The Anti-Japanese War Begins with the Northeast Army

The order from the Marshal's Office was to ambush Duan Zhigui who was traveling by the Manchurian Railway to Fengtian to take up the post of "Governor of Jilin".

The old guy can be said to have "returned as a king" - in the fifth year of the Republic of China (1916), Zhang Yuting and Feng Delin teamed up to play the black and white cops and tricked him out of the Northeast.

For more than two years, Duan Zhigui has been working hard in the Central Plains, hoping to return to his old territory and "make a comeback"...

Especially when he heard that the Jilin governor was an eighteen-year-old boy, he became even more anxious:

Why would Zhang, a little guy, let such a brat go?
Is it that there is no general in Shu, Liao Hua, to serve as the vanguard?

Just seven months after Jiang Feilan took office, Japanese Ambassador to China Minamoto Yoshimasa brought his notebooks to file a complaint against him.
They listed more than ten crimes against Jiang Cheng, including "undermining regional stability", "killing Japanese expatriates", "sending troops to Japanese areas without authorization", etc., and used these to threaten the Beiyang government to resign.

Feng Guozhang and Xu Shichang had long been wary of the increasingly powerful Fengtian Army, so they took this incident as an opportunity to strike a blow against the little Zhang. They immediately appointed Duan Zhigui, who had written many letters to lobby for him, to take over.

The old man was so happy now - after more than two years of hard work, he finally succeeded and reaped the rewards!
After setting off, all he thought about was how to recruit soldiers and seize territory after taking office in Jilin, and then expand his territory to build a powerful army.

Then I will fight to the death with Zhang the Little Guy from Fengtian and Wu the Big Tongue from Heilongjiang, and I will not stop until I get all the territory outside the Great Wall!
Thinking about this, Duan Zhigui felt as if his whole body was burning with anger and he wished he could fly to Jilin Prefecture right now.

But this old fellow never thought that the Northeast was no longer the world he understood, and the "yellow-haired boy" whom he looked down upon had already transformed into a scheming and sinister tyrant after years of wars and power struggles.

Whether it was the ability, the mind, or the money, food, and soldiers at hand, it was beyond his imagination.

"Dad, you really forgot to take your medicine tonight?"

A clear and pleasant female voice interrupted Duan Zhigui's thoughts. When he turned around, he saw a girl carrying a steaming bowl of medicine and entering the carriage under the escort of her personal soldiers.

As if seeing the anger on his daughter Duan Xinyu's face, the former Fengtian warlord with a perverse and arrogant temper actually showed a bit of helplessness and embarrassment. He scratched the back of his neck and smiled on the spot: "Oh, I was too busy with official duties - I really forgot!"

He was always helpless in the face of his stunningly beautiful daughter, so he quickly took the bowl of medicine and put it into his mouth without caring whether it was hot or not.

"Oh, Daddy, be careful, you might get burned... Humph, you're still saying you're busy! I don't think you have much to do except playing cards!"

Even though she was patting her father's back and stroking his chest with concern, Duan Xinyu still pouted.

The exposed father was just turning away with a slightly dissatisfied look on his face when the locomotive exploded!
The bomb was actually installed by the Japanese when the ship stopped at Huludao. It was just a carefully calculated time...

This earth-shattering explosion killed the locomotive driver and two workers who were responsible for loading coal into the horizontal boiler on the spot, and the other two workers were slightly injured, but there was no damage to other parts of the locomotive or the rails.

But inevitably, the entire train stopped... Duan Zhigui protected his daughter while shouting at his personal soldiers to rush out to guard.

Damn it, these bandits outside the Great Wall really couldn't help but take action. Did they want to kill me on my way to take office and prevent me from taking office as the governor of Jilin?
Duan Zhigui was getting angrier and angrier as he thought about it. He shouted, "Protect the young lady," and ordered his adjutant Luo Yongxian to lead his troops to block the two entrances to the carriage, saying that anyone who dared to approach would be shot dead. However, the guards did not wait for the attackers, but for Zhang Jinghui.

He did come, and he did bring his trusted aides and a large group of people with him - but he did not come to attack Duan Zhigui.

If they really wanted to deal with him, or if they wanted to beat him up in accordance with the instructions of his superiors and force him to "take refuge" in Jinzhou, there was no reason for Zhang Jinghui, the garrison commander of Jinzhou, to go there in person.

He came here to win over this outsider.

Without saying a word, he stepped forward to reveal his identity and just as he attracted Duan Zhigui's attention, Zhang Jinghui loudly explained that they had received a tip-off that someone was trying to assassinate Governor Duan, so they brought troops to support him.

Duan Zhigui, who was still in shock, was somewhat impressed when he heard the other party call him "commander-in-chief" and asked a few more questions on the spot;
But Zhang Jinghui did not answer any of them. Instead, he repeatedly said that there might be ambushes and asked the emperor to move to his Jinzhou where it would be safer. He also shouted that he had a secret to tell them.

After all, having been a military governor in Fengtian, Duan Zhigui had some understanding of Zhang Yuting's interpersonal relationships.

In other words, he knew very well that the person coming was the little guy Zhang's fifth brother.

He originally thought that this might be a trap, but Duan Zhigui also thought that if there really were ambushes nearby, it would be difficult for him to resist, so he might as well believe him and take a gamble.

He immediately put away his weapons and met Zhang Jinghui, who greeted him with a cheerful face and even gave him his mount. He then welcomed Duan Zhigui and his daughter and their entourage into Jinzhou City with kind words.

That night, they had a long talk. Zhang Jinghui repeatedly accused Jiang Cheng of being immoral and unruly, and even of having the courage to collude with the Japanese to murder the new provincial governor.

This frightened Duan Zhigui, but when he thought about it carefully, he was really asking for his own life, so of course this bastard would benefit the most!
He directly scraped away the sweat on his forehead, and Duan Zhigui hurriedly asked what to do;

Zhang Jinghui immediately acted like an enthusiastic big brother, patting his chest repeatedly to express his willingness to be the middleman, report the matter to his brother Marshal Zhang on his behalf, and strictly ordered Duan Zhigui to tell others.

He also "thoughtfully" gave a reason, saying that if Jiang Cheng's collusion with the Japanese to murder you was exposed, he would definitely sell him out, and it would be difficult for him to work in the Fengtian Army in the future.

Duan Zhigui, who escaped death, was so moved when he heard that there was someone in the Fengtian Army who understood the righteousness so well that he swore repeatedly that he would never tell anyone and asked Zhang Wuge to make the decision for him.

Seeing that this guy was fooled so easily, Zhang Jinghui was overjoyed and said that he would stay here with his daughter and brothers for a few days, stay for a few more days until things were settled and handled, and then go to Jilin Prefecture to take up the post.

And Jiang Cheng, the main character targeted by Zhang Jinghui's tricks, was still completely in the dark... Of course, he could not have imagined that Zhang Jinghui, whom he had let go before for the sake of handsome man, would actually plot against him again.

It rained heavily the next morning. The military train stopped at the station and learned that there were bandits in the Jinzhou section again, who had damaged the tracks and could not continue to move forward. (End of this chapter)