Did he trick the young marshal into becoming sworn brothers and then go south to Huangpu Military Ac

"what……"

Zhang Zuolin roared like a wild beast.

He suddenly pulled out the command sword from the shelf, gripped the handle with both hands, and slashed it hard at the corner of the mahogany desk!

With a crack, the table corner, as thick as a bowl, was cleaved and sent flying.

"Wow, that's awesome! My good brother!"

This warlord of Northeast China, who had fought his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, a man who had never shed a tear in his life, threw down his command sword, slumped into his armchair, slapped his thighs with both hands, and burst into loud sobs: "You died unjustly! It was my fault, your old brother! You devil Guo! I, Zhang Zuolin, swear to heaven that I will not rest until I have torn you to pieces and shattered your bones to dust! After the rebellion is quelled, I will build you the largest ancestral hall in Fengtian City, and I will personally escort your coffin and wear mourning clothes!"

The sound of crying shook the entire brothel.

Zhang Zuolin cried for a full fifteen minutes before finally stopping, panting heavily.

He took the hot towel handed to him by Madam Lu, wiped it haphazardly on his face, revealing two small, bloodshot eyes that looked as fierce as a wolf's.

"Wipe your tears, all of you! It's not time to cry at the grave yet!"

Zhang Zuolin stood up, walked to the map, and displayed the ruthless nature of a warlord commanding 300,000 troops, uttering a series of military orders:

"First, immediately send urgent telegrams to Zhang Zuoxiang in Jilin and Wu Junsheng in Heilongjiang, ordering them to immediately dispatch the infantry and cavalry remaining in Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces to Fengtian for assembly!"

"Second, mobilize all the existing guard brigades and supplementary regiments in Fengtian Province, under the command of Ji Jinchun, and send them immediately to the Lianshan and Jinzhou line outside Shanhaiguan. Use the terrain to dig trenches and build fortifications! Tell the soldiers at the front to hold off Guo's enemy advance at all costs, and not to retreat an inch!"

After issuing the defense deployment orders for areas outside the Great Wall, Zhang Zuolin turned his gaze to the area inside the Great Wall on the map, pointing his finger at Shandong and Zhili.

"Third! Immediately send a highly urgent military order to Li Jinglin, Zhang Zongchang, and Xing Shilian inside the pass! Tell them that their hometown is on fire, and order them to immediately abandon all current defenses and regroup their troops to march north to reinforce it! They don't need to lead the charge; as long as they lead their main force to relentlessly pursue Guo's enemy, capture Luanzhou, and launch a pincer attack with the main force outside the pass, Guo's enemy will surely be doomed! Send the order now!"

"yes!"

The head of the confidential department received the order and rushed out.

……

A few hours later.

Jinan, the main hall of the military governor's office.

Zhang Zongchang was shirtless, holding a 100,000-degree urgent telegram sent three times by Fengtian (the capital of the Ming Dynasty) in his hand.

At the lower end of the hall sat Xing Shilian, who had just fled from Xuzhou to Jinan, along with a group of generals from the Zhili-Lu coalition, including Chu Yuping and Xu Kun.

"Yu San, you've seen the old marshal's urgent telegram. Tell me, how are we going to get involved in this mess?"

Zhang Zongchang threw the telegram on the table, picked up a large bowl on the table, and took a swig of wine.

Xing Shilian pushed up his glasses, glanced at the generals in the room, and gave a wry smile: "Brother Xiaokun, there are no outsiders in this room, so let's not talk about formalities. In my opinion, the old marshal... is probably doomed this time."

Chu Yuping, standing nearby, nodded and added, "Commander Xing is right. The Marshal wants us to march north from Shandong to reinforce them and attack Guo Songling's rear. Isn't that blatant lying? Guo Songling started his rebellion in Luanzhou, just a stone's throw from Shanhaiguan, practically on the edge of Fengtian. And us? We're in Jinan! And in between lies the entire Zhili province, and Li Jinglin in Tianjin! By the time we get there on foot, Guo Songling will have already stormed into Fengtian and is sitting on the throne. We'll be completely out of reach!"

