In 1921, the ailing Emperor Taisho of Japan stepped down from the throne to Crown Prince Hirohito in poor spirits, and in order to establish a good relationship with Zhang Zuolin and safeguard Japan's interests in northeast China, the Japanese imperial family invited Zhang Zuolin to watch this year's autumn exercise in Japan.
Zhang Zuolin ordered Zhang Zuoxiang to lead the team, and Zhang Xueliang's three brothers and sisters followed, and went with a group of senior generals of the Northeast Army, which was also to open Zhang Xueliang's eyes and lay the foundation for inheriting his father's throne in the future.
The Japanese Imperial Family gave them a high-standard reception. In order to win over Zhang Xueliang and plan the next benefits, the Japanese crown prince awarded Zhang Xueliang a second-class Ruibao medal, which is not an ordinary medal, it is only awarded to royal family members and people who have made great contributions to the country, which shows that Japan attaches great importance to Zhang Xueliang and attaches great importance to northeast China.
Japan specially arranged for Zhang Xueliang to watch the military exercises of Japanese soldiers, and visited Japan's tanks, aircraft, weapons arsenals, and Japan's combined fleet. This fleet once won brilliant victories in the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, which is the pride of Japan, and Japan's deliberate arrangement is to use this powerful military lineup to play a deterrent role, and first overwhelm Zhang Xueliang and the officers and men of the Northeast Army in terms of momentum...
What deserves the most attention is that the Japanese government also arranged for Zhang Xueliang to visit many trophies taken from China by the Japanese army during the Sino-Japanese War, and secretly observed Zhang Xueliang's expression.
How could Zhang Xueliang not know the psychology of the Japanese, so he kept behaving calmly, did not speak, and visited silently until the end.
The Japanese accompanying him couldn't hold back, and first asked: "I wonder how the young marshal feels after watching it?" ”
Although Zhang Xueliang looked calm, he was actually very resentful in his heart, and thought to himself: Little Nippon son, you have always been unkind to our China, and you want to use this to calm me, bah...
His heart was turbulent, but his expression was calm, and he replied very calmly: "At this moment, today's China is no longer the China of the past, what you can do, China can also do, what you can't do, China can also do..."
Someone from the accompanying Japanese suddenly asked Zhang Xueliang: "Your Chinese students, whether studying in the UK or the United States, have a deep affection for the country where they are studying, but why are the international students studying in Japan resisting Japan?" ”
Zhang Xueliang boldly said: "That's because your Japanese approach is too great, you don't regard China as a country, and I don't think you Japanese regard Chinese as people!" ”
The escort was a little embarrassed, a little surprised by Zhang Xueliang's directness, and felt the tough side of this young marshal.
Zhang Xueliang has long seen Japan's wolf ambitions and knows that Japan will attack China, but it is only a matter of time. He returned home with hatred and anxiety, determined to step up military training and strive to become stronger militarily enough to be able to compete with Japan. But before training could be trained, the Zhifeng War over there broke out.
The Fengjun army was personally commanded by Zhang Zuolin and divided into east and west, the western route army was led by Zhang Jinghui, the eastern route was led by Zhang Zuoxiang, and Zhang Xueliang served as the brigade commander of the 38th Brigade under Zhang Zuoxiang.
Wu Peifu hated Zhang Zuolin's Liang Shiyike for withholding military salaries, and he wanted to take revenge on Zhang Zuolin, transferred the heavy troops to the side of the Fengjun East Road Army, and threatened: "I hurt Zhang Xueliang, see if you Zhang Zuolin can't come out..."
The war was fought very fiercely, and not long after, Zhang Jinghui's western road was defeated first.
Zhang Xueliang was so emotional and bloody that he ordered people to carry a large coffin, and wherever the headquarters moved, the coffin moved with it, and he said: "I, Zhang Xueliang, will stay here, fight with everyone, and survive together!" "The soldiers were very encouraged and their morale was boosted.
The fighting was tense, bullets rained down, and the soldiers suffered heavy casualties. Zhang Xueliang came to the battlefield with a short gun in his hand and braved a hail of bullets to lead everyone to fight. Everyone was worried about him and persuaded him to go back to the headquarters quickly, he said: "I am also a soldier, you can fight I can too, I will fight with everyone, people are in the position!" ”
The soldiers were very worried about his safety and did not agree with him to stay here, but Zhang Xueliang was too fierce, and several people persuaded him not to listen, and finally under the strong insistence of the clerk Liu Mingjiu, he returned to the headquarters with a body of dust.
With Zhang Xueliang personally on the battlefield, the soldiers were inspired by the unprecedented courage, and all bravely killed the enemy to be ten, the situation on the battlefield was reversed, the direct army was defeated, and the Fengjun army recaptured Shengfang and captured a large number of ammunition, guns, and military materials.
But Zhang Zuolin didn't know where he heard that the fighting was particularly fierce, and even Zhang Xueliang was seriously injured and missing. How could he not worry about his son's safety, and he became angry on the spot and cursed. It was not until Liu Mingjiu, who knew the details, came back and reported the real situation, it turned out that Zhang Xueliang was safe and sound, and he also won the victory, that Zhang Zuolin smiled.
Speaking of Zhang Xueliang at that time, he was also a hot-blooded young man, he loved the country and the family and soldiers, but sometimes he was too angry and showed foolishness, and it was his character that forged his tragic end.