Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Zhang Wenwu listened carefully to the conversation between the two. He agreed with their views, but he was a little disdainful of their definition of this incident as "internal fighting between Chinese factions". The British obviously ignored the growing anti-Japanese sentiment in China, and this judgment would lead to unrealistic consequences for the solution they formulated.

On December 16, Xu Gesen met his old friend, Elder, at the embassy. Elder was Zhang Liuzi's foreign butler and also a British man. He was in Xi'an when the incident happened. The famous Australian journalist and senior adviser to the National Government, Donald Trump, was entrusted by his wife to go to Xi'an to meet the man above on December 14. Elder served as the on-site translator. After the first meeting with the man above, Donald Trump specially dispatched Elder to Nanjing to report to his wife in person on the latest situation of the man above.

It was from Elder that Britain obtained first-hand information about the incident for the first time.

According to him, Zhang Liuzi proposed eight proposals to the person above, but was rejected by the person above. The person above said that if Zhang Liuzi had proposed these requests to him in Jinling, he might consider whether to adopt some of the suggestions. But under the current circumstances, he would not accept any of the requests.

The man above strongly demanded on the spot that the government take strong action to quell the rebellion, and he himself was prepared to accept any possible outcome against him personally.

Elder was pessimistic about the future, and thought that the man above had little chance of escaping unless he accepted Zhang Liuzi's request. He also said that if the man above had fallen into Yang Ziyou's hands, he would have died long ago. Elder believed that if he refused to compromise, it was not impossible for Zhang Liuzi and the man above to be murdered at the same time.

After hearing what Aide said in the office, Zhang Wenwu appeared calm on the surface, but he was shaken in his heart. Is this true or not? It seems that although it ended peacefully, the situation is still extremely dangerous.

Late that night, Elder visited Xu Gesen for the second time and said that he had already met with Kong Yongzhi and his wife, and they had assigned him to send a telegram to Zhang Liuzi to relay the comprehensive reports of the incident by foreign media to Zhang Liuzi.

In addition, his wife called Zhang Wenwu and asked him to ask British Ambassador Xu Gesen if he was willing to express his views on the incident in the telegram to Zhang Liuzi. Zhang Wenwu immediately found Xu Gesen and reported to him.

After listening to Zhang Wenwu's explanation, Xu Gesen said that the two parties must reach an understanding on this incident and must indicate that his views on the incident were obtained indirectly rather than directly. Under this condition, he is willing to authorize his wife to use his statement as follows:

Without knowing in detail the inner reasons for Zhang Liuzi's actions, I intuitively feel that this matter can only harm everyone. Zhang Liuzi and Yang Ziyou's actions will inevitably be interpreted by the outside world as a rebellion against the country. In fact, when unity and progress are about to come, it is like a sharp knife stabbing from the back. It is obvious that any negotiations with a person who is deeply imprisoned and any agreement reached are worthless in any case. If Zhang Liuzi and Yang Ziyou are convinced of the legitimacy of their cause, they obviously should not be afraid to discuss it in a free atmosphere. Refusing to do so is to declare themselves guilty in advance."

Xu Gesen was obviously influenced by Elder's assessment of the situation this time and felt that the situation was serious. Therefore, he ignored the statement made earlier in the telegram to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that "it is best to avoid condemning any party in the conflict" and the sword had already begun to point clearly.

Zhang Wenwu quickly took note of what Xu Gesen said, and after Xu Gesen reviewed and signed it, he called his wife to tell her what he had said.

At the same time, the "Anti-Rebellion Army" established by the Military Commission and the Ministry of Military Affairs began to be formed, and began to formally issue a punitive order to Xi'an, ordering all troops to attack and advance to the designated area. Minister He divided the "Anti-Rebellion Army" into two army groups, the East Route and the West Route, to attack Xi'an, and ordered the Air Force to start bombing the area around Xi'an.

东路集团由刘池任“讨逆军东路集团军”总司令，指挥第78师董钊部、第36师宋系连部、第57师阮肇昌部、第79师樊崧甫部、桂庸勤的教导总队及炮兵第1、第5团和工兵1团，沿陇海铁路西侧进攻西安；另以第10师李某安部、第83师刘刊部由潼关进攻洛南、蓝田，威胁西安侧翼安全；第2师郑动果部和第23师李毕番部为东路集团军总预备队，集结于潼关附近。

Gu Zhutong was the commander-in-chief of the Western Route Army, commanding Hu Zhongnan's 1st Army to attack Baoji and Fengxiang from Tianshui, Gansu; Guan Linzheng's 25th Division stationed in Wuzhongbao, Ningxia also advanced towards Guyuan and Pingliang areas; and Wang Yaowu's 51st Division stationed in Hanzhong passed through the Ziwu Valley and entered and exited the area south of Xi'an.

