In front of a red Gothic building on Dongbaoxing Road in Hongkou, Shanghai's public concession, patrolling people from various countries wearing steel helmets and trousers and shortcoats were on guard back and forth, looking like they were facing a great enemy.

The clock had just struck nine o'clock in the morning, and from the two ends of Baoxing Road, several Austin cars of similar styles and colors were hung in front of them, and it could be seen that this was a foreign affairs meeting.

Crunch! With the sound of the brakes of the car, the Japanese representative in a suit and the Chinese representative in the stand-up collar national uniform slowly walked in, and at this time, the tall American representative and the British and French representatives also walked in, and several people met together and walked towards the house.

The gate was closed, the guards stood upright, and the patrolmen straddled their guns and scurried around, oblivious to the verbal battles inside.

The talks, which lasted three days, were held in the Public Concession and were organized by Britain, France, and the United States. The content of the meeting was top secret, and even the Songhu Garrison Command did not even know the content of the negotiations in the public concession, but after a few days, everyone understood that in this place they had at least removed Huang Ke from his post as commander-in-chief of the Northern Expeditionary Army.

Huang Ke has been feeling that he has a sword hanging over his head these days, but he doesn't know when this sword will fall. Just after disposing of Sun Yuanliang in Shanghai, Huang Ke received a report from Xu Shaozhou on the war situation: The Japanese navy cruising in the sea of Shanghai began to withdraw backwards.

Immediately afterwards, Lin Zuoda also reported that the reinforcements led by Gu Shoufu, who were preparing to go to Jinan from Qingdao for reinforcements, were stationed in Qingdao on the spot and stopped advancing...... There were signs that the Japanese had stopped their offensive and that the fears of all-out war had been eliminated.

Hearing these news, the people in the staff headquarters of the Northern Expeditionary Army in Jinan breathed a sigh of relief, although the officers and men of the Northern Expedition were high-spirited, but as high-level military officials, they all knew that fighting with the Japanese was a tough battle, and now that the crisis has been temporarily lifted, this has to make people breathe a sigh of relief.

However, Huang Ke was not at all easy at this time, politics is the result of interests, war is nothing but the lowest means, if war can solve the problem, the Soviet Union, with its million Red Army, will not disintegrate.

Huang Ke knew that Guangzhou and Tokyo must have reached some kind of agreement, and these agreements were likely to be more serious than the damage caused by the Japanese attack.

After these reports, Huang Ke received two more telegrams from Guangzhou, one in the name of the Central Executive Committee, saying that he should return to Guangzhou to explain the situation. "It seems that my worries are unnecessary" Huang Ke didn't even look at it, and directly crumpled it, threw it in the paper basket again, and then scolded casually.

The other was sent by Liao Zhongkai, and there were only a few words in it, all of which were some greetings, but at the end it was added, "The overall situation is important".

Huang Ke let out a sigh of relief, and he understood everything.

Since the conflict in Jinan, Fourteen Tsai has been protecting Huang Ke day and night, and he has also installed the surprise selection of guards in various places, and now Huang Ke's safety is the first priority for him.

In the headquarters in Jinan, Huang Ke made a cup of tea and smoked a cigarette slowly, he rubbed the sun and his eyes, and let out a meaningful breath.

Fourteen Tsai is a person who understands, he knows that his chief is being troubled by many problems, but now he explains that he can't help.

"Fourteen, have you arranged everything over there in Guangzhou?" Suddenly, Huang Ke remembered his family in Guangzhou, although he didn't deal with Zhao Tinghui, but Zhao Xiaowan was his wife after all. He and his wife Zhao Xiaowan haven't seen each other for many years, and he hasn't even hugged the child for so many years since it was born, which can't help but make people a little regretful.

However, although he had no scruples, Huang Ke still cared about Xiaowan and her family, and their safety was also of paramount importance at this special time.

Fourteen Tsai can't share his worries on other issues, this matter is more than enough, "Commander, it's all arranged, I have transferred a guard company to protect it day and night, if there is an emergency, be ready to transfer to Guangxi at any time, that is the garrison of the Western Route Army, absolutely safe." ”

Huang Ke nodded, and suddenly he took out a cigarette on the table and handed it to Fourteen Tsai and said, "Fourteen, you've been with me for so long, do you have any other ideas?" ”

Fourteen didn't light it, his smoking habits were not serious, and as a qualified personal guard, he had to remain absolutely sensitive to all smells.

"Commander, what do you mean by that? Are you going to replace me? Fourteen Tsai was a little panicked, and there was a look of horror on his face.

Huang Ke waved his hand and smiled: "Talk casually, don't be so nervous." You see, the people who started our incident from Guangzhou have already achieved fame, Cui Wu and Wang Maocai are all generals with heavy troops, and after the completion of the Northern Expedition, it is inevitable that the meritorious deeds will be rewarded and the officials will be promoted. If the military system is reformed, they are most likely to be generals, marshals, and the like. But you are still my guard captain, and there are only a few hundred soldiers who can be mobilized in your hands, and even if you will be rewarded for your merits in the future, your rank will only be colonel, and you are simply a small soldier compared to Cui Wu, don't you have any other thoughts about these? ”

As soon as these words came out, Fourteen Tsai's face suddenly turned pale, and he knelt on the ground: "Commander, you can point out what Fourteen did wrong, don't transfer me to other troops, you can't do without me!" ”

Fourteen Zai's face was moved when he spoke, and the resolute man almost burst into tears, Huang Ke pulled him up and said, "Fourteen, what are you talking nonsense? Also, you must remember that you are a soldier and a man, and you cannot kneel at any time."

