Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Crusade?reconciliation?Intense fighting within Nanjing
★Nanjing Nationalist Government: formed the "crusade faction" to replace Chiang and the "peaceful faction" to save Chiang from danger.One side advocated the rapid use of troops in Xi'an, and the other advocated meeting Zhang and Yang's demands to resist Japan and achieve a settlement through negotiation.The differences between the two parties have gradually evolved into a conflict of interests between the two major groups
★Local military and political forces: Nanjing authorities want to hold them back and put pressure on Xi'an; Zhang and Yang want to win more support from them to take the initiative in the negotiations; officials from all over the country also hope to win more benefits from the incident.Intricate interests make local power factions in conflict
★The central government of the Kuomintang has the advantages of political and economic resources in attracting local powerful factions, which Zhang and Yang cannot compare.This unfavorable factor existed from the very beginning. With the passage of time, the Nanjing authorities continued to intensify both soft and hard measures against local officials, and the Song sisters went to Xi'an for peace talks, which further strengthened the wait-and-see attitude of the local powerful factions. pull up
The earliest time news of the Xi'an Incident reached Nanjing was on the morning of the 12th, and Minister of Military and Political Affairs He Yingqin was the first person to hear the news.Recalling the scene later, he said:
I was in Nanjing, and I first got this news from the Road Bureau.First, at 9 a.m. on the 12th, the telecommunications in Xi'an were suddenly interrupted. At that time, it was not known what happened.Then there was information from the Road Bureau that there might have been a mutiny in Xi'an.Because at about 9:00 a.m. that day, an officer of the army went to the station master and said that the car should obey his command and not drive casually. From this, we learned that something unusual happened in Xi'an.However, at this time, the outside world did not know what happened in Xi'an. Given the difficulties in telecommunications and transportation at the time, I could only inquire about the situation while waiting for further understanding of the situation.It turned out that Huang Yongan, commander of the 6th Artillery Brigade of Zhang Xueliang's Northeast Army, and Ye Xiaoquan, commander of the 17th regiment, were stationed in Luoyang.Due to Luoyang's location, it is the east-west hub of Lintong, and it is also an important base of our air force. Therefore, at the beginning of the incident, at 12 o'clock in the morning, Zhang Xueliang urgently called Brigadier Huang, asking him to immediately hold the Central Bank of Luoyang and command the Northeast sergeants of the Luoyang Military Branch to teach Team leader Zhao Yunfei coordinated the attack on the Luoyang Military Branch School and the Aviation Branch School, and sealed off Luoyang Airport to prevent any planes from taking off.After receiving Zhang's telegram, Brigadier Huang understood the righteousness, not only did not act, but he immediately called on Zhu Shaozhou, the director of the Luoyang Military Branch School and the Luogong garrison commander, expressing his willingness to obey the Central Committee.
After Zhu Shaozhou received this report, in order to seize the opportunity to control the enemy, he immediately telegraphed Wan Yaohuang's army stationed in Chengyang (Wan Yaohuang himself had been detained in Xi'an at that time), returned to Xi'an, and ordered Fan Songfu's army stationed in Luoyang The Dong Zhao Division of the 28th Division immediately entered Tongguan to strangle Shaanxi Province.
After noon, I received Zhu Shaozhou's first telegram report. The original telegram said: "I will arrive immediately, and I will send it to Minister He and Director Zhu in Nanjing. Jian Jian: Secret. (1) An incident occurred in Xi'an, and the truth is unknown. (2) The committee It is not known whether it is located in Xi'an or Lintong. (3) The disposition is as follows: (a) Commander Wan has been notified, and he will return to Xi'an from Chengyang to cooperate with Fan Jun and wait for orders. (B) Fan Jun has been notified to return to Xi'an from Luoyang. Advance the main force to the west and cooperate with the Wanjun to obey orders. (C) All the planes fly to Xi'an for reconnaissance and disposal. (D) Please Jun Zuo Feiluo sits in the town. Zhu Zhu Shaozhou's report has been printed."
Later, according to the air force reconnaissance report: the city gate of Xi'an was closed, there were many troops in the city, and there were gunshots from time to time, trenches and fortifications were being built outside the city, there was frequent military movement on Lintong Road, and Jiang Gong was stationed at Huaqing Pool in Jiejie.But there was no one there.
Then, I received a telegram from Fan Songfu, the commander of the 46th Army stationed in Luoyang, who had already joined the secret service. In addition to reporting Zhang Xueliang's telegram to Huang Brigade Commander Huang of the 6th Artillery Brigade, he also said: "The telephone line in Xi'an has been cut off, and there may be accidents. Divided by 28 The division is concentrated in Tongguan, and in addition to guarding and reconnaissance to the west, they have just led the 237th Brigade of the 79th Division to continue to advance, and the main force of the 79th Division is still guarding Gongluo Road.
After He Yingqin learned of the above situation, he immediately telegraphed Kong Xiangxi, Vice President of the Executive Yuan and Minister of Finance who was in Shanghai.The telegram said: "It is reported that the 105th Division stationed in Xi'an mutinied at 9:00 this morning, and there were extremely dense gunshots between Lintong and Xi'an at 11:00. "He Yingqin also said in the telegram: "Whether the Hanqing heard about this matter is not known, but it is reported that the artillery Huang Yongan Brigade stationed in Luo once received a secret message from the Hanqing, ordering it to send troops to guard the Luoyang airport and the banks. Ruoguo It’s true, and it’s really worrying.”
After noon, the news that Chiang Kai-shek was detained in Xi'an was officially confirmed.Because the "power-on" between Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng has been spread to Nanjing.Later, Zhang Xueliang's telegram to Kong Xiangxi and Song Meiling also arrived in Nanjing.
Kong Xiangxi received He Yingqin's confidential telegram at 3:00 p.m.Not long after, Kong Xiangxi's mansion in Nanjing also reported Zhang Xueliang's call and its content by telephone.The telegram said:
Minister Kong Yongzhi my brother's Xun Jian: My brother's views on state affairs have been discussed, and I am sorry for my difficulties.I don't want to refer to the public to go against public opinion, go my own way, and spend the human and financial resources of the entire country in the civil war.My brother is in charge of finance, so he should be able to understand it.The Suidong War started, and the whole country was invigorated. Nai Jiegong came to the Northwest, and he didn't mention a single word about the Anti-Japanese War, but he destroyed the youth movement to save the country. My brother's speeches are repeated, and nothing is heard!Fu Si The Republic of China is not a country of one person, and it is absolutely impossible for one person to ruin the entire country in a place of eternal doom.My younger brother loves Jiegong for eight years like a day, and now he dare not harm the public for personal reasons. Please temporarily ask Jiegong to stay in Xi'an, urge him to reflect, and never do any harm.My brother is the most kind to my brother, so I should be able to forgive him for having nothing else, tell me about it, and beg for a clear explanation.All propositions here will be sent to Chen by "text" telegram.Zhang Xueliang knocked.Shock print.
