Chapter 4 Chapter 1 The Burning Land (4)

Chiang Kai-shek didn't speak, and his expression was serious and unpredictable all the time. His wife, Song Meiling, stood next to her husband, looking out the porthole from time to time, showing a little worried look.The atmosphere in the cabin suddenly became tense, because the guards who were familiar with Chiang Kai-shek knew that the expressionless expression of this big man was the most serious expression, so they all tiptoed cautiously. The plane changed its landing attitude, the captain raised the nose sharply, and the plane made a heavy roar, trying to break through the obstacles of the airflow vortex and thick clouds.A glass water glass fell to the floor, making a piercing sound.Passengers seemed to be pushed down on their seats by a big terrified hand, and they heard a heart-pounding protest from the wings of the plane.

Chiang Kai-shek still sat upright, leaning on his cane with both hands, turning a blind eye to the broken water glass and bad weather, as if the safety of the plane had nothing to do with him.For this monopolistic ruler, it is not the weather that puts him in danger, but the war, and his thoughts are still stuck on the Xuzhou front line he just inspected.To be precise, the battle in Xuzhou is irreversible, and he has just issued a retreat order to the fifth theater. It can be expected that Xuzhou's retreat across the board (not a defeat) will inevitably trigger another strong earthquake in the crisis-ridden Nationalist government. In just ten months since the "July 7th Incident", the Japanese unstoppably occupied half of China. The capital Nanjing and major cities such as Tianjin, Beijing, Shanghai, Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, and Jinan fell one after another.Not only those opposition groups with ulterior motives and forces against Chiang made repeated troubles, but even righteous people who resolutely supported the Anti-Japanese War asked bitterly: If things go on like this, in another ten months, won’t our great China be destroyed by the small country of Peter? ?

An imperceptible sneer appeared on Chiang Kai-shek's face. He is a professional soldier, to be precise, a military statesman, never afraid of war and coercion by force.He understands the ebb and flow of war and the mysteries of war. War is not arithmetic, and one plus one does not necessarily equal two.If the Japanese occupy half of China in ten months, does it mean that they must occupy the whole of China in twenty months?No, that was just an excuse used by others to oppose him. Looking back on the ups and downs of the Anti-Japanese War, it can be said that there have been twists and turns, and it is difficult for insiders and outsiders to know.At the beginning of the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the international community came forward to mediate. The German ambassador to China, Tautman, shuttled back and forth between Tokyo and Nanjing. After repeated mediation, four secret "armistice agreements" were reached in November last year; Agreement; 2. Banning anti-Japanese anti-Japanese activities; 3. Abolishing free flight and special trade in Eastern Hebei; 4. Chinese and Japanese armies retreated to the ceasefire line before the July 7 Incident.Even Wang Jingwei, the leader of the "pro-Japanese faction" who had read the content of the agreement at the time, was puzzled and said: If it is only these conditions, why does Japan go to war?

A Sino-Japanese armistice is imminent. Only Chiang Kai-shek knew in his heart that the results on the negotiating table came from the battlefield, because the Japanese army encountered unprecedented tenacious resistance in the Shanghai area, and the myth of "destroying China in three months" was shattered, which showed that it was not impossible to prevent or even defeat the Japanese aggression.However, as the diplomatic negotiations are in full swing and the ceasefire agreement is about to be signed, the situation in the Songhu battlefield has taken a turn for the worse. The Japanese army successfully landed in Hangzhou Bay, which directly led to the defeat of the defenders and the fall of the capital Nanjing.The military victory swelled the Japanese's wild ambitions to the apex. They not only greatly raised the price of the truce, revised the first four conditions, but also added "North China and Inner Mongolia autonomy" and "payment of huge war reparations".Even German Ambassador Tao, who had read the terms, had no choice but to express pessimistically that the National Government... could not accept such harsh armistice conditions.

