At six o'clock in the afternoon, a Central Airlines passenger plane landed at Nanjing Airport. Only two people got off the plane - Song Ziwen, director of the Central Economic Commission and special commissioner for Guangdong, and his secretary.
Song Ziwen saw the approaching military police commander and capital garrison commander Gu Zhenglun and the commander of the air defense command Qu Muchen. He perked up, strode forward to shake hands, exchanged a few words, and got into the big car with Gu Zhenglun and Qu Muchen.
, the car quickly drove out of the airport, escorted by two bridge cars one behind the other.
"How did you create such a huge formation?" Song Ziwen asked with a smile.
Gu Zhenglun sighed, shook his head and said: "In extraordinary times, we have to be careful! At this time, your identity and status are particularly critical, and there is no room for any mistakes."
Song Ziwen looked at the loyal general of Chiang Kai-shek in front of him with a smile: "Is it Mr. Yongzhi's intention or yours?"
Gu Zhenglun smiled mysteriously: "Yes, haha! What if I say this is brother An Yi's opinion? Huh!?"
Song Ziwen was stunned for a moment, his astonished eyes rolled behind the lenses a few times, and then he looked at Qu Muchen, the lieutenant commander of the air defense forces sitting in front. He seemed to understand something, and finally sighed quietly: "This makes me feel relieved! An Yi
This guy’s strategizing is amazing!”
Four hours ago, Song Ziwen was panic-stricken in the face of various gossips flying all over the sky. It was not until he received a call from Kong Xiangxi that he calmed down a little. After urgently contacting the Soviet Consulate in Shanghai and finding no one, he quickly rushed to the airport and took a chartered flight to Nanjing.
, in order to go to the Soviet Consulate with Kong Xiangxi to report mediation.
At this time, Song Ziwen was in a very complicated mood. When he first received the news that Chiang Kai-shek had been kidnapped and imprisoned, Song Ziwen was a little gloating in his shock. He thought that it would be a good thing to let this rough guy suffer some pain. But on second thought, he was gloating about his misfortune.
The thoughts disappeared, and he clearly realized that if Chiang Kai-shek died unexpectedly, not to mention the power of the Song family would be seriously weakened, He Yingqin and other pro-Japanese factions would inevitably usurp power again. If Wang Jingwei, a weak leader, was welcomed back, a large-scale
The civil war is absolutely unavoidable. When the time comes, the Japanese will take advantage of the situation. Not only will the people of the country become subjugated slaves, but even the Song family will have to flee the motherland in despair and live in other lands.
Therefore, Song Ziwen hardly needed to think too much before making up his mind. No matter from any aspect, he must rescue Chiang Kai-shek, otherwise he would end up with a sad end of losing both his lips and teeth.
The car soon arrived at Qiyuan. Kong Xiangxi and Zhang Zhizhong stood at the door to greet Song Ziwen, saw off Gu Zhenglun and Qu Muchen, who were responsible for heavy responsibilities, and immediately led Song Ziwen up to the second floor. Before he could sit down, Kong Xiangxi's secretary called and said that the Executive Yuan
The Secretariat received a telegram from Zhang Xueliang, which was addressed to Kong Xiangxi himself. It contained the message: "My brother has loved Mr. Jie for eight years, but now I dare not harm the public for personal reasons. Please temporarily ask Mr. Jie to stay in Xi'an to encourage him to reflect and make a decision."
Do no harm" and so on.
Song Meiling finally let go of her hanging heart. Song Ziwen sat down and analyzed in detail:
"I know Han Qing's character very well. He would not be so stupid as to kill someone. At least until their political goals are achieved, the Chairman's life should be safe and guaranteed. I analyze that Zhang and Yang's rebellion is extremely unlikely.
It may be that they were bewitched by the Communist Party, but I think their intention was not to kill Jieshi, but to force him to do something, and what follows is likely to be a very difficult negotiation."
Kong Xiangxi nodded: "We see the same thing, but what should we do next?"
Song Ziwen pondered for a moment: "I don't have any good ideas for a while. Although Han Qing called specifically to explain, it doesn't mean that Jieshi's life is not in danger. After all, there is a wolf-like Yang Hucheng beside him, and
The Communist Party, which hates Jieshi to the core, is hiding behind the scenes. None of us can figure out how complicated the current situation in Xi'an is.
"Recalling their power-on declaration carefully, I feel that the CCP's attitude is very important. Also, I am very worried about the Japanese and puppet spies hidden in Xi'an, so we must not take it lightly, and we must take the initiative to establish contact with Han Qing and keep on the phone.
Smooth flow. Looking at Nanjing in front of us, I am afraid that a storm is about to come and undercurrents are surging. Therefore, we must take the initiative to control the situation and do our best to restrict the pro-Japanese faction from taking over military power, otherwise everything will get out of control."
"It's difficult! Wen Bai and I have also analyzed it. He Yingqin is not an idle person, and he has a military talisman in his hand. He will definitely take action. From noon to now, he has visited many party and state elders non-stop. At four o'clock in the afternoon, unexpectedly
Everyone unexpectedly convened a meeting with Lixingshe and the Huangpu generals in Beijing. The content is unknown, and I have a bad feeling." Kong Xiangxi said worriedly.