People all over the country learned about the Xi'an Incident later, because a mutiny occurred in Xi'an, which delayed the news to the whole country.The traitor was Jiang Bin, the traffic director of the Northeast Army.After successfully detaining Jiang, Zhang and Yang handed over the telegrams they had prepared to all walks of life across the country to Jiang Bin to "send within a limited time." The situation of the incident.The next day, Han Fuju from Shandong discovered Jiang Bin's betrayal when he called his representative in Xi'an to inquire about the truth of the Xi'an Incident.He Yingqin took advantage of the late release of information from Xi'an to immediately strictly control the country's post and telecommunications system, and secretly blocked all news from Xi'an, making it impossible for the outside world to know the truth of the Xi'an Incident for a while, and the real motives of Zhang and Yang's mutiny were even less clear. known.However, He started the propaganda machine, fabricated rumors, confuse the public, and sent shocking news to the whole country and even the world, which caused Zhang and Yang to be politically passive.
Nevertheless, because Zhang and Yang took remedial measures in time to win the support of public opinion; because Chiang Kai-shek's perverse actions had aroused opposition from the people of the whole country, and because Chiang Kai-shek, who was in a special position, had been detained in Xi'an, all the dragons in Nanjing were leaderless for a while, and everything was in chaos. .The occurrence of the Xi'an Incident immediately triggered the reorganization of various political forces of the Kuomintang and fierce struggles to safeguard their respective interests.
★Nanjing Nationalist Government: Formed a "crusade faction" to replace Chiang and a "peaceful faction" to save Chiang from danger. One side advocated the rapid use of troops in Xi'an, and the other advocated meeting Zhang and Yang's anti-Japanese demands to achieve reconciliation through negotiation.The differences between the two parties have gradually evolved into a conflict of interests between the two major groups
Within the Kuomintang, there have always been parties within the party and factions within factions.During its 10 years in power, it has initially formed a ruling group headed by Chiang Kai-shek, Song Ziwen, Kong Xiangxi, and Chen Guofu.Internationally, they rely on the support of Britain and the United States, and are often called the Anglo-American faction.And Chiang Kai-shek became the most powerful faction in the Kuomintang. Apart from him, no other person can control the Kuomintang.
There is also a pro-Japanese faction in the Kuomintang, its leader is Wang Jingwei, and its important backbones are He Yingqin, Huang Yu, and well-known figures such as Yang Yongtai and Xiong Shihui from the so-called New Politics Department. They also have certain strength.In particular, Wang Jingwei, after the death of Hu Hanmin and before the start of the Anti-Japanese War, was the only figure in the Kuomintang who could contend with Chiang Kai-shek. In November 1935, after Wang Jingwei was assassinated at the Fifth National Congress of the Kuomintang, he resigned from the position of Premier and went to Germany to recuperate, thus weakening the power of the pro-Japanese faction in the government.
When the Xi’an Incident happened, Kong Xiangxi, Soong Meiling, and Soong Ziwen, the main figures of Chiang Kai-shek’s clique, were not in Nanjing. Kong Xiangxi and Soong Meiling were in Shanghai for medical treatment, and Soong Ziwen was on his way back from Hong Kong.Therefore, in the Nanjing Nationalist Government, He Yingqin, Minister of Military and Political Affairs, became the only person with real power.
He Yingqin's political rise cannot be separated from Chiang Kai-shek. When Chiang Kai-shek became the principal of the Whampoa Military Academy in 1924, He Yingqin was appointed as the chief instructor. Since then, he has formed a relationship with Chiang Kai-shek. At the beginning of 1925, Chen Jiongming rebelled in Dongjiang in an attempt to overthrow the revolutionary government of Guangdong. He Yingqin led the 1st Regiment to follow Chiang Kai-shek's right-hand army on a crusade.After the victory of the first Eastern Expedition, Chiang Kai-shek also served as the commander of the 1st Army. He Yingqin followed Chiang's promotion and became the commander of the 1st Division of the 1st Army. In 1926, Chiang Kai-shek left the 1st Army to be the principal of the Political School, which was in charge of the "Central Army", and nominated He Yingqin to succeed him as the commander of the 1st Army.
Chiang Kai-shek regarded He Yingqin as his direct descendant and confidant for a long time. During the Whampoa Military Academy period, when the Kuomintang and Communist Party ideologies and forces in the military academy were constantly fighting, He Yingqin stood by Chiang Kai-shek and became the backbone of the Kuomintang forces in the military academy.Chiang Kai-shek saw this clearly.To reward He Yingqin's loyalty, Chiang Kai-shek appointed He Yingqin concurrently as the dean of education of the military academy after the Zhongshan ship incident.In the "Second Northern Expedition" that followed, after Jiang was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army, he handed over the important task of the commander-in-chief of the 1st Route Army to He Yingqin; He was the commander-in-chief of the former enemy; the commander-in-chief of the 3rd Route Army was handed over to Li Zongren.This kind of arrangement, Chiang Kai-shek attaches great importance to He Zhi, which can be seen in his distrust of Bai Zhi.It was this kind of arrangement that led to Bai Chongxi's "forced palace" in the summer of 1927, and this was also an opportunity for Jiang and He to have a rift.
That was in June and July of 1927, when the Northern Expedition Army captured Xuzhou occupied by Sun Chuanfang and was preparing to attack Jinan.There was a "Ninghan Controversy" within the Kuomintang. Because Chiang Kai-shek launched the "April 12" Anti-Communist Incident and established a separate Nanjing National Government, the Ning-Han split occurred. The Wuhan National Government decided to conquer Chiang before it "divided the Communist Party". In the Wuhan Nationalist government's military action against Chiang, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the various armies under his control to return to the south and gather in Changting, while He Yingqin's 1st Army was transferred back to Nanjing.This order not only shelved the plan to conquer Jinan, but also gave the defeated warlords such as Sun Chuanfang a chance to counterattack.On July 25th, Sun Chuanfang and Zhang Zongchang jointly went south, not only recapturing Xuzhou, but also dividing their troops into two groups, attacking Bengbu and Suqian.Sun Chuanfang's troops continued to succeed, and all parts of southern Shandong and northern Jiangsu controlled by Chiang Kai-shek were lost.
Faced with a major military defeat, Chiang Kai-shek insisted on sending troops to attack Wuhan, and called a meeting of Bai Chongxi and He Yingqin to decide.Jiang said that the Northern Expedition could not be done without first establishing Wuhan.Bai objected, arguing that there should be a reconciliation with Wuhan.Chiang Kai-shek was very unhappy when he heard this, and said: "Well, I'll go away and let you go and make up." Bai Chongxi went on to say: "I think at this time, in order to unite the party and take into account the overall situation, it is good for the commander-in-chief to leave for a while. "
Chiang Kai-shek didn't really mean "leave". After Bai Chongxi agreed, he couldn't step down for a while, so he looked at He Yingqin, hoping to get some support, but He Yingqin didn't say a word.Chiang Kai-shek was extremely annoyed that He Yingqin did not stand up to support him, so he said: "Okay, okay, I'll go." He announced his resignation the next day.This was the beginning of Chiang Kai-shek's grudge against He Yingqin.
