When Hu Ruoyu closed the door, Zhang Xueliang said with a face full of shame: "Brother Mingcheng, I regret that I shouldn't have listened to your advice at the beginning, I lost my teacher and humiliated the country, and I am really a sinner of the nation!" ”

"The six marshals don't have to blame themselves too much, fortunately, they haven't made a big mistake yet. Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info" Zhou Hexuan can only persuade, it is impossible to scold the past.

In addition to the cost of money and food in the war, and the heavy casualties of the army, the Middle East Road incident really did not have a bad impact.

The Soviet Union behaved very generously this time, did not make any unreasonable demands, only hoped that everything would return to the situation before the outbreak of the incident, and did not even make any demands for compensation. The main reason is that the Soviet Union is in the critical period of the "First Five-Year Plan", and it is facing pressure from the capitalist powers, and does not want to completely tear its face with China.

As for the border islands such as Black Blind Island, they were purely caught by the grass and rabbits, and they were easily occupied when the troops were withdrawn. As long as the Nationalist Government in Nanking sent people to Moscow to negotiate and show sincerity to restore diplomatic relations, Stalin would probably return the territory along the slope. After all, those broken islands are nothing compared to China's diplomatic relations.

It is a pity that in order to curry favor with Britain and the United States and to drag Zhang Xueliang down, the Nanjing Nationalist Government did not want to restore diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union at all.

Zhang Xueliang asked Zhou Hexuan to sit down and asked, "What should I do about the current situation?" ”

"About the Soviet Union?" Zhou Hexuan said.

"The Soviet Union has withdrawn its troops, and there is no threat for the time being," Zhang Xueliang explained, "Wang Zhaoming and Yan Xishan invited me to Beiping to plan a joint anti-Chiang affair, should I go?" ”

Zhou Hexuan didn't answer directly, but asked, "Sixth Shuai, do you know what your biggest weakness is?" ”

Zhang Xueliang said embarrassedly: "Please advise." ”

Zhou Hexuan commented unabashedly: "Eight words, impulsive and indecisive. The entire Middle East Road incident can be used as a metaphor. You have a shotgun in your hand and try to chase away a bear that has taken over your home. You think this bear is hibernating and copying the guy without much probing, that's impulsive. When this bear wakes up and wants to eat people, you don't dare to shoot it for fear of anger, and you don't dare to use the terrain to entangle with it, just blindly retreat and run away. And in the process of escaping, you also stop from time to time, trying to wait for it to leave on its own, which is indecision. ”

Zhang Xueliang's expression has changed from embarrassment to complete shame.

That is, Zhang Xueliang's character of not holding grudges, Zhou Hexuan dared to say so much, and he was too lazy to talk in vain if he was someone else. Without waiting for Zhang Xueliang to respond, he continued: "Ling Zun acted in a completely disregard for the general interests of the country, and never considered the people, I hate this kind of person very much. But Ling Zun's way of doing things makes me have to admire. Before he made a big decision, he had already thought about the way out, taking one step and looking at three steps, and he could bend and stretch, be soft and hard, pretend to be a grandson and wear a grandson, and be ruthless when he should be ruthless. That's the kind of person who does great things! ”

Zhang Xueliang was silent, and he really didn't consider a way out of retreat in this Middle East Road incident.

At that time, Zhang Zuoxiang strongly opposed provoking the Soviets, but Zhang Xueliang did not listen to persuasion at all, and was very optimistic that the Soviet Union was incapable of fighting. Zhang Zuoxiang taught us a lesson, we should not pin our hopes on the opponent, but look at our own catties, what if the Soviet Union really sent troops?

Zhang Xueliang did not give an answer, nor did he think about the worst outcome, but only thought about things on the good side.

Now that he has been criticized and taught a lesson by Zhou Hexuan, Zhang Xueliang is not only not angry, but feels a lot better. He really deserves to be scolded, but no one in the Northeast dares to scold him, only Zhou Hexuan dares to open this mouth.

After a moment of silence, Zhang Xueliang humbly asked, "Then how should I deal with it this time?" ”

Zhou Hexuan said: "Which side do you want to help?" ”

Zhang Xueliang said: "From a personal standpoint, I hate Chang Kaishen very much. He didn't even send people to Moscow to negotiate, he didn't want to completely solve the Middle Road incident, he just wanted to use the Soviet Union to drag the Northeast Army down! However, from the national level, Chang Kaishen represents the central government after all, and once the war against Chiang Kai-shek starts, I am afraid that the country will fall into a state of fragmented warlord separatism. ”

Zhou Hexuan said bluntly: "I will give you two choices: first, for the sake of peace in the country as soon as possible and avoid a big loss of national strength, you can resolutely support Chang Kaishen, and send troops to help as soon as possible, so as to minimize the country's losses." However, you will not gain much from doing so, and you may even lose money, food, and troops in vain. Second, for the sake of the Northeast and your personal interests, sway left and right as a wallhead. Support Yan Xishan against Chiang first, and Chang Kaishen will inevitably promise you a lot of benefits once the war goes badly. At this time, you will turn around and support the central government, send troops to deal with the overall situation at a critical time, and you may even pocket North China. But if you do this, it will inevitably cause a great loss of China's national strength, and it may not be able to restore the economy and people's livelihood for five or six years. ”

"This ...... How do I choose? Zhang Xueliang was in a dilemma.

If it was Zhang Zuolin, he would definitely not hesitate to choose the second method, but Zhang Xueliang was truly patriotic.

Patriotism is patriotism, Zhang Xueliang also has a layer of identity as the leader of the three eastern provinces, he must consider his subordinates, and at the same time, he also has the selfish desire to protect himself and seek growth.

