Warlords: Rising from the Northwest Border and Sweeping Across the Powers

Chapter 222 Su Zhengyang's Bold Decision and the Shouts of 9 Millions of People

A day later, news came from Yongzhou that Han's Ninth Army surrendered and Han Jiwang committed suicide. Zheng Zeyu personally ordered the execution of the entire Han family, except Han Jingting, who harbored a grudge against Su Zhengyang.

After interrogation, Zheng Zeyu got a piece of information. As early as half a month ago, when the Korean troops suffered a defeat, Han Jingting had secretly left Yongzhou under the arrangement of Han Jiwang, and his whereabouts were unknown.

After completely conquering Yongzhou and Ganzhou, Su Zhengyang finally turned his attention to the northeast, to the Northern Expedition Western Route Army that had forced the Hanzhou royal family into a desperate situation.

The next morning, Su Zhengyang personally called Beilong City to discuss with Duan Jinshu and Yang Jiakai how to deal with the current situation.

"Yongzhou and Ganzhou have been completely taken over by our Northwest Revolutionary Army. Now the Northeast is in danger. Once the Fuso Kwantung Army completely breaks through the Northeast Army's defense line and marches south, it will cause a major blow to us. I have discussed a specific response method with the generals of the Northwest Revolutionary Army under my command. The First Army of Mengzhou Province will march northward and march into Meng State to launch a comprehensive attack on the four Kwantung Army divisions stationed in Meng State, forcing the Northeast Kwantung Army to split its troops and return to Meng State. The Second Army will march eastward and cooperate with the Yan faction to encircle and eliminate the Jiangbei Pang faction. At the same time, the Third Army will march south from Ganzhou to support Hanzhou and block the Western Route Army of the Southern Government."

"The Skull Division will also launch an attack on the hinterland of the Southern Government from Bizhou, forcing the Northern Expedition First Army to withdraw from Jiangzhou. Once Feng's faction is free, they can withdraw troops from Huizhou to the north, posing a huge threat to the three provinces of Zhili, making it difficult for Zhang Chengxiang to take care of both ends. Four arrows fired at the same time! I want to reverse the situation on the entire battlefield in one fell swoop!"

Yang Jiakai was shocked as he listened to Su Zhengyang's plan on the other end of the phone. Looking across the entire China, perhaps only Su Zhengyang's Northwest Revolutionary Army had the confidence to fight on all four sides and was determined to win.

After discussing with Duan Jinshu, Yang Jiakai initially approved Su Zhengyang's plan.

"Zhengyang, just go ahead and do it. If your plan works, we will be able to eliminate the northern border rebels led by Zhang Chengxiang in one fell swoop and stabilize the situation in the entire northern border of China."

It has to be said that Su Zhengyang's decision was very bold. Having just taken over Ganzhou and Yongzhou provinces, when the situation was not yet completely stabilized, he almost came out in full force, trying to save the collapsing empire with his own strength.

Of course, Su Zhengyang did not make a rash decision. In Linzhou, there was the Fourth Army of the Northwest Revolutionary Army, which had just been established for less than three months but still had considerable combat effectiveness. There was also the headquarters protection division beside Su Zhengyang, and the highly mobile motorized infantry brigade, which were enough to stabilize the situation in the entire Linzhou, Ganzhou and Yongzhou.

After being silent for half a year, the Northwest Revolutionary Army's first show of force directly destroyed the Han and Zhao factions, and also dealt a heavy blow to the entire rebel faction headed by Zhang Chengxiang.

In the office of the Governor-General of Jiaozhou and Zhili, Zhang Chengxiang had an extremely gloomy expression, and the ground was littered with broken pieces of porcelain.

Zhang Qide, the chief of staff of the Zhili Army, stood in front of Zhang Chengxiang with his head lowered, not daring to breathe.