In January 1928, Chiang Kai-shek returned to Shanghai and was about to return to power. Yan Xishan and others sent support telegrams, but He Yingqin delayed sending the support telegrams because of seeking opinions from his subordinates, which once again aroused Chiang's dissatisfaction.
These two incidents made He Yingqin suddenly fall out of favor in Chiang Kai-shek's mind. On February 9, Chiang Kai-shek took He Yingqin's opportunity to go to Shanghai and suddenly visited Xuzhou to inspect the First Army.During this inspection, he told Li Zhonggong, then Deputy Minister of Communications:
Go and tell Jingzhi not to make a wrong decision; last time Bai Jiansheng forced me, if he said a word, why would I step down?He must know, and must know, that without me, Chiang Kai-shek, there would never be any Yingqin.He is afraid of Bai Chongxi, isn't he afraid of me, Jiang Zhongzheng?What's his intention in not sending out the support telegram this time?Now the Guangxi faction is making a big publicity to the north, saying that I can no longer control the Huangpu army, and only He Yingqin can control it.Did he do this deliberately to support the Guangxi faction, to destroy my platform, and to tell me what to say to the north.So, I will come to the front and try to see if I can master the Whampoa Army.
Li Zhonggong immediately explained why Yingqin said that not only did he have no dissent, but he did not dare to have dissent, and he tactfully said:
Jingzhi has followed you for many years, of course you know his personality, he is indeed loyal to you.However, due to talent mediocrity slow.For example: he is your two arms, every move should be under the direction of the mind, and he is indeed obeying your orders.But limited by his ability, you order him to move both arms at the same time, and to reach a certain distance in a certain direction within a certain period of time. He moves, but he only moves one arm or both arms move. In this case, he thinks he is obeying orders, but you can see that he does not obey orders, and even thinks that he is suspected of making abnormal movements, but he He is indeed loyal to you, and this is the root cause of Jingzhi's recent misbehavior and mistakes.
After this explanation, there was a smile on Chiang Kai-shek's ashen face. He said to Li Zhonggong: "Go back and tell him that because I have been away from the army for a long time, the military discipline of the 1st Army is gradually weakening. He can go to Shanghai to recuperate. When I get the troops in order, I'll ask him to come back and follow me in the Northern Expedition." Chiang Kai-shek also wrote a long letter of more than 20 pages, asking Li Zhonggong to forward it to He Yingqin. The responsibility entrusted to me by the Prime Minister is entrusted to you..." But before it was delivered to He Yingqin, Chiang Kai-shek suddenly took the letter away.
A few days later, Chiang Kai-shek called the Nanjing Nationalist Government from Xuzhou to say that He Yingqin's consent had been obtained to restructure the 1st Route Army into the 1st Group Army, with 3 columns under it, and Chiang himself as the commander-in-chief.
On February 22, according to Chiang Kai-shek's arrangement, He Yingqin became the Chief of Staff of the Northern Expedition Army Headquarters and lost his actual military power ever since.After the Northern Expedition, Xuan served as the director of the training directorate and the chairman of the "National Army Formation Committee Preparatory Committee". Since 1930, he has served as Minister of Military and Political Affairs.
He Yingqin's relationship with Chiang Kai-shek made him feel as if he was facing an abyss when working with Chiang Kai-shek.This time Chiang Kai-shek was detained in Xi'an, which aroused his desire to be the leader again.
In He Yingqin's mansion at Doujizha in Nanjing, he first invited Dai Jitao, president of the Examination Institute, Wu Zhihui, a member of the Central Political Council of the Kuomintang, and Xiong Bin, deputy director of the Military and Political Department, to discuss countermeasures.
Feng Yuxiang, vice chairman of the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government, was excluded from the invitees.It stands to reason that the chairman of the Military Commission was detained, and it was inappropriate for the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs to overstep the vice chairman.The Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs once suggested Feng Yuxiang whether he should be a prophet, but he was rejected by He "not necessary for the time being".Feng Yuxiang learned of the Xi'an Incident only when he received a phone call from Li Liejun, member of the KMT Central Political Committee and member of the Military Committee at 12 noon on the 12th.
Feng Yuxiang was not the only one who didn't know.At 2:00 p.m., Feng Yuxiang came to the residence of Sun Ke, President of the Legislative Yuan, and wanted to know more details.In the end, Sun Ke was still kept in the dark. When Feng Yuxiang said that Chiang Kai-shek was detained in Xi'an, he was so shocked that he couldn't keep his mouth shut for a long time.
Chief of the General Staff Cheng Qian and Director of the General Office of the Military Commission Zhu Peide knew about the Xi'an Incident, but they were also people who were excluded from the circle. They only heard that He Yingqin had held a meeting with others to study the situation, but they didn't know what they studied and couldn't find it anywhere. He Yingqin.
Feng Yuxiang was dissatisfied. He complained in public: "I, Xiehe (Li Liejun) and Zhesheng (Sun Ke) have nothing to do. I don't know why?"
Feng Yuxiang was not the only one who was dissatisfied with He Yingqin's approach.At 8 o'clock that night, at Feng Yuxiang's office, members of the Standing Committee of the Kuomintang Supervisory Committee Zhang Jihe Lu Zhonglin, Zhang Zhijiang, Shi Jingting and others got together to discuss how to deal with it, expressing their disgust for He Yingqin's secretive attitude.Zhang Ji made several phone calls before he found He Yingqin, asked him about the Xi'an Incident, and told Feng Yuxiang that he seemed angry.He Yingqin said impatiently on the phone: "I can't tell at the moment, I will send someone to come and present it immediately." After a while, Xiong Bin rushed to Feng Yuxiang's mansion under the order of He Yingqin, holding the power of Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng.Feng Yuxiang read the telegram and knew that Zhang and Yang's actions were intended to force Jiang to resist the Japanese, and the burden in his heart was relieved.
This still cannot dispel Feng Yuxiang's resentment towards He Yingqin for not reporting his secrets.He broke into He Yingqin's house, wanting to "theory".However, upon entering the house, Li Liejun, Dai Jitao, Zhu Peide, Ye Chulan (member of the Standing Committee and Secretary-General of the Kuomintang Central Executive Committee), Wang Jingwei's wife Chen Bijun, Chen Gongbo (member of the Kuomintang Central Political Committee) and many other important people had already sat down.Some of these people came at the invitation of He Yingqin to help out with ideas; some came uninvited and wanted to know the details of the Xi'an Incident.Feng Yuxiang also found an empty seat.
Chen Gongbo suggested that He Yingqin has three options: one is to announce the truth of the Xi'an Incident to the world;If only from the perspective of punishing Zhang Xueliang, these three methods are quite satisfactory, and it is not impossible.But it ignores one of the most important issues: rescue Chiang Kai-shek.And Chiang Kai-shek's life worry is neither the blessing of China nor the blessing of the common people, and it violates Zhang Xueliang's original intention of launching the incident.
