In the city of Beiping, Song Zheyuan was holding a military meeting. Suddenly, a bloodied officer broke down the door. Song Zheyuan opened his mouth and asked, "How is the battle ahead?" ”

The officer cried and said, "Throne! The front-line soldiers suffered heavy casualties! Deputy Army Commander Tong and Division Commander Zhao were both killed! Nanyuan is also lost! ”

"What?" Song Zheyuan was shocked, stood up suddenly, and then slammed his fist on the table and gritted his teeth and said, "The little devil cut off my hands and feet!" This enmity is not shared! ”

At this time, the generals of the 29th Army realized that Beiping could no longer be defended, so they decided to retreat, but Song Zheyuan proposed that one person should be left in Beiping to deal with Yue himself. Song Zheyuan asked loudly, "Who wants to stay?" ”

The congregation generals were silent, Song Zheyuan glanced at everyone, saw that no one answered, sighed and said, "Our Northwest Army was built by Mr. Feng with his life's painstaking efforts, and now the battle line is too long, and it is easy to be broken by each of them!" Speaking of this, Song Zheyuan turned his head to look at Zhang Zizhong, the commander of the 38th Division, and then said, "Xun Chen! It's better for you to stay! Seeing that Zhang Zizhong didn't speak, Song Zheyuan continued, "Our 29th Army has always had orders, and you usually keep persuading me, why are you at this important juncture today!" ”

"Throne!" Without waiting for Song Zheyuan to finish speaking, Zhang Zizhong stood up and said loudly, "Soldiers take obedience to orders as their duty, in order to get our 29th Army out of danger, I will jump into this fire pit!" ”

"Xun Chen!" Song Zheyuan said gratefully.

At this time, Zhang Zizhong hurriedly said, "But I will only stay for seven days!" Zhang Zizhong actually didn't want to stay, after the Lugou Bridge Incident, Zhang Zizhong was responsible for negotiating with himself, which has already made Zhang Zizhong infamy. Zhang Zizhong's attitude of striving to resolve the incident on the spot has caused the public opinion circles to misunderstand him very deeply. In the eyes of ordinary people, Zhang Zizhong is undoubtedly a representative of the "Lord and Faction", and he is only one step away from Han Annihilation. The saying that "the 37th Division fights, and the 38th Division watches" was widely circulated in the Pingjin public opinion circles and even among the 29th Army, and the dissatisfaction with Zhang Zizhong was evident in the words. And this time Zhang Zizhong stayed again to deal with himself, and he must have confirmed his name of traitor to the Han Dynasty, so Zhang Zizhong was not willing to stay, but the military order was like a mountain, and Zhang Zizhong had to stay. "Who is the national hero and who is the bastard of the Han Dynasty, let's see the facts in the future!" Zhang Zizhong lamented in his heart.

"Good! Just stay for seven days! Song Zheyuan was overjoyed, "As long as you can hold off the little devil for seven days, I will be able to gather the troops and change the situation of the battle in one fell swoop!" In order to stall for time, you can announce your appointment every day in Peking! Speaking of this, Song Zheyuan turned his head and said solemnly to everyone, "It's decided, tonight the whole army will withdraw from Beiping and assemble in Baoding!" ”

"Yes!"

On the evening of the 28th, the 29th Army withdrew from Beiping overnight, and the next day, Beiping was declared lost.

In the early morning of the 29th, the troops of the 38th Division of the 29th Army stationed in Tianjin took the initiative to launch an attack on the Tianjin Army, captured the garrison of the Tianjin Main Station, and launched an attack on the headquarters of the Army stationed in Haiguangsi and the Dongjuzi airfield. At first, it was relatively smooth, and then under the counterattack of the Japanese army aircraft and artillery fire, it began to retreat at 15 o'clock, and then Tianjin fell.

Zhang Zizhong stayed in Beiping to deal with himself, and successively announced his appointment as mayor of Beiping City, acting chairman of the Jicha Political Affairs Committee, and director of the Jicha Pacification Office. In order to buy time for the 29th Army, Zhang Zizhong had to make a false deal with himself. This also further deepened the people's misunderstanding of Zhang Zizhong, as Zhang Zizhong expected, he was soon branded as a traitor and drowned in the saliva of the people of the whole country.

