Quickly conquer the martial arts world, and let your fists dominate the heavens!

Chapter 240 Chain Reaction: Its Impact on the Historical Landscape of the Entire Chinese Land
Everyone chatted amongst themselves, and soon some began to take their leave. The Southern boxer had gained a lot, Chen Zhan had witnessed a spectacle, the date for the North-South arena match had been set, and Chen Zhan was going to offer the position of martial arts alliance leader as a wager.

Everyone needs to go back and prepare.

Chen Zhan did not try to stop him.

Gao Zhendong left without saying a word, leading his men away. Chen Zhan stared at his senior brother's departing figure, saying nothing.

By the afternoon, those who remained in the Chinese Alliance were all their own people.

This includes Wang Ziping, Ma Yingtu, and Gong Ruomei.

Gong Ruomei also knew Chen Zhan's approximate strength. After returning to Jinling and recalling the events in Fengtian, she felt even more that Chen Zhan was no ordinary person.

As expected, not long after, the Nationalist government released the news. Although it did not say it outright, smart people knew that Chen Zhan was the one who did the things in Fengtian.

Gong Ruomei didn't hesitate. She had cooperated with Chen Zhan several times and knew his character. Moreover, running a martial arts school in Jinling was different from Fengtian, where the infighting between various forces was very serious.

The favors Gong Baotian left behind could only guarantee her freedom from official exclusion; she would have to handle matters within the martial arts world herself.

For the past few months, someone has come to challenge me almost every few days. Although there are no top experts, it's still incredibly annoying.

Fortunately, the Central Martial Arts Academy is also located in Nanjing, and there are some old acquaintances in the academy. The martial arts community has to give the Central Martial Arts Academy some face so that it can settle down and open its doors.

In the afternoon, we dined together at Jinlou.

When the snake soup was served, Chen Zhan's eyes lit up.

Ding Lianshan is gone, but unlike in Tianjin, this time he has passed on his skills, and someone in the kitchen has inherited his expertise in making snake soup.

Perhaps it was a change in mindset, or perhaps it was because Gong Ruomei had detailed Chen Zhan's actions in Fengtian in her previous letter that she was able to take revenge, or perhaps it was because Chen Zhan had granted her wish.

Otherwise, even if she were a follower of Taoism, she might not have had the chance to fight Ma Sanping fairly.

Regardless, Chen Zhan was very satisfied to eat snake soup again after more than half a year.

“Master Ding has passed on all his skills to Miss Gong, but his craftsmanship is also exceptional, which is a real boon to Jinlou,” Chen Zhan said.

"Back in Tianjin, Uncle Ding absolutely refused to pass on his skills." Ye Ningzhen was naturally referring to cooking skills; at the time, none of them knew that Ding Lianshan was a master chef.

Gong Ruomei smiled and said nothing. Ding Lianshan had stayed in Jinling for a few days and had indeed passed on all his knowledge to her, mainly in terms of experience.

Everyone present was an acquaintance. Martial artists don't have many rules about food, and the dishes served weren't anything fancy.

However, Li Guangpu was clever. Almost everyone at the table was from the north, and he had lived in the south for a relatively long time, so he could adapt to southern cuisine. But the others might not be so, so the meal consisted almost entirely of northern dishes, mainly Shandong cuisine.

Northerners' tastes are basically no different from those of Shandong cuisine. Even the cuisines in Northeast China are largely influenced by Shandong cuisine, which mainly involves frying, stir-frying, boiling, stewing, and braising.

After three rounds of wine, five flavors of food.

The group chatted inside the Golden Pavilion. Those who practiced martial arts were closely connected with the fate of the nation, as evidenced by the Boxer Rebellion of yesteryear. Therefore, what they were most concerned about was the Central Plains War.

This major battle has been going on for two months.

He knew more about Jinling because it was close to the battlefield and he had official connections there.

Wang Ziping said of the Central Plains War: "If the undercurrents and probing by all sides before the formal start of the war were the first stage, then the full-scale war began in May and entered the second stage, with the war unfolding simultaneously in Henan, Shandong and Hebei."

"With Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Army as the main force, the army launched a three-pronged attack on Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, and Luoyang. The Central Army resisted stubbornly by relying on the Longhai Railway and the Pinghan Railway. The two sides engaged in a protracted battle in Shangqiu and Xuchang. Although the Northwest Army annihilated more than 10,000 enemy troops, it failed to break through the core defense line of the Central Army."

"Yan Xishan's Jin army attacked Shandong, captured Jinan on May 20, and controlled most of Shandong in June; at the same time, a part of the Jin army attacked Shijiazhuang in Hebei, threatening Beiping. After the Central Army went north to reinforce, the two sides were locked in a stalemate in Yanzhou and Xingtai."

When Wang Ziping spoke, Ma Yingtu's expression turned somewhat unpleasant.

The crowd remained silent. Ma Yingtu's elder brother, Ma Fengtu, was in the Northwest Army, while he was working at the Central Martial Arts Academy. Now that the two sides were at war, this period of time would probably be difficult for him.

However, the two had a good relationship, and Ma Yingtu's reaction was not because of Wang Ziping's words, but because of what he had experienced during this period.

No one else dared to participate in the topic. Among those present, Ma Yingtu and Wang Ziping were both from the Nationalist government. They did not hold military ranks, but their status was not low.

