From April to September 1930, Chiang Kai-shek, Yan Xishan, and Feng Yuxiang waged a bloody war in the Central Plains, and the land of the Central Plains was full of holes and white bones were exposed to the wilderness; because the Central Army had political and financial superiority, and the Northeast Army entered the customs to help, the balance of victory fell to Chiang Kai-shek, Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang lost militarily, and the army under their command was also full of complaints.
First, the Northwest Army disintegrated, and Feng Yuxiang went to the field
In order to completely divide the Northwest Army, Chiang Kai-shek adopted the strategy of buying silver bullets (money bribes), meat bombs (seduction of beautiful women) and high-ranking officials against the Northwest Army, and used Han Fuyu, Shi Yousan, and politicians with historical ties to the Northwest Army to make a wish to Feng Yuxiang's generals and divide and disintegrate them.
Feng Yuxiang's generals fell to Chiang Kai-shek one after another, and seeing that there was no hope of military victory, Feng Yuxiang had no choice but to announce his resignation, and for a time, the local forces that had originally submitted to Feng Yuxiang turned against Feng Yuxiang and declared their opposition to Feng Yuxiang, and they attacked Feng Yuxiang's troops and collected weapons and equipment.
Feng Yuxiang is the head of the Northwest Army, and now that he is gone, the army is leaderless, and the generals of the Northwest Army have their own ideas about who to defect to, and some think that they should turn to Chiang Kai-shek, saying that Chiang Kai-shek represents the "Central Committee," has a rolling source of wealth, and will not worry about grain and wages in the future.
Some people also think that Chiang Kai-shek's food is not so delicious, maybe one day you will eat your troops, the military power will be taken away, at that time, it is not the old Chiang Kai-shek to slaughter.
Most people think that the Northwest Army has reached such a point that sooner or later it will be absorbed by old Chiang Kai-shek, but the Northwest Army started in the north and must find a way to stay in the north.
Under such a unified opinion, Song Zheyuan, Sun Liangcheng, Liu Ruming, Zhang Zizhong, and Guo Zhigang refused Chiang Kai-shek's temptation and led their men across the Yellow River.
The remnants of the Northwest Army soon entered Shanxi, and among these troops were Three Divisions of Song Zheyuan, about 16,000 men, Sun Liangcheng's four divisions, about 24,000 men, Liu Ruming's troops, about 8,000 men, The Gang Department, about 15,000 people, Zhang Renjie's four or five thousand men, and Zhang Zizhong's troops, thousands of people.
In addition, there were also troops closely related to the Northwest Army who participated in the anti-Chiang Kai-shek army, and after counting, a total of about 70,000 people were counted.
After thousands of miles of rout, these troops were pursued by large armies, there were vigilante groups along the way, and the red guns would intercept and kill, which was no longer an establishment, and because there was no territory, no food and no pay, the army was also scattered.
Just when people were panicking and did not know where the future was, a key person came out, and this person was Xiao Zhenying.
Second, Song Zheyuan was ordered to be in danger, and Xiao Zhenying tried to turn the tide
Xiao Zhenying was a native of Jilin and joined Zhang Zuolin's Fengjun army in 1916, where he served as a military judge, staff officer, battalion commander, and regimental commander.
In 1920, he was appointed director of the Jilin Provincial Land Endowment Administration, reclaiming wasteland and developing agriculture, which greatly increased the province's grain production.
In 1922, he was elected as a member of the House of Representatives of the Beiyang Government, and thus became acquainted with Li Mingzhong, commander of the 8th Brigade of Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Army, and became a close friend.
The greed and stubbornness of the Fengzhi warlords deeply disappointed Xiao Zhenying, and in order to reform politics, he organized the "Association for the Promotion of Rule by the People" in Jilin Province to propagate the Three People's Principles, which made the governor Wang Shuhan angry and immediately detained him.
