The Nanjing meeting between Duan Qirui and Xiao Yimin completely dispelled the rumors that the war between the North and the South was about to break out. As Duan Qirui and his party left Nanjing and returned to the capital Beijing after a high-profile press conference, people from all walks of life sang hymns for him.

As the war crisis between the north and the south seemed to be about to break out, the "Guangdong-Guangxi War" that lasted 50 days quickly moved from fierce battles to a state of confrontation across the line. The exhausted officers and soldiers of the two armies quietly licked their wounds along Shaoguan, Sihui, Zhaoqing, Yunfu and Yangxi, which were more than 300 kilometers long from north to south, quietly licked their wounds, restrained their bodies of their comrades and buried them to pay tribute to each other. At the same time, they were nervously replenishing materials and soldiers, quietly adjusting their formations and mobilizing the army, and making the most complete preparations for the upcoming life-and-death battle...

While Duan Qirui arrived in Nanjing to meet with Xiao Yimin, the hidden contradictions within the Guangdong political group suddenly became public. Chen Jiongming, the chief of the Army of the Guangzhou Central Government and commander-in-chief of the Guangdong Army, denied the requirement of Sun Yat-sen, the president of the revolutionary party, to "convene a special parliament and elect a legal president" on the grounds that "the number of representatives did not reach two-thirds of the legal status." Since then, the irreconcilable huge contradictions between the elite faction headed by Sun Yat-sen and the local faction headed by Chen Jiong-ming has finally been aroused.

Sun Wen's faction condemned Chen Jiongming and others' "warlord behavior" and selfishness, and angrily criticized Chen Jiongming and other Guangdong military and political officials as political speculators, trying to use their guns to take advantage of the revolutionary cause to betray the revolution when it was in danger, completely exposing their ugly face of usurping the party and seizing power.

Chen Jiongming's faction thought he had worked hard and made great contributions, but in the end he was excluded from the core of the government. The blood of countless Guangdong men was dyed red by others. When he heard Sun Yat-sen's merciless attacks, he immediately retorted. Not only did he violently attack Sun Yat-sen's "Outline of Government Organizations" proposed by Sun Yat-sen at meetings of all sizes, it was contrary to the Constitution. One by one, refuted Sun Yat-sen's five powers required by the President were the same as the Qing emperor, denounced Sun Yat-sen's dictatorial essence of attempting to take over the power of the party, government and military. At the same time, he mobilized major local newspapers to expose Sun Yat-sen's long-term luxury and decay of private life, and opened the cover of the soy-cooked jar that had been tightly covered for more than ten years.

A large number of revolutionaries who gathered in Guangzhou from all over the country were finally completely disappointed and left Guangzhou one by one. More than a hundred old Tongmeng members and well-known domestic politicians rushed to Shanghai and joined the Kuomintang re-established by Lin Sen, Yu Youren, Cai Yuanpei and others.

When the two core figures who were angry and attacked each other woke up, nearly half of the Guangzhou Revolutionary Government had been empty. All military and political affairs were paralyzed.

At this moment, at the command of the Guangxi Governor Lu Rongting, the 120,000 Guangxi officers and soldiers were once again erected in the hearts of the people, and the Guangdong army, which had frequent internal strife, launched a fierce attack on the whole line.

On August 4, Baihuazhou, Meixian, Guangdong Province. Frontline Command of the Right Route Army of Guangdong Army.

Xu Chongzhi threw down the discouraging telegram in his hand, rubbed his tight corners of his eyes with his hands, took out the gold watch and looked at it, and turned to the door: "Chief Jiang and Commander Liu have not arrived yet?"

The adjutant quickly stepped forward and stood at attention: "Report to the commander, Commander Liu called back yesterday afternoon and said he would set off overnight. It's almost two o'clock in the afternoon, so they probably arrived."

The rushing sound of horse hooves came faintly from the direction of the gate. The adjutant said happily, "arrived", and then ordered several staff members not far away to prepare tea quickly.

Xu Chongzhi sorted out his spotless military uniform. He slowly buckled the Fengji buckle, took the big block handed over the adjutant and put it on his head. He walked out the door with a smile on his face. He stood tall in the scorching sun and waited patiently.

