Chapter Twenty-Six: A Turn of Events

  December 11th evening, Huaqing Pool.

  The big shots all rushed back to Xi'an to celebrate Jiang Dingwen's appointment as the commander-in-chief of the Northwest Bandit-Suppression Army and Wei Lihuang's appointment as the commander of the Shanxi-Shaanxi-Ningxia border region, and they indulged in feasting and merriment; Zhang Xueliang returned to Xi'an after his last unsuccessful attempt at "weeping remonstrance" to prepare for a "military remonstrance"; while I stood there with tears of regret, watching the cars drive away westward, thinking that just now I had been "forced" to decline this dinner party that could have helped me escape from Huaqing Pool; except for a few unlucky ones, after they finished their big meal tonight, all they would have to do is eat half a month's worth of special prison food, while I would have to risk my life in a fifty-fifty gamble!

  I let out a deep sigh and went to patrol around the place first, also took a look at today's domestic intelligence summary that was handed in, but there wasn't anything major; afterwards I saw that Old Chiang wasn't in a good mood either, didn't invite me to have his hometown specialty for dinner again. Good! Although I'm not a fan of Ningbo dishes as breakfast, but as lunch and dinner, it's really unbearable! After finishing dinner with the cadres in the temporary dining hall and servant room, using the excuse of taking a hundred steps after meals, I made my final check on the escape route behind the wall; then I returned to my own small room and started meditating.

  Although I have forgotten the specific method and time of Xi'an Incident, but with the current actual situation can be analyzed, the outer guard of the headquarters is the Northeast Army combat troops, the Zhongyang intelligence system will not be difficult to infiltrate, in order to keep it secret, Zhang and Yang will definitely not notify in advance; from the terrain and the scale deployment of the inner guards of the headquarters, the Northeast Army who came to capture Chiang can only launch a frontal attack, Chiang has the opportunity to run up the back mountain; The jingwei line loyal to Old Chiang only has two lines, the first line is the constabulary in front of Huaqing Palace with about two platoons, all night there are sentry posts, the second line is Chiang's guard inside Huaqing Pool with about one platoon, at night there are several double sentry posts at key points, the rest are including me and dozens of non-combatant attendants and miscellaneous personnel.

  My best option was to pretend to resist when the vanguard arrived, then escape with Old Chiang up the mountain and surrender after a few hours when the Northeast Army came to search; I had to prepare for a midnight escape, but not too well, otherwise... I didn't want to learn from Qian Daquan who regained Old Chiang's trust only after being shot. With my mind made up and preparations complete, I quickly fell asleep with just my outer garment removed.

  "Bang, bang, bang!" The sound of gunfire suddenly erupted, followed by the continuous and uninterrupted sounds of rifles and twenty rounds of gunfire. I was startled awake and it began! I quickly got out of bed, put on my intentionally wrinkled and dirty Zhongshan suit, pants, and sneakers, ate some snacks, and drank water. Just as I finished drinking water, the sound of machine gun fire suddenly rang out in the distance, and the garrison couldn't hold on any longer! I immediately rushed out the door towards Old Chiang's residence, Wujianting, outside was already chaotic, clerks and servants were frantically running around shouting. As soon as I arrived at Old Chiang's bedroom, I saw several bodyguards carrying him out amidst the flashing lights of electric batons. They turned towards the backyard, I followed them, running all the way to the back wall where I had intentionally placed stones. Sure enough, several bodyguards helped Old Chiang climb over the wall at the spot I had chosen, and I also took advantage of the opportunity to squeeze in behind them and climb over the wall. This time, no one would twist their ankle, right?

  Under the repeated gunshots, our small group of people rushed to run up Lushan Mountain. Some people scattered and fell behind, but I followed Old Chiang's bald head. When we reached halfway up the mountain, two guards carrying Old Chiang couldn't take it anymore and put him down to catch their breath. Although I was also panting, I quickly went forward to support Old Chiang: "Brother-in-law, let's go." In the chaos, I, along with a familiar guard, carried Old Chiang past Hupan Rock and Shidong Cave - wasn't this the famous location of the Capture of Chiang Kai-shek that I had visited before? Why were we still running upwards? Unbelievable! We ran another few hundred meters in panic, until the three of us finally couldn't take it anymore and collapsed on the rocks to catch our breath. The sound of gunfire from below gradually decreased, and after two more shots, it stopped completely.

  After a while, we finally caught our breath and looked at each other. I recognized the guard as Chiang Kai-shek's nephew, Jiang Xiaozhen. Chiang finally spoke up, "Cough, cough! Zian, Xiaozhen, do you know what happened? Was it an enemy attack or a rebellion by the Northeast Army?"

  "Brother-in-law, judging from the situation, it seems that there is a mutiny within the Northeast Army. If it were an enemy attack, it wouldn't be possible to cause such chaos, and the surrounding Northeast Army troops shouldn't still be on their way to provide reinforcements."

  "These damned Northeasterners are really something! Zian, what are we going to do now?"

  I knew it was a big show put on by Zhang and Yang, but this can't be predicted more accurately!

  "It looks like this is at least initiated by the Northeast Army's regimental-level cadres, and it shouldn't be to the point of wanting to kill my brother-in-law; maybe they just want to detain him to negotiate conditions. Let's hide on the mountain for now! As long as we wait until dawn, it'll be fine; before that, don't let the chaotic soldiers discover us, otherwise, who knows..."

