Quartermasters can also fight the devils

On the afternoon of the third day, Huo Guoguang arrived at the headquarters of the 102nd Division with a convoy. Zhang Wenwu arranged for Lei Dong to command the brothers sent by the special forces battalion to move all the weapons and ammunition in the vehicles to the quartermaster department, while he took Huo Guoguang out for dinner and drinks.

The next day at noon, Huo Guoguang came out of Chunfeng Tower, contentedly holding the new briefcase containing 30,000 yuan in French currency handed to him by Zhang Wenwu and a big red envelope given to him personally, and happily returned to Jinling City with the convoy.

After seeing off Huo Guoguang that afternoon, Zhang Wenwu was in a good mood and looked at the information sorted out by Lei Dong in the quartermaster department, with a smile on his face all the time. Now the troops had sufficient ammunition for the time being, and the amount of bullets used during training could be more than three times more than usual. Commander Huang had decided to allocate the 211 new Han-made rifles to the newly formed 211 Brigade. Now that the Brigade had just been formed and the troops were being reorganized, this batch of rifles could just enhance the combat effectiveness of the troops.

In the following two months, Zhang Wenwu went to Huo Guoguang to buy a batch of ammunition and firearms, which made the leaders of the 102nd Division very happy. Who doesn't want their troops to become stronger and stronger? They were very fortunate to have Zhang Wenwu, a capable head of the Quartermaster Department.

Time flies, and soon it is December. The winter in the south is still very cold. Today, the sun finally came out. Zhang Wenwu moved his chair to the small courtyard of the quartermaster department and sat in the courtyard smoking and basking in the sun. Now Zhang Wenwu's name in the 102nd Division is quite famous, and the name of "Little God of Wealth" is also known to everyone.

"Deputy Director Zhang, Deputy Director Zhang, the chief of staff called and asked you to rush to the hall immediately. There is an emergency." After Lei Dong put down the phone, he shouted to Zhang Wenwu who was basking in the sun in the yard.

Emergency? Exercise? This shouldn't happen. We just had an exercise the day before yesterday. It shouldn't happen so often. Zhang Wenwu walked towards the division's combat command hall, wondering what was going on.

As soon as he arrived at the division's combat command hall, Zhang Wenwu found that the division's middle-level officers were walking into the hall one after another. He immediately felt that something was wrong, so he sat quietly in a chair at the conference table waiting for the boss to come, while the officers around him who had arrived were also whispering to each other about what was going on.

Deputy Division Commander Qi Xingfa walked into the hall first with a stern face, followed by Division Commander Huang Jinxian and Chief of Staff Zhao Dong who also walked in with serious faces. After everyone was seated, Division Commander Huang Jinxian asked the guards to close the door of the hall.

"Everyone, I just received accurate information. This morning, Zhang Liuzi, the commander-in-chief of the Northwest Front, and Yang Ziyou, the director of the Shaanxi Pacification Office, led part of the Northeast Army and the 17th Route Army of the Northwest Army to mutini. The above person was detained, and Deputy Minister Chen was also placed under house arrest by them."

"Wow!" Upon hearing the news, the officers in the operations hall were in an uproar. They all asked each other what was going on and whether they had heard it wrong. This news was too shocking for everyone.

"Quiet, quiet." Chief of Staff Zhao Dong shouted loudly twice, and everyone came back to their senses from the chaos. They all shut their mouths and waited for the next speech from Commander Huang Jinxian.

"Brothers, we are the central army of the national government. We are good students and good subordinates of the principal and Mr. Ci. At this critical moment, it is time for us to show our loyalty to the principal and repay Mr. Ci for his constant care. Our unit has received an order from Commander Luo. All personnel are to cancel their leave. The entire division is to enter wartime alert. Inspections must be strengthened on all major traffic routes. We must prepare for the garrison mission between Zhenjiang City and Jinling and await further instructions from Commander Luo." Huang Jinxian quickly arranged the next task.

After the meeting, Zhang Wenwu walked quickly to the Quartermaster Department. As soon as he heard what Commander Huang Jinxian said, he immediately remembered that this was the famous "Double Twelve Incident" in history. Even if he was not a liberal arts student, he knew about this incident, but that was all he knew. He didn't even remember the specific date, let alone the details of the events. The only thing that was certain was that the incident was resolved peacefully.

As soon as Zhang Wenwu returned to the quartermaster department, he immediately asked Lei Dong and Li Houcai to prepare the keys to the ammunition depot, as it would not be long before people from various troops would come to collect the ammunition.

In the early morning of December 12, 1936, 35,500 officers and soldiers of the Northeast Army and 13,000 officers and soldiers of the 17th Route Army, under the command of Zhang Liuzi and Yang Changyou, quickly disarmed the small number of Central Army gendarmerie troops and airport staff in Xi'an.

The Northeast Army was responsible for surrounding the temporary residence of the highest authorities: Huaqing Pool, and successfully detained the man above, as well as a group of important military and political officials of the National Government.

The 17th Route Army took control of the entire city of Xi'an.

At the same time, the rebel troops sent a clear message to the whole country in the morning, which shocked the whole of China and attracted the attention of countries around the world.