Song Ziwen thought for a moment and made a decisive decision: "We must go to the Soviet consulate immediately, explain the situation, and tell them with great justice, tell them that without Chairman Chiang, China will definitely be in chaos, and Japan will inevitably invade and occupy China. If that happens, the Soviet Union will
People absolutely don’t want to see it.”
Kong Xiangxi stood up immediately: "It's time to do it without further delay. Meiling had better go together!"
...
Three hours later, the Song brothers and sisters and Kong Xiangxi received a satisfactory reply from the Soviet Embassy.
After returning to Qiyuan, Song Meiling, Song Ziwen, Kong Xiangxi, Zhang Zhizhong, Gong Qian and others discussed and decided to agree to the eight propositions of Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng. The purpose was that as long as Chiang Kai-shek could come back safe and sound, anything was possible.
Negotiable.
After the principle was settled, Soong Meiling made a phone call to Shanghai and cried to her eldest sister Soong Ching Ling. Then she informed everyone of the results of the discussion in detail and asked her eldest sister for her full help.
In any case, Chiang Kai-shek was his brother-in-law, and it was related to the rise and fall of the Song family. Soong Ching Ling readily agreed and contacted Pan Hannian, the director of the CCP's secret office in Shanghai, by phone, conveying the opinions of Soong Meiling and others, and asking
What does Pan Hannian think?
Pan Hannian seemed to have expected this call, and very calmly conveyed an important message: the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China did not know about it beforehand, and advocated a peaceful solution after the incident occurred, and had sent Zhou Enlai and others to Xi'an for mediation.
...
At 8 o'clock in the evening, the Kuomintang Central Executive Meeting and Political Conference were convened urgently, and the following resolutions were quickly made under the chairmanship of He Yingqin:
(1) Zhang Xueliang's dismissal was strictly handled, (2) the Executive Yuan was headed by Vice President Kong; (3) He Yingqin, Cheng Qian, Li Liejun, Zhu Peide, Tang Shengzhi, and Chen Shaokuan were elected as standing members of the Military Commission; (4) the Military Commission was headed by
Vice Chairman Feng Yuxiang and the Standing Committee are in charge; (5) Army command and mobilization is temporarily under the responsibility of Minister of Military and Political Affairs He Yingqin; (6) Telegrams are sent to the whole country to announce the crimes of Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, and call on the entire army and the people to resolutely punish them.
The last point of the resolution aroused great controversy, and the participants had different opinions. Dai Chuanxian urged not to show off, while Yang Yiruo, Kong Xiangxi, and Song Ziwen advocated in advance to persuade them not to send troops to attack Xi'an before negotiations started and when there was still hope for a peaceful solution.
After arguing for more than half an hour, He Yingqin, who had gained control of the military power as he wished, saw that Feng Yuxiang and others sided with Song Ziwen and Kong Xiangxi, so he had to suspend power to the whole country and issue a crusade order.
Just as the meeting was about to end, an important news came:
Huang Yong'an, commander of Zhang Xueliang's 6th Artillery Brigade stationed in Luoyang, received Zhang Xueliang's order to occupy the airport, armory, and block the secret messages of various banks. Huang Yong'an weighed repeatedly and refused to obey.
The Hexingying Office surrendered and reported Zhang Xueliang's telegram to Zhu Shaozhou, director of the Luoyang Military Academy.
Zhu Shaozhou was a fellow countryman of Chiang Kai-shek. He was a follower of Chen Guofu before the Revolution of 1911. In the first year of the Republic of China, he entered the Qinghe No. 1 Military Officers Preparatory School and was later promoted to the Baoding Army Military Academy. On April 12, the army was stationed in Shanghai and the workers' pickets in Zhabei, Wusong and other places were lifted.
Armed. During the 128th Anti-Japanese War in Shanghai, he served as the Chief of Staff of the Fifth Army. In the early days of the Great Wall Anti-Japanese War, he served as the Director of the Recruit Training Department, and later as the Director of the Central Military Academy in Luoyang. In October of this year, he was transferred to the Staff of the Fourth Route Army General Headquarters.
Chang. During the Fujian Revolution, Zhu was ordered to persuade the 19th Route Army to surrender, but with no results, he returned to Luoyang Military Branch and was responsible for secretly supervising the repair of national defense fortifications along the Yellow River.
After hearing the news, Zhu Shaozhou was shocked and immediately ordered the 2nd Division of Fan Songfu of the 46th Army stationed in western Henan to rush to Tongguan and occupy Tongguan before Zhang Xueliang's army.
Everyone was shocked when they heard the urgent report. Many people were secretly worried that the exchange of fire between the Forty-sixth Army and the Northeast Army would bring disaster to Chiang Kai-shek who was trapped in the hands of Zhang and Yang. Song Ziwen and Kong Xiangxi immediately started discussions with Feng Yuxiang, and Feng Yuxiang
Decisively calling Zhu Shaozhou and Fan Songfu, ordering the troops to stay in place, not to start the war, and to take the initiative to attack. Song Ziwen and Kong Xiangxi were relieved a little. When they left, they did not notice the slightest sneer at the corner of He Yingqin's mouth.
