Chapter 52: The Xi'an Incident 2

  Fortunately, Gaoquan still had a good sense of proportion in doing things. He only gave the old rival who came from afar, the 44th Division of the Henan 40th Army, a severe lesson and made them lose their way. After sweeping through the militia forces in southern Shaanxi again, he retreated with arrogance. As for the main force of the bandit-suppressing army, the 49th Division of the Northwestern Army and one division of the Northeastern Army, they sat on the shore watching the fire, calmly watching their "allied army" being completely defeated. Only then did they begin a large-scale armed march under the strict orders of the Shaanxi Pacification Office and the Bandit-Suppressing Headquarters.

  According to the rules, Gao Quan left a large pile of scrap metal and rifles with polished barrels for the two divisions that went into the mountains to suppress bandits. After they returned to report, in the area of Muwang under the jurisdiction of Zhen'an, they received several hundred guns from a logistics battalion of the Northeastern Army, more than 30 machine guns, as well as a large quantity of ammunition, food, medicine, salt and other supplies. If someone saw the scene of soldiers from the Northeastern Army wearing green uniforms and hats exchanging goods with Red Army soldiers wearing red five-star badges, who knows what they would think.

  However, in order to keep it confidential, all the troops mobilized by Gao Quan this time were old Red Army veterans who had been tested and soldiers from the Su District who were pure and red. As for prisoners of war who might leak this secret and those with impure identities, they were not considered at all.

  Many warriors were still puzzled for many years about how Gao Quan could produce so many weapons, ammunition and medicine in a short period of time, and the secret was always talked about with relish. The answer to this riddle was not clarified until many years later, when the Party History Research Office of Shaanxi Province finally figured it out through extensive research, that it was just a gift from the Northeast Army.

  In the following months, the KMT and CPC coexisted in an unusually quiet manner, without any incidents. Even the agents of the Blue Shirts Society and Military Bureau were surprised!

  In September 1936, the Second Red Army marched north with the Fourth Red Army and launched the Chenghuikang Campaign in Cheng County, Huixian County, and Kangxian County on the border of Shaanxi and Gansu. The fierce offensive caused Yang Hucheng, who had great faith in Gao Gang's character, to immediately lose control of the 49th Division, which was executing the task of watching over Gao Gang.

  At this moment, the southern Shaanxi base area, although it has already spanned seven counties with a population of 3 million and more than 7,000 main force Red Army soldiers, second only to the northern Shaanxi base area as one of the main base areas. However, these seven counties not only have intertwined enemy forces but also have many landlords, bandits, or even organizations such as the "lian zhuang hu". Gao Guangzhou had long wanted to thoroughly sort out these regions and establish a solid rear base!

  So when the land in the Peach Garden was drowsy and sleepy, Gao Quan, that mischievous monkey Sun Wukong, began to wreak havoc everywhere!

  According to the Dawn War Plan, Gao Quan's troops should retake Foping, Ningxian, Zhen'an, Shangluo, Shangnan and other seven county towns from north to south. In addition to cooperating with the main force to recover lost territories, local troops should also make a false show of strength towards Hanzhong, Ankang and Xi'an, three major cities, to attract the enemy's attention!

  The vigorous offensive immediately attracted the great attention of Old Chiang! The slogan "Red all over Shaanxi, fight to Xi'an, welcome the Central Committee" was posted overnight in various large, medium and small cities in southern Shaanxi with the cooperation of the underground party. Old Chiang, whose face turned green with anger, sent a telegram to scold Zhang and Yang for their ineffectiveness in suppressing bandits!

  Zhang Yang's tacit understanding of using anti-arguments to describe the situation. Old Chiang did not dispatch troops, nor did he provide money, but instead waited for an opportunity to weaken the two departments with sinister intentions! This even made Old Chiang so angry that he was blowing his beard and staring wide-eyed, and this damned fellow didn't know how many times he cursed without feeling relieved!

  "In his view, the Central Red Army of over 80,000 people was defeated by him and only one-tenth remained, "flowing" into northern Shaanxi to join forces with local bandits. What great merit and opportunity did Zhang Yang's two men have? This is what the two men did to preserve their strength, fearing to take action, watching the enemy grow stronger, and then becoming even more afraid of losing their own power. Those troops that didn't fight should have been disbanded as a punishment, but these two bastards dared to argue back! It's simply outrageous!"

  By the end of October, Zhang Yang and others who were intimidated by Gao Quan's great threat to themselves withdrew their troops in preparation for a major attack. However, they found that the seven counties had already been transformed into an iron fortress through land reform and other powerful measures, making it impossible to penetrate. Moreover, Gao Quan had allocated land to rich peasants and middle peasants to enable them to survive, while the landlords who had escaped to the cities had their land completely confiscated.

