Chapter 50: Sweeping Across Eastern Guizhou (Three)

  After sending the telegram and arranging the defense, Yang Dezhi and Li Lin walked out of the Jianhe County Government and thought about getting familiar with the environment on the street.

  The street of Jianhe is now empty, all the shops have closed and there are no pedestrians. I guess when the Guizhou army retreated, the businessmen followed them to run away, those who didn't run were probably hiding in their houses and not coming out. Only the soldiers of the Red First Regiment rested temporarily in groups of companies and platoons, leaning against the walls of various shops.

  Yang Dezhi said to Li Lin: "Commissar, we need to think of a way to get the masses out and get the shops open. The main force will arrive soon, and tonight we must camp here, so we need to come up with a plan to get some hot food and hot water!"

  Just as Li Lin was about to speak, he saw an old woman hobbling along with a stick in her hand and a child in tow. When she reached Li Lin and Yang Dezhi, she trembled and said: "Give us something to eat!"

  Yang Dezhi took a closer look and found that it was an old man and his grandson, with tattered clothes and thin as firewood. He and Li Lin quickly took out a rice ball and put it in their hands. Seeing the greedy look of the old man and his grandson eating the rice ball, Yang Dezhi asked: "Old man, who are you?"

  The old lady said: "We are dry people!"

  Yang Dezhi didn't hear clearly and asked again. The little grandson of Sun who had just finished eating rice balls said loudly: "We are dry people!"

  Yang Dezhi and Li Lin heard clearly, it turned out they were Gan people. But what kind of people are the Gan people? Never having heard of a nation or profession called Gan people before, Yang Dezhi couldn't help but ask: "What kind of people are the Gan people?"

  That little grandson said loudly: "Don't you even know what a poor man is? A poor man is someone who has nothing."

  Later, Yang Dezhi finally understood that the so-called "dry people" were actually called "exploited people", meaning those who had been exploited by the reactionary government to the point of having nothing left. The word "dry" meant being squeezed dry like bone marrow oil.

  Seeing the Red Army giving food to these two dry people, soon, many dry people rushed out from the corners of the county town, all stretching out their hands to beg the Red Army. The Red Army soldiers took out their own dry rations and let these dry people eat.

  Looking at the poor people eating dry rations, Yang Dezhi felt his eyes burning. Thinking back to when he participated in the Xiangnan Uprising, he had thought that poor people would not revolt and had no way out, but he did not expect that the poor people here were even poorer and more desperate than those in his hometown! It was all the fault of Chiang Kai-shek and his reactionary government.

  The full-bellied gentlemen began to inform the Red Army. Which of the evil tyrants who ate people without spitting out bones was hiding at home and hadn't run away; those doing business were afraid to come out, and voluntarily guided the way for the Red Army, shouted people, and called doors.

  Li Lin said to Yang Dezhi, "Is the problem solved? There are many poor people in the world and few rich people. The poor are the soil for our Red Army's survival. As long as there is a place with poor people, it will be difficult for the Red Army to be trapped."

  Yang Dezhi smiled and said: "Right on!"

  The main force of the army had arrived at Jianhe County, and the doors were already open. The soldiers of the regiment, with the help of the residents, had already boiled hot water and were cooking rice.

  Received a telegram from the Red First Corps commander Yang Dezhong on the evening of the 16th. The Central Revolutionary Military Commission ordered the First Army Corps to occupy Taijiang by the 17th, with the vanguard advancing towards Huangping; the Second Division, Cadre Regiment and Military Commission Column of the First Army Corps advanced to Jianhe; the Fifth Army Corps and Ninth Army Corps cleared out the reactionary militia in Jianhe and Taijiang. Mobilize the masses; the Third Army Corps advanced along the Yongjiang River and Leishan, occupying the county seat of Leishan after which it would head north to Jianhe to merge with the main force of the First Army Corps, preparing to capture Huangping.

  The Central Revolutionary Military Commission emphasized in the telegram that the Guangxi and Hunan armies have been tied down by our Central Guard Regiment, and it is impossible for the enemy's central army to arrive within a few days. The Guizhou army in front of us is weak. It requires each army corps to take action, and eradicate the reactionary ruling forces of Wang Jialie in southeastern Guizhou.

