Chapter 988
Telegram Issued, Xuzhou and Bengbu Shocked
If you want to seize control of a major power, your ancestors have already prepared all sorts of political strategies for you:
Bribery, sowing discord, undermining, and finally finding an excuse to arrest people.
Mao Renfeng operated it without any obstacles and with great ease.
This is exactly what he did after arriving in Xuzhou—he bribed several of Zheng Yaoxian's core members, ensuring that a single telegram would be enough to bring down the incompetent Zheng Yaoxian.
Now, the troops are moving, just waiting for the special forces to suffer a defeat on the battlefield in Xudong before capturing the enemy.
But... is it really that simple?
The Special Armed Force of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics was a special unit carefully built by Zhang Anping. Its original purpose was to imitate guerrilla warfare and infiltrate the liberated areas directly with a small number of dozens or hundreds of people—of course, this was the reason given to the outside world.
In fact, this was a model force that Zhang Anping had prepared for our army's future bandit suppression efforts. The size of the force, which was dozens or hundreds of people, was just right for the bandit suppression needs.
Zhang Anping, widely recognized as the God of Wealth, also invested a great deal of effort in equipping this force. Although he did not prepare heavy artillery and tanks like he did for the traffic police brigade, he equipped them with a large number of rocket launchers, mortars, and even mountain guns. Their individual weapons consisted mainly of submachine guns and Garand rifles capable of continuous fire. In order to achieve high mobility, this force of more than 10,000 people had more than 200 trucks.
In addition, it was equipped with a large number of bicycles and motorcycles, making its mobility among the best in the National Revolutionary Army at that time.
However, there is this problem:
The core of all training for special armed forces revolves around small-scale operations!
For example, regarding heavy machine guns:
Compared to the National Revolutionary Army at the beginning of the War of Resistance against Japan, the current National Revolutionary Army is incredibly wealthy and powerful. The Central Army's direct forces have a considerable number of heavy machine guns, but among the special forces, there is not a single heavy machine gun. On the contrary, the number of light machine guns far exceeds that of American-equipped divisions of the same size.
This is determined by the tactics used in their own training.
This shows that special armed forces are simply not suitable for offensive operations on the main battlefield.
However, Mao Renfeng still took the initiative to send the special armed forces to the blocking battlefield in Xudong!
……
Special forces set off in a great hurry—the order they received was to immediately rush to the aid of the Xudong assault battlefield and to be under the command of the Second Army Corps.
Not long after setting off from Xuzhou, the special forces had already arrived at the rear of the Second Army Corps.
It should be noted that Nianzhuangwei is only 40 kilometers away from Xuzhou, which means that the entire blocking line in eastern Xuzhou must be blocked within the section between Xuzhou and Nianzhuangwei. This is a plain area about 25 kilometers wide but only 10 kilometers deep. Therefore, the nearest battlefield is only 8 kilometers away from Xuzhou Airport.
Eight kilometers is truly a blink of an eye for highly motorized special forces.
The massive special forces were heading straight for the main positions along the Houji to Daxujia line, but the order from the Second Army Corps headquarters only arrived when they were almost at the second-line reserve attack point.
However, the order was to have the special forces turn back to Pantang Town—the North Jiangsu Corps of the East China Field Army had been attacking this area from the side, and if this place fell, the Second Corps would be cut off from its rear. Therefore, the Second Corps dared not commit all its forces to the desperate attack.
Now, faced with the addition of such a non-core force, the Second Army Corps sent it to Pantang Town without hesitation, lest Pantang be captured and it be forced to retreat to Xuzhou in disgrace.
When Zheng Yaoxian led his special forces to Pantang, new combat orders came down:
Interweave!
That's right, the special forces were not stationed in Pantang to fight a positional war, but rather used the cover of night to avoid the main battlefield, and launched a surprise attack from the west side of Pantang to Zhangji, thereby tearing open a gap in the defense and cooperating with the Second Army Corps to advance eastward to Nianzhuangwei.
Upon receiving the order, the special forces rested on the spot and entered a state of pre-battle preparation.
……
Since it was pre-battle preparation, all qualified officers would be called to a meeting. At this moment, the core officers of the special forces gathered in the temporary meeting room, waiting for Zheng Yaoxian's orders.
"The commander-in-chief has arrived!"
The meeting room fell silent at the sound of the guards' voices. Zheng Yaoxian strode in, glanced around, and then sat down on a stool.
Clearing his throat, Zheng Yaoxian said, "Brothers, the Second Army Corps' combat orders have come down—our unit is ordered to take advantage of the night to infiltrate along the Pantang-Zhangji line and coordinate with the Second Army Corps to launch an attack on Nianzhuang."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than someone voiced their dissatisfaction:
"They're really using us as cannon fodder!"
"Our training mainly focuses on small-scale operations. Now they're not only stuffing us into large-scale battles, but they're also making us maneuver through these chaotic battlefields? Are they trying to kill us?"
