Chapter 28: Downfall

  Nanjing, Ji Ming Shan Song Gong Guan

  As soon as I got off the plane from Xi'an, Yunyan rushed into my arms.

  "Ah!" I was immediately hit with a slap in the face, my heart full of joy. I covered my chin and hadn't even had time to speak when I heard Yunyan say in my ear, "How's that? Miss me?"

  "Goose! You're stealing my lines!"

  "Haha!" Yunyan clung tightly to me, laughing as we walked into Song's mansion. "Come on, let's go find Zhang Xueliang and settle the score! How dare he lock up my husband? Hmph!"

  Just like I thought, the husband and wife are in perfect harmony! "No, it's the wife who follows the husband!" Yunyan immediately corrected my careless words. As we were about to enter the door, a puff of smoke suddenly filled the air. "Cough, cough," Big Sister said with a smile, "Let's get rid of the evil spirit."

  We laughed and endured a smoky fire before entering the living room, "Big brother! I'm back!"

  Soong Tse-ven came out to greet him, "Younger brother, don't blame older brother for not coming to see you, I really couldn't get away!"

  "No wonder!" I looked around and Song Ziwen suddenly came to his senses, pulling me into the study.

  "Big brother, you're really off the mark this time!"

  "What? Am I not helping Third Sister?"

  "It's not this, it's you letting Han Ying come back together with him."

  "Don't worry, little brother, Jie Shi has guaranteed Han Ying's safety."

  "Big brother! Do you think Brother-in-law's private words have any credibility? It was Third Sister and Big Brother you who publicly guaranteed that Han Ying would be fine!"

  "Could it be that your prediction is about Jian Shi detaining Han Ying?"

  "It's probably because Han Qing has been detained for a long time!"

  "Really?"

  "Big brother! Have you seen me making any inaccurate predictions recently?"

  "What... what should I do?"

  "So it depends on whether San Jie and Da Ge want to help Han Ying or not? Or do they not want to help? But even if they don't want to help, they must have a way out, otherwise it's inevitable..."

  Looking at Big Brother's hesitant expression, I continued: "I think time is running out, and Han Ying's days in our house are probably only two or three more."

  "If you want help? How can I help?"

  "My brother-in-law's current handling of Han Ying is still undecided. Since it's undecided, my best strategy would be to follow the usual practice since the Republic of China era: as long as Han Ying announces his retirement in a place like the Executive Yuan, Third Sister and Big Brother can escort him to the Shanghai Concession and then send him abroad."

  "Is this okay? What about the other two strategies?"

  "The middle strategy is for Big Brother to secretly send Han Qing to Shanghai, and then go abroad for a few years before saying anything else. However, this approach would be beneficial for controlling the forces affiliated with Han Qing, but it would have a great impact on Big Brother, and being remembered by the Chairman is not a good thing. As for the worst-case scenario, you can all go together to ask your brother-in-law to publicly guarantee Han Qing's personal freedom, but if that doesn't work out, I'm afraid the first two strategies won't be feasible."

  "With the best strategy, Han Ying's power will likely be greatly weakened before his return; with the middle strategy, our family's future...; this worst-case scenario would hand over the initiative to Jie Shi. If Jie Shi fails to keep his promise or goes back on his word, Han Ying will be put under house arrest and most of the Northeastern Army will be divided and dissolved. Younger brother, what do you think we should do?"

  "I think both the upper and lower strategies are viable. If Big Brother cannot decide, he can ask Third Sister; if Third Sister still cannot decide, then ask Han Ying himself."

  "Alright, let's go eat, little brother still needs to rest, I'll go ask third sister first."

  The little separation was a new marriage. The next morning, when I and Yunyan were still entangled together, there was an untimely knock on the door. We quickly tidied up, and Yunyan blushed as she opened the door to see her elder sister standing at the entrance, who said somewhat awkwardly: "Big brother wants little brother to go over."

  "Sister-in-law, okay, I'll go right away."

  After a brief discussion with Da Ge, we boarded the Beijige together. "Vice Commander Zhang, it's been a long time!"