  The situation encountered by He Hong and his troops was basically the same. As soon as the main force of the Red Army entered the border of Jianhe, what greeted them were not firecrackers at the gate of Liping City, but groups of dry men.

  Jianghe is poorer and more backward compared to Liping.

  Historically, during the Red Army's Long March, there were four instances of weeping. One of them occurred at Jianhe: An old woman from a poor family collapsed by the roadside, and her little grandson stood beside her begging the Red Army for help. The scene was so moving that it brought tears to their eyes, and the Red Army soldiers buried the old woman and took away the little boy.

  The Red Army troops stationed in the villages and towns of Jianhe River. Strictly adhering to discipline, not a single hair was disturbed. The people of all ethnic groups curiously sized up this army from afar: buying and selling publicly, speaking kindly. It's said that an old peasant sold a pig to the Red Army for 23 silver dollars, which is six more than the usual price. As soon as the news spread throughout the villages, relatively wealthy families and businessmen came out to welcome the Red Army, help them purchase supplies, exchange their local specialties with the Red Army, and suddenly, impoverished Jianhe River experienced a brief prosperity.

  On the 17th, the Red First Army Corps occupied Taiqian, and the county magistrate of Taiqian fled with tax silver. The main force of the Red Army launched a mass movement in Jianhe and Taiqian, suppressing local tyrants and opening granaries to distribute grain.

  On the 17th afternoon, just as the Red Army's main force was launching a massive attack on Jianhe and Taizhou, an unexpected scene appeared in Xikou, Tongdao County, Hunan: The cavalry regiment of Liu Jianxu's Hunan army, led by senior advisor Liu Qingchu, was handing over their weapons and ammunition to the Red Army.

  Liu Yimin's letters to He Jian and Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi were all read by Cai Zhong, Liu Jianli, Li Qing, Wu Zheng. The letter to He Jian was thought to be impossible to achieve its purpose because He Jian was too reactionary and had always been ruthless towards the Red Army. However, exchanging weapons and ammunition with Xiang Army prisoners for He Jian, although unlikely, at least made some sense. As for the letters to Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi, they were simply absurd. Those two people were what kind of people? They dared to turn against Chiang Kai-shek at any time, and Liu Yimin actually dared to touch their sore spot. So when he got up on the 17th morning and arranged for troops to go to Xikou and Yahetou to receive weapons and exchange prisoners, several people thought that the new division commander was not feeling well after being excited the night before, as if he was still having a fever dream.

  Liu Yimin also did not explain, ordering Li Qing to lead the engineering battalion to Xikou to receive Hunan Army weapons and ammunition, particularly noting that there must be no casualties during the escort of prisoners. Before the troops departed, he wanted to meet with the Hunan Army prisoners. Then he ordered Wu Zheng to lead the logistics battalion to Yatunbao to receive Guangxi Army weapons and ammunition.

  Cai Zhong suggested that each of them bringing only one camp was too few, and if the Xiang Army or Gui Army were to turn against them, they would likely suffer a great loss, so they should mobilize their main force.

  Liu Yimin said, "Don't worry, Commissioner. This is just a normal transaction between the two armies and nothing will happen. If we mobilize our main forces, it won't be about exchanging prisoners of war or receiving weapons and ammunition. That would be fighting. For now, there's no battle to be fought between us, the Hunan Army, and the Guangxi Army."

  Cai Zhong asked: "How did you know that the Xiang Army and Gui Army wouldn't take advantage of the situation to set up an ambush and annihilate us?"

  Liu Yimin said: "The warlords are all of that kind, bullying the weak and fearing the strong. He Jian was beaten by us and is eager to use these captives to rebuild three divisions, not only will he not ambush us, but also fear that Chiang Kai-shek and the Central Army will know, so he will send his trusted personnel to quickly complete the transaction. As for Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi, there is no problem at all, they are probably still hoping that we will use the ammunition they provided to defeat the Central Army."

  Tsai Chung said hesitantly, "It's impossible to have said that before. Although the Guangxi Army had contradictions with Chiang Kai-shek, they were consistent in eliminating the Red Army. You also said that during the Battle of Xiangjiang, our Red Army suffered from underestimating the enemy and did not realize that the Guangxi Army would fight us to the death."

