Historical inertia

The Northeast Army garrison outside Chenyang City was under martial law due to the martial law in the Japanese military camp. The two infantry brigades were also in martial law a day ago.

However, unlike the Japanese, the Japanese martial law was to distribute weapons and ammunition to the troops and prepare for the upcoming war. The two infantry brigades of the Northeast Army were put into the warehouse under the order of Zhang Xueliang. In order to avoid conflicts between China and Japan and cause larger-scale battles, the ammunition in the hands of tens of thousands of officers and soldiers was directly confiscated and closed in the ammunition depot due to Zhang Xueliang's order.

At this moment, the two infantry brigades in the northeast seem to be well-equipped and very powerful. In fact, they have become sick tigers with both ends losing their fangs, no attack power, and even not much ability to resist.

Of course, as the local tyrant who was three times in the northeast, although the two infantry brigades were stationed outside the city, they knew the situation inside the city well. The Japanese police station in Chenyang City had just begun to take action, and the news was like wings growing and flew to two military camps.

In the brightly lit brigade command center, looking at the information sent by the communications office, the chief of staff's brow frowned into a deep "chuan". He spoke to the major general who was also frowning beside him: "The Japanese have already started to act. With the hundreds of police officers who have almost no combat power in the city, it is impossible for us to be the opponent of these hundreds of Japanese. Could it be that our tens of thousands of troops are really just watching the Japanese occupy the Chenyang City, indifferent..."

The Major General Brigade Commander's face was also very ugly. Especially after hearing the Chief of Staff's complaint, a trace of painful helpless expression flashed through his face. However, after thinking of the commander-in-chief's successive orders to himself, he shook his head helplessly and said, "Chief of Staff, don't forget. We are soldiers, and soldiers must take obeying orders as their duty."

"But, Chenyang City..." When the Chief of Staff was about to persuade him again, he looked stubborn and hiding in front of him.

The brigade commander's slightly impatient voice directly interrupted the Chief of Staff: "Okay, Chief of Staff, this matter is decided. Without the commander-in-chief's order, anyone is prohibited from collecting ammunition at the ammunition depot, otherwise military law will deal with it..."

Seeing the Chief of Staff in front of him, the Major General Brigade Commander who had a short contemplation, he changed his subject and followed him and said, "However, Chief of Staff, don't worry too much. Although we obey the commander-in-chief, we cannot squat here and be slaughtered. After all, there are two brigades of Japanese soldiers stationed in the barracks less than three kilometers away from us."

"Once the scale of the military conflict between the two armies expands, I can be sure. The Japanese army of these two brigades will never watch us threaten Chenyang City... If the order continues, the guard battalion directly under the brigade headquarters will immediately go to the ammunition depot to collect three bases of ammunition and deploy defenses around the military camp. Once the Japanese army takes the initiative to attack us, the guard battalion must swear to defend the garrison to the death..."

"Yes, the brigade..." the chief of staff replied with relief.

Although the Northeast Army outside the city predicted the danger, they did not predict that the danger would come so quickly and so violently.

The gunshots that occurred at the Shenyang Arsenal just rang out when the Japanese Kwantung Army, which secretly detoured to two Northeast Army garrisons. They began to attack the Northeast Army garrison with fierce artillery fire.

Balls of orange-red fireballs produced by the explosion of the shells quickly rose from the air in the military camp with the sound of the explosion. One by one, the soldiers of the Northeast Army with poor luck were either thrown high into the sky by the air waves caused by the explosion of the shells, or they were harvested by the dense fragments caused by the explosion of the shells, and turned into corpses.

Under the continuous attacks of six mountain cannons of each mountain cannon squadron, less than two minutes, the huge military camp station fell into chaos in the artillery fire.

At this moment, the only thing the Northeast Army soldiers who had not received the counterattack order could do was to lie in the military camp and pray that the shells that would come to the base from time to time should not fall beside them.

"Boom..." A violent explosion sounded less than 30 meters away from the brigade. With the hot air waves generated by the explosion of the shells, the tent where the brigade was located couldn't help but shake.

