Chapter 3: Anti-Japanese War, Mother's Death
Although after the fall of Wuhan, the various ministries of the National Government that were originally based in Wuhan had moved to Guiyang, due to the cramped urban layout, remote geographical location, and poor transportation conditions of Guiyang, Chiang Kai-shek himself did not immediately go to Guiyang to take up his post. His chairman's headquarters remained temporarily in Changsha.
Since Chiang had already seized all the power of the Kuomintang's party, government and military, his place was the real core of the National Government. Therefore, various senior officials had to travel between Hunan and Guizhou to listen to his instructions, thus wasting precious transportation capacity and time.
However, the situation today seems to be a little different. Several members of the Supreme National Defense Council who exercise the powers of the Central Political Committee came uninvited, which obviously indicates that something big is happening.
"President, the Northwest has become so reckless in its looting that we cannot tolerate it any longer."
The Minister of Military Affairs, He Yingqin, had flown in from Guiyang specially. He, who had once been known as the number one person after Chiang, spoke out directly despite the presence of party veterans around him.
"A serious response must be given to prevent more speculators from following suit."
He Yingqin's words made Dai Jitao, Chen Guofu, Zou Lu, Ye Chucang, Zhang Qun and others nod their heads frequently. Since the fall of Wuhan and Guangzhou, the Northwest has taken one action after another, advancing step by step.
If the division of Sichuan in the beginning and the establishment of East Sichuan and West Sichuan provinces, which arbitrarily took away several counties from the neighboring Hubei, Hunan and Guizhou provinces, was not a threat to the foundation of the National Government, then the subsequent private appointment of the chairmen of Hubei and Anhui provinces and the acceptance of Shang Zhen, Sun Lianzhong, Liu Heding and others all touched the nerves of various factions of the Kuomintang and the bottom line of the Chiang faction, which is why today's scene of various groups of people coming here to ask Chiang for an explanation has emerged.
"President, Minister He is absolutely right. We can't tolerate it any longer. We must fight back immediately."
Qian Dajun, director of the Aviation Committee, was particularly indignant. You know, Chiang was the towering tree he relied on. Now the Northwest wanted to join hands with the Japanese to cut down this tree. How could he not be angry? "I think we should first deprive Shang Zhen and Sun Lianzhong of their military ranks and unit numbers in the name of rebels, and then send troops north to Tongzi. I don't believe that the Northwest's divisions in eastern Sichuan can stop the central army."
Due to the identities of Qian Dajun and He Yingqin as Whampoa bosses, their words almost represented the unanimous opinion of all Whampoa soldiers of Chiang's faction when another Whampoa boss, Chen Cheng, remained silent.
However, their toughness aroused dissatisfaction from others.
"Director Qian's words are absolutely unacceptable."
Although Foreign Minister Wang Chonghui was also dissatisfied with the Northwest's small actions, he did not agree to break off relations with the Northwest now.
"When our country is invaded, it is the time to unite against foreign enemies. If we fight against our own people, how will the people of the country and our foreign friends view this?"
Chiang didn't hear the first half of the sentence at all, but when the international friends were mentioned, Chiang's brows twitched, which obviously touched his soft spot.
"Besides, the Japanese are still pressing forward step by step. Will they give us a chance to kill each other?"
"President, what Brother Liangchou said makes sense."
Sun Ke, the president of the Legislative Yuan, was the legitimate son of Sun Yat-sen. Although he had a long-term bad relationship with his stepmother, he was influenced by the left-wing Kuomintang such as Soong Ching Ling and He Xiangning, who advocated national unity to tide over the difficult times. Therefore, he, who had always been a vase, spoke up this time.
"Taking action against the Northwest will only make friends sad and enemies happy. The central government should not easily provoke a conflict and give people excuses to attack."
"I'm afraid that the Northwest has guessed that we have to consider domestic and international public opinion and dare not fight back openly, so we were so unscrupulous just now."
Tang Shengzhi, director of the Military Law Enforcement Department, sneered. He naturally still remembered the old score that Northwest had settled with him, so he tried his best to instigate a big clash between the two former enemies.