Li Liejun's attitude grasped the essence of the incident.He believes that the most urgent task is to protect Jiang's safety, and he does not approve of a solution by force.
He Yingqin had his own considerations. He believed that if the crusade rescued Jiang, he would be the "first hero"; if Jiang died in the ancient city of Xi'an due to the crusade, he would be the "first successor to Jiang".In short, the "crusade against Xi'an" is a good deal, and you only make money but don't lose money.Therefore, he strongly advocated the crusade against Zhang and Yang on the grounds that party discipline and state law could not be maintained otherwise.
Feng Yuxiang, like Li Liejun, opposed the crusade.He said: The bombing may harm innocent residents in Xi'an, and Chiang Kai-shek may be harmed.From a personal point of view, Feng and Jiang have always been at odds, and it is his long-cherished wish to bring down Jiang.But he saw a deeper problem: He Yingqin's pro-13 faction was so active in instigating the crusade, didn't he think that it might harm Jiang? !The crusade was to save Chiang in name, but actually wanted to put Chiang to death, or killed Chiang by the hands of Zhang and Yang, or killed Chiang during the bombing of Xi'an.
Feng Yuxiang saw clearly the evil intentions hidden in this move, which may lead to the prospect of greater turmoil and civil strife.Therefore, not only did he not support the crusade, but he firmly opposed it.Feng Yuxiang's insistence made He Yingqin's plan to bomb Xi'an immediately failed.In the end, a compromise was formed: it was decided to send planes to bomb the area around Xi'an instead of bombing the city of Xi'an.This bought precious time for the subsequent peaceful rescue operations of the Song brothers and sisters.
Feng Yuxiang recorded the discussion in his diary that day.He wrote: Li Liejun, Chen Bijun, Chen Gongbo, and Feng Yuxiang advocated keeping Chiang "safe"; while Zhu Peide, He Yingqin, Ye Chulan, and Dai Jitao "maintained"
He Yingqin also saw clearly that his crusade plan could not be smooth sailing, and the Song brothers and sisters and Kong Xiangxi would not follow his path after returning to Beijing.In order to gain the initiative, with the support of Dai Jitao, Ju Zheng and others, He Yingqin organized the headquarters and troops to attack Xi'an without formal study and resolution by the Kuomintang Central Committee.Apart from Feng Yuxiang and other members of the Standing Committee of the Military Commission, a temporary office was first set up in his home, with Lin Wei as the chief of staff, Xu Peigen as the chief of staff, and Qian Yishi in charge of logistics.Later, Huang Shaohong was appointed as the chief of staff of the general headquarters of the crusade army to win over local powerful factions such as North China and the Guangxi faction.
At 11:30 midnight on the 12th, the Kuomintang Central Standing Committee and the Political Committee held an emergency joint meeting.In addition to the members of the two sessions, the president of the Fifth Academy of the Nanjing National Government and the heads of various ministries also attended the meeting. There were about 40 to 50 people present. Ding Weifen of the Central Standing Committee and Yu Youren of the Political Committee presided over the meeting.
At this time, it was just over a dozen hours since the Xi'an Incident, and the public information that reached Nanjing was only Zhang and Yang's eight proposals for saving the country, and the rest of the situation in Xi'an was ignorant.In view of this situation, some participants advocated not to make a hasty decision to punish Zhang and Yang; some participants advocated punishing Zhang and Yang immediately and sending troops to attack Xi'an.The two opinions argued until 2 o'clock in the middle of the night and there was no conclusion.At this moment, Dai Jitao stood up suddenly, and said emotionally: "Now the chairman's good or bad luck is uncertain. If it is unfortunate, we should go to negotiate with the rebels. Wouldn't it be a waste of his tricks, and we will not be able to claim righteousness in the future? National traitor, if the chairman is still safe, then we will rescue him by kidnapping and redeeming the ticket, so why will the chairman command the three armies and lead the whole country?Now we can only save the commander's life by fighting against the enemy with swords and shoes.He also said to the participants: "I want to warn everyone, if our central government fails to decide on the big plan of rebellion tonight, the whole country will be in chaos tomorrow! The government will also collapse! The overall situation cannot be dealt with! How can we face the Prime Minister! How can we face the Prime Minister? Mr. Jiang!"
What Dai Jitao expressed was to abandon Chiang!In his words, even if he is rescued, he can no longer be a leader.This is a typical argument of replacing Chiang, and the Chiang Kai-shek clique would not agree with his proposition. Therefore, the two sides argued fiercely, and the meeting lasted until 3 o'clock in the morning on the 13th.The "Memoirs of the Xi'an Incident" written by Kong Xiangxi later summarized the differences and disputes between the two factions as follows:
A said: It is said that Zhang and Yang's actions must have background and support.Its background and support, domestic officials and generals who are not satisfied with Chiang Kai-shek, such as Han Fuju in Shandong, Li Jishen in Guangxi, even Song Zheyuan in Hebei, and Liu Xiang in Sichuan, can all be cited as fellow travelers; The communists of China, even the Soviet Union of the Third International, can contact secretly.Since Zhang Yang used this background as an assistant to hijack the commander-in-chief, he must use Jiang Gong's life and death as a political threat.The central government can neither follow its madness and sink the country into ruins; especially it can't be too concerned about the safety of Chiang Kai-shek and disregard the country's discipline.In the past, when Xiang Yu imprisoned the Grand Duke, Henkel was unyielding, but the Grand Duke returned; the Qing court imprisoned Zheng Fu, who was successful and unyielding, but Zheng Gong competed to death.The key here is to be prudent, but future generations will eventually praise decisiveness and demote submission.Therefore, the central government's countermeasures should be firm.What's more, Jiang Gong's safety is still unknown. If Zhang Yang is strong, Jiang Gong is still alive, and he may be safe; if Zhang Yang is weak, Jiang Gong may not be able to return safely.This said, the purpose of the speech is strict, and Dai Jitao, the dean of the examination, took it seriously.
B said: Although I do not deny A's conjecture, I am not allowed to disbelieve the effect of Xueliang's electrification.In addition, it is said that Chiang Kai-shek had long been determined to fight against Japan, and everyone in Weiwei is familiar with it.Zhang Yang's move is really only in the scope of anti-Japanese.In terms of national policy, there are only differences in time, not inconsistency in nature, and there is already room for persuasion.Since Kuang Zhang has a telegram to guarantee Jiang Gong's safety, he must first investigate Jiang Gong's falsehood and then make a complete decision.If there is an immediate attack, no matter if the civil war spreads, the public opinion will go first, and the national strength will be lost, and foreign troubles will be benefited. The country will not be a country, let alone discipline?
