Volume 2 King of the Northwest Chapter 57 Falling out
"Report!"
Shen Qianxuan knocked on the door and walked in.
"Marshal, this is the telegram sent by Brigade Commander He to Xinyang."
Since the power of radio stations was not high at that time, the New Third Brigade did not bring this burden when it set out. Therefore, the New Third Brigade had to go to a large city with a telegraph office to report the situation to Xi'an.
"Read it!"
Dai Jiliang rubbed his eyebrows tiredly.
The New Third Brigade was slow in their march and training at the same time, but even so there were still a lot of deserters.
When Shi Zhi received the call from Xuchang last time, more than 200 people had already escaped, and they had taken away nearly 80 rifles. This result disappointed the Shaanxi Army, and they all felt that this march south was a big mistake.
In addition, on May 16, the Duan government forcibly signed the "Sino-Japanese Army Joint Defense Military Agreement" despite unanimous opposition from the whole country. On May 20, Sun Yat-sen went north sadly after the Yunnan and Guangxi warlords in the south reorganized the Protection of the Constitution Military Government. Everyone believed that the war was coming to an end, so for a while many people suggested to Dai Jiliang to withdraw this so-called aid to Hunan Army.
"I heard that Xiao Xu has visited Hengyang a few days ago. The two sides had a very pleasant conversation. There are rumors that he will replace Cao. There may be a big change in the south. How should my brigade deal with it? I hope the general will make a quick decision."
Shen Qianxuan read out every word, and it was obvious that the two major factions of Zhi and Anhui were showing a tendency to merge.
"You go down first, and ask Zhang Xuelian to invite Secretary Wang over."
Dai Jiliang obviously took this news very seriously. Xiao Xu and Wu Ziyu were both high-minded people. If the two of them were in collusion, this matter could even affect the entire political direction of China. Dai Jiliang would of course seriously ask his senior advisor about it.
"Zhixiang, you worry too much."
Wang Danping came over quickly, took the telegram, read it, and burst out laughing.
"This matter has caused such a stir that even He Guangfu said that there must be discord. I think that not only will the Zhi and Anhui factions not merge, but the possibility of a falling out is even greater."
"Yes, that's right, my brother-in-law is right."
Dai Jiliang suddenly realized that even He Guangfu, who was across the river, knew about this matter, and it must have reached Cao Kun's ears.
Even though Cao Kun was not good at fighting, he was not a leader of the Zhili clique and could not climb to this position by eating for free. Now Hunan and Beijing are going to be in trouble.
"Let's just watch the show."
Dai Jiliang slapped his thigh.
"Zhang Xuelian took note and telegraphed Brigade Commander He to enter Hubei via the established route. Director Chu will be waiting for them in Hankou. Also, he was asked to recruit soldiers along the way to make up for the losses."
Wang Danping's judgment was correct. Although Xu Shuzheng was very good at politics, his efforts were in vain this time.
He had a very good conversation with Wu in Hengyang, and agreed to subsidize Wu with a certain amount of military expenses, as well as to release Wu to the title of General Fuwei in exchange for Wu Peifu's complete obedience.
However, the news was not kept secret and soon spread among the troops.
As a result, Cao Kun soon found out about it and became furious, thinking that Xu Shuzheng had bribed his subordinates, and immediately raised serious questions.
Wu Peifu thought that Xu Shuzheng had leaked the information deliberately in order to make Cao disgrace Wu and make himself lose face, so he immediately turned against him.
This falling out did not matter much. From then on, Cao Kun became tired of war and asked to return to Zhili to recuperate.
On May 29, without waiting for Duan Qirui's consent, he left Hankou and took away the entire headquarters of the First Route.
After Cao Kun left, another general, Zhang Huaizhai, was afraid that his old nest would be lost, so he led his confidants back to Shandong on the 30th. For a time, the calls for peace talks between the North and the South prevailed.
Duan Qirui was naturally not unwilling, but the contradictions within the Beiyang faction had become extremely complicated.