Fourteen Tsai stood up at this time, Huang Ke knew that he was born poor, he had not received much education since he was a child, and while accepting the idea of democracy, he was also influenced by feudal thought, and the idea of feudal loyalty and imperial power in his mind was still very serious, so when he encountered some things, he liked to kneel to solve them.

The feudal monarchy of the Chinese has not been completely eliminated even in Huang Ke's time, and when encountering some difficult problems, some people are still forced to adopt the highest etiquette of kneeling to express their demands.

This must change. Huang Ke secretly made up his mind that he wanted to wash the feudal thinking in the minds of the Chinese from this time.

"Fourteen, you sit down, I'm just discussing it with you, and you can rest assured and boldly say, it's okay, remember, don't kneel down again in the future, no one can."

After Huang Ke finished speaking, Fourteen returned to his former seriousness: "Commander, I am fourteen is a subordinate who drives a big car, and my biggest wish in this life is to take my wife and buy a piece of land." It was you who pulled me from a subordinate to my current position, and the fourteen are only willing to use this ability to protect the commander, and only in this way can I repay it. ”

Fourteen Tsai said very sincerely, Huang Ke was indeed a little moved, the ancients said that the death of a confidant is not false at all, it seems that Fourteen Tsai is his confidant.

"Fourteen, I may have to leave Jinan for a while, or I may step down as the commander of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and then you can choose a few cronies to travel with me" Although Huang Ke said lightly, Fourteen Tsai could still feel the unwillingness in his heart.

First of all, the name of Huang Ke, a newspaper controlled by the central government, has appeared less and less, and secondly, there have been more and more criticisms of Huang Ke in the orders of the central government.

"Commander, Fourteen understands one thing and asks the commander to teach me" Fourteen Tsai's identity is not only Huang Ke's guard, sometimes the two will call each other brothers, so in private, Fourteen Tsai and Huang Ke can still talk.

When Fourteen Tsai said this, Huang Ke lit another cigarette, and then motioned for him to say what was in his heart.

"Commander, you have heavy troops, it stands to reason that the game between the two sides should be more advantageous on this side, but why is this happening at this time?" Fourteen Tsai speaks straightforwardly, and he will say whatever comes to mind in front of Huang Ke, which makes Huang Ke like it very much.

"Fourteen, you don't understand, in fact, the dismissal also has my personal meaning" Huang Ke said with a long sigh, but Fourteen's eyes were full of doubts.

Huang Ke stood up and walked to the window: "I've also been thinking about it for a long time. When I was in Jinan, I had to take action, otherwise the Japanese might go on a killing spree, and as a soldier of this country, it was my duty at this time. However, the aftermath became troublesome, and the Japanese used this incident as an excuse to send a large number of troops to show off their might, and they did so as both a means and an end. ”

Fourteen Tsai didn't understand these very well, he often chatted with Huang Ke and found that the commander's thinking jumped very fast, and when you were still thinking about this question, Huang Ke had already begun to prepare for the next topic.

Huang Ke saw that Fourteen was silent, knowing that he didn't understand these words too much, he smiled and said: "Fourteen, you just need to understand that we shot for this country, and now we are leaving for this country, this is our country, and only we have to bear it." ”

Fourteen stood up and nodded vigorously.

In the evening of the same day, the Central Executive Committee and the Central Military Commission jointly issued an order: In view of Comrade Huang Ke's erroneous command and physical condition during the Northern Expedition, it was decided to remove him from his post as the commander of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and the post of commander of the Northern Expeditionary Army was temporarily held by Jiang Xianyun and He Yingqin in turn."

When this order was received, countless people were shocked. Huang Ke was swept to the end, his old commander is now a flat-headed commoner, and many senior officers of the Northern Expeditionary Army rushed to Jinan as soon as possible. When Huang Ke finished packing up and was about to return to Guangzhou, dozens of high-ranking officers blocked the door of Huang Ke's residence, and they were so excited that some even shouted to lead their troops back to Guangzhou, some scolded Jiang Xianyun and He Yingqin, and some even said that they would kill Wang Jingwei.

Huang Ke looked at them, these people were all loyal to him, seeing this, Huang Ke was a little relieved, but he couldn't make any support at this time.

He waved his hand and said, "What do you guys look like?" Prime Minister Xian taught us that the revolution has not yet succeeded, and comrades still need to work hard. Let's go back to your posts. I ask you to remember that the Northern Expeditionary Army is the army of the state, not of any person or political party, and you must fulfill your duties and be worthy of the title of a soldier."

The officers and men of the guard battalion would soon squeeze a way out of the congestion of senior officers, and Huang Ke, wearing a tweed coat with his rank removed, walked slowly forward through the flow of people.

The senior officers on both sides couldn't help but raise their right hands, Huang Ke boarded a black car, and slowly drove towards Jinan Railway Station as the guards opened the way. It was late at night, and Huang Ke couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the officers who saluted him behind him.

At this time, in front of the Jinan Railway Station, the black crowd blocked the gate, and Fourteen quickly pulled out his pistol and signaled the driver to turn around. However, Huang Ke looked forward and smiled, it turned out to be a Jinan citizen who came to see him off.

The crowd of people came over after seeing the vehicle, they all knew the news of Huang Ke's dismissal, and now they were going to send this general who was in charge of them for the last time. Seeing those gray-haired old men and infant children, Huang Ke found that the corners of his eyes were moist......