"The Han and Zhao factions are two complete losers! How could these two losers occupy a state for more than ten years? It is simply puzzling. I had already reached an agreement with the Ma and Qu factions in the northwest that they would send troops to support the Zhao faction and jointly resist the Northwest Revolutionary Army. However, at this critical juncture, the two forces were successively destroyed, causing the Ma and Qu factions to return overnight and refuse our solicitation. This Su Zhengyang, relying on the Peace Company and the Northwest Revolutionary Army under his command, has already shown a tendency to turn into a dragon."

"Governor, Su Zhengyang's annihilation of the Han and Zhao factions has brought about tremendous changes to the entire northern battlefield. The Kuanzhou Li faction and the Houzhou Liang faction, which were originally on the sidelines, have expressed their attitudes to the central government and will each raise 100,000 troops to rush to the northeast. In this way, the Fuso Kwantung Army will be hindered in the northeast again."

"What is the current attitude of the Qian faction in Lizhou and the An faction in Quzhou? If they also express their own stance and are willing to support the president's faction and obstruct the Southern Government's Western Expedition, the situation on the entire battlefield will immediately change greatly."

"Qian Xuzhong is an old man who is as cunning as a fox. We have always stood together with him. The An faction, which has a marriage relationship with us, keeps shirking responsibility. They neither stand on the side of the President's faction nor want to get too involved with us. So far, no clear answer has been given."

"In my opinion, the Qu and Ma factions are the easiest forces for us to win over. As long as they are willing to send troops, they can still pose a huge threat to the Northwest Revolutionary Army and take up most of Su Zhengyang's energy."

Zhang Chengxiang squinted his eyes and pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "Ma Changfang has always been greedy. The Ma family is a prestigious family in the entire Xiazhou, a century-old family. We can use him as a breakthrough point. As long as we successfully win over the Ma family, the Qu family will also agree to it. We can agree to any conditions that Ma Changfang puts forward. What I want now is to keep the Northwest Revolutionary Army firmly contained in the northwest and prevent it from having a major impact on the entire battlefield."

"Otherwise, once the Northwest Revolutionary Army makes a move, it can pose a huge threat to the Pang Clan by moving eastwards, and it can block the Western Route Army of the Southern Government by moving southwards. It is possible that they can turn the tide with their own strength."

"Yes, Governor, I will try my best to negotiate with them."

The next day, an article from the Northwest Linzhou Revitalization News caused an uproar throughout China. Many media outlets, including the Huashang Daily and the Dahua Daily, quoted the article titled: The Governor-General of Zhili invited a wolf into the house, and the leadership of the Southern Government had no sense of national justice.

The whole article is extremely sharp in its wording and clear in its logic. It severely criticized Zhang Chengxiang and his party for conspiring with Fuso, which led to the entire northern border of China falling into war. At the same time, it also questioned the decision of the Southern President Huang Guangtai to launch the Northern Expedition despite the foreign enemy. It claimed that Huang Guangtai was a short-sighted, selfish and despicable villain who shouted the slogan of China's great unification but had no patriotism at all.

This article deeply analyzes the current situation in China, starting from the fact that the Qing Empire's isolationism caused China to become weak and become a target of humiliation. It then points out in a simple and clear way that only by uniting the strength of the entire Chinese people and striving for self-improvement can China truly rise.

It resonated with countless passionate young people and patriots across the country.

In the three provinces of Zhili, including the area south of Longjiang River ruled by the Southern Government, large-scale parades took place in major cities, condemning Zhang Chengxiang's treasonous behavior and calling on the Southern Government to abandon the Northern Expedition and unite with the Northern Frontier to face external forces together and first deal with Fuso and Zhang Chengxiang and other traitorous forces.

In the office, Su Zhengyang looked at the newspaper and smiled knowingly. This article was definitely written by Yang Qiyue. The power of the pen is sometimes more powerful than the gunfire and smoke on the battlefield. The storm of protests intensified, like a spark that spread across the prairie, making Zhang Chengxiang and his party infamous and causing Huang Guangtai of the Southern Government to have deep concerns for the first time.

This is the cry from the souls of the 900 million Chinese people.

There has never been a shortage of people in this land who deeply love their motherland.