The above "Jia Shuo" represents the opinions of some military officials headed by He Yingqin.They are convinced that the Xi'an mutiny took place with the support of the outside world. This support came from two sources, one was the Communist Party and the Third International, and the other was the local military forces in North China and Southwest China.However, if Zhang Yang wanted to realize his personal political views, he must take Chiang Kai-shek as a hostage to force the "central government" to make concessions.He Yingqin and Dai Jitao concluded from this: the government will never allow the interests and dignity of the country to be compromised by only considering the safety of one person.In other words, those who hold this view believe that negotiating is pointless, will only prolong the crisis, and may be viewed as weak and deceptive by powerful parties everywhere.Moreover, the Nanking Nationalist Government could not make any concessions to the policies and ideology of the Communist Party, because such a policy would immediately be opposed by Japan.
"Yi Shuo" represents the views of the peace faction headed by Feng Yuxiang and supported by Sun Ke, Yu Youren and most members of the Legislative Yuan.The "CC" faction led by Chen Lifu and Chen Guofu also gradually formed an alliance with the Feng faction.They advocate cooperating with the "rebels" in Xi'an to resolve this matter peacefully and in good faith.
However, the main backbone of Chiang Kai-shek's clique did not attend the meeting, and in the first round of confrontation, the crusade faction gained the upper hand.Therefore, the meeting decided:
1. Zhang Xueliang should first be deprived of his post and other posts, and handed over to the Military Commission for strict punishment, and the troops under his command should be under the direct command of the Military Commission.
2. Zhang Xueliang betrayed the party and the country, and was sent to the Central Supervisory Commission for discussion.
3. The Executive Yuan is headed by Vice President Kong Xiangxi.
4. The Standing Committee of the Military Commission was changed to 5 to 7 members, and He Yingqin, Cheng Qian, Li Liejun, Zhu Peide, Tang Shengzhi, and Chen Shaokuan were added as the standing committee members.
5. The Military Committee is under the responsibility of the Vice Chairman and the Standing Committee.
6. He Yingqin, member of the Standing Committee of the Military Commission and Minister of Military and Political Affairs, is in charge of commanding and mobilizing the army.
The messages revealed by these six decisions are: first, Zhang and Yang will be cornered; second, He Yingqin has mastered the most important military power.This also means that once Chiang Kai-shek cannot escape safely, how can it be possible to inherit the general rule.Because, in the history of the Nanjing National Government, the "top leader" has always firmly held military power.Back then, Chiang Kai-shek was in charge of the military first, and then took over in an all-round way.Liu Jianqun, Jiang's confidant and one of the "Thirteen Taibao" of the Fuxing Society, said frankly: "At that time, Zhu Peide was ordered by the chairman to preside over the affairs of the Military Commission. His method was to ask the chairman for important matters, and to ask Director Lin (Lin Wei's department) for small matters. Director of the General Office, who has the chairman's private seal), he himself is a middle-of-the-road, and has nothing to do with it. Of course, the vice chairman of the committee, Feng Yuxiang, is even more famous and has no job. Naturally, it should be empty and peaceful. He himself It's not that I don't know."
Under the circumstances that the chairman of the Military Commission cannot see things, it is reasonable to have a vice chairman or a director of the general office to take over, and the minister of military and political affairs is under them.At this meeting, after Dai Jitao proposed that "the military should be under the control of He Yingqin", Feng Yuxiang immediately expressed his opposition. He believed that "the chief of staff (He Yingqin was the chief of staff at the time) was the head of the military command organization, and the military committee still had the director of the general office." But Feng's opinion has no effect.As a result, He Yingqin was appointed to take full responsibility and planned to "crusade" the military.
This decision finally legitimized the crusade team that He Yingqin had previously formed by default.In the following two or three days, he led his staff to work overtime day and night, and drew up a military plan to attack Xi'an from the east and west.
The deployment is as follows:
1. The East Route Army, Liu Zhi, director of appeasement in Henan and Anhui, was in Kaifeng, and Xu Tingyao was the commander in chief at the Tongguan front.
A. Frontal attack along both sides of Longhai Road.The troops include: Fan Songfu's 79th Division, Dong Zhao's 28th Division, Ruan Zhaochang's 57th Division, Song Xilian's 36th Division, Gui Yongqing's Central Military Academy Teaching Corps, the main force of the First and Fifth Artillery Regiments, and an engineer regiment.
B. The right wing was commanded by Zhou Jian, the commander of the 60th Army. The troops included Zhou's 6th Division, Chen Pei's 60th Division, Chen Jie'an's 79th Division, Huang Jie's Tax Police Headquarters (later added Feng Qinzai's 42nd Division in Dali) division).
C. The left wing is commanded by Li Mo'an, and advances from Shangluo to Lantian.The troops include Li Mo'an's 10th Division and Liu Kan's 83rd Division.
The 2nd Division of Ding and Zheng Dongguo and the 23rd Division of Li Bifan were the general reserve team of the East Road, which assembled near Tongguan.
In addition, He Yingqin ordered the troops stationed in Jiangsu, Henan and other places to quickly gather at Tongguan.
2. The West Route Army was led by Hu Zongnan.The troops are about 11 divisions including Hu Zongnan's 1st Army, Zeng Wanzhong's 3rd Army, Mao Bingwen's 37th Army, Guan Linzheng's 25th Division, Li Jilan's 49th Division, and Wang Yaowu's 51st Division.
He Yingqin ordered Hu Zongnan, Wang Jun and other departments to stop attacking the Red Army and go south from Ganning to Tianshui and Baoji; Guan Linzheng's department stationed in Ningxia and Mao Bingwen's department stationed in the east of Lanzhou followed up to Pingliang and Guyuan in Gansu; The division left Ziwu Valley from Hanzhong and attacked south of Xi'an.
3. The air force concentrated in Luoyang, bombed Xi'an, and assisted the frontal troops on the East Road to fight.
While deploying the military, He Yingqin also made arrangements for the political situation to replace Chiang Kai-shek.Without telling the Kuomintang Central Committee, he secretly discussed with Wang Boqun the so-called policy of "unifying the party and the state and reforming politics", and listed a new list of party, government, and military personnel arrangements.He Yingqin plans:
Wang Jingwei led the party affairs work and served as the executive president;
Zhang Qun served as Vice President of the Executive Yuan, Sun Ke served as President of Legislative Yuan, Yu Youren served as Superintendent of Supervision, Song Ziwen served as Minister of Finance, Wang Boqun served as Minister of Communications, Bai Chongxi served as Minister of Military and Political Affairs, and Lin Sen remained as Chairman of the Government;
He Yingqin served as the chairman of the Military Commission, and Li Zongren, Feng Yuxiang, and Yan Xishan served as the vice-chairmen.
At the same time, He Yingqin served as the chairman of the committee, director of the Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou camps, appointed Liu Xiang and Long Yun as deputy directors, and elected Liu and Long as political members of the Central Committee and members of the state government.
In order to realize this plan, on the third day after the incident, He Yingqin sent his brother He Jiwu to fly to the southwest to find Liu Xiang and Long Yun for ventilation.