  Zhang Xueliang, who was gazing at Zhongshan, came back to his senses and said, "Zi'an, your younger brother and sister have already come to scold you, and they almost fired their guns. How fierce!"

  No wonder his attendants looked at us with an air of disapproval when we went upstairs! Hehe, seeing that he was in a good mood, I joked: "Are there many virtuous and capable wives like Sister Ru?"

  Zhang Xueliang hadn't even responded when I already let out a painful "ah!"

  Yunyan withdrew her hand, smiling complacently. "Since Zi'an is back, the previous account doesn't count! Next time, humph! Be more careful!" She smiled and went down; however, according to plan, she sat at the foot of the stairs 'enjoying the mountain view'.

  The elder brother sighed and spoke first: "Han Ying, I'm really sorry. Last night, the third sister told us that she asked Jie Shi to publicly guarantee your personal freedom, but was rejected; Jie Shi said 'Han Ying is clever with small things, but muddled with big things, I want him to stay here and read a few more years of books'."

  Chiang Kai-shek's original words

  Zhang Xueliang's smiling face suddenly stiffened.

  I hastily added fuel to the fire: "Except for Jiang Xiaoxian, who was killed by Han Ying in Xi'an, and a few other younger brothers of the Chairman, the Chairman's own brother, Jiang Jie, was anxious and depressed because you arrested the Chairman, his illness suddenly took a turn for the worse, and he died last night."

  Historical fact

  "We discussed the current situation and came up with three options: Firstly, Han Ying goes to the State Council to announce his withdrawal from politics, and then we send you to Shanghai to go abroad, and wait for a few years before returning; Secondly, we secretly send you to Shanghai to go abroad, but there will be some risks along the way, and after a few years, we'll see how the situation changes before making a decision; Thirdly, stay behind and gamble on the attitude of the Chairman, but Han Ying is likely to face long-term house arrest."

  Seeing Zhang Xueliang still hesitating, I continued to add fuel: "If Brother Han chooses the third option, then before Brother Han regains his freedom, more than 200,000 Northeastern Army troops will likely cease to exist; if Brother Han chooses options two or one and succeeds, relying on Brother Han's abilities and connections, perhaps most of them can be preserved."

  After a while, Zhang Xueliang came back to his senses and asked, "How much time is left before the war?"

  I was stunned, "Both Baili and Mr. Geng Guang think it should be around next summer or autumn."

  "If I go abroad now, what will be the situation by then?"

  "I thought that by then it would definitely be a nationwide united front against Japan, with all parties and factions gathering under the Chinese flag to resist Japan together; if Brother Han can control the Northeastern Army during his time abroad, when he returns home he will still be able to command most of the Northeastern Army to participate in the war of resistance."

  "Alright! As the two brothers said, I choose the first one."

  Zhang Xueliang agreed to the first option, so we quickly made arrangements. Before long, Yunyan and I set off in Big Brother's special train. "Let's go," he said, "we're going to the residence of the Chairman of the National Government Committee."

  Looking back, several other cars were preparing to depart. My elder brother was going to accompany Zhang Xueliang to the Executive Yuan, which was in session, to submit his resignation and retire from politics. As I gazed at the motorcade, I couldn't help but let out a deep sigh - changing history is indeed not an easy task!

  Relying on the prestige of the Song family and Li Jing's 'official authority', we traveled unimpeded all the way, and Yunyan and I walked hand in hand to the door of the Chairman's office.

  "Director! Zi An is back!"

  "Ah! Zian! And Yunyan has also arrived, sit down quickly!" Chiang Kai-shek was still very pleased to see us.

  "Director, I won't sit down. I'll go see Madam," Yun Yan excused himself and left with the secretary, leaving only me and Old Jiang in the office.

  "Good boy! Thanks a lot for what you did at Huaqing Pool! Brother-in-law will never forget it!"

  "Is the chairman a good brother-in-law of Zian?" After a heap of polite words, they entered the main topic.

  "Brother-in-law, this is the 'Draft of Military Merit Evaluation' I mentioned to you some time ago. Please take a look."

  Old Chiang took it and examined it carefully, nodding from time to time.