From the door of the tent, I saw a few dozen meters away, and in the blink of an eye, the bomb explosion scene of more than ten lives harvested. The chief of staff's heart was as painful as a knife. He spoke with an anxious look on his face and suggested: "Brigate, the Japanese are so arrogant. A mountain artillery squadron dares to launch artillery at us so unscrupulously. I suggest that I immediately order the mountain artillery battalion directly under the brigade headquarters to counterattack... The Japanese only have six mountain artillery guns. As long as we counterattack, at most two rounds of artillery fire can eat the opponent's artillery troops..."

The Major General Brigade Commander shook his head and replied firmly: "No, without the commander-in-chief's order, we must not fight back, and give the Japanese army an excuse to launch a larger-scale attack on us. Order the guard battalion and guard the gate of the barracks for me to hold the barracks tightly. If the Japanese infantry attacked the barracks, they could only repel them and could not launch any counterattacks."

Although the order of Commander-in-Chief Zhang Xueliang must be implemented, the Major General Brigade Commander knew that if Japanese artillery fire was allowed to plunder in his own military camp and hundreds of shells came down, even if the Japanese infantry outside the military camp did not attack, the entire infantry brigade would suffer heavy losses. At that time, the entire infantry brigade might not have to attack the other side, and would collapse due to the low morale.

As soon as the chief of staff left the brigade headquarters, the major general brigade commander hurried to several communication stations with lights. He asked a communications officer with a little anxiety: "Have you received the order from the chief executive?"

"Report to the brigade, the headquarters has not yet received any callbacks..." the communications consultant replied helplessly.

"Damn, what are the people in the headquarters doing for food? If you drag it down, our infantry brigade will be bombed by the Japanese artillery shells... Send a report and continue to send me a report to the General Command, asking for the latest combat order..." The major general brigade commander with a frown said with an impatient look on his face.

“Yes, the traveler….”

After several communication stations heard the crisp sound of the news again, the major general brigade commander had to return to his seat with a complicated expression. However, just before his butt was still hot, a violent explosion came from Shenyang City and the explosion of artillery shells at the general camp was completely covered up. Suddenly, it reached his ears.

Such a violent explosion sound, the Major General Brigade Commander was sure that it was definitely something he had never experienced since he joined the army, and it was definitely not something that could be produced by an explosion of a shell.

Since it wasn't for the shells to explode, there was only one possibility: some arsenal in the city was detonated.

Thinking of the arsenal, the Chenyang Arsenal suddenly appeared in the mind of the major general brigade commander.

As a senior officer of the Northeast Army, the Major General Brigade Commander was very clear about the importance of the Chenyang Arsenal to the entire Northeast Army.

It can be said that without the Shenyang Arsenal, hundreds of thousands of troops of the Northeast Army would completely lose ammunition supplies. Thinking of the arsenal that may have occurred, or even occupied by the Japanese, just now, because Zhang Xueliang's order of "requiring troops to restrain themselves" was the Major General Brigade Commander who could remain calm in the face of the Japanese attack. At this moment, he could no longer calm down the panic in his heart.

Regardless of the shells that might fall beside him at any time outside the brigade department, he picked up the telescope and rushed out.

I don't know if I don't look at it. I'm shocked when I see it.

The sky in the direction of the Chenyang Arsenal was already illuminated red by the huge fireballs generated by the explosion in the warehouse.

"No, it's Chenyang Arsenal. Something must have happened in the arsenal..." The major general brigade commander, whose face suddenly turned pale, almost roared.

At this moment, the Chief of Staff, who had just left for less than five minutes, rushed over with horror and spoke in despair towards the Major General Brigade Commander: "Brigate, the police station in the city just sent a telegram for help: The police station is attacked by hundreds of Japanese troops. It is already in danger..."

For the Major General Brigade Commander, the safety of the police station was not in his heart. At this moment, his only worry was the arsenal, that is, the Northeast Army, and of course, including his troops' future ammunition supplies. When the Chief of Staff knew the news in the city, the Major General Brigade Commander asked the Chief of Staff with a last glimmer of expectations: "Where is the arsenal, what's the situation in the arsenal? What was the explosion just now?"

"This..." The Chief of Staff immediately became hesitant.

The major general brigade commander with an anxious face said impatiently: "If you say anything, you can say whatever you want. At this time, there is nothing you can't say, say..."