Xiao Zhenying was strict about the discipline of the Northwest Army, and his good friend Li Mingzhong learned that Xiao Zhenying had fallen to Beijing and personally went to invite him, Xiao Zhenying was very happy to join the Northwest Army, Li Mingzhong smiled and said to him, "We are not here to serve the army, the Northwest Army is too bitter, I am afraid that you can't stand your life." Xiao Zhenying said, "China is too bitter, we can only save the country and save the people by suffering hardships, and from this point on, we originally joined the Northwest Army." ”
Then he smiled and asked, "Is the Northwest Army allowed to drink tea?" Li Mingzhong said, "No smoking or drinking, but tea can be drunk," and Xiao said, "I don't drink tea." ”
In the autumn of 1924, Xiao Zhenying was appointed as the advisor of the Northwest Governor's Office and the county magistrate of Linhe County, during his term of office, Hetao was rich in grain and oil, and in the summer of 1926, the Northwest Army lost the battle against Zhifeng, and was defeated by Nankou, and the remnants of the defeated generals were ragged and dishes.
When I arrived in the Hetao area, I finally had a full meal and the army's heart was stabilized.
Moreover, Xiao Zhenying's popularity in the Northwest Army was excellent, and the leaders of the Northwest Army all worshiped each other and drew him closer, and everyone called him "Big Brother Xiao" and was extremely trusted.
Not only that, because he grew up in the northeast, Xiao Zhenying was familiar with the situation in Soviet Russia, and he was clever and alert, and he was articulate, and was appointed by Feng Yuxiang as a negotiator, went to Soviet Russia to win military assistance, successfully completed the task, and was valued by Feng Yuxiang, Song Zheyuan and others.
However, the subsequent "April 12" coup d'état launched by Chiang Kai-shek affected the relationship between Feng Yuxiang and Xiao Zhenying, who after attending the Zhengzhou and Xuzhou conferences, also held anti-communist Qing party movements in Xi'an and other places, and more than 3,000 progressive young people were arrested in Xi'an alone.
At that time, there was a white terror on the side, and no one dared to speak, but Xiao Zhenying, the current mayor of Xi'an, openly said: "We shout every day to save the country and save the people, and today we kill innocents like this indiscriminately, that is, warlords." ”
He did not go out of the Xi'an city capital all day, did not go home at night, stayed in the military justice department all night, and when the sky was about to dawn, he called out to the captain of the guard, Su Zhanyuan, and ordered him to go to the prison immediately to release people, and Su Zhanyuan asked, "Who to release?" He said, "All under the age of 16 are released." Su just went out, and he chased after him and said, "All under 18 years old are released." Sue took a few steps, and he chased after the door again, "Under 20 years old are released!" What is the crime of young people to be patriotic?"
Although this move was appreciated by progressive figures in the military and political circles, it was also attacked by Han Fuyu and others, who went to Feng Yuxiang to make up right and wrong, and Feng Yuxiang came down in anger to execute Xiao Zhenying.
But from then on, Feng Yuxiang no longer trusted Xiao Zhenying, and the two were at odds for life.
After the defeat of Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan in the Battle of the Central Plains, the Northwest Army disintegrated, and the Kuomintang held the Fourth Plenary Session of the Third Central Committee in November 1930, because Zhang Xueliang led the Northeast Army into the customs to help Jiang Yougong, the meeting decided that Zhang Xueliang would be responsible for the military and politics of North China, and presided over the reorganization of the Jin Army and the remnants of the Northwest Army in North China.
Zhang Xueliang had made Zhang Zizhong the commander of the army, but Xiao Zhenying believed that Zhang Zizhong was inferior to Song Zheyuan in terms of seniority and popularity, and after Xiao and Song jointly analyzed the situation they faced, they believed that it was necessary to unite the generals who had retreated to Shanxi, but Song Zheyuan was not sure whether the generals could obey him.
Xiao Zhenying, because of his excellent popularity in the Northwest Army, took the initiative to come forward and organized a meeting of officers, at which Xiao Zhenying advocated promoting Song Zheyuan as the commander of the army, Zhang Zizhong as the "second-headed son", and Zhang Zizhong also advocated Song Zheyuan as the commander.
