The Anti-Japanese War Begins with the Northeast Army

Chapter 434: The Grievances between Zhi and Anhui

Jiang Cheng's entire attention was still on Yang Yuting. He didn't expect that Zhang Zuoxiang didn't care about Yang at all and actually led the topic to the interior of the country.

He originally wanted to tell his father-in-law everything he had seen and heard on this trip, but when the words were on the tip of his tongue, he swallowed them back.

If it was just his father-in-law asking, it would be fine for Jiang Cheng to answer truthfully... But if it was Mr. Shuai asking, he would have to think carefully.

You must know that it was not until 1922 that the Zhili and Fengtian families fell out. Although Zhang and Cao are currently using each other, they do have a certain foundation for cooperation after all.

If I speak carelessly, I might cause the Marshal to turn his anger against me.

Besides, when he met Cao Kun this time, he seemed to be taking advantage of the power of others. If the commander-in-chief asked, he really couldn't say it clearly.

"Mr. Wu confiscated my equipment and blocked my uncle in Qinhuangdao... We can't just let this matter end like this."

Looking up at Zhang Zuoxiang who turned around, Jiang Cheng continued, "I met with Cao Kun and repeatedly explained that the Zhili and Fengtian factions were cooperating, and it was inappropriate to detain my people and equipment."

Zhang Zuoxiang looked at Jiang Cheng meaningfully, stretched out his big, warm hand, and gently patted his knee: "My child, what do you want me to say about this?"

"After all, you are the governor of a province. It is a bit rash to personally select troops to enter the border."

"You killed a lot of Zhijun soldiers. Before you came back, Cao Saner spent nearly two hours on the phone with Marshal... I'm afraid he made a lot of complaints about you."

"I've been thinking about this over and over again, and I'm always worried about this matter... I'm afraid that if you continue to make these moves, Cao San'er and Wu Xiucai will turn against the Anhui Army."

He is not a time traveler, so it is not surprising that he has such concerns.

In his opinion, Cao Kun was able to ally with the Marshal without Feng Huafu's knowledge. However, if he became resentful of the Marshal because of such a loss and instead allied with the Anhui clique, it would be extremely bad for the Fengtian Army.

But what he didn't know was that the resentment between Zhi and Anhui was deep, and Feng Huafu would soon die, and Cao Kun would also become the leader of the Zhi army.

This old guy came to power too quickly and his foundation is unstable, so he has to rely on Marshal Zhang to stabilize the situation.

In this case, is there any need to be afraid of him?

As one side's power waxes and wanes, relying on giving in and avoiding the other side will only make the other side a soft persimmon.

Jiang Cheng did not think that he had done anything wrong this time. On the contrary, because he understood the development of history well enough, he was more certain that this seemingly reckless and risky move would allow Jilin and even the Fengtian Army to gain the upper hand.

"Yes, what you taught is——"

But Jiang Cheng still pretended to be submissive on the surface. "On the way back to Fengtian, Fei Lan was also thinking of this move, fearing that he would offend Cao Kun and get into trouble."

"However, the seizure of this batch of goods really made Fei Lan very angry. Besides, our two families have an alliance after all, so why would we resort to violence when it is just a matter of skill?"

Zhang Zuoxiang smiled bitterly and shook his head: "What you said is similar to what Feng Yong said... This time when you led the troops to the interior, he and Jiang Chaoliu were so anxious that they ran to the General Staff Headquarters twice, fearing that something might happen to you."

"Actually, Yu Shuai did say that, but he just wants some money - it's better to let him extort money than the Japanese, right?"

Jiang Cheng didn't want to pretend anymore after hearing this: "There will be many opportunities to buy foreign goods in the future. If I give them bribes every time, won't it be endless?"

Zhang Zuoxiang sighed, glanced at Hai Pingchuan whose face was flushed red, shook his head and smiled bitterly, "I knew you didn't listen! What are you going to do with your ship? Are you really going to let our Yu Shuai come forward?"

