On the eve of the fall of Liaodong, he led his troops in a remonstrance against the young marshal.

Actions are being taken across the country.

Nankai University in Tianjin, Wuhan University, Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, Zhejiang University in Hangzhou...

Telegrams of support flew to Fengtian from all directions.

Chambers of commerce, hometown associations, and even overseas Chinese organizations are organizing fundraising efforts.

Overseas Chinese in Honolulu donated $50,000, and overseas Chinese in San Francisco established the "American Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Support Association" and sent telegrams to overseas Chinese throughout the United States to raise funds.

Tan Kah Kee of Singapore, together with overseas Chinese business associations from all over Southeast Asia, raised medicines and supplies worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, which were prepared to be shipped to Northeast China.

At Qianmen Railway Station in Beiping, Tianjin East Railway Station, and Jinan Railway Station, groups of young people crowded onto the platforms every day, holding homemade flags that read "Aid Liaoning Volunteer Corps," "Northeast Anti-Japanese Volunteer Corps," and "Student Anti-Enemy Vanguard Team."

They wore all sorts of clothes, carried simple luggage, some even without cotton-padded clothes, and squeezed onto the northbound train.

As the train started moving, people on the platform waved their hats and scarves to see it off, and some even chased after the train, running all the way to the end of the platform.

A reporter took a photo at Beiping Railway Station that has since been reprinted countless times.

A female student in a gray cotton robe stood at the train door, turning back to wave to the crowd seeing her off on the platform.

Her face was still streaked with tears, but her smile was as bright as the spring sun.

The caption below the photo is only one line:

"She's going to Fengtian to fight the Japanese. She's nineteen years old."

The day after the telegram was issued, the first batch of student volunteers who had come from inside the Great Wall appeared outside Fengtian City.

They traveled for two days and one night by train to Fengtian. After getting off the train, they went straight to the city defense command and demanded that they be issued guns.

The student in the lead looked to be in his early twenties, his face still showing signs of immaturity, but his tone of voice was resolute:

"We are not afraid to die, please give us guns."

Standing on the city wall, Zhang Xueming looked at the group of young people who had come from all directions and suddenly fell silent.

Behind him stood Yuan Lang. Yuan Lang looked at the students' thin cotton robes and worn-out cloth shoes, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he just exhaled heavily through his nose.

"Bring them all together; their talents should be put to the best use."

........

Nanchang.

Nanchang, Baihuazhou, Chairman's Headquarters.

It was raining outside the window. Rainwater streamed down the eaves, splashing into a row of dense puddles on the bluestone slabs.

The leaves of the old camphor tree in the courtyard drooped listlessly from the rain. Two guards wearing raincoats stood under the tree, rain dripping from the brim of their hats. They remained motionless, not even daring to wipe the rain from their faces.

The staff officers in the camp walked on tiptoe, and the footsteps in the corridor were half as quiet as usual.

Everyone knows that the Chairman is in a very bad mood today.

In the office, the chairman stood by the window, his hands behind his back, clutching a telegram in his hand.

The paper was already crumpled by his fingers, but he was completely unaware of it.

His lips were pressed into a thin line, and the muscles in his cheeks twitched slightly.

"Damn it."

Gu Zhutong's military boots unconsciously shifted back half an inch, his back straightened, and a fine layer of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

The chairman suddenly turned around and slammed the telegram on the table.

"Has Zhang Xueliang gone mad?!"

His voice rose an octave, echoing through the empty office, "I wrote him so many coded telegrams, every single one of them crystal clear!"

"No matter how the Japanese pirates provoke us, we must not resist, and we must not give them an excuse to start a war!"

"What's wrong with him! Not only did he hit me, he also electrified me! What is he trying to do? Is he trying to drag me down with him?!"

Gu Zhutong opened his mouth as if to say something, but the chairman did not give him a chance to speak.

He braced his hands on the table, his chest heaving violently, and the veins on his forehead bulging.

"Shanxi still has Yan Xishan! Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou—everywhere there's separatism, everywhere there's outward compliance but inward defiance!"

"How much effort I expended to clean up the Central Plains and bring the situation under control!"

"Now look what's happened, he's at war with the Japanese! Are the Japanese someone to be trifled with?"

"What if the Japanese fully intervene and send troops south? What will I use to fight them? My ragtag army that's still haggling with me?"

He turned around and faced the window. The rain was getting heavier, pattering against the glass and making his voice broken and intermittent.

"To repel external aggression, we must first pacify the internal situation; this is the national policy."

"How many times have I said it? No matter how important the matter, we must first secure internal stability before dealing with external threats."

"With the country unstable, how can we fight the Japanese? Zhang Xueliang, on the contrary, acted rashly and ruined my entire plan."

"What if the Japanese take this opportunity to secretly collude with the Guangxi clique and flirt with Yan Xishan? What if I'm stabbed in the back? Who can take responsibility for that?"

Gu Zhutong's Adam's apple bobbed several times before he finally forced himself to speak:

"Chairman, according to intelligence, it is likely that the one who launched this declaration of war was not Zhang Hanqing himself, but his younger brother Zhang Xueming."

"Zhang Hanqing was taken hostage by him in Beiping and brought back to Fengtian. Now, the actual command of the three northeastern provinces should have fallen into the hands of Zhang Xueming."

"Zhang Xueming?"

The Chairman turned around, his brow furrowed. "Zhang Zuolin's second son? Isn't he the police chief in Tianjin? Where did he get the guts?"

"this……"

Gu Zhutong hesitated for a moment, "The specifics are still unclear."

"A major battle took place in Fengtian City yesterday. It seems that two Japanese regiments attacked the city and were repelled by them."