  Liu Yimin laughed, unexpectedly Cai Zhong remembered what he said so clearly! After laughing, he said a sentence to Cai Zhong "This is one time, that is another time" and then took Cai Zhong to see the about-to-be-released Tao Guang, Zhang Liangji and six Xiang Army brigade commanders.

  On the main road at the entrance of Xiangzhou Street, Li Qing's labor battalion had already arranged the Hunan Army prisoners in formation. Tao Guang, Zhang Liangji and a group of officers stood in front, behind them were 1,300 lightly wounded Hunan soldiers formed into three columns, fully armed labor battalion soldiers standing guard in front of and behind, and to the left and right of the formation.

  Seeing Liu Yimin and Cai Zhong coming over, Li Qing led the battalion commander He Mingliang and instructor Ren Chaoran to run forward together. After saluting, Li Qing loudly reported: "Report to the division commander and political commissar, the troops have assembled and are ready to depart, please instruct!"

  Liu Yimin shouted: "Please rest for a moment!" Then he came directly in front of the Xiang Army prisoner group.

  Liu Yimin's mind was complicated when facing Tao Guang and Zhang Liangji. After all, he was a man from the future. His strong hatred towards the Red Army soldiers was slightly different. He knew that Tao Guang and Zhang Liangji in front of him had also fought against the Japanese invaders during the war of resistance, and Zhang Liangji had even sacrificed his life for the country. They were all meritorious generals who had made great contributions to the nation and the people. Fortunately, Xiao Shui and Xi had been killed, otherwise he would have felt extremely guilty. However, Tao Guang and Zhang Liangji during the Red Army period were also pioneers in suppressing communism, and many Red Army martyrs had fallen under their guns and those of their troops. Killing them wouldn't be a loss at all. What complex characters they were!

  Looking at the young Red Army division commander in front of him, all the Xiang Army captive officers, including Tao Guang and Zhang Liangji, were shocked. Although Wang Yuying had said that the commander of this Red Army unit was very young, Tao Guang, Zhang Liangji, and most of the officers did not believe it. It's impossible for a 20-year-old kid to come up with such a ruthless battle plan, one ring after another, making people pinch their noses and jump in.

  These captive officers have seen the Red Army's training scenes during meals in these days of detention, and they know that this is a well-trained and exceptionally powerful force. Although they all feel that their defeat is a bit unjust, but when dealing with such a Red Army unit, even if they are evenly matched and open to battle, it is estimated that they will still be difficult to escape the word "defeat". However, they never expected that the commander of this Red Army unit would really be as young as Wang Yuying said. It's unfair, how can they, these veteran generals, lose to a commander who looks like a foreign student?

  It was already 7:30 in the morning, and the rising sun shone on Liu Yimin, who stood silently like a statue, casting a halo around him. The scene was quiet.

  Standing beside Tao Guang, Zhong Guangren was somewhat stifled by this silence and asked: "Officer, are you thinking of killing us? If so, then hurry up, we can't even frown without being considered counter-revolutionaries."

  Liu Yimin only then realized that the Xiang Army captive officers had misunderstood, thinking that the Red Army would also line them up and take them out to be shot like they did when killing people!

  Liu Yimin spoke up: "General Tao Guang, General Zhang Liangji, and all of you brothers who have been captured:"

  "I've gathered you all together today, not to execute you, but to set you free!"

  At this point, the Xiang Army prisoners suddenly became chaotic. Some were shouting with excitement, some were crying with joy, and others had already begun to think about how to fabricate lies to avoid being pursued by their superiors after they returned.

  Listening to the noise in the team, Liu Yimin frowned. Zhang Liangji took a look and was afraid that this red army commander would get angry and change his mind, so he immediately stood up and shouted: "What's the noise? What kind of discipline is this?"

  The team fell silent, and Liu Yimin began to speak again: "I'll make three points. Consider it a farewell to all the commanders and brothers. Firstly, the Japanese enemy has occupied the vast territory beyond the Great Wall in Northeast China, and tens of millions of people have become slaves to the Japanese enemy. This is a shame for every Chinese person, and even more so for every Chinese man. We should pick up our guns and go to the front lines to fight against the Japanese enemy with all our might. Any unit that refuses to go to the front lines is a traitorous unit, any commander who refuses to fight is a traitorous commander, and any soldier who refuses to fight is no different from a traitor. They are only interested in fighting internal wars, fighting the Red Army, and have no difference with the Japanese invaders."

