Chapter 449: 448 [Volunteer Army Expedition]

The timeline goes to January 1932.

Yoshiko Kawashima went to Shanghai and was preparing to plan the "January 28th Incident".

Zhou Hexuan did not intend to remind Shanghai, because even if there is no "December 28", there may be a "December 29". Anyway, the Japanese just want to make troubles in Shanghai, the bigger the better, and attract the attention of the big powers from the northeast to Shanghai.

Even with Zhou Hexuan's reminder, the Shanghai side couldn't handle it. In the end, there was a vigorous riot, and then nothing happened.

Leaving aside the situation in Shanghai, in the Northeast, Kenji Doihara has stepped down as the puppet mayor of Shenyang and is about to be transferred to Harbin as the chief of the secret service. His goal is to deal with the anti-Japanese volunteers in Heilongjiang.

Although the Kwantung Army had occupied most of the cities and towns in Heilongjiang, the Volunteer Army resisted fiercely. There were Ma Zhanshan, Su Bingwen, Zhang Dianjiu and other units, among which Ma Zhanshan was the most powerful and famous.

Ma Zhanshan's job is the Heihe garrison commander in Heilongjiang. After the September 18th Incident, he served as the acting chairman of Heilongjiang Province and the commander-in-chief of the military. It is my duty to defend the place."

Ma Zhanshan shouted loudly and fought bloody battles with the Japanese invaders for three days and two nights, repelling the enemy's attacks many times. Inspired by this, the people of the whole country spontaneously organized condolence groups and support clubs, donated money and materials to the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army in Heilongjiang, and many young students joined the army and formed the "Aiding Horse Anti-Japanese Regiment" to participate in the War of Resistance.

Seeing that Ma Zhanshan had great influence, Zhang Xueliang not only acquiesced in Ma Zhanshan's self-appointed position, but also sent people to secretly support Ma Zhanshan's anti-Japanese activities.

It's a pity that after Kenji Doihara arrived in Heilongjiang, he quickly used military threats and political inducements to put Ma Zhanshan in a dilemma.

Ma Zhanshan's subordinates did not have elite soldiers, but local garrison regiments, reclamation soldiers and police forces. Faced with the coercion and temptation of Kenji Doihara and the unstable morale within the Volunteer Army, Ma Zhanshan quickly surrendered and personally became the Minister of Military and Political Affairs of the Puppet Manchukuo.

The historical coffin-covering evaluation defined Ma Zhanshan's move as a false surrender, and we will not overturn this conclusion.

But it is undeniable that Ma Zhanshan's false surrender has had a very bad impact, because he is a sign of actively resisting Japan. As soon as this sign fell, many volunteer troops surrendered in an instant, and it also greatly affected the anti-Japanese enthusiasm of the people across the country.

Even if Ma Zhanshan continues to raise the flag to fight against Japan in the future, it will not be able to make up for the bad effects of the false surrender.

Let's talk about Jinzhou. On New Year's Day in 1932, the Kwantung Army launched a general attack on Jinzhou from three sides. Zhang Xueliang, who had held on for two months, finally couldn't bear it anymore.

Chang Kaishen, who had already resigned, sent secret messages to Zhang Xueliang for many times. Gu Weijun and other old friends sent several telegrams a day, begging Zhang Xueliang not to give up Jinzhou. It's a pity that the tide is gone...

Zhang Xueliang was already unable to fight back to Shenyang, and continuing to resist would only increase casualties. He rejected Jinzhou and withdrew all his troops to Shanhaiguan. This move marked the fall of the entire Northeast.

The Northeast has fallen!

The news was like a thunderbolt, and it exploded across the land of China. Parades and petitions emerged in endlessly all over the country. Bloody men simply ran to the northeast to fight against Japan.

As for the Nanjing National Government, hehe, since Chang Kaishen announced his resignation, it has been reorganized into a "collegiate system". Lin Sen was the chairman of the government, Sun Ke was the head of the administration, Zhang Ji was the head of the legislature, Wu Chaoshu was the head of the judiciary, Dai Chuanxian was the head of examinations, and Yu Youren was the head of supervision.

These people "collegiately" presided over state affairs, but apart from quarreling, they couldn't discuss any real decisions at all.

What's more, Chang Kaishen is not a vegetarian either. Although he has already announced his resignation, he has arranged for his cronies in the army and key departments in advance. Only Chang Kaishen himself can mobilize the central army.

