The War in the Northwest Has Not Ceased: An Authentic Record of the History of the Northwest Army

Author: Zhang Chuanhua / Country:
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-01-01
Features: The conference publicly recommended Li Shucheng, a Nationalist Party member associated with Sun Yat-sen, as the Minister of War, and outside the cabinet, recommended Li Liejun as the Chief of the General Staff, demonstrating their sincerity in welcoming Sun Yat-sen to lead the affairs. In the discussion on the name of the army, it was unanimously agreed that Sun Yat-sen was the leader of the National Revolution and that the various units participating in this capital revolution should be reorganized into the National Army to align with the purpose of serving the revolutionary party. Feng Yuxiang was publicly recommended as the Commander-in-Chief and Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Hu Jingyi as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief and Commander of the Second Army, and Sun Yue as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief and Commander of the Third Army. Feng and others planned for Sun Yat-sen to govern and Duan Qirui to lead the army. To facilitate the realization of this plan, on the second day of the meeting, Feng, Hu, Sun, and others jointly sent a telegraph requesting Duan Qirui to assume the position of Grand Marshal of the National Army. On the 26th, Feng moved into the city and established the headquarters of the National Army at Zhan Tan Temple, directing the suppression of Wu's army. On the 27th, Wu Guangjie, who had been sent to Tianjin to meet Duan Qirui, returned to the capital to report. Duan expressed his determination to step down and join in maintaining the. Prior to this, the battle at Lengkou in the front had escalated because Hu Jingyi withdrew, and Zhang Zongchang's forces of the Feng army captured areas west of Lingyuan before launching an attack on the defenders at Lengkou, Yan Zhichang and Dong Zhengguo. Due to their discord, the two division commanders abandoned Lengkou upon the enemy's advance. Zhang Zongchang took a risky approach and advanced rapidly. Li Jinglin's forces followed closely. At Shanhaiguan, under the fierce attack of the Feng army, the commanders of the Zhi army were in a state of anxiety. Suddenly, the radio team leader Jin Mingqi intercepted a strange telegraph. Chief of Staff Li Zaolin read it: "To the President, 'Victory Secretly,' Our second infantry regiment at Changxindian is under severe siege. I have led the forces from Baoding to reinforce. How is the situation in Beijing? Please advise. Colonel Cao Shijie." Cao Shijie was the nephew of Cao Kung and served as the commander of the Sixteenth Mixed Brigade, stationed in Baoding. The telegraph used the code "Victory Secretly" (a code used in combat), and there was no doubt about its authenticity. However, the telegraph mentioned that the infantry second regiment was besieged, which was a significant matter; at the same time, it inquired about the situation in Beijing—was something happening in Beijing? Li Zaolin was baffled and urgently sent the telegraph to Commander Peng Shuxin for review. Peng was also astonished and immediately reported to Wu Peifu. Wu Peifu read the telegraph and his anger flared. He continuously tapped the telegraph with his index finger, as if asking someone and also questioning himself: "The second regiment is besieged? Where did all those bandits come from? Could they have fallen from the sky? What could be happening in Beijing? Nonsense!" He then tossed the telegraph aside and said, "Let's check!" At 4 a.m. on the 23rd, Feng Yuxiang's peace-seeking telegraph arrived, and Wu Peifu was struck as if by lightning, rendered speechless. Upon realizing the situation, he immediately called an emergency military meeting at the headquarters in Qinhuangdao. He decided to personally lead the campaign against Feng Yuxiang in Tianjin, leaving the Shanhaiguan front under Zhang Fuli and Peng Shuxin's command. At that critical moment, someone proposed that the supreme commander should not leave the troops under such urgency and that the current enemy should be swiftly defeated by concentrating forces before marching south to Tianjin as a base to gather reinforcements from other provinces to resolve the Beijing issue. However, everyone knew Wu Peifu was stubborn and never listened to others, so Zhang Fuli, Peng Shuxin, and Jin Yunwan, despite sharing the same sentiment, remained silent. As a result, the proposal was not supported, and Wu's decision was approved. At 8 p.m. on the 24th, Wu personally led the Third and Twenty-sixth Divisions, numbering over 10,000 troops, by train to rescue Beijing. They arrived in Tianjin on the 25th, where Wu still attempted to use political pressure to force Feng Yuxiang to yield. On the 26th, he sent Tianjin's Military Commissioner Li Rongdian