At that time, the main person competing with Song Zheyuan for the position of military commander was Sun Liangcheng, who demanded that Zhang Xueliang appoint himself as the commander on the grounds that he had brought the most soldiers.
After consulting with Song Zheyuan, Zhang Zizhong believed that Sun Liangcheng must not be allowed to be a military commander, first, Sun was mean and unkind and could not serve the public; second, the contradiction between Sun and Song was very deep, and if Sun became a military commander, it was bound to cause new divisions.
Therefore, they asked Xiao Zhenying to prepare enough gifts to ask Zhang Xueliang, and after some verbal remarks, Zhang Xueliang finally agreed to make Song Zheyuan the commander of the army.
On January 16, 1931, Chiang Kai-shek, in the name of the commander-in-chief of the army, navy and air force, and Zhang Xueliang, deputy commander-in-chief, jointly sent a telegram to appoint Song Zheyuan as the commander of the Third Army of the Northeast Border Defense Army, and reorganized the remnants of the Northwest Army in Shanxi into two divisions and six brigades.
Then, on June 17, the Kuomintang adjusted according to the national unified number, and Song Zheyuan's 29th Army was stationed in Yangquan, Shanxi.
Third, for the sake of military expenses Xiao Zhenying knelt down to Kong Xiangxi
The Twenty-ninth Army was formed, but Zhang Xueliang gave 500,000 yuan for the resettlement fee and left it alone, southeastern Jin was the territory that Yan Xishan had been operating for many years, the Twenty-ninth Army was stationed here, sending people under the fence, the military expenditure was stretched, and the soldiers were ragged and looked like beggars.
If the situation continues in this way, I am afraid that the newly formed Twenty-ninth Army will have to break up again.
After consulting with Xiao Zhenying, Song Zheyuan and others believed that it was very necessary to take a trip to Nanjing, and in addition to the military expenditure, it was also necessary to make accommodations with the central organs, and at this time, the Twenty-ninth Army had reached the point of exhaustion, and the helpless Song Zheyuan had to send people to the silver trumpet loan as Xiao Zhenying's entanglement and activity funds.
After Arriving in Nanjing, Xiao Zhenying first met with the Kuomintang elder Yu Youren, who was a native of Sanyuan, Shaanxi, a representative of the Kuomintang who supervised and awarded the flag when Feng Yuxiang took the oath of office, and served as the commander-in-chief of the revolutionary coalition army in Shaanxi after the siege of Xi'an was lifted.
He was very familiar with the situation of the Northwest Army, and after listening to Xiao Zhenying's introduction to the current situation of the existence of the Twenty-ninth Army, he was very sympathetic and willing to introduce Xiao Zhenying to see Chiang Kai-shek.
Despite Yu Youren's introduction, it was not so easy for Xiao Zhenying to see Chiang Kai-shek, and when Xiao Yao saw Chiang Kai-shek, the attendants told him that "the chairman of the committee is very busy with his affairs, and the conversation should not exceed five minutes." Xiao Zhenying smiled and said to the attendants, "I will abide by the time regulations and will not exceed." ”
Xiao Zhenying first introduced himself to Chiang Kai-shek, and Chiang Kai-shek said, "Are you from the northeast?" Yes, I am a fellow countryman with Deputy Commander-in-Chief Zhang, and I came this time with his consent. A smile appeared on Chiang Kai-shek's face, and then he inquired about the personnel of the Twenty-ninth Army, and mentioned Xiao Zhenying's alliance with the Soviet Union and the release of thousands of arrested young people.
Xiao Zhenying replied, "At that time, the joint Soviet Union was the common idea of the premier and the chairman of the committee, and Zhenying and I adhered to the orders of Commander-in-Chief Feng, mediated with the Soviet Russia, and obtained some weapons, which was of great benefit to the Northern Expedition war, and the chairman of the committee and the commander-in-chief would be of great benefit to Henan." ”
"Regarding the release of arrested young people and other matters, I was in charge of Xi'an Municipal Affairs at that time, and I had to enforce the law impartially in order to serve the public, and the release of young people was to save the people in accordance with the law.