  Look, Old Chiang agreed, and we continued to walk in a zigzag pattern for dozens of meters before hiding behind a pile of rocks. As I sat down, feeling the cold wind piercing my bones, I couldn't help but feel resentful. What was the point of preparing stepping stones and choosing a location to climb over? In any case, we would still end up as captives. If Old Chiang got injured, wouldn't it be better for us to wait in the stone cave below until dawn and then become captives? At least that way, we wouldn't have to endure the cold wind.

  Only Old Chiang was still viciously saying: "Just wait till dawn, Han Ying will come to clean up these rebellious elements!"

  I saw Old Chiang shivering in the cold wind of December, wrapped in a silk nightgown. I had no choice but to quickly take off my Zhongshan suit and put it on him.

  "Zi An, you're great!"

  "This is what I should have done. Sister's husband, what if it was Vice Commander Zhang who launched the rebellion?"

  Chiang Kai-shek shook violently for a moment, then firmly said: "It won't happen, I believe in Han Ying."

  I heard Old Jiang's belly calling, I pretended to search in my pocket, and finally found a few pieces of candy that I had prepared beforehand in the upper garment of Old Jiang.

  "Zi'an, Xiaozhen, let's eat separately!"

  We made fun of the bitter situation with candies, everyone fell silent, I knew that everything was safe and sound, what needed to be done had been done, just waiting for the Northeast Army to search the mountain as captives! It was really tiring, relying on thick woolen clothes and thick underwear to keep warm, curled up and continued to sleep! Only Old Chiang and Little Chiang were left staring at each other.

  At last, I was awakened from my sweet dream by someone. As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw Jiang Xiaozhen's face full of panic; following his gaze and turning around, I found that it had already dawned, with dozens of Northeastern Army officers and soldiers standing in front of us, led by Sun Mingjiu.

  With the coat I gave him, although he was still a bit cold, Old Jiang no longer had the image of shivering in his pajamas. He looked up at Sun Mingjiu and asked with some dignity: "What are you here for? Have you come to kill me?"

  So Sun Mingjiu, the commander of the camp, said as recorded in history books: "It's not to beat you to death, but to make you resist!"

  "Where are you from?"

  "We are the Northeast Army! Vice Commander Zhang ordered us to come and protect the Chairman, please Chairman enter the city, lead us in resisting Japan and drive them back to the Northeast!"

  "Ah! You're Sun Yingchang, you're Sun Mingjiu?"

  "It's me! How did you know my name?"

  "Hmm, I know, someone reported me." Old Jiang might have seen that safety was temporarily not a problem and said: "You're a good young man... you're a good young man!"

  "Deputy Commander wants the Chairman to lead us in resistance, he didn't tell me to kill the Chairman." Sun Mingjiu, who did not want to talk to Old Chiang anymore, said: "Chairman, please go down the mountain and enter the city! Deputy Commander Zhang is waiting for you there!"

  Old Chiang angrily said: "Call Vice-Commander Chang for me! I'm not going anywhere!"

  Sun Mingjiu waved his hand and said, "This place is not safe, please Chairman, let's hurry down the mountain! You can't walk, we can carry you down the mountain." Several Northeast Army generals came over and carried Chiang Kai-shek on their shoulders, pushing him down the mountain.

  After we were searched by the Northeast Army, we were also driven to follow Old Chiang down the mountain. Passing by the Yuwang Temple, a Northeast Army lieutenant colonel came up and said, "Mr. Song Zian! Hello!"

  "Who are you?"

  "Don't you remember? Just a few days ago, I accompanied you and Mr. Jiang Baili on a trip to Xi'an?"

  "Oh! Right, you're Xiao Deputy Officer by Han Ying's side!"

  "Yes, Deputy Commander Zhang sent me to escort you back to the Western Capital Reception Center for rest. Please!" He also helped me put on a Northeast Military Academy officer's overcoat.

  So, accompanied by Deputy Officer Xiao, I followed Chiang's sedan chair and left the ill-fated Huaqing Pool. As I gazed at the bodies of the Zhongyāng military police and guards being carried out, I asked with a bitter smile: "How about the people in the attendants' room? Can you tell me?"

  Xiao Deputy Officer also smiled bitterly and replied: "Director Qian was shot, but the injury is not serious, the military doctor said it will be fine in one or two months, the rest of the gentlemen and staff are all right; only more than a hundred of your constabulary and guards were casualties over half."

  It was another bumpy ride without a word, and I was escorted back to the Xi'an Xijing Guest House. As soon as I entered the hall, the detained officials surrounded me, and Jiang Baili excitedly hugged me: "Zi'an, you're okay! Great!"

  "How is the Chairman?" "Is the Chairman all right?" Chen Cheng, Zhu Shaoliang, Jiang Dingwen and others asked in succession.

  "Chairman Ping'an, we hid on Mount Li for a while and were searched out. Now Chairman has gone to see Deputy Commander Zhang; are you all right?"

  "Everyone here is fine. Shao Yi Ru tried to escape and was severely beaten, he's being rescued now. A few others are lightly injured. What about the Lin Tong side?"

  "Qian Muyun was shot but not seriously injured, the others were mostly fine, but many of the guards and constabulary were killed or wounded."

  "As long as everyone is basically fine, then it's all good!"

  While everyone was discussing, I, exhausted, quickly rushed into the dining hall. With the spirit of filling my stomach after a meal, I went back to my room to make up for sleep; while the big officials discussed for a while and then returned to their rooms, waiting for the chairman and Zhang and Yang to discuss prices.