In Nanjing, supporting He Yingqin was also the Whampoa faction centered on Lixing Society and Fuxing Society.These young soldiers who graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy and had Chiang Kai-shek as their backing were ashamed when they heard the news of the Xi'an Incident.Deng Wenyi, secretary general of the Fuxing Society, heard that Chiang Kai-shek was detained in Xi'an, and was very worried that Zhang and Yang would send Chiang Kai-shek to Xinjiang or the Soviet Union.He felt that "it is not too late, the army must be mobilized immediately", "not only must the ground surround Xi'an, but also the air force must monitor and blockade".Therefore, "I took the liberty to call the shots and sent two urgent telegrams in the name of the person in charge of the group. One was to call Commander Wang Yaowu stationed in Hanzhong, Shaanxi," telling him that an incident had occurred in Xi'an. In Xianyang, he contacted Commander Wan Yaohuang of the 13th Division and besieged Xi'an; the second telegram was to Dong Zhao, commander of the 28th Division stationed between Tongguan and Luoyang, explaining the reason and asking his troops to quickly occupy Tongguan to deal with the incident and prepare Siege of Xi'an".Both Dong and Wang graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy. Dong and Deng were classmates in the first class of Whampoa, and Wang Yaowu was a student in the third class of Whampoa. At that time, Deng was the captain of the student area of the third class in Whampoa.
At 8 o'clock that night, Deng Wenyi convened an emergency meeting of all cadres of the Lixing Society and the Fuxing Society in Nanjing Mingwalang to discuss countermeasures.Dai Li and Zheng Jiemin reported on the course of the incident and its causes and consequences, while Gui Yongqing and Pan Youqiang put forward "opinions on military contingency deployment."The meeting made 5 decisions:
(1) General policy: Rescue the leaders and stabilize the rear.
(2) It is suggested that the government ask Minister He Yingqin of the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs to unify the response to military operations, and quickly transfer the nearby Army and the Central Military Academy Teaching Corps and Air Force to Xi'an to rescue the leaders.
(3) Inform organizations at all levels and all comrades to mobilize and concentrate all efforts to "rescue the leader and stabilize the rear" when the leader is in trouble in Xi'an; local order should especially be coordinated with the military, political, and constitutional police to maintain it...
(4) Publish the telegram in the name of the graduates of the Whampoa Army Military Academy.
(5) Use various methods to unite the Kuomintang and the armed forces, and strive to rescue the leaders and stabilize the rear.
Within three days after the meeting, Lixingshe sent dozens of key elements to various provinces, cities and military regions to "supervise work and guide actions."
At around 7 o'clock in the morning on the 13th, Kong Xiangxi, Song Meiling and Duanna returned to Nanjing from Shanghai.
Song Meiling learned that Naifu was trapped in Xi'an at around 4 pm on the 12th.Hearing this, Song Meiling passed out on the spot.After waking up, she immediately returned to Nanjing accompanied by her brother-in-law Kong Xiangxi, who is also the vice president of the Nanjing National Government's Executive Yuan.Kong Xiangxi was quite calm in the face of the big change.He analyzed the situation and believed that Zhang Xueliang not only sent a telegram to the whole country, but also sent a "shock" telegram to him personally, and sent a special telegram to Song Meiling, which shows that there is still room for change in the incident, and it has not reached an irreversible point.
