Chapter 534 533 [The Little Prince Who Takes the Blame]

When Zhang Xueliang was happy, he suddenly frowned and looked at the newspaper, and said with a wry smile: "Mingcheng, how much of the good news you said about Xifengkou this time is true?"

Zhang Xueliang was also a leader in battle before, so he could naturally see something wrong with the battle report. It may be possible to kill thousands of enemy troops, but what the hell is one plane captured? 11 tanks and 6 armored vehicles were actually seized. Is it true that the Japanese tanks are paper?

The results of the battles published in the newspaper must have moisture, and the moisture is huge!

Zhou Hexuan laughed and said, "Six handsome, no matter whether the good news is true or not, it must be true. What do you think?"

Zhang Xueliang was taken aback, then nodded and said, "Indeed, it must be true."

The Chinese people urgently need this great victory. It can even be said to be the spiritual pillar of the Chinese military and civilians now. It has broken the myth that the Japanese invaders are invincible! Therefore, it must be true in order to inspire countless people to fight and strengthen the determination of the Chinese people to resist.

As for this "Xifengkou Great Victory", there have been many discussions and researches in later generations, but they are all at a loss and cannot explain it clearly.

According to data, the Broadsword Squadron of the 29th Army only killed more than 500 Japanese soldiers; there are also data showing that the Broadsword Squadron killed more than 3,000 Japanese invaders. But no matter what, the result of killing the Japanese is real, and it did blow up 18 Japanese cannons.

As for the seizure of armored vehicles, planes, etc., it sounds a bit unreal. Those who want to believe it can believe it, and those who don't want to believe it can also reasonably question it.

But it is undeniable that those soldiers of the broadsword team who fought bravely to kill the enemy are all heroes. After a night raid, only a dozen or so people survived (some say 30 people), and this kind of night raid was fought several times before and after.

The equipment of the 29th Army is very simple, and it belongs to the Beggar Army among the Great Wall Anti-Japanese War troops.

But these "beggars" defended Xifengkou for a full 10 days, not only repelled the enemy's attack many times, but also rushed into the enemy's position several times at night. What they faced was the bombing of machine guns, cannons, and planes, and they were purely using their flesh and blood to resist the artillery fire.

Now the 29th Army is still defending Xifengkou. In history, they have always held their ground. The 29th Army was forced to withdraw from Xifengkou until the defense line of the flanking friendly army (Jin Sui Army) was defeated, which shows its tenacity in fighting.

"It's a pity, it's a pity," Zhang Xueliang sighed, "Song Zheyuan shouldn't have won this battle."

Zhou Hexuan nodded in agreement: "It's true that he shouldn't be allowed to fight."

Song Zheyuan belongs to Feng Yuxiang's right-hand man and is one of the five generals of the Northwest Army. This person is indeed strong in battle, but has a natural character flaw - or "strength".

To some extent, Song Zheyuan is equivalent to the "aggregate" of Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan. Combining the various advantages of Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan, it also includes the countless shortcomings of the two. This guy is cunning and reckless, greedy and loyal, and has a great desire for power.

During the Northern Expedition, Song Zheyuan was able to play the trick of killing prisoners, and he killed 3,000 people (some say 500). Not to mention that the captives he killed were compatriots, even the second-ranking warlords in Sichuan know that they can't do such things as killing captives.

The reason why Zhang Xueliang said "it's a pity" is because Song Zheyuan's identity is too embarrassing, and his future tragedy has been doomed.

After the Central Plains War, with the downfall of Feng Yuxiang, the military group "Northwest Army" actually disappeared. And Song Zheyuan belongs to the most powerful remnant of the Northwest Army. He is now equivalent to the spiritual leader of the Northwest Army. Even Feng Yuxiang secretly wrote a letter to appoint Song Zheyuan as the heir.

Now that Song Zheyuan has become a national hero by virtue of the 29th Army, he will inevitably expand his power rapidly, and even absorb many former Northwest Army to join him.

