1932: Playing with the Japanese Communist Party with a doll

The previous trials went very smoothly. The defeated soldiers and military police were all taken away, and they would be able to eat dry seaweed egg drop soup without any vegetables or flowers later.

Then, Yu Xuezhong ordered the "real culprit" of the "Cultural Relics Southward Migration Bloody Incident" and the "Peking Riot Incident" - Jiang Xiaoxian to be brought up.

This person will naturally die.

Don't even mention that Jiang Xiaoxian is just Chiang Kai-shek's great-nephew. Even if Jiang Xiaoxian is Chiang Kai-shek's father, he must be killed today!

This is the collective will of the Northeast Army—whether they are defeated soldiers or regular soldiers, whether they are officers or soldiers, and not only the top leaders but also the bottom ranks!

As before, Yu Xuezhong read out Jiang Xiaoxian’s “crime facts” and “crime names” in a long and tedious manner, and then shouted angrily:

"..Jiang Xiaoxian! Do you admit your guilt?

"Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!"

"Flay him alive! Flay him alive! Flay him alive!"

"Drawn apart by five horses! Drawn apart by five horses!"

Listening to the thunderous shouts in the meeting hall, Jiang Xiaoxian had a miserable smile on his face.

He knew he was going to die, and he knew it would be a miserable death.

Qin Wall

Cry out for injustice?

Swearing at each other?

It's useless. This group of people will put all the blame on him no matter what, no matter whether he did it or not.

He should have committed suicide at that time, but unfortunately, when the gun was put to his head, he realized the truth that "the only hardship in life is death";

After just a few seconds of hesitation, the officer named Sun Mingjiu rushed in, kicked him over, and tied him up tightly.

But if I die, I die, and you guys can't expect to have an easy life!

After the microphone was handed to him, Jiang Xiaoxian, who had already agreed with Yu Xuezhong the previous night on the terms of "confess your guilt and I'll let you die quickly," suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Hey! You! You idiots! Do you know how my Third Military Police Regiment broke into the city of Beiping?! Hahahahahaha."

"!!!

not good!

Almost all the high-ranking officials of the Northeast Army knew what Jiang Xiaoxian wanted to do!

At this moment, Zhang Xueliang and others deeply regretted not cutting off Jiang Xiaoxian's tongue in order to demonstrate "fairness and justice" and to show that they had not framed him!

Just as the Northeast Army soldiers nearby received the order and were about to rush over to stop them, two loud shouts came almost simultaneously from the first row of the guest seats below the stage:

"Let him speak!"

"Don't stop him!"

The two men who were roaring were stunned for a moment, and looked at each other. One of the men with a more feminine appearance stretched out his hand:

"General Wu, please? Please."

"Well, I'll be polite then, Mr. Lan Fang!"

The bald old man surnamed Wu stood up, bent his waist and continued to shout at the stage:

"Isn't today a public trial?! Isn't the truth supposed to be revealed? Isn't the wrong supposed to be corrected? Why? You're not letting him speak? Are you afraid he'll say something? Mr. Lan Fang and I are watching!"

Zhang Xueliang looked at the two people who were talking, especially the old man who jumped out triumphantly, and his face turned ashen.

Mr. Lan Fang—Mei Lanfang—moved from Peking to Shanghai last year. This year, he returned to Peking on important business and nearly met with assassination. Zhang Xueliang invited him to attend the meeting as an apology.

The old man surnamed Wu - Wu Peifu, a warlord of the Zhili clique, fled to Sichuan after being beaten during the Northern Expedition, and later returned to Peking with the help of Sichuan warlord Liu Xiang and others.

As for the former, Zhang Xueliang was not too worried. After all, no matter how famous he was, he was just a person in the arts and literature with no military power or authority. To put it bluntly, he was just an actor, with no other use except to curse.

But the latter was different. He was not invited by Zhang Xueliang at all, but came on his own accord!

Although Wu Peifu had been pretending to be "planting flowers, raising birds, writing, studying Buddhism, and enjoying his old age" since he stepped down, Zhang Xueliang knew very well that this guy was not honest at all;

He not only made friends with various heroes and celebrities, but also secretly contacted the remaining Beiyang direct forces, and tried to make a comeback under the banner of "resisting Japan".

