In the past five days, Marshal Zhang had trouble sleeping and eating because the intelligence personnel had not yet reported back the situation in the Central Plains region.

It turns out that when he was in charge of Northeast China, Zhang Xueliang also had his own secret department responsible for collecting intelligence.

There are personnel located all over the place, especially in the areas north of the Yangtze River, and they basically have the eyes and ears of their Northeastern Army.

However, due to the loss of Northeast China and the loss of strong financial backing, all the original departments have disappeared, and most of the contacts with intelligence agencies in various places have been lost.

Now it is much more difficult to obtain some information.

Bored, Shaoshuai Zhang stood up and took out a pack of cigarettes from the drawer.

I walked to the window and started puffing away. After a while, the office was filled with smoke.

Suddenly, there was a slight sound of footsteps outside. Zhang Xueliang turned around and looked towards the door, only to see the adjutant Chen Dazhang walking from the corridor.

"Young Marshal, there's an urgent call from Weifang." Chen Dazhang saluted at the door.

"Oh? What's the matter?" Zhang Shaoshuai asked nervously.

"The rebels in Zibo suddenly left the city and went south, took the initiative to attack Weifang. General Yu Xuezhong asked for instructions on what to do, whether to continue to hold on to Weifang, or to take the initiative to fight."

"Zibo defenders? Didn't you say before that they only have less than 5,000 people? Do you dare to attack with this small force?" Marshal Zhang just wanted to tell Chen Dazhang to call back to Yu Xuezhong and Liu Duoquan, ordering them to attack immediately to defeat this army.

The arrogant and reckless rebels.

Suddenly, there was another rush of footsteps in the corridor outside.

Chen Dazhang turned around instinctively and saw a communications soldier walking quickly with a panicked expression.

"What happened?" Chen Dazhang asked.

The communications soldier handed him a message and said: "Urgent message from Central Plains."

Chen Dazhang's pupils tightened and he did not dare to neglect. He quickly took it and turned around and handed it to Zhang Xueliang.

"Young Marshal, an urgent message from the Central Plains."

Zhang Xueliang also hurriedly received the telegram. After reading it hastily, his face suddenly turned pale, and he lost his voice and said: "The Central Plains has been lost. The damn Chiang Kai-shek has concealed such information about the Central Plains from me. He clearly wants to trap him."

I am in a place of eternal doom."

Chen Dazhang looked horrified at the side and didn't know how to interrupt.

After a while, Marshal Zhang woke up from his anger and gritted his teeth and said: "Send a message to Yu Xuezhong immediately and lead his troops to withdraw to Qingdao immediately."

Chen Dazhang said: "Young Marshal, do you mean to give up Weifang?"

"Yes, not only must Weifang be abandoned, but Qingdao must also prepare to evacuate. After you inform the confidentiality office, you can inform Shen Honglie to come to my office immediately and we will discuss the evacuation." Marshal Zhang said.

Chen Dazhang nodded in agreement, quickly turned around and took the order to leave.

Not long after Chen Dazhang left, Shen Honglie arrived in a panic.

Ignoring the salute, he asked: "Young Marshal, what's the matter? What happened?"

"Zhang Xinghan's rebels had already crossed the Yellow River southward. Hu Zongnan could not resist, and most of the Central Plains had already been captured by Zhang Xinghan.

Shandong has become an isolated strategic territory and cannot be defended." Marshal Zhang said: "So, I came to you to discuss how to move away as much of our industrial and military facilities in Qingdao as possible."

Shen Honglie's expression suddenly changed and he said, "What? Marshal, do you mean to give up on Qingdao?" Shen Honglie has been operating in Qingdao for many years and he really can't bear to give up just now.

Zhang Xueliang said impatiently: "Now that the Central Plains has been occupied by the rebels, the entire Shandong Province and even the large area north of the Huaihe River are no longer defensible.

If Zhang Xinghan's rebels, after capturing the Central Plains, march eastward out of Zhoukou, go down to Fuyang, and threaten Xuzhou, we will have no way to retreat.

Therefore, before the situation has deteriorated to this point, we must make early plans and evacuate in advance, so as to preserve the hard-won limited power in our hands to the greatest extent."

Shen Honglie nodded somewhat numbly and asked, "Commander, have you thought about where we should evacuate?"

"I have thought about it. The French and British have many concessions in Shanghai. We can temporarily evacuate to Shanghai by sea and seek asylum.

Then wait for opportunities to develop." Zhang Xueliang said.

"Take the sea route?" Shen Honglie said: "We have 40,000 to 50,000 troops, which can be regarded as some logistics department employees. The total number is nearly 100,000. The ships of the naval fleet are simply not enough to carry so many people for retreat."

Zhang Xueliang pondered: "We can select and take away all the elite Marines. The Army, led by Yu Xuezhong and Liu Duoquan, will move south from Jiaozhou and move along the Jinpu Railway to the Huaihe River Basin.

When we arrive in Shanghai, I will ask the British and French to find a way to get Jiang to release them and transfer them to the Shanghai area."

Shen Honglie nodded numbly without comment, then left and went to prepare.

………………

Weifang, Qingdao Military Headquarters.

Yu Xuezhong and Liu Duoquan finally waited for Shaoshuai Zhang's call back with apprehension.

However, when they opened the message and looked at it, the two of them were completely dumbfounded.

They looked at each other and said: "Retreat? Give up Weifang?"