In the past, Duan Qirui's Anhui clique advocated war, while Feng Guozhang's Zhili clique advocated peace. Cao's joining the pro-war faction as a general of the Zhili clique was the main reason why Duan was able to win the dispute between Feng and Duan.
Now, just when the favorable situation of the Civil War fell into the hands of the Northern Army, suddenly all the former pro-war factions turned to pro-peace factions, which was indeed a huge change.
As the pro-peace forces grew stronger, war-weariness spread like an epidemic throughout the entire pro-war camp. Even the extremely pro-war Ni Sicong did not want his Anwu Army to bear the brunt of the attack alone, so he requested Beijing to transfer his troops back to rest.
At this time, Dai Jiliang's new Third Brigade arrived in Hankou, which to some extent was like a shot of stimulant to Duan Qirui.
"Marshal, there is an urgent message from the Central Government!"
When Shen Qianxuan said this, his face was extremely excited, and it was obvious that there was something wrong with the content of the telegram.
"The General's Office promoted the Marshal to Army General, and conferred three medals, the Second Class Baoguang Jiazhang."
There are no less than dozens of army generals in China, but only a few of them can be confirmed as army generals by the central government. In addition, the titles of Third Class Medal and Second Class Da Baoguang Jiazhang are not easily awarded. It is no wonder that Shen Qianxuan was so excited.
"It's just a piece of empty paper!"
Dai Jiliang disagreed.
In his opinion, no matter how many blank checks he wrote, it would not increase the power in his hands. With the power, he would be the King of Shaanxi even without these empty words.
"Chief Shen, you can just give Beijing some random reply, flatter the Prime Minister and show your loyalty. Now that Prime Minister Duan is getting worse and worse, he has resorted to such a shabby trick . It's really meaningless."
Dai Jiliang shook his head. Ever since the signing of the Sino-Japanese Joint Defense Agreement, his relationship with the Anhui clique had become increasingly at odds with his heart. However, if he wanted to wrestle with the Anhui clique, Dai Jiliang still had to find a suitable opportunity.
But this excuse soon came to the fore.
On June 14, 1988, Xu Shuzheng suddenly shot Lu Jianzhang in Tianjin.
Lu Jianzhang arrived in Tianjin from Shanghai on June 13. He was a behind-the-scenes activist of the peace faction and had some direct and indirect relations with the Beiyang warlords in various provinces.
Feng Yuxiang's advocacy of peace was related to him. The Anhui clique had long regarded him as a dangerous person.
This time the Warlords' Corps held another meeting in Tianjin. This meeting had a tendency that was unfavorable to the peace faction. Therefore, Feng Guozhang secretly instructed Lu Jianzhang's eldest son Lu Chengwu to call his father to Tianjin. His purpose was to use Lu Jianzhang to persuade Cao to return to the Zhili clique and cooperate with Li Chun to turn the Warlords' Corps meeting into a situation that was favorable to Feng and unfavorable to Duan.
After Lu Jianzhang arrived in Tianjin, Xu Shuzheng wrote to him and invited him to the Fengtian Army Headquarters in Tianjin for a talk. Lu Jianzhang thought that he was a general and a senior of the Beiyang faction. Xu Shuzheng and his son Lu Chengwu were classmates at Lu's school.
Lu Chengwu's wife and Xu Shuzheng's wife were also classmates, and the two families had a close relationship. Lu Chengwu had no doubt that Xu Shuzheng would do what he did, so he went as agreed.
Xu Shuzheng kindly invited him to the secret room in the garden for a talk. When he entered the garden, a guard shot him dead from behind.
"Very good!"
Dai Jiliang was ecstatic when he received the news.
As soon as Lu Jianzhang died, his original relationship with the Shaanxi Army was completely severed, which means that Dai Jiliang officially became the only spiritual leader of the Shaanxi Army.
Not only that, he can also use this excuse to fire at Xiao Xu and Lao Duan.