"That's secondary."

Xing Shilian lowered his voice and held up two fingers, waving them: "The most crucial thing is, what kind of troops did Guo Songling take with him? It was the Third Army Corps! A full 70,000 elite troops, the Third Army Corps has all the newest guns and the most cannons in the entire Fengtian Army! Who in our Fengtian Army doesn't know that the Third Army Corps is the absolute main force? Even if you add up all the troops from outside the pass and inside the pass, they might not be a match for Guo Songling."

Xing Shilian sighed and slapped his thigh: "What's more, we were just utterly defeated by Sun Chuanfang in Jiangnan. Xiaokun, your White Russian troops suffered more than half their casualties, all your heavy weapons are lost in Taihu Lake, the morale of the men below is low, and we haven't even received our pay yet! Now you want us to lead this bunch of defeated soldiers to fight head-on against the all-powerful Guo Songling? That's not going to rescue the emperor, that's putting our own lives and last reserves to the old marshal's grave!"

After listening, Zhang Zongchang stroked his stubble and rolled his eyes twice.

Although he was muddle-headed, he was more shrewd than anyone else when it came to calculating his own interests.

In the battle of Jiangnan, he dared to cede the Changxi defense line to Sun Chuanfang in order to protect two thousand White Russian soldiers and armored vehicles. How could he possibly risk his life against Guo Songling for Zhang Zuolin now?

If he leads his troops north to fight Guo Songling to the death, and Sun Chuanfang takes advantage of the situation to occupy Shandong, wouldn't he lose everything and become a bandit again?

"So, according to you, we shouldn't reply to the old marshal's telegram? We should just disobey orders?"

Zhang Zongchang asked.

"Don't do that, Brother Xiaokun! We can't do something foolish like disobeying orders!"

Xing Shilian immediately shook his head, a shrewd, seasoned look flashing behind his glasses: "What if the old marshal catches his breath outside the Great Wall? We not only have to agree on the surface, but we have to agree more readily than anyone else!"

He leaned closer to Zhang Zongchang and whispered his advice: "Send a telegram back to Fengtian right now, pounding your chest loudly, saying that we are utterly loyal, filled with grief and indignation upon receiving the telegram, and will immediately break camp and set up camp. You will personally lead the army north overnight to punish the traitor Guo, vowing to live and die with the Commander-in-Chief!"

"But what's the reality?"

Zhang Zongchang grinned.

"In fact, we moved our troops twenty miles out of Jinan and stationed them in the Dezhou area."

Xing Shilian gestured in slow motion: "Today they say the railway has been torn down and is under repair; tomorrow they say logistics and supplies are running low; the day after tomorrow they say the attitude of Li Jinglin's defense zone in the north is unclear and needs negotiation. In short, we'll just stay put and drag our feet, the slower the better, and sit back and watch the tigers fight! Once the old marshal outside the Great Wall and Guo Songling have a real battle to decide the life-or-death situation, whichever side wins, we'll side with them!"

"Hahaha! Brilliant! Yu San, you've got even more wicked ideas in your head than I, Old Zhang!"

Zhang Zongchang immediately made the decision: "That's settled! Someone, go and send a telegram back to the old marshal, fill it with nice words, and as for the troops, let the brothers rest in the city for a few days first!"

The same scenario was playing out simultaneously in various Fengtian Army locations.

In reality, not a single soldier was seen heading north to reinforce the area.

Outside Shanhaiguan, the August heat could not stop the army's advance. Guo Songling's 70,000 fierce soldiers marched straight towards the isolated and helpless city of Fengtian.

P.S.: Chapter 3 is here! I'm begging for your support! If you have gifts, please give them; if not, just support me with your love!

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