British Ambassador to China Sir Henry Kilson took office in September this year. He succeeded the previous British Ambassador, Lord Gade, who had previously been the British Minister to Persia.

After receiving the news, he immediately sent an urgent telegram to the then British Foreign Secretary Eden. In the telegram, he stated: Zhang Liuzi launched a rebellion, he arrested the highest authorities of China in Xi'an, and issued a telegram calling for the overthrow of the government and an alliance with the Soviet Union to fight against Japan. The news has been confirmed by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After the December 12 Incident, due to a lack of understanding of the truth of the incident and a lack of certainty about its future direction, governments around the world, including the Japanese government, mostly adopted a wait-and-see attitude, and official statements issued by various countries were also cautious.

In this regard, the British government was no exception. However, compared with other powers, Britain was more active in promoting a peaceful resolution to the Xi'an Incident.

Rick, the military attaché of the British Embassy in China, proposed to Ambassador Xu Gesen that if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese government agreed, all countries should follow the example of the above man who detained Li Qishen in Nanjing a few years ago and issue a strong notice to express to Zhang Liuzi that all countries are strongly concerned about the safety of the above man's life. Xu Gesen listened to Rick's suggestion and privately mentioned this suggestion to Xu Mo, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the National Government, which was strongly agreed by Xu Mo.

At 11:00 p.m. on December 12, the Nanjing authorities held a temporary joint meeting of the National Government's Central Standing Committee and the Central Political Committee. A resolution was made at the meeting: the Military Commission member and Minister of the Military and Political Department, He, would be responsible for commanding and mobilizing the army.

Minister He was a staunch advocate of war. He immediately returned to the Military Commission and began to organize the "Anti-Rebellion Army" and took the position of "Anti-Rebellion Army Commander-in-Chief". He then began to mobilize more than a dozen divisions of the Central Army to prepare for an attack on Xi'an. At the same time, he ordered the Air Force to be ready to carry out bombing at any time. His decision was supported by the young officers of the Whampoa Military Academy at the time, but the older officers of the Whampoa Military Academy said that if a large-scale attack was launched on Xi'an, it would threaten the safety of the person above.

That night, the man's wife, Song Sanmei, wanted to attend the temporary meeting of the Central Committee, but was rejected by the meeting. When she learned in the early morning that Minister He was preparing to attack Xi'an by force, she was very worried that such an action would kill the man above. She was afraid that Zhang Liuzi and Yang Ziyou would be forced to kill the man above. But when she found Minister He overnight to ask, Minister He said that this was a resolution made at the temporary meeting and he could only execute it.

After the man's wife returned to her residence disappointed, she received a letter of condolence from British Ambassador Sir Henry Foster, who expressed shock at the man's misfortune, hoped that he would be free as soon as possible, and stated that "this kind of crazy and treasonous behavior will not cause any harm to him or China."

Song Taishan, Chairman of Hua Xia Bank and Minister of Finance, who happened to be there at the time, saw the letter of condolence and thought of using the pressure from the great powers to buffer the situation. He asked his sister to quickly call all the powerful figures of the Whampoa military who were currently in Nanjing to come over and make sure they took sides. He then quickly contacted the diplomatic embassies of various countries and put pressure on the Executive Yuan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through them, trying to get them to withdraw their resolution to use force.

The lady then hurriedly followed her eldest brother's advice and asked the guard room to contact the chief officer of the Whampoa Military Academy near Jinling City.

Zhang Wenwu stood in the combat hall and watched the busy division officers and soldiers, but his heart was very calm. He knew that this matter was resolved peacefully and the current chaos was only temporary. He was called by Division Commander Huang Jinxian to receive orders, but now Division Commander Huang was arranging something with the chief officers of several troops, so he could only wait obediently on the side.

"Wenwu, follow me." After Commander Huang Jinxian finished explaining things to the commanders of the troops, he quickly walked to Zhang Wenwu and walked out of the hall without stopping, asking Zhang Wenwu to follow him.

Sitting in Commander Huang Jinxian's car, Zhang Wenwu was completely confused. He still didn't know where he and Commander Huang were going, but he couldn't ask. Didn't he see that Commander Huang hadn't said a word since getting in the car, and his expression was obviously a little worried and nervous.

The car drove out of Zhenjiang City quickly. Zhang Wenwu looked behind the car and saw a platoon of soldiers with live ammunition riding in a large truck, following his car closely. Zhang Wenwu looked at the direction the car was heading. It was going to Jinling City, but why was it going to Jinling City at this time? If the Military Commission or the Ministry of Military Affairs had an order, they would notify us by phone or radio.

At four o'clock in the morning on December 13, the convoy finally arrived at its destination, Jinling City. After the convoy entered Jinling City, Zhang Wenwu followed the direction of the convoy and became increasingly clear about where Commander Huang Jinxian's destination was.

Zhang Wenwu got out of the car quickly after the car stopped, while Huang Jinxian's adjutant got out even faster and helped Huang Jinxian open the door. Seeing this set of smooth movements, Zhang Wenwu sighed in his heart, it is true that everyone has their own expertise, this is a good material for an adjutant.