"I personally agree with what Minister He and Director Qian said. As the power of the central government is declining, we must use tough measures to deter those middle-of-the-road elements. Only in this way can we ensure the authority of the central government."
"At present, the central government can only control most of Hunan, Guizhou, and Jiangxi provinces, as well as southern Anhui, northern Jiangsu, western Zhejiang, and western Fujian. Financial and material resources have reached an extremely tight point. At this time, if we allow the financial resources of Hubei and Anhui provinces to flow to the northwest, I am afraid that the Ministry of Finance will not even be able to make a budget for the 28th year of the Republic of China."
Finance Minister Kong Xiangxi mainly explained the reasons for the need to counterattack the Northwest from a financial perspective.
"The Japanese army is advancing towards Yueyang and other places. In fact, it has cut off the communication between the central government and the troops north of the Yangtze River. At this time, it is not unreasonable to set up two provincial governments in the northwest for the sake of convenience of command."
Yu Youren, the president of the Examination Yuan, spoke on behalf of Ju Zheng and other party veterans who had been sidelined.
"I think Dai Jiliang has already considered the difficulties of the central government. Otherwise, wouldn't it be easy to use the power of the Northwest in Jiangsu, Xuzhou, Shandong and Anhui to expel Han Chuzhen (Han Deqin) and set up the Jiangsu Provincial Government?"
"Mr. Ran, have you taken some kind of drug from Dai Jiliang? Dai Jiliang cut off the connection between Jiangsu and Anhui, which means that Han Deqin's troops have become isolated. Dai Jiliang always likes to stabilize one place before plotting another. Therefore, not getting involved in Jiangsu is just like boiling a frog in warm water. How can this be considered for the central government?"
Lu Zhonglin, deputy director of the Military Training Department, sneered. Since Song Zheyuan was dismissed, part of Song's troops had planned to return to their old superior Feng Yuxiang. With this confidence, the generals who defected have been very active recently. However, Sun Lianzhong's troops would rather surrender to the Northwest than to Feng, which shattered Feng Yuxiang's fantasy again. Therefore, with new and old grudges added up, Lu Zhonglin naturally would not say anything good about the Northwest.
“Now we have internal and external troubles.”
After listening to the people below for a long time, Jiang finally spoke.
"The actions in the northwest have certainly undermined the government's authority, but the Japanese are the primary threat after all."
Jiang's words made half of the people breathe a sigh of relief, but made the other half frown even more.
"Therefore, let's not even talk about going to war. Of course, the central government must have its own means of counterattack. The central government will never recognize the two provincial governments set up in the northwest."
Everyone was dumbfounded, but Jiang continued speaking according to his own thoughts.
“The existing provincial governments of the two provinces must firmly control the political power of the counties that have not yet fallen, expel the personnel sent by the Northwest, and should not be afraid of causing conflicts. If necessary, they can arrest and detain Northwest personnel to ensure that not a single grain of rice falls into the hands of the Northwest.”
After hearing this
"Of course, this question is secondary."
However, Chiang Kai-shek did not want to completely lose face , so he changed the subject.
"There are two fundamental problems now: first, to win international aid, and second, to defend Hunan. These two problems are actually one and the same. Without a military advantage, it is useless to speak up anywhere."
Having said this, Chiang Kai-shek waved his hand.
"You all go back first, and gather here with me. Will the war of resistance be won?"
Everyone retreated in embarrassment, and only the Minister of Political Affairs Chen Cheng, who had not spoken before, was kept by the guards. However, Chiang did not meet him immediately, but instead summoned the head of the Military Control Commission, Dai Li.
"Principal, Guangxi has already made a resolution to continue to support the principal in his fight against the Japanese invasion."
Dai Li's words made Chiang Kai-shek, who was pretending to be calm, look relieved. However, Chiang, who usually did not like to show his expression, quickly restrained his expression. Dai Li, who secretly saw this scene, did not dare to show any surprise, so he continued to report calmly.