Whether it is military or political, Lao Jiang will not sit back and watch the revival of the Northwest Army, and will definitely suppress its development momentum as much as possible. And North China is Zhang Xueliang's territory. Even if Zhang Xueliang is generous, the other generals of the Feng army do not want to see the Northwest Army grow stronger.

From the moment Song Zheyuan hit the "Xifengkou Great Victory", he was doomed to face double suppression from the central government and the Feng faction.

And Song Zheyuan is an old-fashioned warlord with a strong desire for power. He must not want to succumb to Chang Kaishen, let alone completely rely on Zhang Xueliang, and also unwilling to welcome back his old boss Feng Yuxiang. Then he has only one choice left, which is to use his huge heroic reputation to deal with the Japanese invaders, the Feng faction and the central government, and even choose limited cooperation with the Japanese in order to preserve his own strength.

Damn politics!

Damn warlord thinking!

If it was replaced by a great man like Taizu, Song Zheyuan would definitely not be forced too much, after all, the other party's strength and reputation lie there. Let Song Zheyuan develop slowly in North China, and serve as a barrier against the Japanese invaders. This is the best strategy of using generals and employing people—it can win the hearts of the people and the army, and it can not only show their strength, but also disgust Japan. People, why not do it?

It's a pity that Chang Kaishen's structure is too small. Knowing that it is impossible to remove Song Zheyuan's military power, he persecutes Song Zheyuan again and again, almost forcing Song Zheyuan to join the Japanese as a traitor.

This is purely thankless, and it also lost the hearts of the people, and earned the infamy of persecuting anti-Japanese heroes.

Song Zheyuan in history had a very simple idea, that is, he wanted to develop himself by clinging to the central thigh. He even took the initiative to show his favor and refused to cooperate with the Communist Party, so as not to arouse Chang Kaishen's resentment. But Chang Kaishen was ungrateful and determined to swallow Song Zheyuan's troops.

Lao Jiang is a person, sometimes his brain is really hard to use. It seems that as long as the warlords who are not under his control are bastards who must be killed, more and more people oppose him.

But Taizu was just the opposite, as long as they were not enemies, they were all friends. Even if they were enemies in the past, they can develop into friends in the future, so more and more people support Taizu.

It is impossible to win the final victory in the chaotic, internal and external troubles of the Republic of China with only one doctrine. No matter how good the political ideology is, it must pay attention to the appropriate method, and the leader must have a broad mind. If Taizu is the leader of the Nanjing government, Song Zheyuan's troops will definitely play a greater role.

Zhang Xueliang has been in charge of the Feng Department for many years, and he still has a basic mind. He can fully imagine that the chaos in North China in the next few years will be more terrifying than the Japanese invasion.

Zhang Xueliang was forced to step down this time because of the Rehe battle, and Chang Kaishen must come over to intervene in North China affairs. Chang Kaishen will definitely not be able to take away the military power of the Feng Faction, but he will definitely get involved in civil affairs. At that time, the central government and the bureaucrats of the Feng Faction will be able to use their brains. Coupled with the Northwest Army (29th Army) rising in the cracks, that is the situation of the Three Kingdoms fighting.

If the Japanese are smart enough, they can take advantage of the contradictions in the three aspects without using force at all, and slowly grab their own interests in North China.

Facts have proved that the Japanese are not fools, and they almost created the "autonomy of the five provinces of North China" in history.

Zhang Xueliang had nothing to do about it. Although he knew it in his heart, he was powerless. Because of his limited ability, and his reputation is ruined and not convincing, he can't hold back the Northwest Army and Jinsui Army that were recruited, let alone make an enemy of the central government.

No matter which side messed things up, Zhang Xueliang must be responsible for it, because he is the nominal lord of North China.

Zhang Xueliang now has dozens of cauldrons hanging above his head, waiting for which one to fall. His future tasks are not only to take the blame, but to take the blame. Blame the Central Committee, the Northwest Army, and the Jinsui Army... If you want to avoid the blame, the only option left is to force Jiang to resist the Japanese.