Xiao Zhenying's "disagreement" alludes to Feng Yuxiang's opposition, at this time Feng Xin was defeated and Chiang Kai-shek hated Feng, so the two had a common feeling.
"Now that Commander Song Zheyuan and I and others are reorganizing the army with the ambition to save the country and the people, we will certainly handle this matter well under the command of the chairman of the committee."
Xiao Zhenying said that Chiang Kai-shek was very satisfied with his three-inch tongue, and Chiang Kai-shek asked him to negotiate with He Yingqin, who was then the minister of military affairs and political affairs.
In the various departments of the Central Committee in Nanjing, the cost was really too large, the money brought by Xiao Zhenying was spent almost every few days, and seeing that the matter of military expenditure had not yet been settled, Xiao Zhenying decided to see Chiang Kai-shek again. Since ancient Liaojin, he who has not been able to go to the party (Taiyuan) and cannot maintain the world, the Yuan occupied the party and entered the Central Plains, and although the Jin Sui army is defeated, the soldiers will still be intact, and although Yan Xishan has gone to Dalian, the troops are still under its remote control command. Although Deputy Commander-in-Chief Zhang presided over the military of North China, he was able to get Taiyuan and do his best! Which is Zhang and Yan stronger or weaker?"
When Chiang Kai-shek heard this, he changed from reluctance at the beginning to seriousness, and Xiao Zhenying saw that Chiang Kai-shek could hear his words, so he turned his words to the main topic: "Now, the brothers of the Twenty-ninth Army in Shanxi obey you and obey your command, why does this force not become the pillar of stability in Northern China, and is your powerful armed force that occupies Taiyuan and wins the world?"
Xiao Zhenying saw that Chiang Kai-shek was fascinated by this, so he continued: "Now the brothers of the Twenty-ninth Army have more funds and less funds, and one army cannot afford the funds of one division. This time I have come here to meet the Chairman of the Committee, and the brethren have placed great hopes on me, and regard you as a savior, and only you can save our Twenty-ninth Army. ”
Xiao Zhenying's eloquence said that Chiang Kai-shek had to pay out of his pocket, and the old Chiang promised to allocate a special fee of 300,000 yuan per month in addition to Zhang Xueliang's military expenses.
Although Chiang Kai-shek has passed this pass, Kong Xiangxi's pass is really not good.
Kong Xiangxi is the old Jiang's money bag, loves money as fate, asks him for money, must first send money, but Xiao Zhenying does not have a eldest son in his pocket, what to give to him?
Xiao Zhenying came to Kong Xiangxi's official residence early the next day to wait, and when he saw Kong Xiangxi walking toward the car with his purse in his pocket, he strode forward and knelt down in front of Kong, "Xiao Zhenying, chairman of the General Senate of the Twenty-ninth Army, saw Minister Kong!"
"What's the matter with you?" Why kneel, stand up and speak. ”
"I have come to see you for the chairman of the committee to give 300,000 troops to the Twenty-ninth Army." Xiao Zhenying was still kneeling.
"Talk about military expenses in the ministry."
Xiao Zhenying gave Kong Xiangxi a kowtow and said, "The brothers of the Twenty-ninth Army have not only not been paid for several months, but now they don't even have money to eat, I only kowtowed to you for the sake of the group and friends, if you don't promise to help, I won't stand up." Kong Xiangxi had no choice but to say, "I'll do it right away." ”
Xiao Zhenying's kneeling solved the problem of the twenty-ninth army's military salary, Kong Xiangxi later said that Xiao Zhenying's kneeling really made him not think that the boy had gold under his knees, and Xiao Zhen was a friend enough to lecture on morality.
Then, because Song Zheyuan secretly reported to Zhang Xueliang that Shi Yousan had raised troops, Zhang Xueliang was satisfied and assigned four counties in Hebei to the Twenty-ninth Army, at this time, the Twenty-ninth Army was officially formed and stabilized.