  "This plan is aimed at certain commanders who repeatedly make false reports of their military achievements, and is based on the calculation of captured and lost weapons and equipment, with some special compensation measures added. It should be able to fundamentally eliminate false reporting of military achievements."

  "Alright! The false reports of victories on the front line have always been my headache! They claim to have 'eliminated' thousands or tens of thousands of enemies, and if you add them up, it's enough to eliminate the entire population of the enemy area! It makes me wonder whether I should investigate or not; but fortunately, General Zhang thought ahead and decided not to count heads, instead using weapons and ammunition as the standard. Haha!" After laughing, Old Chiang worriedly said: "But this way, won't some generals try to confiscate civilian guns?"

  "Brother-in-law, it's good to confiscate civilian guns!"

  "What did you say?"

  "The regular provincial and county security teams did not dare to take credit, while the rest of the civilian guns were mostly owned by bandits and evil gentry. Confiscating them would be beneficial for the government to implement the Three Principles of the People; if not confiscated, these armed forces were mostly weak in combat power and could be easily taken away by the enemy."

  "Not bad! I approve of this draft, let Blair and them modify the wording."

  "Brother-in-law, and I also have some ideas on 'Lu Jun's construction suggestions' that I conceived in Xijing." I took out another document, "Now the whole country is basically at peace, it is estimated that next year or the year after next, our war with Japan will be unavoidable. To enhance the combat effectiveness of the army, I also have some suggestions on the army's organization."

  "Compilation? That's Geng Guang's responsibility, this is what was discussed with him?"

  "No, Mr. Geng Guang's views on the army's organization are not entirely shared by me, this is my own opinion. The main point is that the current small unit organization of the army is too large, which is not a problem now, but in a big war, when low-level officers are wounded and their quality decreases, it will be difficult to effectively control; while the middle and high-level units are too small, not only wasting manpower and resources, but also reducing combat effectiveness due to multiple levels of transmission. I think we should reduce the scale of units below the regiment level, and reduce the number of command levels above the regiment."

  Chiang Kai-shek flipped through one side and asked: "Do you want to cancel the first-class travel? Will the army corps, route armies and others above the rank of general be merged into one?"

  "Yes, the current army system has too many levels of command: squad, platoon, company, battalion, regiment, brigade, division, corps, army group, and route army. And above that, there are also wartime-established army groups and war zones; the Ministry of Military Affairs even plans to establish another level between the army group and war zone - an army-level command! The number of levels is really terrifying! Napoleon once said: 'When all other conditions are equal, victory will always go to the side with the simpler system.' Brother-in-law, our military's command structure has reached a point where it must be simplified!"

  The above is a historical fact. After the full-scale anti-war began, it was decided to reduce the level of command, and finally formed: squad, platoon, company, battalion, regiment, division, army, army group, war zone. This relatively simple command system.

  "This idea has its merits, but we need to discuss the specifics in a meeting. However, have you considered, Zi'an, that reducing personnel below the regimental level would mainly affect lower-level cadres; merging units above the division level is just a name change, and most cadres above the division level wouldn't be significantly affected; while abolishing the brigade level, what do you plan to do with the hundreds of brigade commanders and deputy commanders in the entire army?"

  "The downsizing of the brigade will inevitably lead to the emergence of more brigades, and deputy commanders can take on deputy positions in divisions, such as deputy chief of staff; the three-brigade division system will also inevitably lead to the emergence of more divisions, and deputy division commanders and brigade commanders can serve as new division commanders and deputy division commanders." Just as I was about to continue explaining, I heard a hurried knock at the door.

  "Come in!"

  "Report to the Chairman, Deputy Commander Zhang is issuing a statement of resignation and withdrawal from public life at the Executive Yuan."

  "What?" Old Jiang turned his head to look at me, and I happened to make a stupid face; fortunately, Old Jiang only took a glance and hurriedly walked out, leaving only a sentence: "Zi'an, I have official business, you do as you please."

  After seeing him off, I hurriedly ran to San Jie's place in the backyard and saw San Jie and Yun Yan, letting out a long sigh.