"Yes, brigade..." The chief of staff wiped the beads of sweat slowly appearing on his forehead. He reported to the brigade commander: "According to the police station report, the arsenal was occupied by the Japanese ten minutes ago... As for the explosion just now, it was caused by the explosion of the arsenal in the arsenal... The commander-in-chief hoarded tens of millions of tons of ammunition in the ice factory. For some reason, a sudden explosion occurred..."

"What... all tens of millions of tons of ammunition were blown up, not left at all..." The brigade commander stared at his eyes and asked incredible expressions.

The Chief of Staff affirmed: "Yes, the brigade... According to the police report, more than a dozen warehouses in the arsenal plant area have all been razed to the ground... Even the houses a hundred meters away from the warehouse have been greatly affected..."

The Major General Brigade Commander suddenly showed a desperate and painful expression on his face. He muttered to the Chief of Staff in front of him: "Damn Japanese, what do they want to do? Don't they know that the Chenyang Arsenal is the lifeblood of my Northeast Army. Without the Arsenal, my Northeast Army's hundreds of thousands of troops would lose ammunition supplies. Wouldn't he be worried about causing military revenge from the hundreds of thousands of troops of our Kwantung Army?"

Seeing the brigade commander who was still holding a glimmer of hope in front of the Japanese army, a sneer quickly appeared on the face of the chief of staff. He said with a certain expression to the Major General Brigade Commander: "Brig Commander, if I guess well, what happened tonight was not an emergency at all, but a premeditated attack by the Japanese Kwantung Army against our Northeast Army..."

"The real purpose of the Japanese Kanto Army is not only for the city of Chenyang, but for the entire three northeastern provinces..."

The Major General Brigade Commander's face was shocked again because of the Chief of Staff's answer.

A communications officer rushed out of the tent quickly and ran towards the locations of the two. He pointed to the major general brigade commander and reported in his own horror voice: "There is something wrong in the brigade seat.... The troops responsible for monitoring the Ji'an Kwantung Army's troops report. The two divisions of Ji'an Kwantung Army have left the garrison and quickly attacked Tonghua.... The Japanese Kwantung Army and the Japanese Kwantung Army have begun to invade the three northeastern provinces..."

"What did you say..." The Major General Brigade Commander snatched the telegram from the communications officer, and with the help of the flames generated by the explosion of the shells, he began to browse quickly.

After reading it, a scream came from the mouth of the Major General Brigade Commander: "Dog Japanese. I really didn't expect that their appetite was so big... The Chief of Staff was still standing there and reporting the situation to the General Officer immediately. Our Northeast Army is not a coward. Now the Japanese have reached their doorstep. If they don't fight back, the entire three northeastern provinces will be lost..."

“Yes, traveling…”

The General Command of the Northeast Army of Peking, because of the sudden action of the Japanese army in Chenyang, Commander-in-Chief Zhang Xueliang was summoning a group of staff to discuss the specific response strategies of the Northeast Army in the conference room. Of course, it is better to discuss the specific appeal of the Japanese army in this operation...

Before a dozen people led by Zhang Xueliang could reach a specific result, a communications staff officer rushed into the conference room very recklessly and handed a message he had just received to Chief of Staff Rong Zhen.

Seeing the terrified face of the communications officer, Rong Zhen knew that if it were not for the emergency, the communications officer would not have rushed into the conference room so recklessly.

Sure enough, after a pair of eyes quickly browsed the telegram in his hand, Chief Rong Zhen's face, which had just calmed down, suddenly turned pale. At the same time, there was a hint of anger in the middle of his pale face.

The sudden change in the face of Chief of Staff Rong Zhen also made Zhang Xueliang realize that something was wrong. Before Rong Zhen could speak, he asked impatiently: "Chief of Staff, what happened..."

Of course, Rong Zhen did not dare to hide anything about such a big thing. He quickly replied: "Master, something happened in the Northeast. There are two things in total: First, the Chenyang Arsenal was occupied by the Japanese. We spent several years hoarding tens of millions of tons of ammunition in the Shenyang Arsenal, all of which were blown up by the Japanese..."