After saying that, Liu Duoquan looked up at the communications soldier who sent the message with disbelief, and asked: "Is this message from the young marshal?"

The communication soldier did not dare to neglect, and quickly nodded and confirmed: "Sir, it is indeed from the young marshal. It can't be wrong. If you are really worried, please call Qingdao back to confirm?"

Before Liu Duoquan expressed his position, Yu Xuezhong waved his hand to stop him and said: "No, it seems the order is true."

"Huh?" Liu Duoquan looked at him in surprise, and saw Yu Xuezhong looking down at the message in his hand with a solemn expression.

Recalling that he had only read the telegram once, he was shocked by the contents of the first half, and there seemed to be more below.

So he reached out and took the telegram from Yu Xuezhong's hand, looked at it carefully, and his face suddenly became extremely ugly.

The Central Plains has actually been captured by Zhang Xinghan's rebels. As a result, Shandong has indeed become a strategic dead zone, and there is no value in holding on.

He and Yu Xuezhong are both professional soldiers. Their many years of military career have given them a good strategic vision. They can both see that the situation in Shandong is irreversible. If they don't retreat as soon as possible, the situation may worsen to a point that they cannot imagine and dare not To the point of imagination.

"Brother Fangbo (Liu Duoquan's cousin), the matter has come to this, we should obey the young commander's military orders and prepare to retreat." Yu Xuezhong looked at Liu Duoquan, who was still in shock, and said helplessly.

Liu Duoquan nodded with a dull expression, agreeing.

………………

On the official road from Zibo to Weifang.

Zhang Xinghan led an army of 6,000 men and was marching toward Weifang in a swaggering manner. From time to time, his own air force planes roared past in the sky.

Those were our own reconnaissance planes and fighter jets that were ordered to rush to support.

On the official road, six thousand troops were riding in military trucks and three-wheeled motorcycles, forming a huge convoy.

A convoy of hundreds of military trucks and three-wheeled motorcycles meandered along the official road. Wherever they passed, they brought up huge amounts of smoke and dust, which billowed up and covered the sky.

Like a sweeping steel dragon, wherever it passed, the sky was filled with smoke and dust, and the sound was huge.

Zhang Xinghan was sitting in an armored vehicle, closing his eyes and concentrating very resolutely.

He was holding a captured sword given by the Emperor of Japan in both hands, wearing a pair of black leather boots, wearing a light blue military uniform, an army cloth cap, and an American M1911 gun slung around his waist.

Carrying two shining golden generals on his shoulders, he is tall and tall, giving people an aura of calmness and self-power.

After several years of iron-blooded journeys and commanding millions of troops on the battlefield, he has long lived up to the expectations of the young and immature soldier who traveled through time.

He already has some of the majestic temperament of a superior person.

In an instant, the radio on the communications soldier accompanying the vehicle started ticking. After a while, the communications soldier turned around and handed the message he had just translated to Zhang Xinghan and said: "Chief, our side.

The latest information just detected by the reconnaissance plane is that the enemy troops in Weifang suddenly abandoned the city and fled south."

Zhang Xinghan's slightly closed eyes opened in vain, he took the message, glanced at it, thought for a moment, and then ordered: "Send Zhang Tingshu a message immediately and tell him that the enemy may have noticed the unfavorable strategic situation and wants to escape, so let him immediately

Change the original battle plan, and after arriving in Linyi, immediately advance to Jiaozhou, seize this place, and then defend it for me at all costs."

"Yes." The communications soldier responded, then turned around and started generating electricity.

A sneer appeared at the corner of Zhang Xinghan's mouth, and he said to himself: "Xiao Liuzi, the sea route is blocked. I'll see where you are escaping this time. You can just be captured without any help. It's time to go back to the three eastern provinces to repent to your fathers and fellow villagers."

…………

Jiaozhou County is located in the southwest of the Jiaodong Peninsula and on the bank of Jiaozhou Bay. It is the only way for Qingdao's defenders to escape south.

Marshal Zhang chose to divide his troops by sea and land to escape south, but he did not expect that Zhang Xinghan had already made arrangements.

Time passed by, and another day and night passed in the blink of an eye. During their retreat, the troops of Yu Xuezhong and Liu Duoquan were harassed and attacked by the Northeast Army Air Force, and their retreat was slow.

Finally, at around 7 p.m., we evacuated to Gaomi County, 30 kilometers away from Jiaozhou County.

In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, Marshal Zhang ordered them to stay on standby in Gaomi County and did not transfer them to Qingdao.

Marshal Zhang was worried that once more than 20,000 troops entered Qingdao, it would cause unnecessary chaos when the troops boarded ships and retreated.

Because all fools know that escaping by boat is safe and fast.

One day and one night is definitely not enough time for Zhang Shaoshuai and Shen Honglie to move. After all, they have been operating in Qingdao for several years.

In the past two years, it has received covert support from Western powers and even quietly established a small arsenal.

The worker Zhang Shaoshuai wanted to take away these machines and equipment, because they would be the capital for a comeback in the future.

However, what everyone did not expect was that when Marshal Zhang and Shen Honglie were busy moving in Qingdao, Yu Xuezhong and Liu Duoquan, after leaving their troops in Gaomi, also took the overnight ride back to Qingdao to meet the Marshal.

The vanguard of Zhang Tingshu's nine thousand army suddenly appeared outside Jiaozhou County after nearly thirty hours of rapid march.
Chapter completed!