Jiang Cheng simply acted like a rogue, folded his hands behind his head, curled his lips and said: "If Master Shuai doesn't show up, then why should I? The one on the boat is not my nephew!"

"Okay, okay, you're a good talker, I can't beat you!" As the two of them were talking back and forth, the car had turned into a magnificent European-style garden building - at the beginning, there were many Russians doing business in Fengtian, and this Fengtian Hotel was one of them.

Yang Yuting booked the entire hotel in the name of the Fengtian Army's chief of staff, and invited all the leaders of Fengtian, big and small, to gather here for a banquet... When the car turned onto the aisle, Jiang Cheng saw Feng Yong and Jiang Dengxuan first.

"Brother Feng, Brother Chao Liu!"

Without waiting for the guards to open the car door, Jiang Cheng trotted up and said, "Oh, it's been a long time, I missed you so much!"

This intimate gesture immediately dissipated some of the anxiety they felt.

Zhang Zuoxiang then got out of the car and walked forward side by side with Hai Pingchuan. Seeing that Hai Pingchuan was in high spirits, he didn't say anything. Then Yang Yuting came up from behind and greeted him.

"The front door is not a good place to talk. I'll take you upstairs to see Yu Shuai."

Zhang Zuoxiang made a gesture and was the first to enter the door, greeted by the guards' salutes.

The red carpet was rolled out from the main entrance all the way upstairs. Celebrities and ladies from all over Fengtian lined the streets to greet them. Especially when they saw handsome young men like Jiang Cheng and Feng Yong, they looked at them with eager and yearning eyes.

He... made such a big scene?

It was not until now that Jiang Cheng was somewhat confused about the purpose of today's banquet.

However, as the group climbed the stairs and heard the military music in the banquet hall, he suddenly realized what was going on.

It was said to be a welcoming party for him, but in fact it was a meeting with the Japanese devils.

Seeing that the Marshal was flanked by Japanese people like Fukushima Yasumasa and Kikuchi Takeo, Jiang Cheng's face suddenly darkened.

Just as Jiang Cheng's eyes met those of his father and the others, Marshal Zhang, who was sitting on the first seat in the distance, waved to him loudly: "Feilan, come here!"

Seeing the other party being so respectful, Jiang Cheng quickly exchanged glances with the old man sitting in the second seat, and followed Zhang Zuoxiang up.

The clever waiter quickly added a chair for him, but the commander insisted that he sit next to him: "You little brat, you're finally back!"

"Han Qing is not here, so you have to go to the interior to do some work for me... It's good that you're back! The withdrawal of troops from Hunchun has been finalized, so you have to get it done for me."

Jiang Cheng's eyes twitched.

My goodness, these Japs are sailing really fast.

After Sun Liechen's successive victories in the Hunan battlefield and his and Wu Junsheng's successive stabilization of Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces, the Japanese finally collectively concluded that Marshal Zhang was the man who had the talent to unify the Northeast.

Withdraw troops from Hunchun to North Korea and give the Marshal some benefits - the next step is to trick him into helping send troops to Vladivostok and seize the port from the Russians.

Damn it, I was thinking about when this day would come the whole time I was on the road, but I didn’t expect that I would already be thinking about it as soon as I returned to Fengtian!
Although the Japs hadn't farted yet, Jiang Cheng already knew what they were going to do, but he still acted surprised: "What, Hunchun is withdrawing troops?"

As he said this, he deliberately turned his meaningful gaze from the Marshal to the Japanese soldier, "Commander Fukushima, are you serious? Isn't this Hunchun the location of your military governor's office?"

Fukushima Yasumasa smiled wryly: "Haha! At the beginning, our Kwantung Army was stationed here because of some unstable factors in Korea, Manchuria, Mongolia and Russia."

"Now that Marshal Zhang has stabilized the Northeast and General Jiang is guarding Jilin, there is no need for the Imperial Army to stay any longer."

(End of this chapter)