  "Down with Japanese invaders! It's glorious to resist Japan, shameful not to!"

  The warriors of the Engineer Battalion followed with loud slogans. The earth-shaking slogans shocked the hearts and souls of the Xiang Army prisoners, scaring them out of their wits.

  Here is the translation:

  "As soon as the slogans stopped, Liu Yimin's voice came up: 'Secondly. The Red Army is an armed force of workers and peasants, not a bandit gang. We are now going north to resist Japan and become the vanguard of national salvation. We need the support of people from all ethnic groups across the country, and we welcome the strong support of you military officers.

  Thirdly, casualties on both sides during battles are normal. However, using war as an excuse to massacre ordinary civilians is intolerable. Why was Chen Guangzhong killed? And why were some of our captured officers and soldiers executed? It's because their hands were stained with the blood of innocent people. They are worse than bandits and similar to Japanese devils.

  Therefore, I hope that when you return, you will become military personnel who love the country and its people, rather than becoming traitors who harm the country and its people. As we part ways, I sincerely hope that one day we can fight side by side on the battlefield against Japan, supporting each other and killing Japanese devils together.'"

  Liu Yimin finished speaking and didn't look at Tao Guang, Zhang Liangji and others' reactions, waved his hand and directly ordered Li Qing to lead the team to set off.

  Li Qing led the workers and soldiers to the creek mouth. It was still early, and the Xiang Army had not arrived yet. Battalion commander He Mingliang led the first and second companies to occupy the high ground south of the creek mouth in secret. Instructor Ren Chaoran led two platoons of the third company to guard the prisoners, while he himself took one platoon of the third company into the creek mouth to wait for contact with the Xiang Army.

  Until then, Li Qing still did not believe that the Xiang Army would send someone to deliver weapons and ammunition. What a joke, letting He Jian, this old turtle egg, release Red Army prisoners of war, and also give 1 million silver dollars, and also give so many weapons and ammunition, is it possible? However, the division commander's order was to be executed, anyway, he had Xiang Army prisoners in his hands, if the Xiang Army did not send someone to trade, he would let the soldiers shoot those mid-to-low-level officers first, as for Tao Guang and Zhang Liangji, they would be taken back to be dealt with by the division commander.

  Just after 3 o'clock, the Xiang Army appeared. In front was a company of cavalry leading the way, in the middle were rows of large carts, behind the carts were mule teams, behind the mules were a group of Red Army prisoners, and at the very back was about one battalion of cavalry bringing up the rear.

  Li Qing thought to himself, "Good grief! Could it be that Master really is the reincarnation of Zhuge Liang? With just a pinch of his fingers, he can actually figure out what's on He Jian's mind? Unbelievable!"

  The two sides met, and Liu Qing was surprised to see that Li Qing had only brought a squad. After some small talk, he asked tentatively: "Comrade Red Army officer, you've only brought such a small force, aren't you afraid I'll turn against you?"

  Li Qing smiled: "Don't worry, when I came, our instructor said that if the Xiang Army dares to turn against us, he will directly lead the troops to Changsha and practice push hands with He Jian. It's said that He Jian is a famous martial artist, and it won't be hard to find a suitable opponent for him!"

  Li Qing didn't know that Liu Qingchu had a remarkable background, he was once the chief of staff of He Jian's Xiang-Gan bandit suppression headquarters. When he received Liu Yimin's letter, he was inspecting military affairs at Liu Jianxu's command center. He Jian directly asked him to make a trip, with the purpose of finding out what was going on with Liu Yimin and his Central Guard Regiment, and also to welcome Tao Guang and Zhang Liangji, as a show of Chairman He's care and honor for his beloved generals.

  As soon as Liu Yimin didn't come, the troops only had one row, and Liu Qingchu knew that this Liu Yimin was not simple. Step by step, he ate his opponent to death. He really didn't dare to turn his face, because he didn't know what other tricks his opponent still had up his sleeve. Alright, let's hurry up and hand over the task as soon as possible, complete the mission early and retreat, try not to stay in this place of right and wrong for too long.

  According to Li Qing's intention, the Red Army prisoners of war were handed over first. When the Xiang Army brought these Red Army soldiers over, Li Qing looked at the scars on the soldiers' bodies and wanted to explode on the spot, staring at Liu Qingchu with both eyes as if he wanted to swallow him whole. In the end, he still endured it, completing the task was urgent, and there would be another chance to settle accounts with this group of bastards later.