You must know that Yu Xuezhen, the commander of the Pingjin Weicheng at that time, was Wu Peifu's trusted and beloved general. He only defected to the Fengtian clique after Wu lost power.

After the "September 918th Incident", Wu Peifu wrote a letter to Zhang Xueliang, in which he taught the son of his former enemy a lesson in the manner of an "old senior", which made the latter furious.

Coincidentally, Chiang Kai-shek was also advocating "pacifying the country before resisting foreign aggression" and was very uneasy about the actions of Wu Peifu, the former "strongest man in China". Chiang and Zhang began to join forces to deal with Wu Peifu.

However, before many measures could be implemented, the "Wuhan Defeat" occurred and Chiang Kai-shek was forced to restart the "Second Cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party". He no longer had the energy to take care of this side, so Wu Peifu escaped.

Therefore, at this time, Wu Peifu still had his own private guards and still had close contacts with many former Zhili warlords. His political status was still not low.

If he could truly humble himself and stop being so arrogant and conceited, he might be able to win over many people by relying on his former reputation. The threat that Wu's existence posed to the Fengtian clique can be imagined.

However, even though Zhang Xueliang knew that Marshal Wu insisted on attending the meeting and was probably trying to use it as an opportunity to stir up trouble, as a "junior" who had to abide by the "rules of the underworld", he still couldn't stop him!

Sure enough, Wu Peifu immediately jumped out when Jiang Xiaoxian broke his promise. Under his encouragement, many celebrities and ordinary people in the audience also joined in the shouting.

It's human nature to eat melons. Everyone was curious. How did the mighty Northeast Army, which had tens of thousands of soldiers, get breached by the thousand-man military police?

It doesn't make sense!

Even if the Northeast Army was useless, it wouldn't be this useless, right?

Under pressure from everyone, the Northeast Army could only look on with embarrassment as Jiang Kaoxian told them the whole story of how the Third Regiment of the Military Police entered Peking.

Now, Wu Peifu couldn't hold it anymore.

He originally thought that Jiang Xiaoxian was able to enter the city of Peking because after Chiang Kai-shek and Zhang Xueliang fell out, the former activated the spike buried within the Northeast Army;

In this way, he could accuse "Chiang and Zhang of fighting for power and ignoring the people's livelihood" and severely suppress them, taking the opportunity to gain more benefits for himself;

The result, is this?

That's it?

Isn't this just free advertising for the damn Fujiwara Kanezane and the Japanese?

As expected, there was a brief silence at the scene, and then people began to talk about it.

纷

After all this fuss, it turns out it wasn't because the military police were so good at fighting, nor was it because the Northeast Army was so useless. It was simply because the army was in disarray and there were traitors inside... No, everyone is heading north?

It's impossible to defend the city of Beiping with an army like this, right?

Jiang Xiaoxian's goal was achieved with some people.

He wanted to make the people of Peking doubt the Northeast Army and Zhang Xueliang's ability to rule, thereby causing greater chaos in North China;

But this guy who has never studied any materialism or Marxism overlooked a very important thing:

Peking people, Peking people, who are the real Peking people?

Who can represent the collective will of Peking?

Is the so-called "Beijing person" a complete individual?

Obviously not.

There were so many people in Peking, and everyone had their own different worldviews, values, and outlooks on life. How could it be explained by simply saying "Peking people opposed Zhang Xueliang"?

Therefore, after hearing such inside information, many people indeed doubted the Northeast Army and felt deeply disappointed with Zhang Xueliang, but even more people had complicated emotions and were even very excited:

So many people wanted to hand over Peking to the Japanese in Northeast China?

It turns out I'm not the only one who longs for the rule of His Highness in the North!

For the Northeast Army, Jiang Xiaoxian told everything that happened that night, and the damage caused was not as great as he imagined.

Because many people have already been extremely disappointed with the Northeast Army and even the entire Nationalist government. What does it have to do with them whether the Northeast Army is shameful or not, or whether Marshal Wu can gain benefits from it?

Revealing what happened that night would only strengthen their resolve to "move closer to Tohoku Kanezane-sama";

In short, Beibei...cough cough...

So, a strange scene appeared.

After Jiang Xiaoxian's revelation, there was only a buzz at the scene. No one jumped out to curse Zhang Xueliang and the Northeast Army as Wu Peifu had imagined. Without a chance to vent his anger, he could only sit back with a look of disappointment.

