1932: Playing with the Japanese Communist Party with a doll

Zhang Xueliang angrily interrupted Yu Xuezhong's report, looking like a mad tiger:

"Tell me! How much damage was done! How many people died! Who were injured? Tell me!!!"

At this moment, Zhang Xueliang looked a bit like the "King of Northeast China".

After a moment of silence, Yu Xuezhong reported a series of losses.

At this moment, everyone's eyes went dark.

According to preliminary statistics so far, more than 300 people have died, more than 400 have been injured, and there have been at least 100 reports of rape.

Don’t think that this data is not much and seems nothing special.

This is not an organized massacre like the "Jinan Massacre" or the "Lu'an Massacre". It is a riot in the city caused by the individual behavior of the soldiers.

Especially that "rape report"!

The atmosphere in Beijing is not conservative, but not everyone would go to the police to report a raped girl.

How many women were actually... who knows?

The casualties and suffering of civilians were secondary. The key issue was the attack in the second half of the night. The rebels turned their attention to the wealthy people in Peking.

Almost all the wealthy families were harassed or attacked!

Even the home of Peking Mayor Zhou Dawen was broken into by the rebels. Fortunately, he was not at home at the time because he was dealing with the "Cultural Relics Migration Bloodbath" that had occurred that day, otherwise he would have been killed!

Mr. Mei Lanfang, who had moved to Shanghai the previous year and had returned to Peking for unknown reasons, would have been killed if a group of Northeastern Army soldiers had not happened to pass by to suppress the rebellion.

And Marshal Wu Peifu who lived in Peking...

As for those lesser-known "celebrities" who are not as famous as the above three or who have not yet been counted, how can we know how many there are?

Finished!

Zhang Xueliang laughed sadly, then suddenly spat out a mouthful of black blood and fell backwards!

479 I resigned, do you dare to agree?

"Give my daughter back her innocence!

"Give me back my son's life!"

"Punish the murderer severely! Punish the murderer severely!"

"The Northeast Army get out of Peking!"

"Zhou Dawen, get out here and die!

Similar shouts and cries echoed around the Peking Municipal Government and the outskirts of the Northeast Army Headquarters.

It's okay for a "rough guy" like Yu Xuezhong, the commander of the Pingjin garrison. He has a murderous aura and people who are not qualified will not easily cause trouble for him.

A "cultured person" like Zhou Dawen, the "mere" mayor of Beiping, is clearly a soft persimmon. He seems easy to manipulate, and since he's also the head of the civil administration, shouldn't he be scolded?

So from this perspective, it seems that Zhang Xueliang did have the suspicion of deliberately vomiting blood and pretending to faint.

Because, if he had not fainted, the one who was surrounded and scolded and even beaten by the angry celebrities and common people in Peking would definitely not be Mayor Zhou Dawen, but Marshal Zhang himself.

"hiss"

Zhou Dawen covered his cheek, which had been scratched by the two noble ladies, and grimaced in pain while applying medicine:

"Is the young commander awake?"

Young Marshal, a title that is considered a "taboo" within the Northeast Army

Zhang Xueliang did not like being called "Young Marshal" because it made him feel that he was always living under the wing of his father Zhang Zuolin, rather than being the real "ruler of Northeast China";

Therefore, even someone like Zhou Dawen, who was called a "good childhood playmate" in Zhang Xueliang's memoirs, only dared to call him that out of habit in private.

"not yet.

Yu Xuezhong's face turned ashen and he answered stiffly.

Since Zhang Xueliang fainted, almost all the pressure fell on him, the "Commander of the Pingjin Defense", and all the important people came to him to ask for an explanation;

The polite ones just hoped that the Northeast Army could quell the riots as soon as possible, stabilize the local area and severely punish the rebels, while the impolite ones were already pointing fingers and cursing.

What about colleagues?

Everyone stayed away, afraid of having anything to do with this matter.

Originally, everyone was very jealous of his lucrative position as the "Commander of the Pingjin Guards", and seeing him, an "outsider" (from Shandong and not Zhang Zuolin's original direct descendant), sitting there, one after another was very unhappy;

In particular, Wang Shuchang, the chairman of Hebei Province, was always keeping an eye on the situation. If it were not for the impact of the "Rehe-Great Wall defeat", he would have succeeded long ago.

But this time, Chairman Wang only came to hold a meeting, and then immediately ran back to Hebei under the pretext of "catching a fugitive"!

What does this mean? It's not clear yet?

Old Yu, Old Yu, you just have to shoulder this blame. Don't let it go until the incident is completely resolved!

Well, wait until you have taken all the blame, then give me your seat.

If it were an irresponsible "smart person", the choice he would make at this time would definitely be "hurting the people, feeling deeply guilty, bowing and stepping down, and privately marathoning";

But Yu Xuezhong was a man who would see things through to the end and was unwilling to do so. So no matter how haggard or difficult it was, he still stood at the front to deal with the mess that was bound to bring him disaster.

Alas.P

At this time, Zhou Dawen didn't care about Yu Xuezhong's tone and expression. He sighed deeply and wanted to say something, but he didn't know what to say. He could only wait silently with everyone else for Zhang Xueliang to wake up and make a decision.

With such a big pot, only that person can decide how to carry it.

