RNP Chapter 299 For the sake of the old Beiyang Army...
Chapter 299 For the sake of the old Beiyang Army...
"Young Marshal, can saving face protect the foundation of our Northeast Army?"
Chief of Staff Yang stepped forward, his tone extremely anxious.
"If Jinzhou falls, if Shenyang falls, our Northeast Army won't even have a foothold. What use will this face be then?"
"Although Chen Zijun is the King of Jiangnan, the Chen family army is currently fighting under the pretext of resisting the Japanese. Now that they've come to Jinzhou, their defense zone is in western Liaoning. When the nest is overturned, how can the eggs remain intact? If the Japanese wipe us out, Chen Zijun won't have any peace either!"
"Our commander-in-chief had some dealings with the Chen family back in the day; there was some kinship between them during the Beiyang period. As long as we back down, Chen Zijun will definitely send troops to prevent the Japanese from swallowing up the entire area outside the Great Wall!"
"As the saying goes, 'Brothers may quarrel within the walls, but they unite against external threats.' Chen Zijun cannot possibly sit idly by and do nothing!"
Zhang Jialiang slumped back into his chair, his fists clenched so tightly that his nails almost dug into his flesh.
The atmosphere in the study was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.
Every general was watching him, waiting for the young marshal to make his final decision.
Going to Chen Zijun would be tantamount to admitting that Zhang Jialiang's previous political decisions were a complete joke, and would also mean handing over the military and political leadership of Northeast China to the much younger Jiangnan overlord.
But if you don't ask...
The Japanese heavy armored vehicles and the bayonets of two divisions were already within arm's reach.
"Whoosh—whoosh—"
Zhang Jialiang was breathing heavily, staring intently at the red telephone.
After a long while, he finally collapsed, limp and powerless, like a defeated rooster.
"Bring me a pen..."
Zhang Jialiang spoke in a hoarse voice, his eyes vacant.
"I personally drafted the telegram to the Jinzhou forward command post."
Chief of Staff Rong breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly handed over the red-paper telegram next to him.
Zhang Jialiang took the pen with trembling hands and wrote on the paper, word by word:
"To my esteemed brother Zijun: Your foolish elder brother Huaqing bows deeply. The situation in the Liao River region is currently critical. The Japanese invaders are attacking our territory with heavily armored forces, employing brutal methods and advancing with overwhelming force. Considering the long-standing friendship between my late father and your esteemed troops, and also feeling the sense of shared hardship among our fellow Chinese, I earnestly request that you prioritize the overall national situation and dispatch the main armored force of the Chen family army and gyrfalcon fighter jets to provide support and cooperate in the fight against the Japanese. The 100,000 comrades of the Northeast Army are deeply grateful..."
After writing the last word, Zhang Jialiang seemed to have used up all his strength, slamming the pen heavily on the table and waving his hand weakly.
"Send it out."
"yes!"
Chief of Staff Yang took the telegram with both hands, glanced at it briefly, and then, not daring to look any longer at Zhang Jialiang's almost distorted, humiliated face, hurriedly left the study.
As he handed it to the telegraph operator, he suddenly, as if possessed, pulled it back, took a pen from his jacket pocket, and added a sentence heavily at the end of the telegram—a sentence that his young marshal would never write under any circumstances.
"For the sake of our old Beiyang ties, let's give our brother a hand!"
At this moment, Zhang Jialiang looked at the gloomy sky outside the window and felt a tightness in his chest.
He knew that once this telegram was sent, his era of absolute authority in Northeast China would be completely over.
At the Jinzhou forward command post, Chen Zijun quickly obtained this secret telegram.
"Brother Zijun? A fellow Chinese comrade?"
Chen Zijun looked at the extremely polite and even somewhat obsequious wording on the telegram and couldn't help but burst into laughter, the sound of which was particularly jarring in the empty command post.
"When the telegram announcing the change of flags was sent a few days ago, he didn't treat me like a brother. At that time, he only had eyes for President Chang in Nanjing, and he couldn't wait to use the name of the Central Army to drive me out of Jinzhou."
"This guy is the type who won't admit his mistakes until he sees the coffin."
Shen Li took the telegram from the side, glanced at it, and spat it with a face full of disdain.
"It's still out of consideration for our old Beiyang connections. We're from the old Beiyang, but the Zhang family isn't!"
"Back then, the three northeastern provinces formed their own faction, and later, whether it was the Zhili or Anhui cliques, they were always at odds with the Fengtian clique!"
"Now that the Japanese tanks are about to reach the Marshal's Mansion, he suddenly remembers that we are 'comrades-in-arms,' and is even considering the old Beiyang Army's friendship. Tsk tsk tsk, you know what, once he said that..."
"Young Marshal, how should we reply to this telegram?"
The smile on Chen Zijun's face vanished instantly, replaced by an extremely ruthless and cold expression.
He crumpled the telegram in his hand into a ball and casually threw it into the wastepaper basket next to him.
"Go back? Go back my ass!"
Chen Zijun shouted coldly, his voice echoing in the command post, making the surrounding staff officers shudder.
"Tell Zhang Xiaoliuzi suddenly, I'm fighting the Japanese in Jinzhou for the sake of China's land, for the people of Northeast China, for every inch of our homeland, for our country and our nation, not to save Zhang Xiaoliuzi's dog life, and certainly not to protect his rotten Northeast Marshal's Mansion!"
"If the Japanese Kwantung Army attacks them, let his Northeast Army hold the line for me!"
"If the Northeast Army can fight the Japanese to the death, I will respect them as true men, and I will naturally help them if necessary."
"But if they dare to desert now and abandon the defense line to the Japanese, my heavy armored division and supervisory units are waiting behind us!"
"If Zhang Xiaoliuzi tries to run away, I'll just use a tank to crush his Fengtian Marshal's Mansion into ruins!"
"yes!"
Shen Li responded loudly, turning around with an excited expression to convey the order.
Just then, a very deep and loud engine roar suddenly came from the sky outside the command post.
The sound was continuous, like rolling thunder rumbling in the clouds.
Chen Zijun strode out of the wooden house and looked up at the southern sky.
Beneath the gloomy clouds, one after another, "Haidongqing" dive bombers painted with black war eagle insignia roared in in neat, goose-shaped formations, blotting out the sun.
A sharp whistling sound echoed faintly in the cold wind, like a group of steel grim reapers emerging from the depths of hell, spreading their wings and casting huge shadows.
Looking at the magnificent fleet of aircraft, Chen Zijun finally managed a cold smile that he barely concealed:
"They're here. The Kwantung Army's imported tin cans can just be used as targets for my gyrfalcons."
Shen Li, standing beside him, was also looking at the rows of planes overhead and sighed inwardly. He had seen the data on these planes and, without exaggeration, they were the best in the world!
I don't know where our young marshal got it from.
Could it be old Germany?
If that's the case, then Germany, having lost the European war, has much more to its name!
From the coastal fortress guns to the equipment at Ma'anshan Iron and Steel Plant, to the machinery at Jiangnan Arsenal, to the German engineers, and the naval instructors...
The young marshal is so close to them. What if Germany goes crazy in the future? Will he be implicated?