Zhang Xueliang thought about it and gradually leaned towards the latter. But he was embarrassed to say it to his face, how embarrassing it was, did he directly admit that he didn't care about the country?

Zhou Hexuan said again: "I also want to remind you, if you choose the second method, then the Japanese Kwantung Army will 100% take advantage of the weakness!" ”

Zhang Xueliang was suddenly startled, his eyes widened and he said, "Why do you say this? ”

Zhou Hexuan said: "The central and local governments have suffered great losses in military strength and have incurred staggering deficits, and they are simply unable to fight another big war in the short term. The Northeast Army also transferred troops into the customs, causing the defense of the three eastern provinces to be empty. Japan's militaristic mentality is overflowing, and their lease in the northeast is about to expire, so how can they let go of this golden opportunity? When the time comes, once the Kwantung Army invades, the central government has no time to help, what should you do? ”

"yes, what should I do?" Zhang Xueliang looked at Zhou Hexuan with doubts.

Zhou Hexuan said: "I don't know what to do. ”

Zhou Hexuan told the truth, he really didn't know what to do.

The Kwantung Army invaded the Northeast by force, although the people below acted privately, but it was definitely not an accident, and there will be a next time if it is unsuccessful this time. Even if Zhang Xueliang insisted on resisting, the Japanese War Department would do everything possible to increase the troops, first by the Japanese troops stationed in Korea to reinforce them, and then by persuading the domestic troops to reinforce them, and they would never give up until they occupied the northeast.

The power of the three eastern provinces is absolutely irresistible, and the Nanjing government is unable to send troops even if it wants to help.

As far as the Northeast Army is in the face of the terrible situation of the Soviet Army, not to mention the increase of troops in Japan, it is estimated that the North Korean army will be able to penetrate the Northeast within half a year if it is transferred over.

Moreover, there are too many Japanese spies in the Northeast, and there are too many traitors.

Even if Zhang Xueliang wanted to resist, his generals would rebel one after another. Especially those Manchu generals, they dreamed of establishing Manchukuo, and the civil strife in the Northeast Army alone was enough for Zhang Xueliang to drink a pot, and Zhang Zuolin's rebirth could not be suppressed.

In the face of absolute strength, any strategy is on paper.

If Zhang Xueliang chooses the first method, he supports the central government to quell the civil war as quickly as possible. But no one can say for sure what will happen to the future, after Chang Kaishen cleans up Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan, if he still has the strength to spare, he will definitely continue to attack the Northeast Army.

As long as the war resumes, Yan Xishan and other warlords will inevitably recur, and a major chaos is inevitable.

What then?

There are too many variables, Zhou Hexuan is not a god, how can he guess.

Even if Chang Kaishen does not attack the Northeast Army, Japan may delay its invasion of Northeast China for a year or two, and it is possible to invade Northeast China in the same way, will the Nanjing government really come to the rescue?

By the way, the Northeast is in a terrible financial situation right now. If you don't take advantage of the Great War in the Central Plains, you won't be able to fight a big war at all, and the Japanese are also powerless to resist when they come, which is a dead end that cannot be solved.

In a thousand words, the strength is still too weak, and the strength of the whole country must be united in order to withstand the Japanese attack.

From a more brutal long-term perspective, Japan's armed invasion of China is not entirely bad. The defeat of the First Sino-Japanese War shattered the dream of the Celestial Empire and awakened the national consciousness. Japan's full-scale invasion of China has smashed the Chinese people's idea of stealing peace by luck and made the divided countries twist into a single rope, which is the cohesion and sublimation of the spirit of the Chinese nation.

What's more, the Japanese snake swallowing elephants is completely seeking their own death.

The only one who suffered was the people of Limin, and I don't know how many innocent souls died under the iron hoof butcher's knife of the Japanese invaders.

Perhaps, this is the price of the rebirth of a great nation.

Zhou Hexuan couldn't bear to think about it, he was just a small person in his bones. In addition to the bottom line of not being a traitor and not betraying the country, his first choice is self-preservation, and then he contributes to the country.

Do unto others as you would have them do to you.

Zhou Hexuan did not force Zhang Xueliang to abandon his family and business to save China, because it was difficult for him to do it himself, it only depends on how Zhang Xueliang chooses.

Zhang Xueliang asked dryly: "Can't you mediate the contradictions between the central and local governments?" ”

Zhou Hexuan shook his head and said, "It's impossible." When Yan Xishan put Feng Yuxiang under house arrest last year, it was the best time to calm down the conflict. But Chang Kaishen was insatiable, and after solving Feng Yuxiang, he still wanted to kill Yan Xishan, and both sides tore their faces. ”

"Is it possible for Japan to rest on its laurels?" Zhang Xueliang asked again.

Zhou Hexuan said categorically: "It's impossible." Japan is in a bad situation due to the economic crisis in the United States, and it must transfer its domestic contradictions to foreign wars in order to survive. In the next ten years, Germany will inevitably invade France and Japan will inevitably invade China. Although the Northeast cannot resist Japan head-on, it can be arranged in advance so that the Japanese invasion is not so smooth! ”

Zhou Hexuan could only do this, he wanted to persuade Zhang Xueliang to transfer those planes, artillery, gold and silver in advance, so as not to let the Japanese Kwantung Army grow rapidly. At the same time, he secretly supported the civilian armed forces in the northeast and stumbled behind the backs of the Japanese.

Zhang Xueliang sat for a long time, gritted his teeth and made a decision: "How to arrange?" ”

Zhou Hexuan got up and said, "There is not enough time today, let's talk about it another day." ”