Xinjiang, Ili.

"Overseer, I've already contacted the marshal. Nothing will change in the conditions of the Northeast. The marshal's request was clear, as soon as the Overseers agreed to the marshal's terms, the army would immediately halt its advance. Otherwise......" Liu Huachun, head of the Northeast delegation, said with some apprehension.

Yang Zengxin's face became very gloomy, and now he had already lost his original calmness and composure. Because he had just received the news that the Northeast Security Army had not stopped its advance, and so far, they had captured two more county seats. What worries Yang Zengxin even more is that the army in the northeast is about to approach Hami County, an important town in Xinjiang.

"Head Liu, your conditions are too harsh! Forgive the old man for not agreeing! Yang Zengxin shook his head. The conditions in the Northeast did make it difficult for him to accept, although Feng Yong affirmed his ability in the conditions and said that he would reuse him. But he will be completely deprived of the right to work hard in Xinjiang. He believes that if the Northeast disbands the Xinjiang army and transfers him out of Xinjiang, even if he keeps his promise and makes him the governor of a province, he is probably just a puppet. Yang Zengxin is in his fifties this year, and he is still in the prime of life in Chinese officialdom. What's more, the life of the Emperor Tu for many years has made him accustomed to the taste of power. Now let him give up all of it naked, and he Yang Zengxin is really reluctant.

"Overseer, I hope you can think about the people of Xinjiang!" Liu Huachun persuaded. In his heart, he secretly sent off the guests, at least the current Yang Zengxin had no plans to kill them. After all, everyone spares their lives, and Liu Huachun, as a high-ranking official of the Northeast Governor's Mansion, is of course no exception.

Yang Zengxin was unmoved. Wave your hand. motioned to the people around him to take Liu Huachun and the others down.

"Overseer, do you want to kill these people for the Banner?" Batu, a henchman standing beside Yang Zengxin, looked at the direction of Liu Huachun's departure with murderous eyes and said.

"Confused! Batu, you must remember that there are no permanent enemies in politics, and at all times, you must leave a way out for yourself. You also know the current situation, the Northeast has sent tens of thousands of troops, and a frontal hard resistance is tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg. However, Xinjiang is our territory, and with the support of the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, we are not without hope of victory. In the final analysis, the Northeast is a dragon crossing the river, and we are the head snake. If the people of Xinjiang can be mobilized, it is not known that they will defeat the northeast. Moreover, Xinjiang is located on the border. If the army in the northeast collapses, they will definitely not send the army west again in a short time, and this is our chance! "Yang Zengxin never thought that he would go against the big forces in the Central Plains. Even he himself is devoted to China. Otherwise, he would not have withstood the pressure and temptation of Tsarist Russia, always held the military and political power in Xinjiang, and kept Xinjiang always the territory of China.

In this respect, Yang Zengxin is a patriotic warlord. It's a pity that without strength, Yang Zengxin's patriotism is doomed to be fruitless. And Xinjiang is related to Feng Yong's grand strategy in the future. Feng Yong also wants to try his best to solve the problem of Tibet, so no matter whether Yang Zengxin implements benevolent or tyrannical government in Xinjiang, for the sake of the future strategy of the Northeast, Feng Yong can only kick him away.

"Overseer, don't worry, we have deployed tens of thousands of elite troops in Hami, plus the support of the local people, even if we can't defeat the Northeast Security Army, it's still no problem to drag them there." Batu said confidently.

Although the Northeast Security Army claims to be 100,000 people. But how many people can actually be in force? Anyone who is familiar with Chinese history knows it. Chinese generals like to exaggerate the size of their forces in the hope of creating psychological pressure on the enemy. This can be regarded as typical psychological warfare. Historically, Cao Cao led less than 200,000 troops south, but claimed to be 800,000. There was tremendous pressure on the Sun-Liu coalition. It also made the people of Liu Biao and his family, who occupied Jingzhou, surrender to him. This is the benefit of psychological warfare, the surrender of the enemy without a fight.

Therefore, Yang Zengxin judged that the troops from the northeast entering Xinjiang this time were no more than 50,000 at most. You must know that according to his intelligence, the Northeast Security Army in the Ganning region is only a military region, with more than 70,000 people, and it is impossible to send all the troops to the west this time, so 50,000 people is already the limit of what can be dispatched in the northeast. In the face of these 50,000 people, Yang Zengxin is still confident that he will form a confrontation with the Northeast in the Hami region and support the power of the Northeast here. And then when the Northeast is dragged to exhaustion, they will naturally retreat. After all, tens of thousands of troops are trapped in the Gobi Desert in Xinjiang, and logistics and transportation alone are a heavy pressure.

Hami is the east gate of Xinjiang, the transportation artery connecting Xinjiang with the hinterland, and has been an important town on the Silk Road since ancient times, known as the "throat of the Western Regions", "China's arch guard" and "the gateway of Xinjiang". More than half of Yang Zengxin's army was mobilized to Hami when the Battle of Ganning was launched in the northeast. The food and clothing of tens of thousands of troops is a heavy pressure on Hami County. But in order to ensure his rule, Yang Zengxin had to issue an order to requisition grain on the spot. After all, although Hami is an important town in Xinjiang, it is not a fortress for military hoarding, and there is not much storage of military supplies. Arms and weapons are said to be able to be carried by the troops themselves, but it is more difficult to carry food and baggage. The geographical conditions in Xinjiang are too difficult, and the Taklamakan is not a joke in China's largest desert.