However, since the Central Army was led by Whampoa clique officers, all the generals opposed the detention of the man above, but they were also worried that an overly fierce offensive would create an overly tense situation for Zhang Liuzi and Yang Ziyou, so progress was basically slow. The Whampoa clique officers basically had a unified idea on this, which was to hope to put pressure on the other side by using the momentum of a large army to force Xi'an to release the man above.

These things had no impact on Zhang Wenwu. He still served as a senior messenger and during his time at the embassy, ​​he kept paying attention to how Japan handled the incident.

The Japanese were very concerned about the situation in China after the incident and held meetings every day to study the policy direction after this incident. They wished that China would fall into chaos immediately, and a large-scale civil war would be the most advantageous thing for them.

The Japanese military representative in Shanghai made it clear to the Chinese Nationalist Government that the Chinese government should use all its armed forces to attack Xi'an. If the Chinese government compromised and made concessions to Xi'an, the Empire of Japan would attach great importance to it and would not sit idly by and watch the consequences.

At the same time, the Japanese Army Ministry formulated the "Post-Incident Countermeasures for China". The Japanese Consul General in Nanjing, Suma Yakichiro, visited Zhang Qun at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to inquire about the progress of the incident, and then declared that if the Chinese government implemented the so-called eight propositions, Japan would "not hesitate to take decisive measures." Subsequently, Japan sent additional marines to Shanghai and Hankou.

Damn little Japan. Zhang Wenwu got all the detailed information about the incident from the Japanese side from the British Embassy, ​​and he passed it to the wife of the highest authority and Commander Luo. He believed that if the highest authority saw this information, he would definitely hate the Japanese to the core, which was equivalent to asking for his life in disguise.

Zhang Wenwu also scoffed at the solution proposed by the British. The British were still using the thinking of the warlord period to measure this incident. Xu Gesen and several countries jointly proposed a solution: Zhang Liuzi and Yang Ziyou would release the detained highest authorities, and each country would guarantee their safety and escort them to Tianjin or Shanghai, so that they could board ships and live in any country.

This is a typical example of automatically ignoring the anti-Japanese sentiment and anti-Japanese demands of the Chinese people, and treating this incident as a struggle for power among warlords. They pursued appeasement, they just needed a stable government to guarantee their interests in China and slow down Japan's expansion in the Far East. They were more concerned about the pace of Germany's revival and expansion in Europe.

After partially agreeing to the eight demands of Zhang Liuzi and Yang Ziyou, the man flew to Luoyang on December 26, and then flew back to Jinling from Luoyang.

Zhang Wenwu sat on the balcony on the second floor of the embassy with a relaxed look on his face, drinking coffee and smoking. With him was the military attaché of the British Embassy, ​​Lieutenant Colonel Rick, but Colonel Rick was smoking a cigar.

"Captain Zhang, congratulations, the man above you finally escaped, which is a good thing for China now." Rick exhaled a puff of smoke and said to Zhang Wenwu with a smile.

Zhang Wenwu also replied with a smile: "Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel Rick, thank you and Mr. Ambassador for your hard work and contribution to this matter."

"But I'm curious about one thing, Captain Zhang. Since you came to the embassy as a liaison officer, you seem to be very calm. You don't seem anxious or anxious at all. Can you tell me the reason?" Lieutenant Colonel Rick moved closer to Zhang Wenwu and asked curiously. He was really curious. He had been observing Zhang Wenwu these days. He felt that this young captain had a calmness that was completely different from his age. At least in this matter, he found that Zhang Wenwu did not show any panic.

Zhang Wenwu took a puff of the cigarette in his hand, and then said to Lieutenant Colonel Rick: "Lieutenant Colonel Rick, because I can predict the future, I know that nothing bad will happen in this matter."

"Hahaha, Captain Zhang, you are such a humorous person, I like the way you express yourself. I think we can communicate more, maybe we can become friends." When Lieutenant Colonel Rick heard Zhang Wenwu say that he could predict the future, he laughed happily.

Zhang Wenwu did not explain anything, because even if he explained, the British lieutenant colonel would not understand. He did not understand what the people of a country that had been oppressed for nearly a hundred years wanted most.

"Of course, it's my honor to be friends with Lieutenant Colonel Rick." Zhang Wenwu responded to Lieutenant Colonel Rick without commenting.

"Oh, by the way, Captain Zhang, my friend in Shanghai wants to buy some valuables in China and sell them in the UK. I wonder if Captain Zhang has any ideas? We can do this business together." Rick said it casually while smoking a cigar, but his eyes were fixed on Zhang Wenwu.

(Thanks again to ~Wandering around the world with you~, Kuian who likes blue peacocks, Wei Guogong who loves beef jerky, Fu Jingshen who likes emperor penguins, and 's gift support!)

(Because I didn't set the time correctly last night, Chapter 107 was released last night. I will try my best to avoid such mistakes in the future!)