After Song and Kong returned to Nanjing, He Yingqin brought several officials who were in charge of the battle to see Kong Xiangxi, and reported the night meeting on the 12th, indicating that the majority were in charge of the battle.Song Meiling told He Yingqin that Duanna would go to Xi'an.He stared at Duan Na and said, "No one is allowed to go to Xi'an. We are going to attack Xi'an, and the Chairman has already died." Duan Na also stared at He Yingqin and said, "Until the truth is known, you cannot attack." He replied sharply : "He's dead, we're going to order an attack."
Song Meiling immediately stated that she did not agree with the joint meeting's decision to deal with Zhang Xueliang and to attack Xi'an by force.她认为，“中央诸要人于真相未全明了之前，遽于数小时内决定张学良之处罚，余殊觉其措置太骤，而军事方面，复以此时以立即动员军队讨伐西安……余更不能不臆断其为非健全之行动”。于是，她“立下决心，愿竭我全力，以求不流血的和平与迅速之解决”。
宋美龄向何应钦等讨伐派反复申述，在委员长脱险之前，不能推进讨伐军事。她强调说，倘如此，战争开始之后，委员长不为其亲自统帅之陆空军轰炸所误中而丧生，亦将被张、杨军队杀害。
然而，宋美龄的苦求没有使何应钦动心，这一点她是有思想准备的。在回到南京的几个小时里，宋美龄、孔祥熙已经得悉英、美两国的态度。因为日本对中国得寸进尺的侵略，已经直接触犯了英、美在华的利益。如果西安事变导致蒋介石政权垮台，南京国民政府为对日妥协派所把持，英、美在华利益将受到更大威胁。因此，英、美等国都力主和平解决事变，并支持蒋介石继续掌权。英国甚至表示，只要蒋介石还能继续统治下去，就不妨与共产党采取某种形式的合作，即便为此要抗日，也是可以支持的。英、美等国的态度，使宋美龄鼓足了坚持和平解决西安事变的勇气。
这天上午，何应钦没有闲着。他召集一干军事人员开会，准备下达对西安的总攻击令。这时，宋美龄突然闯了进来，又哭又闹，与何应钦唇枪舌战，迫使其缓下总攻令。《宋美龄全传》对这一斗争过程是这样描述的：
宋美龄哭了一阵，她想用眼泪先换取大家的同情。继而她便止住泪水。
“何总司令，”她铁板着面孔问道，“一切我都知道了！现在我是来问你，你这样做是何用意？你假使发动战争，你能善其后么？你能救出委员长的生命么？我现在老实告诉你，你这样做简直是想谋杀他！”
何应钦一听，脸色大变。
宋美龄干脆指手画脚站着讲：“幸亏是你在领导这批饭桶，要是旁人，我一定当他是异党分子看待！何总司令，这是可以闹着玩的事么？委员长在这个时候如果有个三长两短，哼！到时候兵荒马乱，连你也跑不了！”
何应钦一个劲儿搓手，赔笑道：“那么照夫人的意思，应该，应该……”
“应该停止军事行动！”宋美龄斩钉截铁，“你非给我停止讨伐不可！你非给我用尽一切办法把他救出来不可！你非要把他活着救出不可！你非要立刻去做不可！”
“夫人，”何应钦作为难状，同时也撇开自己的责任，“这是会上通过的，不是一两个人的意思。”
“Damn！”宋美龄连英语骂人的口语也急的破口而出，“要不，你就重新召开会议，我也出席！”接着更弦外有音：“免得让你为难。”
“不不不，”何应钦一脸笑，“夫人不必劳驾，救出领袖，是我们大家的责任。”他试探道：“已经有20个师出发了！”
“200个师也得调回来！”宋关龄冷冷地说道，“何总司令，你以为武力讨伐真有把握吗？你未免太乐观了！好多外国朋友告诉我，为这件事一旦发动大规模的战争，西北方面并不是孤立无援的。广东、广西、云南、湖南、四川、山东、河北、察哈尔、山西、绥远、宁夏的各地军事政治负责人，都在乘机而动，并且可以确定，他们没有一个人愿意花力气帮助你发动战争，甚至有几个人，也许他们全会走到张、杨方面去！”
“这个，”何应钦讪讪答道，“这个问题我们也曾研究过，戴笠那边可以派人前往各地设法收买……”
“收买？”宋关龄冷笑道，“别做梦了！现在他们每个人都在想在这次冲突中扩充势力，谁给你收买？”
“是的，夫人。”何应钦不由不软了下来，“那么，照夫人的意思，现在我们应该先做些什么？”
“派人到西安去！”
“这怎么可以？”何应钦假装吃惊：“那不太危险了么？而且西安附近已经开始轰炸。”
“我说我要你停止一切战争措施！”宋美龄拍拍桌子：“我明天便派端纳到洛阳，转赴西安。子文也快回来，他们也会去，我也要亲自去！”
“夫人，”何应钦劝道，“夫人不必去了，冯玉祥愿意代替委员长作人质，就让他去一趟好了。”
“不！谁也代替不了我，我要亲自去！”宋美龄说一不二。
“实在太危险，你的安全……”何应钦还没讲完，宋关龄道，“告辞了！”说完，望了何一眼，匆匆穿上皮大衣，戴上白手套，抓起皮手袋扭头走了。
宋美龄这一闹，使会议不欢而散。
宋美龄离去之后，何应钦立即派人约见日本密使。那位日本密使听了何应钦陈述的情况，不禁皱起眉头，说道：“何将军，你要知道，这是千载难逢的好机会，机不可失，时不再来。过这个村就没那个店了！……”日本密使的再次唆使，使何刚刚被宋美龄软化的领袖欲望重新又被激了起来。
在送走日本密使之后，何应钦又接连给前线的将领下达了几道进攻的命令。同时采取了下列措施：
（一）电令当时在海州巡视的刘峙绥靖主任，迅即抽调在河南与苏北的绥靖部队一部，开赴潼关，以增厚东线兵力，运输车辆可径与郑州铁道运输司令钱宗泽接洽。到达潼关后，可与樊崧甫军长商洽，设法与驻在大荔的西北军冯钦哉保持联系，并派员速赴成阳、盩厔一带，与万耀煌师取得联络。
（二）电令在武功、盩厔附近之万耀煌师停止南移，集结兵力，对西安方面施行警戒；并另电令毛炳文军长率部前来增援，俟毛军长到达后，该师即由毛军长统一指挥。
（三）电令胡宗南军长，转令毛炳文军长速率部退至武功、整屋一带，增援万耀煌师，到达后即兼指挥万师，协力巩固此一地区之防务；同时令胡军长率第一军，与孔令恂、关麟征两军，迅速转进于宝鸡、扶风一带，集结待命，并与毛、关两军，切取联系。
（四）任命钱宗泽为铁道运输司令，调度陇海、津浦、平汉三路车辆，从事运输，并函铁道部转令各路局遵照。
何应钦的小动作很快就从前线传到宋美龄那里。宋美龄在又一次上门向何应钦问罪之后，立即找来孔祥熙商议，决定为防止何应钦阻挠和平营救，必须尽快派端纳去西安了解情况。她坐下来，匆匆写下两封信交给端纳，一封长信是给张学良的，一封短信是给蒋介石的。待她写好信，端纳和陪同他此行的黄仁霖已在屋内等候。