"But Long Yun is still preparing to strike a balance between the central and northwest regions."
“Yunnan’s problems must be resolved as soon as possible.”
Chiang Kai-shek walked a few steps in the room and then gave instructions to Dai Li.
"There is not a penny of silver in the land. Guizhou alone cannot support hundreds of thousands of central troops. Therefore, you must immediately do a good job of working with the local forces in central Yunnan and ensure that the central troops are not blocked from entering Yunnan."
Chiang Kai-shek couldn't afford to offend the Northwest so he could only look for weak targets, but he couldn't attack the Guangxi clique on which he was relying, so he could only target Yunnan where the main force was located outside.
"This is a matter of life and death for the party and the country. You will personally supervise it."
Dai Li understood and nodded in agreement. Just as he was about to leave, he was stopped by Chiang again.
"How much do you know about Vice President Wang's situation?"
Dai Li was about to answer, but he didn't expect that Chiang didn't want to hear anything specific.
"You should also keep a close eye on Vice President Wang's actions. These people are more likely to cause trouble than to help. Don't let their so-called peaceful movement become a handle for the outside world to attack the government."
“The students understand what to do.”
Dai Li immediately made a solemn promise, and when he finally retreated to the door, he found that he was actually covered in cold sweat.
"Ci Xiu."
Only then did Chiang Kai-shek let Chen Cheng, who was waiting outside, in.
"You need to pay attention to communication with the Communist Party. The current situation is difficult. I hope that both sides can continue to maintain the spirit of cooperation during the Northern Expedition and jointly deal with all invaders, traitors and warlord forces."
Chen Cheng understood immediately after hearing this. Chiang was actually not willing to accept the pressure from the northwest, so when he couldn't get any benefit openly, he hoped to kill someone with a borrowed knife. So he nodded seriously.
"I understand what the president means. I will talk to Deputy Minister Zhou as soon as I get back. The New 4th Army should not stay in the unoccupied areas of southern Anhui and western Zhejiang. They should be required to actively develop behind enemy lines, to northern Anhui, northern Jiangsu, Jiangsu, Xuzhou and Shandong."
"Your Excellency, an urgent telegram from Gaoyou ."
Just as the various KMT factions in Changsha were racking their brains to come up with follow-up measures for the Northwest, Dai Jiliang received the report he least wanted to hear.
"The old lady just passed away last night."
Dai Jiliang snatched the telegram and read it quickly. The telegram was very long and the content was very detailed, and the cause and effect were explained clearly.
It turned out that the lower-level officers and soldiers of the Japanese army were extremely frustrated about the repeated setbacks suffered by the North China Front Army and the Third Division at the hands of the Northwest Army, and hoped to boost the restive morale of the army by destroying Dai Jiliang's hometown.
Therefore, part of the First Division stationed in Yangzhou ignored the private agreement between the Japanese intelligence department and the Northwest, and drove several infantry companies to attack the Gaoyou line.
Fortunately, not long after the Japanese troops set out, the Yangzhou Station of the Liaison Office passed the news back to Gaoyou. Dai Botang, the eldest brother who was left alone in his hometown to take care of his elderly mother, personally arranged for the old lady to board a boat and send her to the west of Gaoyou Lake to hide.
However, although the Japanese army did not harm the Dai family, the old man who had been bedridden for a long time lost his last bit of strength due to the bumpy journey while hiding from place to place. He eventually did not survive and passed away shortly after returning to the Dai family's old house which was burned down by the Japanese army.
"Someone come!"
Dai Jiliang dropped the telegram in his hand, rubbed his brows tiredly, exhaled deeply and gave the order.
"Prepare the car, take me back, and inform the Madam and the Second Master."
Song Cheng hurriedly grabbed the military coat and put it on Dai Jiliang. Dai Jiliang silently let Song Cheng manipulate him until he got into the car like a puppet, and then he came to his senses.
"Ze Gang, tell Chief of Staff Zhang, Deputy Chief of Staff Xu, and Chairman E that they have worked hard today and tomorrow. I will be here to take over on time the day after tomorrow."