Buried in the yellow sand, the caravan needs to rely on accumulation, and the camel caravan is the most common thing in the desolate land of the northwest, and the hungry and thirsty camel has already formed a unique culture and integrated into the blood of the people of Xinjiang. However, the accumulation of manpower will inevitably increase the cost of transportation, which is also the fundamental reason why the huge Xinjiang can only maintain 20,000 troops. It's not a demographic problem, it's a food problem.

In just three days, Zhang Xiaoshan of the Western Military Region entered the city of Hami. Hami County is a typical western county, although it has a city wall, but it is not high, and the city wall is not lightly eroded by the terrible wind of this northwest land. The entire city wall is mottled everywhere, giving people a sense of distant desolation.

Of course, tens of thousands of troops besieged the small county town of Hami, and Du Farong, the general of Hami, stood on the city wall, his face turned white on the spot.

"Send an urgent telegram to the Overseers! Our intelligence is wrong, and the troops dispatched in the northeast are indeed 100,000, which is not a lie. Damn it! How can the Northeast people be so real! Looking at the endless army below, Du Farong's face was full of bitterness. Both the Overseer and himself have been deceived by the inertia of thinking, believing that the title of the 100,000 army in the Northeast is fake, which should be a mental tactic in the Northeast. But looking at the current posture, even if the army in the northeast does not have 100,000 people, I am afraid that it will be more than 80,000 people. The boundless appearance made Du Farong's heart feel cool and cool. Grandma, almost a one-to-ten ratio. Although there is a Hami county town as a barrier on his side, Hami county is not a military fortress after all, although there is a city wall, but it is also in disrepair. Although he was urgently reinforced, after all, the time was short, and it was difficult to make a big difference. Du Farong never thought that with this dilapidated Hami county, he could resist the 100,000 elite Northeast Security Army.

The Northeast Security Army slowly approached the city, and did not attack, but buried the pot to make rice, and soon a curling smoke sounded. The aroma of the food came to Chengzhong in Hami County from afar. The ease of the soldiers in the northeast exerted tremendous psychological pressure on the soldiers of the Xinjiang army at the head of the city.

Half an hour later, the well-fed Northeast Security Army regrouped and once again regained its elite appearance. Then a group of tall and imposing soldiers came out of the large army and shouted loudly at the county town of Hami:

"Listen to the guards in the city, our commander Zhang Xiaoshan asks you to lay down your arms and surrender immediately, and our Northeast Security Army will give preferential treatment to prisoners. If you insist on going your own way, after the city is broken, there will be no chickens and dogs! ”

Three times in a row, the entire county town of Hami became silent.

The content of the Northeast Security Army's shouting spread throughout Hami County in a very short time, and Du Farong's face was gray. If he had said such things in the past, he would not have believed it. After all, since the founding of the Republic of China, the massacre of the city has not happened again. However, after the Northeast Security Army entered Xinjiang, it slaughtered three small county towns in a row, although it was only a small county town, and it could not be compared with a large county like Hami. But the slaughter of the city is the slaughter of the city, and no matter how big or small it is, the impact on reputation is the same. And there is a first time for this kind of thing, and there will be a second time. No one can guarantee that the Northeast will not really slaughter the city.

And the most important point, that is, because Yang Zengxin ordered to collect grain on the spot in Hami, the local people complained. No one can say whether they will have the same heart with Yang Zengxin. Moreover, the population composition of Hami County is complex, and no one can guarantee that there will be any turmoil here. Especially under the pressure of Mount Tai in the Northeast.

Looking at Hami County, who was unmoved, Zhang Xiaoshan's expression gradually turned cold.

"I don't know how to lift!" Zhang Xiaoshan didn't know who the defender of Hami City was, and he was not interested in knowing. If the enemy surrenders, it will be difficult for the general to enter the eyes of the commander, and if the enemy stubbornly resists to the end, there is no need to know at all, and the resisters will definitely be trampled into flesh by the iron hooves of the Northeast Army.

"Order the artillery regiment to blast the walls for me!" The Northeast Public Security Army's place is so easy to connect several county seats, in addition to the absolute superiority of troops, there is also a mountain artillery regiment that carries it. Thirty-six eighty-millimeter howitzers. Although it is not a new artillery, it is definitely a weapon for attacking cities and conquering the city in this western region that lacks heavy firepower.

Boom Boom!

The roar of the cannonballs shook the entire county town of Hami, and more importantly, it shook the already tight strings of those big families. Because Yang Zengxin did not expect the Northeast to invade Xinjiang, he did not publicize the affairs of the Northeast throughout Xinjiang, and the local people and those big families lacked understanding of the Northeast. In the face of the sudden attack in the northeast, the common people were a little at a loss.

(To be continued)