"Second, the two main divisions of the Kwantung Army stationed in Ji'an are quickly advancing towards Tonghua. So far, the Japanese in these two divisions have broken through the two defense lines east of our Kwantung Army. At the latest, you can reach outside Tonghua City..."

Commander-in-Chief Zhang Xueliang's face suddenly turned pale. He clenched his fists and cursed loudly at the staff in front of him: "Damn Japanese, I, Zhang Xueliang, are incompatible with you... Who can tell me, Japanese Japanese, what does the Japanese Kwantung Army want to do?"

Faced with Zhang Xueliang's anger, the staff quickly became silent.

At this moment, Chief of Staff Rong Zhen spoke: "General, the current situation has clearly shown that the ultimate goal of the Japanese Kwantung Army is definitely not as simple as occupying Chenyang. If I guess correctly, the ultimate goal of their move is to completely drive our Northeast Army out of the three northeastern provinces..."

"If the Chenyang Arsenal is lost, our Northeast Army's hundreds of thousands of troops will lose subsequent ammunition supplies in the next battle. Without sufficient ammunition supplies, more than 100,000 elite troops under the Japanese Kwantung Army can attack us without any worries until the entire three northeastern provinces are captured."

Zhang Xueliang still asked with the last glimmer of hope: "Is the Japanese Kanto Army really that big of the appetite?"

Seeing Zhang Xueliang's performance, Rong Zhen's face couldn't help but show a look of regret. Thinking of the three northeastern provinces that were about to fall into the hands of the Japanese, Rong Zhen said with a sad face: "General, the Japanese's ambitions are already known to everyone. Don't hesitate anymore. If you don't hesitate, Chenyang City will be lost..."

"Give orders, what orders are given..." Zhang Xueliang frowned and asked the Chief of Staff.

Without thinking, Rong Zhen said, "Of course it is an order to order the troops to counterattack immediately. Otherwise, when the Kwantung Army takes over Tonghua, not only Chenyang City, but also Changchun will be under the attack of the Japanese Kwantung Army..."

With thousands of tons of equipment and ammunition in the Chenyang Arsenal and thousands of tons of ammunition in the Arsenal, Zhang Xueliang did not have the courage to fight with the Kwantung Army. What's more, at this moment, the Northeast Army, which had lost the arsenal and ammunition supply.

As soon as Rong Zhen finished speaking, a self-deprecating smile appeared on Zhang Xueliang's face. He asked Rong Zhen in front of him: "Counterattack, Chief of Staff, tell me, what should our Northeast Army use to counterattack... Can the two infantry brigades stationed in Shenyang be blocked by the attack of tens of thousands of elite troops in the Kwantung Army's two divisions and tens of thousands of elite troops..."

"Also, the troops were all exhausted and the Northeast was lost. What should our Northeast Army take to gain a foothold in the pass? Have you ever thought about the future of our Northeast Army? Will the Northeast Army's huge family business be destroyed in the hands of me, Zhang Xueliang..."

At this time, if Chief of Staff Rong Zhen still didn't understand what Zhang Xueliang was thinking, then he, the Chief of Staff, would be in vain.

Sure enough, just as Rong Zhen's face was slowly covered by expressions of pain and despair, Zhang Xueliang's command began to sound in the conference room: "Chief of Staff, you immediately issue an order to the relevant frontline troops: order the troops to retreat immediately, prohibit any troops from fighting with the Japanese army in any name..."

"In addition, the situation of the Japanese Kanto Army invading the three northeastern provinces of our country was quickly reported to the National Government. The National Government asked the National Government to immediately issue diplomatic protests to the Japanese government. At the same time, it appealed to the League of Nations for complaining about the atrocities of the Japanese Kanto Army, demanded that the League of Nations put pressure on the Japanese, and demanded that the Japanese Kanto Army immediately withdraw from the three northeastern provinces..."

The order was issued, and Zhang Xueliang knew that although the hundreds of thousands of Northeast Army under his command had been saved, he would definitely be called "national sinner". After sighing a long sigh, his whole body was as if he had been exhausted, leaning on the seat with a decadent look on his face, without saying a word.

Rong Zhen, who was sitting next to Zhang Xueliang, couldn't help but slander Zhang Xueliang's orders.
Chapter completed!