Diplomatic negotiations broke down, and the result of the continuation of the war was that the Battle of Xuzhou ended again with a total defeat of the Chinese army. The plane finally rushed out of the clouds, got rid of the interference of strong air currents, and the flight became stable.Passengers breathed a sigh of relief, and there was a murmur of whispering in the cabin.Lin Wei, the director of the attendant's office, sent an urgent telegram to the chairman of the committee. The telegram was jointly signed by Wang Zanxu, acting chairman of the Sichuan Provincial Government, and Deng Xihou, director of the Sichuan Kang Appeasement Administration. The traffic is blocked and the economy is backward, coupled with the heavy burden of ignorance of the people, it is difficult to accept a large number of government agencies and inland migrants to enter Sichuan for a while.

The corners of Chiang Kai-shek's mouth trembled a few times, indicating that he was a little angry inside, but he didn't show it, he just gave a brief instruction: Hui Wang, Deng Dian, please put the overall situation of the War of Resistance first, and move the central government to the capital as soon as possible. Get ready and don't delay. At the beginning of the year, "Sichuan King" Liu Xiang died of illness in Wuhan. Chiang Kai-shek misjudged the situation and thought that the Sichuan dragons had no leader, so he couldn't wait to appoint Zhang Qun to take charge of Sichuan.Unexpectedly, the princes of Sichuan jointly resisted the order and boycotted Zhang Qun's entry into Sichuan, forcing Chiang Kai-shek to cancel his appointment.Now the national government is stranded in Wuhan, and the delay in moving the capital to Chongqing is the result of the stalemate between the two sides and the Sichuan side's repeated delays.

Lin Wei said cautiously: Sichuan has said that if the central government sends personnel to forcibly parachute, they should be served with guns. Chiang Kai-shek said coldly: Can Sun Houzi escape from the Tathagata Buddha's palm?You send the telegram first, and press them down before speaking. Facts have proved that those mob local warlords are far from being Chiang Kai-shek's opponents. Soon after, the Chairman of the General Assembly disintegrated the Sichuan people's alliance of guns by using the strategy of sealing officials, making wishes and secretly dividing.By the end of the Anti-Japanese War, Chiang Kai-shek basically flattened the warlord forces in the southwestern provinces, and completed the second "Northern Expedition" to unify the country in the name of the Anti-Japanese War.

The core issue of the Anti-Japanese War is still the issue of leadership.With repeated defeats on the battlefield, cracks and contradictions emerged within the Kuomintang, and Chiang Kai-shek's iron-fisted rule was weakened again and again.The "pro-Japanese faction" headed by Vice President Wang Jingwei is unprecedentedly active. They have joined forces with other forces to actively seize the opportunity to seize power. It is not difficult to predict that once the news of Xuzhou's retreat is made public, the opposition will definitely seize the opportunity to make a big fuss.Since the establishment of the capital of the Nationalist Government in Nanjing, Chiang Kai-shek was forced to resign twice as a result of his political opponent Wang Jingwei's active "overthrow of Chiang".The problem is that the current Japanese offensive is fierce and pressing, and they will definitely kill the Nationalist government and himself. If Wang Jingwei launches another internal party coup at this time and forces him to step down, will he, the chairman of the committee, have a chance to come back to life? ?

The plane flew through the clouds and fog, and the motor sang majesticly and powerfully.The clouds outside the porthole gradually thinned, and the snow-white clouds flitted backwards like a flock of sheep.The preoccupied Chiang Kai-shek is still in his own thoughts. The Kuomintang was originally a hodgepodge of Chinese and Western, and the "Three People's Principles" were the biggest breeding ground for inner-party struggles.In a sense, party struggles are more important than battlefields. Enemies within the party are more dangerous and threatening than enemies openly. It is impossible for the Japanese to destroy China, but the anti-Chiang forces headed by Wang Jingwei can drive Generalissimo Jiang out of power. Beat him from the inside.