Chapter 18 Section 9

However, at this moment, Shen Zui was ordered and the action plan was cancelled. One day, Mao Renfeng made an urgent appointment with Shen Zui.Looking at Mao Renfeng with a slightly embarrassed expression, Shen Zui was about to ask.Unexpectedly, Mao Renfeng shook his head in pain and said, "There's no need to ask. The president summoned me to Xikou and instructed to cancel the task of the special operations team." "Cancelled?" In Mao Sen's mansion, Shen Zui was extremely horrified when he heard the news, "Why? Sir, how well prepared we have been in the past month! It must be safe."

"No need to ask." Mao Renfeng shook his head in pain, "The president summoned me to Xikou and instructed to cancel the task of the special operations team." "But," Shen Zui was discouraged when he heard that it was Chiang Kai-shek's instruction, "Hey..." "You don't have to be pessimistic." Mao Renfeng quickly comforted, "There is a reason for the incident. The president has his difficulties. As a soldier, it is his duty to obey orders. We must fully understand and don't make trouble for the leader." "What about me now?"

"Go back to Kunming immediately." Mao Renfeng said meaningfully, "Bring Wu Dehou and Qin Jingchuan from the special team, the task over there is heavy." Shen Zui then flew back to Kunming and embarked on a road of no return to prison.So how did Li Zongren escape the murder? Originally, Chiang Kai-shek was quite satisfied with the assassination plan carefully prepared by the military commander.He also took the initiative to "cooperate".Li Zongren is strictly confined to Nanjing, and there is no freedom of actual action.Just as Shen Zui and the others hibernated and waited, Li Zongren's eldest brother died of illness in his hometown in Guilin.It stands to reason that returning home for funerals is justified, not to mention that Chiang Kai-shek has always flaunted loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, and righteousness, with the word "filial piety" first.However, when Li Zongren reported the situation to the president who had stepped down as the acting president, Chiang Kai-shek, unexpectedly, persuaded him to "sorrow and accept change" and resolutely refused to let him return to his hometown.Li Zongren speculated afterwards that it might be that Chiang Kai-shek suspected him of returning to Guangxi and solicited contact with the old departments of Guangdong and Guangxi.As everyone knows, Chiang Kai-shek is a drunkard who does not want to drink, and this move is entirely to cooperate with the assassination of the military command.

All indications show that Li Zongren's presidential door is his "Yan Luo door".Unexpectedly, at this moment, the situation suddenly changed.The so-called proves Churchill's famous saying: "There are no eternal friends, and there are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests." After Li Zongren took over half of the broken rivers and mountains from Chiang Kai-shek, he was triumphant and ambitious.Li Zongren said: "I want to rule the river, the Communist Party is always satisfied!" "As long as the southeast half of the wall can be preserved, we have a solution." Bai Chongxi also boasted: "We want Lao Jiang to step down and De Gong to come to power. Negotiate peace with the Communist Party, with the Yangtze River as the boundary. Let the Communist Party do it in the north of the Yangtze River, and let us do it in the south of the Yangtze River." From this point of view, Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi want to "divide the river" with the CCP and engage in the so-called " Northern and Southern Dynasties".

As soon as Li Zongren came to power, he launched a peaceful offensive.In this regard, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China did not hold much hope at first.However, after contacting the people sent by the Guangxi faction, the CCP felt that it could "take Guangxi and oppose Chiang", so it agreed to conduct peace negotiations with the peace delegation sent by Li Zongren. Chiang Kai-shek was well aware of Li Zongren's political vision of "ruling the river" and the bottom line of the peace talks, and was extremely angry.But at this time, he felt that Li Zongren was a card in his hand, and it was extremely useful to play it.He pushed Li Zongren into the foreground and negotiated peace with the Communist Party. He talked about it, and at least he had to fight for more than 3 months.When Chiang Kai-shek was leaving the field, the wishful thinking in his heart was rattling - use these three months to reintegrate military strength, win a respite, and compete with the Communist Party in various regions in the south.

At this time, there were still hundreds of thousands of well-equipped and well-organized troops in the hands of the Guangxi Clique. Chiang Kai-shek had always been jealous but had to use them.Under the dilemma, he made himself undecided, should he once and for all "shoot the man first, shoot the horse, capture the thief first, capture the king" or continue to give in? Just at this time, the Kuomintang-Communist peace talks, which attracted the attention of the world, had begun. Li Zongren struggled to hold on to the crisis, and kept sending envoys back and forth from south to north, alternately shuttling.As for the results and content of the peace talks, Chiang Kai-shek is no longer interested. What he is interested in is the three months under the guise of the peace talks.Therefore, in order to gain his so-called time, Chiang Kai-shek felt that Li Zongren seemed to be the only acceptable host of peace talks for the Communist Party.

Chiang Kai-shek understood that he needed three months for the peace talks, but the operation of the peace talks was inseparable from Li Zongren. After weighing the pros and cons, he gradually restrained his murderous intentions. Just at this time, it was publicly reported that there were signs of discord between Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi within the Guangxi Clan.Bai Chongxi was rebellious and unruly. He was a figure who had always led the troops in the Guangxi clique.He and Li Zongren had serious differences on the bottom line of the peace talks. He believed that Li Zongren wanted to fully accept the Communist Party's proposition, and even had the idea of ​​becoming the vice chairman of the future coalition government.Bai Chongxi insisted that, no matter what, the Communist Party cannot cross the river.

The two have cooperated tacitly for decades, and this is the only public disagreement. He Yingqin, who had always had a close relationship with Bai Chongxi, had a clue. He went to Xikou and reported to Chiang Kai-shek the ins and outs of the dispute between Li and Bai.Chiang Kai-shek was very happy. Discord among the Guangxi clique was exactly what he dreamed of. Excited, Chiang Kai-shek reconsidered his plan to assassinate Li Zongren.Originally, the Guangxi Clan was monolithic, but since the Northern Expedition, they have always supported their own self-respect and opposed him.On that assassination list, Li Zongren ranked first, and other leaders of the Guangxi faction, such as Bai Chongxi, Huang Shaohong, Huang Xuchu, Li Pinxian, Xia Wei, Cheng Siyuan, Qiu Changwei, Wei Yongcheng, etc., should also be sanctioned.But to assassinate so many backbones of the Guangxi Clan, it is also a gamble like burning jade.If it is not done well, it will fail to beat the snake, but will be bitten by the snake instead. The 100,000 troops of Guizhi are not vegetarians, not to mention that he needs them to defend Zhongnan and South China for him.

Although Chiang Kai-shek gritted his teeth with hatred for Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi, and even dared to risk the world's displeasure, and prepared to carry out the low-level means of assassination, he was always hesitant to actually put it into action.Weighing the pros and cons, he felt that it was the safest way to win over Bai Chongxi militarily and get rid of Li Zongren politically.