On April 1, the Japanese 3rd and 4th Mixed Brigades rushing to aid Taiyuan were ambushed by the 190th Division, the Shanxi-Sui Army and the Northeastern Army in Yangquan. Facing a large number of heavy artillery and tanks from the 190th Division, these two

The mixed brigade had almost no resistance. A large number of Japanese were wiped out, and only a few hundred people were able to escape.

In desperation, Tojo Hideki had to order the 114th Division to garrison Niangziguan to prevent the 190th Division and the Jinsui Army from attacking the North China Plain.

At the same time, he asked the base camp to second the troops stationed in Mongolia to go south to support Taiyuan, and the base camp quickly agreed to his request.

So the 26th Division and a pseudo-Mongolian division quickly went south.

On April 2, the 190th Division and the Shanxi-Sui Army recovered Taiyuan, and Bunzaburo Kawagishi fled north with a few soldiers overnight.

On April 3, after discovering that Taiyuan had been recovered, the 26th Division deployed a defense line in the Yuanping area to prevent the Japanese from launching an attack to the north.

Almost at the same time, the Japanese troops in Jinan and Lianyungang, Shandong Province also launched attacks on the Japanese troops in Yanzhou and Teng County.

During the rescue of Tai'an County, the two master regiments of Jinan encountered the main force of the 98th Army and the Japanese Army in the wild. After a fierce battle, the Japanese army fought fiercely. They abandoned a large number of heavy weapons and fled into the mountains, and then sneaked back to Jinan.

The troops of Zhang Zizhong and Pang Bingxun in Linyi were unable to resist the attack of the two Japanese army regiments in the direction of Lianyungang, so they took the initiative to withdraw from Linyi and join forces in Teng County.

The two sides' more than 200,000 troops began a tense confrontation in the Yanzhou and Tai'an areas.

In normal times, these news would have been the headlines of major newspapers, and people across the country would have felt extremely joyful after hearing about these victories.

But they were all shocked by the sudden news.

"Sell newspapers! Sell newspapers! Japan's Daily News reported that on March 30, the military command sent agents to assassinate Lu Mingxuan, commander of the 98th Army, with the intention of annexing the entire 98th Army!"

"Tojo Hideki complained about Lu Mingxuan. He claimed that if Lu Mingxuan was willing to join the Japanese Empire, he could ask His Majesty the Emperor to break the soil and make him a king."

"The Emperor of Japan was deeply shocked by this assassination. He severely condemned the Japanese government for sending spies to assassinate his heroes. At the same time, he confirmed that if Lu Mingxuan is willing to join the Japanese Empire, he is willing to make him the Prince of Japan.

"

This news spread as quickly as the wind throughout China, especially those occupied areas. With the help of the Japanese and puppet troops, it became almost everyone's knowledge.

Is China going to have a civil war again?

Can’t the Chinese people unite for once?

Is China really going to die?

When thinking about the consequences of the 98th Army joining the Japanese, almost everyone shuddered.

There is no doubt about the strength of the 98th Army. Once the 98th Army joins the enemy, the entire Central Plains and Shanxi will definitely fall as quickly as possible. This will be a devastating blow to China's anti-Japanese cause.

No one wants to see this happen. When they think of the initiator of this incident, everyone is furious.

As a result, a large number of angry people surrounded Wuhan National Government, and they all asked Chiang Kai-shek to come out and give an explanation.

Faced with such turbulent public sentiment, Chiang Kai-shek could only come out and assure the people of the country that he definitely did not send any spies to assassinate Lu Mingxuan, and that all this was definitely a slander by the Japanese.

But after hearing Chiang Kai-shek's assurance, many people were still dubious.

Because the attitude of the 98th Army is still very ambiguous. They only confirmed that Lu Mingxuan was indeed assassinated, but they did not explain who did the assassination.

They didn't even announce the details of the assassination. In the end, all they knew was the version released by the Japanese.

"Niang Xipi! Niang Xipi! Dai Li! Tell me honestly! Did you send anyone to assassinate Lu Mingxuan?"

In an office of the National Government in Wuhan, Chiang Kai-shek roared crazily at Dai Li, who had his head lowered.

Chiang Kai-shek felt that he was really wronged!

At most, he only ordered Dai Li to collect some intelligence about the 98th Army and place some people around Lu Mingxuan, but he definitely did not give an order for Dai Li to assassinate Lu Mingxuan.

This has absolutely nothing to do with him!

Chiang Kai-shek suddenly had the feeling that someone was sitting at home and disaster was falling from the sky.

"Committee! I promise you! The most I can do is make some arrangements. I swear to you that I never gave any order to assassinate Lu Mingxuan! If it was me who gave the order, they would never shout "Long Live the Chairman" afterwards.

!Isn’t this causing trouble for you, Chairman? How dare I do such a rebellious thing.”

After listening to Chiang Kai-shek's words, Dai Li quickly cursed and swore.

He knew that this matter was too big and Chiang Kai-shek would definitely summon him for questioning, so he had done all his homework beforehand.

After hearing Dai Li's assurance, Chiang Kai-shek's anger calmed down a little.

He knew Dai Li very well, and he would never dare to mess around with something as big as this. And even if he did, he would never end up playing tricks to get himself into trouble.

"Then who do you think did it?"

Chiang Kai-shek said to Dai Li.

"The Japanese! The most likely thing is the Japanese did it! The Japanese were the first to reveal this matter. It stands to reason that the Japanese newspapers have no ability to obtain this information. The only possibility is that the Japanese government disclosed it to them.

This news.

"Although there were some rumors in this regard in Jiyuan, the 98th Army never came forward to confirm it. It was not until the matter got out of hand that Lu Mingxuan came forward to confirm it."

Dai Li quickly reported to Chiang Kai-shek.

Chiang Kai-shek nodded after hearing his words. The most likely mastermind behind this incident was indeed the Japanese.

But when he thought that they had put this shit basin on him, Chiang Kai-shek felt very unhappy. When had he, Chiang Kai-shek, ever suffered such a big loss?

What made him even more angry was that the 98th Army only confirmed that Lu Mingxuan was indeed assassinated, but did not clarify whether it was done by the Japanese or someone sent by him. This led to Chiang Kai-shek's current situation being very embarrassing.

"Qian Dajun and Lu Mingxuan seem to have a good relationship, right?"

Chiang Kai-shek said to Dai Li.

"That's right, Qian Dajun is in charge of all weapons transactions between us and the 98th Army. The only person who is most familiar with Lu Mingxuan is Qian Dajun."

Dai Li said quickly.

"Then send Qian Dajun as my special envoy and ask him to explain this matter to Lu Mingxuan and tell him that it was definitely not me who did it. And now that the country is in crisis, I hope he can take the overall situation into consideration and not let his relatives

He who hates his enemies is quick."

Chiang Kai-shek said to Dai Li.

"As you command, Chairman."

After saying these words, Chiang Kai-shek felt aggrieved. He originally wanted to punish Lu Mingxuan severely because of the last time he privately donated weapons to the Fifth War Zone.

But now not only can he not deal with him, but he also has to say good things to him in order to ask for his forgiveness.

This really made Chiang Kai-shek angry.

What worries him even more is that there have been some problems in cooperation between the 98th Army and the Tengxian Army. Nie Ziwen and Zheng Gouchen no longer trust the Central Army.

They were not even willing to fight side by side with the Central Army, which made Chiang Kai-shek extremely worried.

In addition, Yan Xishan and Li Zongren continued to put pressure on him, and powerful local factions also showed their support for Lu Mingxuan.
Chapter completed!