Faced with this clearly demoralizing expression of discontent, Zheng Yaoxian did not stop him. Instead, he patiently waited for his subordinate to complain—he did have this script, but the spokesperson was not this confidant!
"You're right, you really are trying to drive us to our deaths—"
Song Xiaoan said with a sneer:
"We weren't originally scheduled to go east, otherwise they wouldn't have rushed to bring us out after the fighting started—it was our Director who wanted us to come out and get killed."
Someone asked, puzzled, "Is he just feeding the enemy?"
Song Xiaoan sneered and slammed his hand on the table, saying:
"Do I have to spell it out for you? You all used to be professional secret agents. Do I really have to spell things out for you?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the simple meeting room erupted in chaos. What was going on?
As everyone exchanged bewildered glances, Zhao Jianzhi stood up, displeased:
"Xiao'an, we're brothers, don't you even trust me on this point?"
???
Everyone was astonished, seemingly realizing that there was more to the story.
Song Xiaoan, however, was not buying it and asked with a sneer, "Then tell me, what did Mao Renfeng ask you to do!"
Zhao Jianzhi looked at Zheng Yaoxian: "I have already reported to Seventh Brother."
Zheng Yaoxian nodded upon seeing this: "Jian Zhi did indeed tell me—Mao Renfeng gave him some gold, which can be considered a bribe, and then told him to prepare his men so that if I failed to command properly and was dismissed by him, Jian Zhi would immediately arrest me and send me to Xuzhou, and he would also be in command of the special forces."
Upon hearing this, a buzzing sound immediately filled the simple conference room, and some people's eyes flickered slightly—they had already sensed that something was wrong, and now... it seemed that they had guessed correctly.
"What a clever scheme, what a clever scheme!" Song Xiaoan was furious: "Mao Renfeng really has a clever scheme! Back in Henan Station, he shamelessly used us as scapegoats. If it weren't for Brother Qi exchanging the entire Henan Station for him, the brothers would probably still be in the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics' prison."
"Now, he's actually sharpening his knives, ready to arrest Seventh Brother? Does he think Seventh Brother is some kind of Ma Hansan?"
Ma Hansan was once the head of the Kuomintang's Pingjinbao Third Station. At the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan, he even risked parachuting into Beiping to instigate traitors. After Dai Chunfeng's death, Ma Hansan wanted to become the fourth leader of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics. However, he was framed by Zhang, Mao and Zheng and was promoted in name only and transferred to Nanjing. Later, he was assassinated. He was first hung up and then imprisoned. Some time ago, Mao Renfeng and Zhang Anping personally signed the order to be executed.
Song Xiaoan's words clearly implied that Zheng Yaoxian, now that he had been arrested, would definitely be shot next.
Zheng Yaoxian watched coldly throughout without intervening, and it was obvious that Song Xiaoan said it at his behest—the words had already been said to this extent, so who among those present did not know what to do next?
In fact, many of the attendees were pleasantly surprised.
From its inception, the Special Forces had a considerable number of our Party comrades infiltrated. In its subsequent development, the number of our Party comrades increased exponentially, after all, the two commanders-in-chief were both very politically connected.
However, the way the covert operations work means that most members are unaware of information about their comrades—just like the officers present, although there are many of our comrades, they have no idea that their leader, the big spy Zheng Yaoxian, is one of their own.
At this moment, seeing that Zheng Yaoxian had revealed his intention to defect, these comrades were certainly not going to sit still.
"Commander-in-Chief, Chief of Staff Song is absolutely right! If you want to find fault, you can always find a pretext. Before the battle has even started, Mao Renfeng has already planned and prepared to dismiss and detain you on the grounds of poor command. If you accept your fate, what awaits you will definitely be the same as Ma Hansan's!"
"Commander-in-Chief, we know you're not afraid to die, but... but you can't die such a pathetic death, can you?" "Commander-in-Chief, if you are murdered by Mao Renfeng and Zhang Anping, we brothers will be like stray dogs, and we'll probably not have a good end!"
Generally speaking, absorbing a faction does not mean physically eliminating it, but rather assimilating its members into one's own system.
But the current Bureau of Investigation and Statistics is very strange. Zhang's faction is exclusive and only accepts genuine loyalists (from the beginning). Mao's faction was initially open to all comers, but after ups and downs, the core of Mao's faction is those "die-hard loyalists". Others cannot squeeze in at all - if they attach themselves, they can only be cannon fodder.
These cannon fodder would be dealt with by Zhang's faction from time to time to maintain discipline—quite a few heads were chopped off.
Even if they escaped the purge, they would be assigned to go into hiding.
But their counter-espionage capabilities were too strong. They had no experience in infiltration during the War of Resistance Against Japan. No matter how strong their abilities were, they would be exposed and captured after a short time infiltrating. They would either be sent to labor camps or die loyally and be shot.
As for the other factions within the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics...
Now it's completely gone!
In this situation, if there were any die-hard loyalists of the Zheng faction, and Zheng Yaoxian fell first and then died, they would be like lost souls, and their fate would not be much better.