黄仁霖是励志社总干事，也是一名军人，上校。由于他的忠诚而深得宋美龄的信任。此行，宋选上他陪伴端纳，公开使命是翻译。端纳的确不懂汉语，黄的加入解决了端纳作为信使语言交流的障碍。黄还有一项使命，就是亲眼验证蒋介石到底是死是活。临行前，孔祥熙向黄仁霖交代说：“你的任务是用你的眼睛，亲自看到委员长，亲眼看见。看见他之后，马上回来向夫人和我报告，你所亲眼看到的确实情形。就是这一点，不多亦不少。”孔祥熙接着表示：“如果委员长健康而安好，那么谈判之门，还是敞开着的。”
端纳和黄仁霖带着宋美龄的使命，于这天中午悄悄离开南京，登上三引擎容克飞机，经洛阳转赴西安。
下午，宋美龄指示中央军校的教育长张治中，设法阻止何应钦蛮干，要不惜一切代价，保护蒋介石的安全。并令他拜访冯玉祥，转达宋、孔希望和平解决事变的意愿，请其出面遏制何应钦的个人野心。
宋美龄向张治中布置完毕，下午3点，即以航空委员兼蒋委员长夫人的身份参加了国民党中央常务委员会和中央政治会议的联席会议。会议由国民党中央执行委员会常委、司法院院长居正任主席，议题还是研究对待西安是战还是和的问题。
会上，何应钦先报告军事情况。他通报日本的军用飞机侦察陕西的情况说：西安城外仍有小战。西安东、西两门紧闭，惟南、北两门虽重兵把守，仍可通行。必须乘张、杨部署未定之前，抢先发动攻击，救出蒋介石。
外交部长张群报告了与日本大使川樾会谈的情况。他说：日本持冷静态度，不予干预。
总参谋长程潜报告了国防情况。他说“日本已有准备”。
当国民政府主席林森发言，反对讨伐张、杨，扩大事态时，何应钦再次起身发言，强调明令讨伐十分必要，刻不容缓。
戴季陶的发言，则把矛头直指东北军和西北军，攻击张、杨已经倒向共产党，并妄称张、杨已会见了毛泽东，因而有劫持领袖之叛举。
孔祥熙则不以为然。他认为，日本正准备扩大侵略，在中共方面表示统一于中央、一致抗日的形势下，张学良主张抗日联共，可以商量，国民政府也应反省。目前，与西安电讯不通，据说杨虎城态度未明，且拟派端纳飞往西安联络，虚实未卜。不宜贸然出兵讨伐，应力主缓和。
吴稚晖一跃而起，指责张学良是“表面抗日”，只有蒋委员长才是“真抗日的”，“为蒋介石安全，须火速运兵去。”
在两种意见争执不下时，宋美龄开始发言。她先是央求何应钦，说：张、杨要求的不过“抗日”二字，可寻别的途径解决，何必一定大动干戈。见何应钦寸步不让，又退一步要求何应钦，至少得救出蒋介石以后，才能发兵讨伐。何应钦仍是丝毫不采纳她的意见。这就使宋美龄没有退路，她只好打出最后的王牌：“今日若遽用武力，确将危及委员长生命。”“委员长之生命，实与国家之生命有不可分离之联系”。请大家“各自检束与忍耐，勿使和平绝望；更请于推进军事讨伐之前，先尽力救委员长之脱险”。
何应钦见她没完没了地说下去，恐妨碍大计，情急之下就说出了粗话：“你女人家懂得什么？只知道救丈夫而已！国家的事，不要你管！”宋美龄当然受不了这个，一下气得哭出声来：“你这样做（指炸死蒋介石），太辜负蒋先生了！”并愤怒地争辩：我“绝非朝夕萦怀于丈夫安全的妇人”……
尽管宋美龄使尽浑身解数，但这次会议最后通过的决定仍然是不利于主和派的，做出的一个决定说：“军政当局应照昨日决议，严密迅速处理此次事变。”
但是，这次会议却在无意中实现了一个意外的效果，即宋美龄与何应钦围绕如何处理事变，如何对待蒋之安全所发生激烈冲突一事被公开化了。黄埔系将领们得知这一情况后，纷纷派代表面见宋美龄，要求宋拿定救蒋主意。宋美龄利用这一机会，召集黄埔系将领和空军人员开会，要求他们勿听何的命令，而为和平营救行动创造条件。她说：大家一定要保持冷静，在未明事变真相之前，切勿遽加断定，勿尚感情；在人们怨恨愤怒的情况下，不要再以行动或语言刺激。宋美龄一再告诫这些军事将领：委员长抚爱诸生如子弟，目前遇此事变，正为诸生敬谨遵行师训之时。
宋美龄还找来邓文仪，令他转告复兴社同仁，“不宜坚持大军迅速围攻（西安）的主张”，“操之过急，以致叛军迫害校长”。她在中央军校的演讲中尖锐指出，主张讨伐的人是别有用心。这话正中主战派的要害，何应钦等不能不有所顾忌。
至此，在南京当局中枢打破了主战派一边倒的局面，主战派中的一些人开始分化。
14日，南京国民政府举行总理纪念周，国府主席林森表达了和平解决西安事变的愿望。他说：“张学良及其所部军队爱慕故乡，思恋祖宗庐墓，有志雪耻，本合乎人情事理。但不遵长官命令，不听政府指挥，不在一致步骤之下……擅自举动，恐爱国适以误国……当悬崖勒马，替国家民族多留元气，替自身保存信誉，是所望子张学良及其所部将士。”冯玉祥也在中央党部纪念周上讲话，强调营救蒋介石。说：“惟有抓住紧要的时间，赶快营救。”
同日，由刘峙、顾祝同领衔的38名将领致电张学良，措辞温和，概称：“即奉委员长出险回京，则任何问题无不可以从长讨论，尽量采纳，见诸实施。”这38人中，刘峙、顾祝同分别被任命为东西两路（讨伐）集团军总司令，其他人如胡宗南、汤恩伯、李默庵、樊崧甫、毛炳文、关麟征、宋希濂、黄杰、阮肇昌等，都是陕甘前线的带兵官。事变发生后，颐祝同先在四川忙着安抚西南几省，回南京后一直蹲在孔公馆忙着和平营救，从未履行西路军总司令的职责。两路军的带头人胡宗南主张和平救蒋，写信给张学良表示，只要保证蒋介石的安全，他愿服从张的命令。第3军军长曾万钟派代表向张学良表示绝不作战。潼关前线总指挥徐庭瑶吩咐军师长们不要轻动，以免投鼠忌器。左翼指挥李默庵更下令只有遇到攻击时才能还击。宋子文告诉税警总团团长黄杰，千万别打。复兴社总干事郑介民和候补干事戴笠均不主张用兵，戴笠每天与前线的胡宗南保持联系，告之：“救校长要救活的，用兵则有死无生，谁也不能蛮干，出此下策。”
下级士兵也不愿意打。此时还出现了驻西线宁夏打拉池附近的胡宗南部骑兵团1000多人拥护八项主张，击杀团长反正的事例。
还是14日这一天，孔祥熙应宋美龄的要求，以代行政院长名义，在他的公馆召开高级会议。与会者有国民政府五院院长，即立法院长孙科、司法院长居正、考试院长戴季陶、监察院长于右任；还有中央党部的陈果夫、陈立夫，秘书长叶楚伧；军事委员会的冯玉祥、何应钦、黄绍竑；外交部长张群等。
孔祥熙在会上提出在讨伐之前如何营救蒋介石的问题。这一提议巧妙地回避了战与和的争论，而是在认同战的前提下来探索和平之路。许多人表示赞成孔祥熙的主张，何应钦、戴季陶、居正等人在这种情况下也不好公开反对。
主战派的铁杆骨干戴季陶，在这次会上态度出现一百八十度转变。在讨论未决的时候，戴季陶退人休息室想了相当长的时间，才又回到会议室。他突然跪地向大家磕了一个响头。而后说道：“我是信佛的。活佛在拉萨，去拉萨拜佛有三条路：一是由西康经昌都，二是由青海经玉树，还有一条路由印度越大吉岭，这三条路都可通拉萨。诚心拜佛的人二三条路都走，这条不通走另一条，总有一条走得通的，不要光走一条路。”载季陶说完后又磕了一个头，然后离开会场。
戴季陶的意思很清楚，这次他也不赞成单一的武力讨伐了，而是主张先进行和平营救，如果和平营救无效，再进行武力讨伐。当年曾参加这次会议的黄绍竑后来回忆说：会上有不少人同意先和平营救的意见。于是，和平营救蒋介石的方针就这样确定下来。
如果说，12日午夜举行的紧急联席会议，是主战派的意见占了上风，那么14日召开的这次南京国民政府高层会议，是主和派的意见占了上风。
★地方军政实力派：南京当局意欲拉住他们，向西安施压；张、杨则意欲争取他们的更多支持以在谈判中占据主动；各地大员也企望在事变中赢得更多利益。错综复杂的利害关系，使地方实力派处在矛盾之中
蒋介石的执政风格是独裁，他赞赏法西斯的统治方式，这使他与地方大员的关系总是难得融洽。蒋介石义是一个非常重视渊缘派系的人，对于非嫡系的力量总是采取各种办法限制其发展，这又使一些地方大员时刻得防着他的暗算。蒋介石还是一个不太守信的人，他许过的事情常常不去兑现。这些因素归结起来，使他在党内、政府内和军队内树敌过多，结怨颇深。因而，西安事变发生后，在国民党内部，兴灾乐祸者有之，趁火打劫者有之，真正想救他的只有家庭亲属及他一手提拔栽培的嫡系将领。而就各地方实力派来说，更是怀着各种心态，各其不同的立场。
而在1936年的中国政治版图中，蒋介石作为中央政权的领袖，他的控制力集中在苏、浙、豫、皖、赣、闽等中央腹地；而周边地区则被是地方诸侯各霸一方。阎锡山统治山西，宋哲元经营河北，韩复榘控制山东，李宗仁、白崇禧占据广西，刘湘独霸四川。南方李、刘互不联合，北方宋、韩听命于冯玉祥，阎锡山自己搞独立王国。这种政治格