"Immediately convene all senior officers of the Shaanxi Army to offer sacrifices to General Lu. In addition, send a telegram to Beijing in the name of the entire Shaanxi Army, demanding that the murderer be severely punished and that the military honors and medals that were taken away be returned. Also ask Beijing, Lu Jianzhang was killed without trial, and his official honors were taken away after his death. From now on, all officers in the north are in danger . How can they get protection?"
With Dai Jiliang's involvement, the matter became a big deal.
It turned out that Old Duan gave 5,000 yuan to Lu Jianzhang's family to show their old friendship as Beiyang comrades. He also took into consideration that Feng Yuxiang was Lu's nephew. Therefore, on the grounds that Feng's brigade captured Changde on the 14th, he appointed him as the garrison commander of western Hunan. On the 17th, he was restored to his original position. On the 20th, he was awarded four medals to reassure him.
Feng Yuxiang swallowed his anger and volunteered to be transferred to Fujian to fight Guangdong.
Feng Guozhang also used illness as an excuse to avoid seeing guests, Cao Kun was dazzled by the vice-presidential position promised by Xu, and the entire Zhili clique was in decline, so the matter was left unresolved.
But Dai Jiliang, a huge rock from within the Anhui clique, suddenly fell down, and things immediately became complicated.
"What does Dai Zhixiang mean?"
In Tieshishi Hutong in Beijing, Xu Shuzheng was furious.
In the past two days, telegrams from military commanders, division commanders and brigade commanders from all over the country have been pouring in. It is a common practice to spare the lives of generals, but once an exception is made, there will always be people who feel grief-stricken.
I didn't say anything before because the victims didn't speak up. Now that different opinions have been expressed within the Anhui clique, why not just back off?
"In order to win over the hearts of the Shaanxi army, he actually put me on the spot. What's even more infuriating is that he actually supported a peace advocate who disrupted the Prime Minister's important affairs. He deserves death!"
"Okay, Zheng again!"
Duan Qirui waved his hand.
"Dai Zhixiang is still one of us."
Dai Jiliang's New Third Brigade has already passed Wuchang and is now deployed as the Anhui faction's reserve detachment. Moving Dai Jiliang at this time would obviously make the situation even more chaotic.
"Youzheng, go to Xi'an and find a way to have a good talk with Zhixiang.
In addition, I heard that the Shaanxi Army’s equipment is very poor, so let Wang Zichun help his brigade to replace its equipment immediately.
Also, take a look around Shaanxi to see if there is anyone else who can be promoted, and have the General's Office handle it right away."
"Prime Minister, Dai Jiliang is so arrogant, and you still want to appease him? Shaanxi has been withholding central tax revenue for three consecutive years, and you still want to re-equip his troops?"
Xu Shuzheng's face was full of anger.
"We should issue an order to reprimand him."
"Dai Zhixiang's obedience is still good."
Duan Qirui shook his head. Dai Jiliang was not the only one who had these problems, such as disobeying the central government's dispatch and withholding taxes. The key point was that Duan Qirui did not have the power he could directly mobilize, so before the participating army was formed, he would not easily take action against any powerful faction.
"We have always supported the central government's policies."
Duan Qirui's implication was certainly not to blame Xu for causing such a big commotion, but that anything could be settled as long as there was enough interest.
"You are his senior in the Lu School, you should give him some advice."
"Okay, I'll go to Xi'an now."
Xu Shuzheng rolled his eyes, wondering what he was thinking about, and finally nodded.
"Marshal, telegram from Beijing: Xu Shuzheng will arrive in Shaanxi early next month."
Dai Jiliang soon got the relevant news.
"Then let him come."
Dai Jiliang smiled. He didn't expect that his trick would have such an effect, but Xu Shuzheng.
"Let Brigade Commander He make a speech in Wuhan in support of the Southern Expedition and shout out slogans louder. Since they are here to give gifts, we should at least give them some rewards."
