 2,000 native Filipino infantry, now add up to less than 500 men. The planes on the two aircraft carriers, the USS Saratoga and the USS Lexington, have also been almost exhausted, and now they are all supported by army planes transferred from the Philippines. But the forward positions are still subjected to strafing and bombing by enemy planes every day......"

“…… Enemy? Although I heard the news on the ship, I still can't believe that these ignorant Chinese can also fly planes. Colonel Whitney pouted, "...... The United States has already put at least a hundred of its most powerful fighter jets here, but is it still impossible to seize air supremacy and destroy the battered planes that the Chinese Bolsheviks have drummed up out of nowhere? ”

“…… Broken planes? Big mistake, Colonel, our planes are more like rags than these planes of the Chinese rebels! ”

As he said this, Lieutenant Colonel Foster had guided Colonel Whitney to a barren rice paddy field, and pointed out to him the wreckage of a crashed Chinese plane—smashed, but clearly distinguishable, it was a streamlined monoplane with a gleaming silver aluminum skin, an all-metal skeleton, and an enclosed two-seater cockpit...... By contrast, the U.S. Navy and Army currently widely equipped and used the P12 Boeing biplane: a large kite that uses a wooden fuselage and canvas skin. It's too outdated.

This made Colonel Whitney visibly stunned for a moment: "...... All-metal monoplane...... I have to say that I was very surprised by this discovery. ”

“…… There are so many surprising things to do on this unbelievable battlefield! Sir. Lieutenant Colonel Foster said. While taking a captured AK47 from the guards and handing it over to Colonel Whitney, "...... Even the infantry firepower was completely suppressed by the Bolsheviks in China, who made extensive use of this advanced submachine gun, and released rockets like fireworks. The most terrifying thing is that they actually used poison gas warfare! A regiment of young men was all smoked out like this. Terrible death! ”

“…… There is still poison gas...... My God! I really doubt that this is China at all, and the opponent who is fighting with you is still not Chinese! Colonel Whitney exclaimed, holding his head, "...... In my impression. Chinese seem to be smoking opium in a fog, holding rifles that we have eliminated for decades, unkempt, sluggish, yellow-skinned, and sinister. Willing to deceive, infighting, and betrayal ......"

“…… Of course, there are many such Chinese. Lieutenant Colonel Foster smiled wryly and nodded. …… But it's all on our side......"

“…… Oh my God—" Colonel Whitney couldn't help but groan, feeling his head twitch for a while, "...... In the previous joint operations, these Chinese government forces must have caused us a lot of trouble, right? ”

“…… They can do more trouble than you can imagine, sir! "Speaking of which, Lieutenant Colonel Foster's tone can almost be described as sad and indignant." …… Just last week, General Yu Jishi, the supreme commander of the Zhejiang battlefield of the Chinese government army. Ordering without warning a total retreat of the front-line troops, leaving our supreme commander, Major General Rachel, and his two thousand men in an encirclement of 40,000 enemy troops - and then we heard from the Bolshevik radio station the confessions of the prisoners and the order to surrender from Major General Rachel himself......"

“…… How can this damn yellow-skinned monkey do that?! He doesn't know what he's doing?!! Colonel Whitney was furious, too.

“…… It's a pity that when we went to General Yu Jishi to protest afterwards, we found out that at least in this matter, we can't blame him at all, sir, although it is incredible, but in the final analysis, this tragedy is our own toss. Lieutenant Colonel Foster replied.

Colonel Whitney was confused by this answer, so he asked Lieutenant Colonel Foster to explain the whole thing as it was, and Zuihou reluctantly realized that to some extent, the tragedy was indeed self-inflicted by the Americans.

-- In the nearly one-month period from early March to early April, the evolution of the war situation in eastern Zhejiang was roughly as follows:

At the end of February, Mao Zetan's unit of the Jiangxi Red Army, which had received great assistance from Shanghai, launched a series of imposing attacks on the remnants of the Kuomintang entrenched in Ningbo, seizing Shangyu, Yuyao, Taizhou and other places one after another, and once attacking Chiang Kai-shek's hometown Fenghua County, Yu Jishi had to be trapped in Ningbo.

In early March, on the eve of the Red Army's general assault on Ningbo, an American army forced its landing and completely smashed the Red Army's offensive by relying on naval artillery bombardment and carrier-based aircraft bombardment. Then, in the Battle of Hemudu, Mao Zetan's efforts to maintain the front were dismantled. The Kuomintang troops, who had turned over, took the opportunity to counterattack with the assistance of various homecoming regiments, and once reached the outskirts of Shaoxing.

After receiving the bad news from the front, General Xun Huaizhou, who was stationed in Hangzhou, immediately sent troops eastward and engaged in a series of fierce battles with the Kuomintang army and the landed American army. In order to reverse the decline in the shortest possible time, the Red Army frantically used a large number of Soman poison gas bombs on the battlefield, fumigating about 20,000 American and Kuomintang troops in one fell swoop, thus completely crushing Yu Jishi's counteroffensive attempt. In the middle of this month, the two sides turned into a standoff on the Yuyao front.

Because the resistance in the eastern Zhejiang battlefield was far more fierce than expected, and the number of casualties was too high, the US minister stationed in Nanjing repeatedly urged the Wang Chingwei regime in Nanjing and the Japanese "South China Dispatch Army" to fulfill their international obligations and demanded that they take practical action as soon as possible to provide support for the US landing force that was fighting alone. After some difficult negotiations and negotiations, although the Japanese still refused to attack, they finally drew a division from the Kuomintang troops loyal to the Nationalist government in Nanjing, boarded ships from Nantong, Jiangsu, and prepared to support the Ningbo battlefield by sea.

But the problem is that these Kuomintang troops loyal to Wang Jingwei's government actually had hidden evil intentions, and after landing in Ningbo, they did not obey the order to go to the battlefield at all, but directly launched a surprise attack on Yu Jishi's headquarters, in an attempt to use force to seize power from Chiang Kai-shek's descendants!

Caught off guard, Yu Jishi was immediately besieged in his headquarters, and had to command a small number of guards to resist desperately while trying his best to contact the American army to mediate the conflict, and at the same time frantically called any front-line troops who could be contacted by radio, so that they could immediately leave the battle and turn around and return to Ningbo to rescue them...... After an indescribable scuffle and turmoil, this infighting was finally suppressed, but the entire front of the "Sino-American coalition" had also collapsed, and the remnants of the Kuomintang army in eastern Zhejiang had also fallen into a state of disintegration and destruction, and the Bolshevik sickle-hammer red flag was once again planted on the outskirts of Ningbo. (To be continued......)