Chiang Kai-shek and Liu Bingxian, covered in dust and sweating, arrived surrounded by a group of guards. They strangled the horses more than ten meters away from Xu Chongzhi, jumped down, and both came to Xu Chongzhi to salute. Under the warm greeting of Xu Chongzhi and another deputy commander, they entered the headquarters together.

When each other sat down and served tea, Xu Chongzhi waved the staff and guards in the room and took out a telegram and handed it to Chiang Kai-shek who was sitting opposite him: "Did Brother Jieshi receive the same notice?"

Chiang Kai-shek took it and handed it to Liu Bingxian beside him, facing Xu Chongzhi, and nodded modestly: "I really didn't expect that the entire battle situation would take a sharp turn for three days, alas!"

Xu Chongzhi shook his head helplessly:

"The culprit of the full retreat was Li Liejun, who was fully responsible for the defense of the front line of Shaoguan. If he had not led his troops south to Yingde, the Yunnan Army and Hunan Army who were left on the front line of Shaoguan would not surrender to the troops of Wang Zanxu, the Sichuan Army, who were attacking in large numbers, would not have dared to go south in large numbers and encircle Zhaoqing with the third army of the Gui army Shen Hongying, thus causing more than half of our Zhaoqing defenders to be killed and injured on both sides, and finally had to hate the tragic situation of retreating."

Liu Bing thought about it first and put forward his own opinions truthfully:

"You are brother, Li Liejun is probably led his troops south by the order of the headquarters? Although there is no explanation in the telex notification, if you think about it carefully, you can find many unreasonable aspects in it."

Xu Chongzhi did not fail to consider the complex political factors, but no matter what, he was inclined to the local faction led by Chen Jiongming. In addition, the so-called revolutionary troops stationed in Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Hunan and other so-called revolutionary troops stationed in Guangdong for many years have been greedy, and the cruel plunder and exploitation of the people of Guangdong Province has reached the point of being angry and resentful. The revolutionary leader Sun Wen and all military and political officials from other provinces have not rectified or restricted this. Instead, he comforted many guest generals and constantly promoted these people to great importance. Therefore, before he knew it, Xu Chongzhi's political stance also changed quietly, and he no longer had the revolutionary passion he had when he followed Sun Wen.

After a brief silence, Xu Chongzhi asked kindly: "When will Brother Zicheng lead his troops back to Guangzhou?"

Liu Bingxian knew that Xu Chongzhi was very smart, and must have inferred from the notice that Sun Yat-sen wanted to mobilize his headquarters to protect the Guangzhou base camp, so he did not hide anything:

"I received a telegram from Mr. Sun yesterday morning. Brother Jieshi and I discussed it and decided to report to you first, and then decide when to set off to Guangzhou."

Chiang Kai-shek added: "Fujian Li Houji is ready to move, and the calls for the whole province of Fujian to expel our revolutionary army are rising. We are all worried that after evacuating Chaoshan, Li Houji's troops will invade a large number of people."

Xu Chongzhi nodded with relief: "Thank you two. In fact, since the entire territory of Zhejiang was annexed by Xiao Yimin's Nanchang camp, the military and political circles of Fujian have also been loyal to Nanjing. Under such circumstances, I really do not want to continue to be stationed in the southern Fujian line without an ally.

"Don't worry, I have ordered the 7th Brigade to evacuate Longyan and return to Fangjiaoling. The 8th Brigade is also leaving the defense zone south of Zhangzhou and evacuate to Chaoshan to take over your headquarters' defense. My headquarters is still in Meixian for the time being."

As soon as Chiang Kai-shek and Liu Bingxian heard it, they understood that Xu Chongzhi was gradually shrinking and preserving his strength. They were not willing to continue to attack Fujian according to Mr. Sun's wishes, nor were they willing to return to Guangzhou to face difficult choices, so they simply continued to stay in the relatively wealthy Chaomei area and watch the changes.