"It is said that... he also executed all of the more than 1,000 Japanese civilians in the city."

The office was silent for a full three seconds.

The Chairman's face went from ashen to pale, and then from pale to flushed.

His lips trembled slightly, and his fingers gripped the window frame tightly, his knuckles bulging out one by one from the force.

"madman."

He roared, "How could Zhang Zuolin have given birth to such a crazy son?"

"Killing overseas Chinese? Does he even know what killing overseas Chinese means? It's a major taboo under international law! What will the British think? What will the Americans think? How can the League of Nations still stand on our side?"

He whirled around, pointed at Gu Zhutong, and said in a furious voice:

"Send a telegram to Hanqing immediately! Tell him to withdraw the telegram! Immediately! Right now!"

"Tell him that everything can be discussed with the Japanese!"

"We'll pay for the railway bombing! We'll pay for the assault on their people! No matter how much it costs, as long as we can quell the situation, it's all worth it!"

He gasped for breath, his face contorted in a grimace.

"If they can't reach an agreement, then make him carry Zhang Xueming's head and personally apologize to the Japanese!"

"Even if we have to kneel down, we must beg for the Japanese forgiveness! We absolutely cannot allow this war to escalate! We absolutely cannot allow the situation in Northeast China to affect the overall national situation!"

Gu Zhutong was stunned.

His fingers trembled slightly along the seam of his trousers, his lips moved for a long time, but he finally couldn't hold back and said in a low voice:

"Chairman, the telegram has been sent out in plain text and has been received all over the world."

"Withdrawing now, I'm afraid... I'm afraid it will damage morale and public spirit..."

"Popular morale?"

The chairman sneered, "A bunch of fools, what's there to be afraid of?"

"Can popular morale feed us? Can popular morale defeat Japanese planes and artillery? I understand popular morale better than you! But you can't win a war on popular morale alone!"

"We have no industry, no navy, no air superiority, and we even have to import rifle bullets! What are we going to use to fight the Japanese? Tell me!"

Gu Zhutong remained silent.

The chairman turned around and faced the window again. Raindrops pounded against the glass, shattering his reflection.

He remained silent for a long time, then said something without turning his head.

"Send Chen Cheng to see me."

Gu Zhutong's heart skipped a beat.

Chen Cheng was the head of the Thirteen Protectors of the Civil Engineering Clique and one of the Chairman's most trusted men.

The meaning of summoning Chen Cheng at this time was quite clear: to send him to Fengtian to handle this matter personally.

"Prepare the plane."

The Chairman's voice regained its composure, as cold as a block of raw iron: "Have Chen Cheng depart immediately for Fengtian."

"To convey my orders to Zhang Xueliang in person."

"Four words: Withdraw the telegram."

"No matter what method he uses to get Zhang Xueliang to apologize, if Zhang Xueliang can't make the decision..."

He paused, then lowered his voice even further, "Let Chen Cheng tell Zhang Xueming that Nanjing will absolutely not allow anyone to sabotage the overall national interest."

"Anyone who dares to go their own way will bear the consequences."

Gu Zhutong snapped to attention, saluted, and turned to walk out the door.

His hand had just touched the doorknob when the Chairman's voice came from behind him again.

"Tell Chen Cheng that after arriving in Fengtian, he should go see Zhang Hanqing first."

"Hanqing is a sensible man. He has followed me for so many years and knows what the big picture is."

"As long as Hanqing is willing to cooperate, there is still room for maneuver."

He paused for a moment, "But if Hanqing's word no longer counts..."

He didn't finish his sentence. Gu Zhutong waited for five seconds, but didn't hear the second half.

He dared not ask any more questions, stood at attention again, saluted, opened the door, and went out.

As the door closed behind him, he heard a muffled thud from inside the office, like the sound of a fist slamming onto the desk.

Then came the Chairman's three words, uttered through gritted teeth.

"Damn it."

Gu Zhuyan strode down the corridor, his military boots making a dull thud on the marble floor.

The rain outside the window grew heavier and heavier, the rain curtain cascading down from the eaves like a waterfall, enveloping the entire camp in a hazy mist.

As he walked out of the building, he saw a black Ford sedan parked in the courtyard, with the driver squatting beside it wiping the rainwater off the headlights. Upon seeing Gu Zhutong emerge, the driver quickly stood up at attention.

"To the airport."

Gu Zhutong opened the car door, got in, leaned back in the seat, and closed his eyes.

The electrification has already sparked a wave of resistance against Japan throughout China.

Students flocked to Northeast China, businessmen donated generously, and even overseas Chinese organized fundraising efforts.

If Nanjing were to publicly express its opposition at this time, the consequences would be unimaginable.

But the Chairman is right, the situation in the country is indeed unstable.

Yan Xishan held considerable military power in Shanxi, the Guangxi clique was eyeing him covetously in Guangxi, and the Guangdong clique was outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant in Guangdong, not to mention the forces that kept Chiang Kai-shek up at night.

If the Japanese were to fully intervene at this point, Nanjing would simply be unable to fight on two fronts.

Gu Zhutong opened his eyes and looked at the street scene outside the car window, blurred by the rain.

His thoughts drifted. Chen Cheng flew to Fengtian with the Chairman's orders to pressure Zhang Xueliang. Zhang Xueliang might not dare to disobey, but what about Zhang Xueming?

Would the man who dared to chop off more than a thousand Japanese heads on the city wall listen to Chen Cheng?

Gu Zhutong suddenly felt a chill down his back.

He had a premonition that Chen Cheng's trip to Fengtian would not be as smooth as the Chairman had imagined.

That young man in Fengtian City dared to kill even Japanese civilians. Could a general from the south really keep him in check?