.
The next morning, Soong Meiling and others who received a reply from Soong Ching Ling simply did not believe that the CCP did not know about this matter, so they were deeply worried about Pan Hannian's statement. Now that the life-long enemy of the Communist Party, Chiang Kai-shek, has fallen into prison in Pingyang, the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the Red Army are not
May not seize this great opportunity to eliminate the opponent.
At nine o'clock in the morning, Vice Chairman Feng Yuxiang called Zhang Xueliang to advise Zhang Xueliang that he should first release Chairman Chiang and return to Beijing. Kong Xiangxi, as acting president of the Executive Yuan, sent a message to the whole country, supporting the central government's established national policy and helping each other in times of difficulty. He also called Song Zheyuan of North China,
Han Fuju from Shandong, Zhu Peide from Yunnan, Yan Xishan from Shanxi, Shang Zhen from Henan, Shen Honglie from Qingdao, Yu Xuezhong from Lanzhou, and Feng Qinzai, the division commander of Yang Hucheng Department who had a close personal relationship, looked forward to working together to save the crisis and peacefully resolve the Xi'an Incident.
At ten o'clock in the morning, Song Meiling, accompanied by Kong Xiangxi, Song Ziwen, and Gong Qian, held a press conference at the Jinling Hotel according to the established plan. Before the meeting, Song Ziwen's written statement was distributed:
"Chairman Chiang Kai-shek is absolutely safe in Xi'an. I believe that the Xi'an Incident is the most unfortunate event for the country. It is urgent to use effective methods to solve it in the shortest possible time. The eyes of the whole world are currently focused on China. I and
Dean Chiang’s public and private relationship and his long-standing friendship with Zhang Xueliang are well known to the world. In this special relationship, if there is any possible solution, I am very willing to do my best under the leadership of the central government.
As for the measures to be taken, we must wait for the government to decide; whether it is necessary for me to go to Xi'an, I will also wait for the government to decide..."
At two o'clock in the afternoon, the situation in the northwest suddenly changed. The commander of the First Army Hu Zongnan and more than 40 Huangpu direct division commanders suddenly called the central government and requested an order to attack Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng. Lanzhou Yu Xuezhong's department suddenly occupied Lanzhou City and the central military and political organs with heavy troops.
, sealed all the city gates, and took control of the telegraph office, bank, airport and station. After hearing the news, the officers and soldiers of the surrounding Central Army units were furious. They contacted each other to assemble their troops and quickly pushed towards Lanzhou City. The Lanzhou War was imminent.
The soldiers on the Suiyuan front line were shocked to hear that Zhang and Yang had launched a military coup in Xi'an and that Chairman Chiang was in trouble.
After the expansion of the army, Suiyuan's troops, which numbered to more than 60,000 soldiers, now faced the puppet and Mongolian armed forces supported by the vicious Japanese invaders. They were always preparing for the next war. All military pay and logistics supplies had to be allocated by Chiang Kai-shek. Now the old Chiang Kai-shek
He was suddenly arrested, and all supplies of food, ammunition, and medicine were missing. The anxious generals all rushed to Fu Zuoyi's headquarters. After intense discussions, the steady Fu Zuoyi persuaded the angry people, and a telegram was sent to An Yi.
, ask him how to deal with it?
An Yi, who had just reached a verbal agreement with Yan Xishan and had just returned from Taiyuan, was carefully reading the second request message sent by Zhang Xueliang. He had just put it down and had not yet informed the more than ten generals around him. Liu Qing took Fu Zuoyi's
The emergency call came quickly.
An Yi took the telegram and read it, stood up suddenly, read Fu Zuoyi's call loudly, and then looked politely at Wan Fulin and Pang Bingxun, who had arrived in Baoding after a long journey:
"Two brothers, General Yisheng is probably in the same situation now as the two brothers. The soldiers on the Suiyuan front line unanimously advocated the use of electric power to attack Zhang Hanqing and Yang Hucheng. General Yisheng temporarily suppressed it because of the overall situation. Now, juniors want to hear
The opinions of two seniors."
"Brother An, our Forty Army has a very clear opinion, that is, we will advance and retreat together with the brothers An Jiajun. As long as brother gives the order, we can break out of camp and attack Xi'an immediately!"
Pang Bingxun has been deeply cared for by Chiang Kai-shek in the past six months. Not only has he been successfully promoted to lieutenant general and general, but also has priority in food and salary guarantees. With the strong support of An Yi and Hu Jialin's 17th Army, he has worked hard to build the army. Now
The troops under his command are already strong, and I feel deeply grateful for Chiang Kai-shek and An Yi.
An Yi grinned: "What does Senior Wan think?"
Wan Fulin laughed: "Brother, just say it if you have anything to say. If others can't trust me as a person, why can't I? Say it, say it!"
An Yi nodded gratefully, glanced around the generals, and saw that everyone was looking at him waiting for a decision. He slowly put away his smile and made a decisive decision——