So after all this build-up, someone finally blurted out what everyone was waiting for:
"Since neither side wants us to have an easy time, let's just give up!"
"This is outrageous!"
The officer who shouted this out thought it would take a long time to resonate with everyone, but to his surprise, he was met with a steady stream of responses after he did.
Looking at the scene of the crowd below, Zheng Yaoxian couldn't help but find it amusing. How could those few Kuomintang members be so resolute?
"Seventh Brother, what are you still hesitating for? Let's rebel!"
Zheng Yaoxian is "hesitating".
"Commander-in-Chief, things have come to this point. If you still want to be a loyal subject of the Party and the State, then we brothers will have no choice but to commit suicide in front of you!"
Some people pulled out their sidearms and pointed them at themselves.
Once they uttered the words "Let's rebel," there was no turning back—if they didn't rebel now, they would face brutal reckoning, without a doubt.
Seeing this, many others also drew their sidearms and, like this person, pointed their guns at themselves.
Seeing this, Zheng Yaoxian looked around eagerly and slowly said:
"Since the brothers are willing to turn against me for Zheng, then I, Zheng..."
"We will never betray each other!"
"Put the gun away!"
“I know some brothers are unwilling to betray the Party and the country—if I hadn’t been forced by Mao Renfeng, I would never have betrayed the Party and the country I’ve been loyal to for over a decade!”
"I do not want brothers to kill each other. Brothers who do not want to follow me can come to me privately. After the agents cross Pantang at night, I will release you all."
"Everyone else—return to your respective units immediately, prepare for infiltration, and once you cross Pantang, immediately contact the nearest People's Liberation Army and await their takeover!"
……
Mao Renfeng is indeed taking a huge blame for this.
But... who made him willingly walk into the trap?
Zhao Jianzhi was a decoy deliberately thrown out by Zheng Yaoxian. Unfortunately, Mao Renfeng was too "naive". After noticing that Zhao Jianzhi had grievances against Zheng Yaoxian, he quickly sidled up to him, thinking he had won Zhao Jianzhi over.
Little did he know that he had walked headlong into a trap that Zheng Yaoxian had prepared long ago.
In fact, before planning the Special Weapons Uprising, there were two options:
First, directly defect;
Second, battlefield uprisings.
The former can disrupt the enemy's offensive deployment and even inflict heavy damage on the enemy.
However, choosing the former has two problems:
1. The special forces are in a sandwiched position, with the Second Army Corps in front and Xuzhou City behind. If they defect, they will be immediately subjected to concentrated fire from a large number of artillery pieces and the enemy. Secondly, on the Xudong blocking battlefield, our army has less than 100,000 troops, which is about the same as the enemy's. Moreover, Xuzhou is right behind the enemy. Even if the special agents defect, they will not have the ability to annihilate the enemy.
2. Direct defection makes it difficult to create the illusion that the special forces have no choice but to rebel.
Therefore, after careful consideration, Tewu chose the second option: battlefield uprising.
The specific process is as follows:
Under the guise of infiltration, they broke away from the main defense zone → made contact with the People's Liberation Army → maintained a standoff without firing → blocked key transportation routes.
Acting in this way would confirm the fact that they were forced into rebellion.
As for the play performed in the conference room, most people were passively participating. The purpose was to put on a show for a few die-hard loyalists, to make them believe that Zheng Yaoxian was not a communist sympathizer all along, but was forced by Mao Renfeng to rebel in order to survive.
……
Zheng Yaoxian was known for his loyalty and righteousness. He said he would never make things difficult for brothers who were unwilling to follow him to join the Communists. A few die-hard loyalists actually believed him. When the special forces were preparing to "infiltrate," they quietly approached Zheng Yaoxian.
Zheng Yaoxian did not make things difficult for them, but simply had them guarded.
While the special forces were preparing, the garrison in Pantang specially delivered a considerable amount of supplies, and also conveyed a message:
"If the infiltration goes wrong, immediately retreat to Pantang, and our army will be ready to provide support."
It was clear that the defenders of Pantang did not have high hopes for Tewu's infiltration operations—they believed that Tewu was likely to be cannon fodder.
Night, 10 PM.
The prepared special forces crossed the Pantang defense line and began their "infiltration." Immediately after crossing the Pantang line, Zheng Yaoxian ordered the release of eight officers who refused to join his uprising, and subsequently sent a series of telegrams in plain text:
East China Field Army Command:
Zheng Yaoxian, Commander of the Direct Department of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics. Mao Renfeng has deliberately framed me and wants to harm me; I cannot bear to see my brothers under my command purged and slaughtered from within. After careful consideration and recognizing the general trend, I am now leading my 10,000 troops in an immediate uprising, breaking away from the Chiang Kai-shek regime, and surrendering to the People's Liberation Army, awaiting the frontline to send personnel to take over and reorganize us.
Once the telegram was sent, the entire Xuzhou-Bengbu area...
Everyone was shocked! (End of Chapter)