  Looking at the provincial council and government outside, those powerful gentry in Shaanxi who were sitting on the ground crying and wailing. The chairman of the Nationalist Party's Shaanxi Provincial Government, Shao Lizi, was also very displeased in his heart. Gao Quan's move not only made the intelligence he had prepared about Zhang Yang and the Red Army colluding with each other reach a lowest point of credibility, but also made him entangled by those landlords who lost their land and property every day! Many times, even resting quietly at home was a luxury!

  In November, in a place one kilometer away from the city of Shangnan County which had just been "recovered" by the Kuomintang, a battalion of the Kuomintang's elite "Gong Bing Brigade" and over 1,000 soldiers of the Shangnan County Security Regiment were ambushed. The frightened Kuomintang soldiers constantly reminded each other that there was a jackal lurking around them, and if they made one wrong move, they would fall into an abyss from which there was no escape!

  Around December, Gao Quan suddenly remembered the incident that occurred on December 12. "Was it to assassinate Old Chiang? To let China's civil war continue? Or to let history proceed in its normal order?" As national hatred and family resentment surged up in his mind, even someone as resolute as Gao Quan found it difficult to maintain his inner clarity.

  According to the intelligence from the underground party, Gao Quan discovered that the Xi'an Incident was actually inevitable! Zhang Xueliang repeatedly advised Chiang Kai-shek to resist Japan, but was repeatedly rebuked and scolded! It must be known that Zhang Xueliang was also over 30 years old at this time, and not a three-year-old child without his own views, who could be arbitrarily manipulated by others? Old Chiang's skill of borrowing a knife to kill people obviously still hasn't been perfected!

  In just a few days, the Xi'an Incident indeed occurred and Old Chiang was arrested. The news spread through newspapers to the Red 74th Regiment, and for a time everyone's face lit up with joy, as if the victory of the revolution was within sight, as if the reactionaries would immediately disintegrate along with Old Chiang's demise!

  December 2, Zhang Xueliang flew to Luoyang to meet with Chiang Kai-shek and demanded the release of the "Seven Gentlemen" of the National Salvation Association. December 4, Chiang Kai-shek arrived in Xi'an from Luoyang and mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops to "suppress" the Red Army. Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng again advised Chiang, but were rebuked. Chiang told Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng that they must either advance their troops or transfer the Northeastern Army and the 17th Route Army to Fujian and Anhui. December 7, Zhang Xueliang met with Chiang Kai-shek at the Huaqing Pool and repeatedly pleaded with him to stop the civil war and unite against Japan, but was sternly refused. December 9, the Communist Party of China organized a large-scale mass demonstration to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the "December 9th" movement. The special police opened fire and wounded a student, causing widespread outrage among the crowd, who decided to go to Lintong to petition Chiang Kai-shek directly. Chiang Kai-shek ordered Zhang Xueliang to stop the student movement, and if necessary, to open fire on them. After receiving the order, Zhang Xueliang rushed to catch up with the demonstration and tried his best to persuade the students to return. The students of Northeastern University shouted slogans such as "Chinese people do not fight Chinese people!" and "The Northeastern Army should go back home and recover the lost territory in the Northeast!". Zhang Xueliang told the crowd that he would respond to their demands with concrete actions within three days. December 10, Chiang Kai-shek convened a meeting and formally passed the plan for the sixth "encirclement" campaign, deciding to issue a mobilization order on the 12th. December 11, Zhang Xueliang again went to the Huaqing Pool to plead with Chiang Kai-shek, but to no avail. On the evening of December 11, Chiang invited Zhang Xueliang, Yang Hucheng, and others to a dinner party, where he announced the appointment of Jiang Dingwen as the commander-in-chief of the Northwestern Bandit-Suppression Army and Wei Lihuang as the commander of the Shanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region.

  On the evening of December 11, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng held an emergency meeting at Zhi Garden to decide on launching a military coup against Chiang Kai-shek. Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng separately summoned high-ranking officers from the Northeast Army and the 17th Route Army to announce the order for the coup to take place the next morning. At 5:00 am on December 12, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng launched the coup, with the Northeast Army detaining Chiang Kai-shek at Huaqing Pool in Lintong, while the 17th Route Army detained Chen Cheng, Shao Lizi, Jiang Dingwen, Chen Diaoyuan, Wei Lihuang, Zhu Shaoliang, and other key military and political figures of the Nationalist Party in Xi'an.

  On that day, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng issued a telegram to the whole nation about the eight main proposals for saving the country, proposing: 1. Reorganize the Nanjing government, accommodate all parties and factions, and jointly take responsibility for saving the country. 2. Stop all internal wars. 3. Immediately release the patriotic leaders arrested in Shanghai. 4. Release all political prisoners nationwide. 5. Open up the people's patriotic movement. 6. Guarantee people's freedom of assembly and association and all political freedoms. 7. Truly follow Sun Yat-sen's will. 8. Immediately convene a national salvation conference.