In the face of the scolding of the people of the whole country, even Zhang Zizhong could not be indifferent. Zhang Zizhong is thinking about how to get out of the tiger's mouth all the time, return to the army as soon as possible, and justify his shame on the battlefield in the future. Seven days later, Zhang Zizhong tried to escape from Beiping, but ultimately failed.

On August 6, Zhang Zizhong and his adjutant Liao Baozhen and Zhou Baoheng hid in the German Hospital in Dongjiaomin Lane; At the same time, a statement was issued through the "Peking Morning Post" and other media, announcing his resignation from all acting positions.

On the 8th, the army held a large-scale ceremony to enter the city. 5,000 soldiers were loaded with guns and live ammunition, and they drove into the city from Yongding Gate through the front gate. The ancient capital of Beiping, in the dreary dead air of summer, was officially occupied by the army.

Zhang Zizhong, who had fallen into Pingyang, hoped even more urgently to get out of the tiger's mouth as soon as possible and return to the army to participate in the War of Resistance. On the one hand, Zhang Zizhong sent Adjutant Liao to Tianjin secretly to discuss with Zhao Ziqing on the plan to get out of danger, and on the other hand, he sent Adjutant Zhou to the south to understand the situation of the troops.

Just when Zhang Zizhong was anxiously waiting for news, a person took the initiative to find Zhang Zizhong. At this time, although ordinary people mistakenly thought that Zhang Zizhong was a traitor to the Han Dynasty, Jin Zhao from later generations knew that Zhang Zizhong had words of suffering. Not only is he not a traitor, but he will later become a national hero admired by the world! Jin Zhao still knows very well about the [***] supreme general who died in the Anti-Japanese War. Jin Zhao also knew something about the history of Zhang Zizhong trapped in the isolated city of Beiping, so as early as after the Lugou Bridge Incident, Jin Zhao ordered the intelligence officers in Beiping to pay close attention to Zhang Zizhong's whereabouts.

Yes, as early as then, Jin Zhao had already begun to plan to help Zhang Zizhong get out of the tiger's mouth, and the tiger general of the Northwest Army had already broken free from the shackles of the cage and returned to the battlefield of the Anti-Japanese War to kill the enemy and make meritorious contributions! Of course, Jin Zhao also has selfish intentions, Jin Zhao wants to take this opportunity to pull Zhang Zizhong into his camp, even if he can't win Zhang Zizhong over, it will be beneficial to take the opportunity to sell him a favor in the future.

"Who are you?" For this mysterious figure who suddenly appeared in front of him, Zhang Zizhong was still full of vigilance.

"Chadong Li Long is my commander!" The mysterious man whispered, "Our commander once gave the general an American-made pistol as a greeting gift, I don't know if the general still remembers!" After the Rehe Anti-Japanese War, Li Long insisted on the Anti-Japanese War in Chadong, and Zhang Zizhong once served as the chairman of Chahar Province, and the two had met, although the two had only met once, but they admired each other. After that, Jin Zhao's weapons and equipment to support Chadong, and even the soldiers, also rushed to Chadong through Zhang Zizhong's defense area, so the friendship between the two was not shallow. Therefore, Jin Zhao used the name of Li Long this time to win Zhang Zizhong's trust.

"It turned out to be Brother Li's people!" Zhang Zizhong's doubts were lost, because Zhang Zizhong and Li Long met in secret, and the only people who knew about it were a few cronies and subordinates around the two of them.

Seeing that Zhang Zizhong believed him, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, "If the general wants to get out of the tiger's mouth as soon as possible, I am willing to help the general!" ”

"Do you have a way to get me out of Beiping?" Zhang Zizhong asked in surprise.

"If the general can trust us, we will pick up the general out of the city early tomorrow morning!" The mystery man continued.

Zhang Zizhong thought about it, anyway, he had no way to leave Beiping for the time being, and Li Long was also a trustworthy person, so he might as well give it a try, so he nodded and said, "If you can save Zhang from trouble, there will be a retribution!" ”

"The general's words are serious, so we will arrange it immediately, and pick up the general out of the city early tomorrow morning!" After the mystery man finished speaking, he hurried away. (To be continued.) )