Chen Zhan was also appointed by the National Government as the leader of the martial arts alliance, and he had a close relationship with Chen Zuyan.

And this was happening in the territory of the Guangdong warlords.

It's really complicated, and I'm afraid of saying the wrong thing.

"So, the National Government is suffering defeat after defeat? What about Li Zongren's Guangxi Army?" Chen Zhan asked calmly. He asked very directly, since the Guangxi Army is closest to the south, the Southern King might very well send troops.

"Yes, they did suffer repeated defeats, but that was last month. A few days ago, Chen Jitang sent troops to cut off the Guangxi army's retreat. The Central Army set up defenses in Hengyang. The day before yesterday, the Guangxi army was attacked from both sides and was forced to retreat back to Guangxi. The operation in the South China battlefield failed ahead of schedule."

"The National Government has freed up its resources to deal with the Jin army in Shandong first."

Li Guangpu and the others were somewhat flustered. He often mingled in the military, and what Wang Ziping said was already considered a secret. If it got out, it would cause a lot of trouble.

However, there were indeed no outsiders present, and seeing that Chen Zhan wasn't worried at all, he didn't know what to say.

"Li Zongren has been cut off, but the remaining alliance is not weak either. I'm afraid it will be difficult to determine a winner in a short time, with bloodshed and endless internal strife."

"We have always been like this. After the Qing Dynasty collapsed and the Yuan warlords took power, we still thought about the old feudal imperial system, suppressing dissidents and restoring the imperial system. We didn't care about foreign enemies at all. It's pathetic and lamentable."

“Mr. Wang, be careful what you say,” Li Guangpu couldn’t help but remind Wang Ziping as he got carried away.

They were afraid that Wang Ziping would say something terrifying again.

Chen Zhan knew long ago that Wang Ziping was dissatisfied with the major warlords and that he would join the party in the future, so it was normal for him to have such thoughts now.

"How long does the leader think this war will last?" Ma Yingtu suddenly asked. His elder brother, Ma Fengtu, was in the Northwest Army and didn't know what was going on.

Chen Zhan hesitated for a moment, then said, "If there are no unexpected developments, it will likely enter a stalemate, which could take a long time."

"Variables? If there are variables, what are they?" Ma Yingtu asked impatiently.

"The Northeast Army".

"Northeastern Army?"

"That's right. If the 300,000 Northeast Army were to openly display their banners and even enter the pass to provide support, the Northwest Army and the Jin Army would be attacked from both sides and would surely be defeated."

Chen Zhan was still aware of this history, and its impact was profound.

"But with the Japanese Kwantung Army stationed in Northeast China, it's unlikely the Northeast Army could have entered the pass."

"Who can say for sure?"

Chen Zhan could only shake his head and stop talking about it. If the timeline remained unchanged, within two or three months, 200,000 troops from the Northeast Army would enter the pass and enter North China, encircling the Jin Army from Tianjin and Beiping and cutting off their retreat.

Within two months, the Jin army and the Northwest army were defeated, and the young marshal's forces occupied a large area in the north, with strong and well-equipped troops.

but!
At that time, in North China, 200,000 Northeast Army soldiers entered the pass, leaving the Northeast outside the pass extremely vulnerable. The remaining tens of thousands of Northeast Army soldiers were mostly local security forces or poorly equipped second-line troops.

Although the Kwantung Army was small in number, it was equipped with fierce firepower and weapons, and had the port of Lushun where it could be mobilized at any time.

Taking advantage of the weakness of Northeast China, they officially launched the invasion of China and occupied the entire Northeast in four months.

The chain reaction didn't stop there; this war even affected the entire historical landscape.

After the incident, the Young Marshal was stationed in Beijing. The Nationalist government tried to win over the Northeast Army, essentially wanting to use the Northeast Army to "counterbalance local warlords" and "defend against Japan," but it did not want the Northeast Army to become too powerful.

They attempted to keep the Northeast Army tied down in North China to prevent it from retreating back to the Northeast and forming a new separatist regime, while refusing to replenish its equipment to weaken its strength.

Meanwhile, the Japanese were committing massacres and invading the country, but the Nationalist government insisted on implementing the policy of "pacifying the country before resisting foreign aggression."
Subsequent events gradually led him to lose faith in the Nationalist government, prompting him to go on a rampage in Xi'an and forcefully push for a joint resistance against Japan.

It seems that many things are unavoidable. What Chen Zhan needs to do is preserve his strength, maneuver strategically, and head north to fight against the Japanese.

Amidst the trepidation of Li Guangpu and the other elders of the Cheng School, the group departed.

It wasn't exactly leaving; they were returning to Chen Zhan's Chinese Alliance. Since they were now members of the Chinese Alliance, they naturally didn't need to live outside.

Three days later, the news of the martial arts competition was published in the Foshan newspaper.

Naturally, it wasn't just Foshan; all the areas in Guangdong and Guangxi that weren't affected by the war also received the news.

It is both a struggle between the martial arts worlds of the North and South, and a contest for the position of leader of the martial arts alliance.

It caused quite a stir.

The news of this martial arts competition, released by Wan Laisheng's Guangdong-Guangxi Martial Arts Academy, spread like wildfire throughout the martial arts world of southern Guangdong!
Martial arts schools, security escort agencies, and river and land docks in the thirteen prefectures of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces—any man capable of fighting—were eager to flock to Foshan.

(End of this chapter)