  On December 17, the Communist Party of China sent Zhou Enlai to Xi'an to participate in the negotiations on the Xi'an Incident. On December 22, Soong Mei-ling and others arrived in Xi'an. Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng went to the airport to welcome them and held talks with Song Ziwen and Soong Mei-ling.

  On December 24, Chiang Kai-shek was forced to accept the six-point agreement: 1. Reorganize the Nationalist Party and government, expel pro-Japanese factions, and accommodate anti-Japanese elements. 2. Release patriotic leaders in Shanghai, release all political prisoners, and guarantee people's freedom rights. 3. Stop the "extermination of Communists" policy, unite with the Red Army to resist Japan. 4. Convene a national salvation conference attended by all parties, factions, circles, and armies to decide on anti-Japanese policies. 5. Establish cooperative relations with countries sympathetic to China's resistance against Japan. 6. Other specific measures for national salvation.

  On December 25, Chiang Kai-shek left Xi'an by plane, accompanied by Zhang Xueliang. They arrived in Luoyang that day. On December 26, Chiang Kai-shek arrived in Nanjing, and the Xi'an Incident was peacefully resolved. Zhang Xueliang was detained.

  The release of Old Chiang made everyone feel a little uncomfortable in their hearts, but soon everyone was immersed in the joy of the gathering. The Red Fifteenth Army Corps, which set out from northern Shaanxi and coordinated with the Northeastern Army to defend Tongguan, successfully gathered in Shang County on the afternoon of January 20th.

  More than 10,000 Red Army soldiers gathered together, instantly packing the county town of Shangnan, which had a commercial commissioner's office. Countless Red Army fighters were searching hard for their old comrades in the crowd. Soldiers from the same roots and sources hugged each other, crying and telling stories about the hardships they experienced over the past two years or more, as well as their longing for their fellow soldiers.

  Gaoquan's natural scenery is also one of them, but Gaoquan looks at the countless familiar faces without that joyful feeling. As soon as he thinks of Wu Zhengwei, who treats him like a family member, his heart is filled with unspeakable bitterness. The cat sits under an ancient locust tree whose age is unknown, watching the countless happy comrades embracing each other, touching the precious rifle in his arms, and his heart is filled with indescribable emotions.

  When the tall and majestic Gaoduan stood in front of Xu Jun and Cheng Zheng with a joyful face, the two excitedly recognized him at once: "He's grown taller! His body is stronger! He's also become more handsome! Only that small dark face hasn't changed!" Everyone laughed and chatted about Gaoduan's physical changes over the past year. The words full of concern made Gaoduan's eyes brim with tears.

  Looking at the rows of robust soldiers, looking at the brand new weapons, looking at the twelve tall mountain cannons, and many mortars, light and heavy machine guns. Xu Haidong and Cheng Zihua had unspeakable envy in their eyes! "Old Chief! These soldiers and equipment are impressive, aren't they? But I think they can't compare to our old Red 25th Army! Our troops that came out of the Dabie Mountains could walk and fight! They were good at ideological work and had high awareness! Compared to these young whippersnappers, we were in a different league altogether!" Gao Quan was grinning from ear to ear, respectfully leading the two old chiefs to inspect his most prized possession - his troops!

  Heavily, on the high and full chest, he punched a fist, only slightly relieving the depression in Xu Jun's heart, also said with great joy: "You little monster is really rich! But you are indeed strong now! Even twelve brand new mountain cannons! More prosperous than our Shaanxi North Main Force Red Army! I don't know how you did it! However, I'm very poor now! You can just support a hundred and eighty machine guns, a dozen mortars, a few thousand rifles, and ten million rounds of ammunition!" Xu Jun looked at the boastful Gao Quan with a subtle smile.

  Kao Daquan remained silent for a long time, as if cutting his own flesh, before finally agreeing to Xu Jun's terms with great reluctance. He also handed over 1 million yuan from the Central Government and 500 taels of gold. However, Kao Daquan also cleverly extorted hundreds of old soldiers and dozens of capable political workers from the Red Fifteenth Army Corps!

  Two foxes, one big and one small, consulted with each other and felt that it was in their best interest to agree to the terms. In fact, Xu Jun, the regimental commander, did not know that Gao Quan had captured a Nationalist army's arsenal repair depot in Shang County (now Shangluo), and using the large amount of ammunition, explosives, and machinery stored inside, he set up his own bullet reloading factory and arsenal repair depot. The things given to the old commander were usually taken from the small treasuries of various units or pulled out from the arsenal repair depot!

  Tomorrow, reorganize the troops, does anyone have any opinions? An independent division (7,000 people) or an independent regiment (7,000 people)? Book review area