Chang Kaishen's method of retreating into advance this time is very clever. He was accused of "non-resistance" in the past, and he couldn't explain it at all. Now that he was out of the field, those factions immediately started fighting.

Chen Jitang advocated the "Great Unity of the Five Southwest Provinces"; He Chengjun initiated the "Nine Provinces Joint Defense"; Zhang Xueliang made peace with Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang, and secretly planned the "Great Unity of the Six Northern Provinces".

Under the strong pressure of internal and external troubles, Sun Ke was forced to resign as the Premier of the Executive Council. The pro-Chiang faction took the opportunity to propose a motion to "welcome Chang Kaishen back", which was passed immediately.

The Nanjing Nationalist Government hastily sent an invitation to Chang Kaishen, hoping that the commander-in-chief could come back to lead the country as soon as possible.

Chang Kaishen is coy and just doesn't express his opinion, hey, if you want me to leave, you can go back if you want me? Wait, I haven't rested enough yet - he wants more power.

...

Fengyong University, temporary campus in Peking.

The Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army of Fengyong University is swearing-in today!

On the playground, a volunteer army composed of more than 200 university teachers and students was standing neatly waiting for a lecture.

Looking at those lovely teachers and students, Zhou Hexuan couldn't bear it. He didn't approve of students and teachers going to fight against Japan, because it was a waste of talent. But the patriotic enthusiasm of the teachers and students is the most precious thing in China at the moment, and there must be such people to persevere in the resistance against Japan.

The commander-in-chief of the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army of Fengyong University and Zhou Hexuan's old acquaintances—Hou Qi and Hou Zhongguo.

When Zhou Hexuan was assassinated by Chu Yufeng's men, it was Hou Zhongguo who helped catch the assassin. Since then, he has been serving as a military instructor at Fengyong University, teaching infantry, assassination and shooting courses. These students were all taught by Hou Zhongguo.

"Teachers and classmates, Commander Zhang has abandoned Jinzhou, and the black land in the northeast is completely occupied by the Japanese invaders," Feng Yong said impassionedly on stage, "However, there are still people who are resisting, and there are still people who are fighting against the little Japanese outside the customs." Bloody battle! Ma Zhanshan and Su Bingwen from Heilongjiang, Ding Chao, Li Du, Wang Delin, and Feng Zhanhai from Jilin, Tang Juwu, Huang Xiansheng, and Zhang Zongzhou from Liaoning. There are many, many hot-blooded men, our pure men in Northeast China, who are rolling up their sleeves and fighting with little Japanese Desperate. We can't sit idly by, even if we risk our lives, we have to fight the little Japanese devils!"

"Fight!"

"Fight!"

The teachers and students in the audience roared angrily.

But Zhou Hexuan was talking quietly to Hou Qi: "Brother Hou, you have a small number of people in your hand, and you only have 200 numbers if you are full. Don't go head-to-head with the Kwantung Army."

"I know," Hou Qi laughed, "Mr. Zhou, don't you forget, what kind of business were we doing in the past? The horse bandit's ability is to come and go like the wind, fight if you can, and drill into the woods if you can't win." Run away, can I still do business at a low cost?"

Zhou Hexuan said: "Brother Hou, I hope you can break up the troops and form a group of seven people to go to the volunteer army in various parts of the Northeast. What the volunteer army lacks most is logistical supplies. The teachers and students below happen to have this advantage. They have already memorized the textbook "Seven People Back" and have done many experiments. As long as they have them, the volunteers in all parts of the Northeast will be able to obtain hand grenades continuously!"

Hou Qi sighed and said, "I will try my best, but the Northeast is too chaotic now, and I can't tell which ones are sincerely resisting Japan and which ones are traitors who want to surrender to the enemy."

Zhou Hexuan was also very helpless about this, what should I say about the current situation in Northeast China? A bit like the Russo-Japanese War in the late Qing Dynasty.

Although the Volunteer Army from all over the country shouted anti-Japanese slogans, they acted independently and did not belong to each other. Many took the opportunity to develop their own forces.

Zhang Zuolin set a very bad example for the people of the Northeast. Now there are many leaders of the Volunteer Army who want to copy Zhang Zuolin's path to success and take advantage of the chaos to sit on the throne of the Northeast King.