After all, it's embarrassing, but how can you accuse Zhang Xueliang of this?

Lost Northeast?

People have heard this story so many times that their ears are callused. It has no harmful effect at all.

Lax military discipline?

People have already admitted this.

After pulling Jiang Xiaoxian away, Marshal Zhang on the stage "forced" himself to stand in front of the rostrum despite his illness. Facing the huge crowd, he began to deliver his "confession of guilt" with a heavy face.

Although Jiang Xiaoxian's sudden death disrupted the rhythm a little, the overall plan did not need to be adjusted too much and could be carried out according to the previous process.

This was the countermeasure he had just urgently discussed with Pan Wenyu and other staff and generals - no matter whether you are Jiang Xiaoxian or Wu Peifu, no matter what you say, I will remain unchanged in the face of all changes!

"... lax management of their troops, inadequate training, and negligent precautions led to the gendarmerie first massacring patriotic soldiers and civilians, then raising rebellious troops... and then failing to suppress the rebellion."

Zhang Xueliang's speech mainly had two meanings:

1. Once again comprehensively informed the entire city of Beiping of the details of the "Cultural Relics Southward Migration Bloodbath" and the subsequent "Beiping Riot," clarifying the responsible parties;

Frankly speaking, Zhang Xueliang and the top brass of the Northeast Army certainly had responsibilities, but compared to the tragedy and subsequent events directly caused by the Military Police, they were still too "white lotus";

At least, subjectively, Marshal Zhang still wanted to maintain harmony and stability in Peking, but he just didn't do it well. But that bastard Jiang Xiaoxian actually disrupted the entire Peking for his own selfish interests.

It is clear who is more hateful.

...The current chaos, the casualties among the people of Peking, and the tragedies everywhere are all due to my incompetence. Therefore, I wish to resign from my position as Deputy Commander of the Republic of China's Army, Navy, and Air Force and resolutely step down to thank the people of my country..."

2. He took all the responsibility for the riot on himself, acting as if "everyone is guilty, and the fault lies with me", and confirmed his previous intention to "resign and leave".

This seems to be very responsible, but in fact it is still trying to make people think: Zhang Xueliang and the Northeast Army are gone, which bastard can we rely on?

The Chiang Kai-shek government that organized the "Homecoming Corps" and perpetrated the "Northeast Massacre"?

Wu Peifu, who had caused the "February 7th Massacre" and had lost almost all his power but was still restless?

Han Fuju, who scraped the land in Shandong and created sparks, or Zhang who did the same.

Oh, the one from Daming Lake is dead.

In short, for Zhang Xueliang, the position of "Deputy Commander of the Navy, Army and Air Force" was a nominal position. He could just resign from it. It was nothing big. He couldn't command any troops except the Northeast Army anyway.

As long as he still holds the entire Northeast Army in his hands, does it really matter whether he has any titles or not in this day and age?

Therefore, Zhang Xueliang boldly released what he thought was a very powerful move:

"...I personally feel that I and my troops are unable to represent and protect the interests of the people of Peking. I would like to hold a referendum for the people of Peking to elect the chairman of the Peking Administrative Management Committee to determine the future direction of Peking."

Referendum!

Referendum!

There is nothing more in line with Chinese tastes than this!

Haven't you always called me, Zhang Xueliang, a "warlord" and "undemocratic"?

it is good!

I will show you democracy now!

Referendum is the most democratic form of election in human history and is even more legitimate than ordinary parliamentary elections!

The fate of me and the Northeast Army will be decided by a democratic vote of all of you!

If you have the guts, just vote us out!

A few days ago, the top brass of the Northeast Army had already discussed this, and even Zhang Zuoxiang, who had fled to Tianjin due to the defeat in Rehe, agreed to do so!

No matter how you look at it, there is no way the people of Peking will surrender the Northeast Army!

Besides, even if something like that really happened, with a mighty army at hand, there are plenty of ways to evade debt!

Another advantage of doing this is that it can perfectly curb the movement in the north.

作!

If Fujiwara no Kanezane still had any dignity left, if he didn't want to undermine the legitimacy of his rule, if he didn't want to be reviled, he would never have ordered his army south to seize Peking before the referendum results came out!

In this way, the Northeast Army is safe!