  The Red Army prisoners of war have been handed over, totaling 1382 people. Li Qing selected 700 soldiers with slightly better physical condition to stay behind. They prepared to receive mules and weapons and ammunition, and had two men from each company lead the other soldiers to retreat south towards Xigou.

  Next was the handover of mules, money and ammunition, after checking, 1 million. Li Qing immediately arranged a row of long-range two classes to organize the newly freed 700 soldiers, and the weapons and ammunition were transported by mule. Withdraw from Xikou. Unexpectedly, these 700 newly freed Red Army soldiers took up their guns, bullets, and hand grenades, and then pointed their gun barrels at Liu Qingchu and the Hunan army soldiers.

  Li Qing saw that things were going to go wrong, so he immediately stood between the Red Army soldiers and the marching soldiers, shouting: "I am Li Qing, Director of the Political Department of the Central Guard Regiment of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. Comrades, calm down, I understand your feelings, let's talk about it when we get back. The Red Army soldiers must obey orders and listen to commands. I order you to put away your guns and hurry up to transport the weapons and ammunition."

  A warrior cried out: "Commander, these sons of bitches have killed so many of us, I'm going to wipe them out!"

  Li Qing walked up to the soldier and said in a low voice, "I want to wipe them out just like you do, but our Red Army has discipline, and completing our mission is urgent. Good comrade, put away your gun, we'll have plenty of chances to settle accounts with them later."

  Things have finally calmed down, but when these warriors were transporting weapons and ammunition and boxes of silver coins. No matter how heavy the box was or how inconvenient it was. Basically, they all held a gun in one hand and lifted the box with another comrade in the other hand. In any case, the gun would not be put down again.

  Looking at the scene in front of her, Liu Qing's heart suddenly felt a chill. It seemed that the hatred between her Xiang Army and the Red Army was indeed an irreconcilable blood feud. She really didn't know what Chairman He was thinking, was he trying to be a hardliner? Wasn't this just releasing a tiger back into the mountains?

  Shaking her head, forcing herself not to think about these annoying things, Liu Qingchu said to Li Qing: "Our sincerity has been expressed, people and things have been handed over, please hand over the captured personnel of our side!"

  Li Qing saw 500 mules carrying weapons and ammunition under the escort of soldiers leaving the creek, then let a soldier send a signal to notify the three company commanders to bring the prisoners over.

  As the Xiang Army prisoner of war team came over, Liu Qingchu suddenly understood why Li Qing wanted to get angry earlier. His own side had tortured the Red Army prisoners until they were half dead, but looking at the Red Army's prisoners, their bodies were strong and sturdy, obviously well-fed and well-rested. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

  Tao Guang and Zhang Liangji have arrived. Liu Qingchu walked up and grabbed the hands of the two, saying: "Si An, Bo Yan, suffer...

  Tao Guang and Zhang Liangji smiled wryly, simultaneously raising their hands in salute. Then Tao Guang said: "The defeated general, suffering from negotiations? It's just that I'm honored to have the elder come to welcome me personally, I don't dare to accept it!"

  Liu Qingchu shook hands with the captured officers one by one, and they also saluted him one by one. After finishing his task, Liu Qingchu said to Li Qing: "This Red Army officer, our transaction is complete, let's shake hands and part ways!" He then extended his hand.

  Who would have thought that Li Qing smiled and said: "Your side seems to owe our side something!"

  Liu Qing's eyes flashed with a hint of smile: "We've given what we should give, it seems like we don't owe anything?" This guy started to play dumb and said: "According to the agreement between our superiors and He Jian, for every 2 Red Army soldiers captured, you need to hand over one Nationalist soldier. You handed over 1300 captured soldiers, but you only handed over 138 Red Army soldiers and captured personnel, still owing 1218 people. According to Liu's conditions, you should compensate us with 69,000 silver dollars. This money was not paid when the transfer took place earlier."

  The Xiang Army prisoners finally realized that they had been redeemed by He Jian with weapons, ammunition and money, and were in an uproar.

  Liu Qingchu's deputy saw that Tao Guang and the others had returned as captives, felt that there was no need to be polite anymore, and viciously confronted Li Qing: "I've had enough of you for a long time. That money, I won't give it to you. What can you do about it?"