It is not known whether he had truly recovered or just couldn't pretend any longer, but on the afternoon of the second day after the riot, Zhang Xueliang finally regained consciousness after being treated by doctors.

Lying in bed with a sick look on his face and an IV drip hanging from his arm, he met with a group of senior generals of the Northeast Army and the main civil affairs chief of Peking:

"...Everyone, the incident has already occurred. There's no need to elaborate further. Now, let's discuss how to give the public an explanation!"

8a

No one said a word.

A long, awkward silence stretched on, and Zhang Xueliang, who had always been quite mild-mannered, suddenly became furious:

"Speak up! You're all so eloquent when you're fighting for power, but now that you're in trouble, why are you so silent?!"

M

Explain?

How to explain?

If only a few civilians died, that would be enough. Publicly executing those deserters and hooligans would be enough to appease the people, at least it would keep the surface clean. For the rest, everyone would just turn a blind eye and move on with their lives.

The problem is that so many celebrities and wealthy people were killed or injured, and the women in their families were humiliated. Some even committed suicide by hanging or jumping into wells. Can such a serious incident be resolved by killing a few soldiers?

Therefore, there must be a big shot who takes the blame.

But who to choose?

You can't just hand over the heads of Marshal Zhang or Commander Yu, right?

Losing his head may be a bit of an exaggeration, but at least he resigned and stepped down.

We can accept it, but the question is, can you accept it?

At this sensitive juncture, anyone who dares to make such a suggestion will probably be immediately suspected of being a "traitor who has joined So-and-so's side";

This "someone" is not limited to Fujiwara no Kanezane. There were people within the Northeast Army who had secretly defected to Chiang Kai-shek or some other forces.

The Northeast Army as a whole has become a lost dog. Aren't they going to find a new home and wait to be slaughtered and eaten in the future?

Do you dare to say that among the people outside shouting slogans like "Zhang Xueliang step down" and "Northeast Army get out of Peking" there is no Chairman Chiang Kai-shek, any warlord, or someone from the North?

In this situation, why are you suggesting that Marshal Zhang step down? How can we know if you are just trying to cooperate with the outside world?

Therefore, no one dared to say anything, not even to offer comfort.

After a full ten minutes, someone finally spoke:

"Commander, the only way to resolve this chaos is to retreat in order to advance.

Station.

Damn it?

There are such warriors?

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and found that it was Pan Dongzhou, Zhang Xueliang's new personal secretary who was newly hired to replace Li Tiancai who had disappeared.

Doesn't this kid know his place?

That's not right!

After the "Rehe Defeat," weren't he and Wang Yizhe the most vocal opponents of Zhang Xueliang's resignation?

Some time ago, Pan Wenyu had made it very clear to everyone that the Beiping area was the last place for the Northeast Army to survive, and they had to fight to keep it, otherwise they would be torn apart in the future.

How could someone who said this suddenly

But Zhang Xueliang knew Pan Wenyu's talent and knew that he must have a very good idea. His eyes lit up slightly and he quickly asked:

"Tell me, how do you "retreat to advance"?

"Commander, with something this serious happening, it's far from enough to just suppress the rioters and bring them all to justice. Someone with enough weight must come forward to take responsibility, and that person can only be you and Commander Yu.

road:

Facing the horrified gazes of the high-ranking officials and generals in the room, Pan Wenyu said

"So, at this point, if you don't speak out publicly and take a sufficiently satisfactory stance of responsibility, the public's anger will not be quelled, and this matter will not be resolved."

"...You mean you want me to resign?

"Not only must you and Commander Yu resign, but the entire Northeast Army must also withdraw from Peking.

"!!!"

As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar at the scene!

The Northeast Army withdrew from Peking. How could you have imagined that?

Is this guy crazy???

Or is he really a ghost from somewhere?

Someone immediately jumped out and started to curse Pan Wenyu, but Zhang Xueliang calmly waved his hand:

“Dong Zhou, ignore them and continue talking.

“Yes, Commander.

Facing one scrutinizing or hostile gaze after another, Pan Wenyu's expression remained calm:

"If the commander publicly stated that he felt guilty about the riot and felt he could no longer face the people of Peking, and therefore was willing to resign and lead his troops out of Peking, regardless of whether the people of Peking would be satisfied, would anyone else dare to take on the responsibility of defending the city after the Northeast Army left?

Huh?

When Pan Wenyu said this, those who were originally dissatisfied with him suddenly fell into deep thought.

Take on defense?

Take on defense responsibilities.

right!

Take on defense!

Yes! Even if Zhang Xueliang dared to resign, would anyone dare to take over?

Even if the Northeast Army withdrew from Peking, would anyone dare to replace the Northeast Army and enter Peking?!

The answer is, no!

Before the "September 918th Incident", and especially before the "Rehe-Great Wall Defeat", Peking was not a super popular place, but at least it was a fertile land, and it had the past of being the "imperial capital", so everyone wanted to occupy it;

But what then?

The most direct contact with the sharp and unparalleled military force of the Northeast "pseudo-country" was the Beiping area.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Fujiwara no Kanezane was merely slowly digesting the Northeast. Once he had done so and the time was ripe, he would undoubtedly march south again!

Who will you count on to stop the enemy and defend Peking then?

Han Fuqu of Shandong or Yan Xishan of Shanxi?