to request a face-to-face meeting with Zhang Shoucheng, the Premier. Zhang Shoucheng said, "I have some personal matters to attend to and cannot be free right now. Shaocheng (Zhang Shoucheng's brother) can go and meet Sun Yuquan first. If there is anything urgent, you can come to me." Zhang Shaocheng immediately rushed to the station. Wu Peifu was working on the train, and many people in military uniforms were bustling around. Wu Peifu saw Zhang Shaocheng and said, "Has your respected brother Jingyou not come? I have important matters to discuss with him, but I lack the time to visit him. Please go on my behalf and invite him here for a talk." At this moment, Wu's Chief of Staff Zhang Fangyan and the Director of the Political Affairs Office Bai Jianwu were nearby. Wu then ordered Bai Jianwu, "Go with Jingchun and invite the Premier here." Zhang Shaocheng accompanied Bai in a car to bring Zhang Shoucheng to meet Wu Peifu. As soon as Zhang Shoucheng met Wu, without any greetings, Wu slammed the table and said in a harsh tone, "You keep saying how good Feng Yuxiang is, but now he has turned against us, and my 200,000 troops are ruined by him. What do you suggest?" At that moment, Zhang Zongchang and Li Jinglin's forces rapidly descended along the Luan River, heading toward Luanzhou. On the 26th, Zhang Zongchang's forces had occupied the Luanzhou railway station, while Li Jinglin's forces were advancing toward Tianjin, and Feng Yuxiang's troops were also pressing toward Tianjin. Wu Peifu was trapped like a rat in a bag. Yet, he remained unaware of the impending crisis and still clung to the hope of reinforcements along the Jinpu and Beijing-Hankou lines, maintaining his arrogance. If Zhang Shoucheng did not have the prestige of a former Premier, he would have been arrested and punished. Seeing Wu Peifu's rage, Zhang Shoucheng remained calm, smiled, and said, "Ziyu! This is all due to your poor leadership and inability to manage your subordinates. You also like to compete with your subordinates for credit, doubt them too much, and cannot be sincere, which led to this situation. Feng Yuxiang is good at training troops and willing to fight with his life. In Henan, he fought hard for you against Zhao Tu. If you had shown him a little kindness, why would he turn against you?" Zhang Shoucheng's words were not loud, but to Wu Peifu, they felt like another stab in his anger. His face instantly turned purple. Zhang Shoucheng was about to say more, but the Chief of Staff Jiang Yanxing, Zhang Fangyan, and Bai Jianwu feared things would escalate and all spoke at once, "Let bygones be bygones. The Premier and the Commander-in-Chief should let this go. There's no need to say more. The situation is as it is now, and Feng Yuxiang must not be allowed to continue this." The Premier had always been respected by Feng Yuxiang, and if the Premier intervened to mediate, it might resolve the matter. Zhang Shoucheng then concluded, "How can I say I don't care? Let's try." Wu Peifu also said, "Alright, since you're willing to go, I hope you go to Beijing to see Feng today. I have a note for you to take to him, showing my full support and that I will not cause trouble." He took a sheet of paper and, with a long brush, wrote in a style that was neither regular nor cursive, with heavy ink and each character the size of walnuts, covering the paper from top to bottom. After finishing, he stamped his name seal and handed it to Zhang Shoucheng. The note read: "Resign immediately to avoid harm to others. Your unit's post-war matters will be handled by me. Sincerely, your brother Huan Zhang." Wu Peifu handed the note to Zhang Shoucheng immediately. Zhang Shoucheng couldn't help but smile inwardly. Even at his defeat, he still refused to admit defeat and remained arrogant. "How could I show this note to Huan Zhang?" he thought. But he still took it, regardless of whether the ink was dry, folded it, and put it in his pocket (later, this note was preserved by Zhang Shoucheng's private secretary Ma Dezhuang, and the ink stains were quite messy). He then bid farewell to Wu. Jiang Yanxing followed him out and said, "When will the Premier be leaving? We need to prepare the car and passport. Trains can only reach Kufang now, and the military checkpoints along the way are strict." Zhang Shoucheng said, "I will go to Beijing by my own car tomorrow and don't need a passport." The next morning, Zhang Shoucheng and his brother Zhang Shaocheng drove their own car straight to Beijing. The military checkpoints were indeed strict, but as soon as they showed Zhang Shoucheng's name card, they were greeted and allowed to pass. Passing Tongzhou, Hu Jingyi heard that Zhang Shoucheng was passing through and hurriedly came out of the command headquarters to greet him. Zhang Shoucheng got out of the car and warmly shook hands with Hu, saying, "Lisen, come with me to Beijing and see Huan Zhang."