When Chiang Kai-shek saw that Liu Bing was unwilling to speak again, he had to bite the bullet and remind Xu Chongzhi:

"You are brother, there is something that I can't judge whether Zicheng and I can't tell you. I don't know if the Sichuan Army Wang Zanxu's troops have reached a secret agreement with the Gui army. If so, the Sichuan Army will definitely continue to jointly attack our army with the Gui army in the next time. Moreover, it is reported that Li Houji, Fujian, rushed to Nanjing a few days ago to meet Duan Qirui and Xiao Yimin. Therefore, it is very likely that Nanjing has reached some kind of agreement with Li Houji. We have to be careful!"

Xu Chongzhi felt awe-inspiring. He carefully weighed the possibility of Li Houji's counterattack. However, he did not consider the two armies of Jiangxi under Xiao Yimin. Now it seems that since Wang Zanxu can fight with the Gui army general Ma Ji, it is entirely possible to jointly attack the Chaomei area with Li Houji's troops in Fujian.

Thinking of this, Xu Chongzhi, who had a serious face, stood up and solemnly thanked Chiang Kai-shek and Liu Bingxian: "Thank you, thank you Zicheng! If it weren't for your reminder, I would still be confused!"

Chiang Kai-shek and Liu Bingxian quickly stood up and returned the greeting. Liu Bingxian said sincerely: "You are brother, after we led our troops to leave, there are only three brigades left in your hand. Moreover, the 7th Brigade that retreated to Jiaoling has been fighting for more than one year and has not received the appropriate supplement yet. If the situation is really as we expected, it is probably difficult for Chaomei area to stick to it!"

Xu Chongzhi nodded gratefully: "Thank you Zicheng for reminding me that Brother Yu will definitely deal with it carefully... Before, Brother Yu had many misunderstandings about Zicheng, and it was really not worth it! Today, Brother Yu apologized to Zicheng, and I hope Zicheng will forgive me!"

"Brother, I'm so serious!"

Liu Bingxian hurried forward and held Xu Chongzhi's hands, so he didn't let Xu Chongzhi bend down: "In fact, there is no grudge between Bingxian and his brother, but there are differences in understanding in some aspects. In Bingxian's heart, his brother is a real soldier, a senior in the military who cares about the country and the nation, and has always been a model worthy of respect for Bingxian!"

When Chiang Kai-shek heard this, he smiled and said, "Okay, okay! That's all. Actually, I know there is no great gap between you. Although Mr. Sun urged you very much, Zicheng insisted on coming to say goodbye to your brother first. From this, we can see that you still have a sympathy in your heart, haha!"

Xu Chongzhi's eyes turned slightly red, and he grabbed Liu Bingxian's hand and kept saying that for a long time: "Don't leave first, you have to drink a drink before leaving. Since you came to Chaoshan garrison, we have never had a meal together. We have been in a hurry to go our separate ways when we see each other. When we think about it, we feel ashamed!"

"Okay! I will stay and have a drink with my brother, otherwise I may regret it for the rest of my life." Liu Bingxian agreed happily.

In less than two hours, the hot sun was still hanging on the blue sky in the west. Xu Chongzhi, Liu Bingxian, Chiang Kai-shek and others had already raised their glasses under the big banyan tree on the riverside and had a chat.

Just as he was talking about the joy, Xu Chongzhi's adjutant and several guards arrived with an officer stained with his legs and almost exhausted. Xu Chongzhi and others knew something was wrong at a glance, so they stood up and walked over.

Liu Bingxian saw the person with a dirt and sweat on his face. He was shocked. He rushed forward in two steps and shouted to dodge. He hugged Liu Jixian, the confidant deputy commander who could hardly recognize his appearance, and shouted loudly: "Fourth brother! What happened?"

Liu Jixian, who escaped from the Chaozhou military camp and rode a horse to rush for more than 200 miles, was already exhausted at this moment. He collapsed in the arms of his clan brother Liu Bingxian and opened his blood-stained lips with difficulty:

"Brother, the army has mutiny... The first brigade commander Xiao Fei, the second brigade commander Xu Tongyao, the teaching team and the special agent battalion... They suddenly attacked and arrested Director Wu and seven political instructors stationed at the base camp... They all killed..."

ps: Thank you dlghy_zy, the dead man's head, the three great rewards for seven taels of eels! The emperor was grateful and terrified!

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Chapter completed!