  Li Qing smiled: "Is this your idea or He Jian's?"

  Liu Qing didn't feel threatened by Li Qing at first, so she just laughed it off: "Younger brother, I'm older than you and have seen more things, my vision is broader, why be so petty?"

  Li Qing said: "I won't argue with you, I'm afraid that if I go back, I won't be able to complete my task. Our instructor will get angry and run off to find He Jian, then we'll have to deal with Xu's complaints later on, who knows, maybe it'll still end up being the two of us handling the handover!"

  Liu Qing initially saw Li Qing's reluctance, so he said: "Old brother, let me be honest with you, we've handed over all the Red Army prisoners to you. As for the other Communist Party members we caught, they're being held in Xiangzhong and Xiangbei, it's too tight, there's no time to transport them here. How about this: our expenses for catching a strong and healthy person are only 2-5 yuan, I'll give you 10 yuan per person, that's 12,000 yuan. What do you think? Besides, the 500 yuan your regiment commander mentioned is also unrealistic."

  Li Qing said: "Our Red Army soldiers are priceless treasures. How can they be compared with your Zhuang Ding? No way!"

  Liu Qing hastily said: "Younger brother, what I meant was not to buy your Red Army's treasured cannon with money, but to compensate for the losses of your side according to the number of our captured personnel. At my age, when I came, Chairman He also had instructions, there are things that I can take charge of, and there are things that I cannot take charge of, don't make it difficult for me! Let's just forget about everything else, we'll compensate your side with 50,000 taels, how about that?"

  Li Qing shook his head again.

  Liu Qing initially gritted her teeth and ordered the deputy officer to bring over the spare cash box. After the deputy officer brought it over, Liu Qing said: "This is 200,000 yuan, it's the bottom line money given to me by Chairman He, I'm giving it all to you, you handle it."

  Li Qing was still hesitating, Tao Guang spoke up: "Comrade Red Army officer, let me interrupt for a moment. I heard everything your Commander Liu said this morning. I can assure you that if I, Tao Guang, were to lead troops again, I would never bully innocent civilians, nor would I fire a single shot at the Red Army. I would definitely go to the front lines to fight against the Japanese invaders and give my life for it. I don't know if this satisfies your side or makes up for the debt we owe you." Zhang Liangji thought to himself that as a professional soldier, constantly fighting internal wars was meaningless anyway, so he might as well go fight the Japanese instead. He also expressed his stance in agreement with Tao Guang.

  Li Qing was delighted, and instructed the soldiers to pick up the 2 million silver coins. He shook hands with Liu Qingchu, Tao Guang, Zhang Liangji, and others, bidding them farewell. Then he led his soldiers out of the creek mouth and headed back to Jingzhou along the original route.

  At this time, in the Guizhou Fuyuan Ma Changping front command of the Qian army, Wang Jialie, who had received the report that the main force of the Red Army had occupied the county seat of Jianhe, was already in a state of panic. He feared that the Red Army would directly enter Guiyang and occupy his old nest, and he could no longer afford to worry about the Central Army entering Guizhou and threatening his rule. On the one hand, he ordered He Zhihong and Bai Huichang to lead the main force from Tongren to return west overnight, ordered Hou Zidong's division to strengthen the Wujiang defense line, and ordered You Guocai's division to reinforce the Ma Changping front line with all its might. On the other hand, he sent out emergency telegrams seeking help everywhere. Chiang Kai-shek, He Yingqin, Xue Yue, the Guangxi army, the Guangdong army, the Yunnan army, and the Sichuan army - anyone around him that he could think of, he asked for help from all of them. After sending out a round of telegrams, feeling it was not secure enough, he sent out another round. Finally, he simply ordered the radio station to send out reports every half hour, urging the Central Army to quickly enter Guizhou and urging the surrounding armies to quickly enter Guizhou to assist in the battle. It is said that in the telegram to the Guangxi clique, Wang Jialie even said please help him out for the sake of the huge profits from tobacco and salt operations.

  After Wang Jialie stepped down, someone counted that on the night of December 17, 1934, the number of distress telegrams sent out by Wang Jialie was more than the total number of telegrams he had sent to the National Government since he became the provincial chairman. (To be continued)