Even if I'm a useless bum at Whampoa Military Academy, I'll be invincible in the War of Re

At the First War Zone Headquarters, Cheng Songyun remained silent after reading the telegram. Chief of Staff Yan Xunfu, however, was quite surprised and said with great reluctance:

"Lord Song, isn't this far too frivolous? It doesn't even qualify as a penalty of three cups of wine; how can this be convincing?"

Cheng Songyun sighed deeply:

"You've already drunk three cups of wine as a penalty, what more do you want!"

Yan Xunfu was so frustrated he wanted to curse. This was a plan he had been working on for a long time, hoping to make a name for himself, but it was ruined so easily.

"Song Gong, if Zhao Yunwen is not severely punished, won't these arrogant and unruly soldiers in the war zone become unruly and uncontrollable? How will military orders be effectively implemented?"

Cheng Songyun immediately frowned and said:

"They dare! Do they really think I can't handle them? This time, Zhao Yunwen took advantage of the situation. Besides, this matter can't be discussed openly. If it becomes public knowledge, it won't benefit the commander, you, or me."

Since Commander Zhao insists on defending Zheng County by force, let him defend it properly. Issue him a death order in the name of the command: hold it for at least half a month, or face military law!

Cheng Songyun regained his composure in his own way. Yan Xunfu wanted to say more, but Cheng Songyun stopped him with a raised hand, his face showing displeasure. He thought to himself that this man's judgment was too poor, no wonder he couldn't be a leader.

Just as Yan Xunfu was about to leave, Cheng Songyun stopped him and said:

"Zhao Yunwen has just been removed from his position as division commander, so he probably won't be happy about it."

Fine, for the sake of the overall war effort, let him have the right to freely dispose of the remaining supplies in Zheng County. In addition, there are two security regiments and three thousand new recruits in the war zone, let them all go!

He then instructed Commander Zhao to prioritize the overall situation and to ensure Zheng County is held for at least half a month.

Yan Xunfu was even more dumbfounded. It was one thing for the Military Commission to punish him with three cups of wine, but then Song Gong even provided him with snacks to go with the wine. Was there any justice in this world?

"Singing praises to the Duke!"

"Execute the command!"

Chief of Staff Yan had no choice but to leave dejectedly, his back no longer straight, his resolve broken.

Cheng Songyun shook his head as he watched Yan Xunfu's departing figure. This time, he had offended Zhao Yunwen, a disciple of the emperor, quite badly. Although he was not afraid of the other party, it was easier to resolve a feud than to create one. Giving Zhao Yunwen some supplies and troops as compensation was also a way of taking the initiative to make amends.

The day after Zhao Yunwen smashed the cup, the 107th Division headquarters received two telegrams from the command and the Military Commission. It seems that the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Xie Polu was a little confused. He could understand the command granting him control over supplies and providing some additional troops, but he couldn't understand the telegram from the Military Commission.

"Commander, is this what the army is like?"

Zhao Yunwen smiled faintly and said:

"Acting commander, I wonder when I'll be officially appointed."

Xie Polu, somewhat taken aback by Versailles, raised his voice and said:

"This is the Tiger Legion, which consists of three divisions and nine regiments. It has abolished the brigade system and is unique in the entire army."

The 107th Division should have been promoted to army long ago. Putting aside Zhao Yunwen's messy affairs in Zhengxian County, their outstanding performance in the later stages of the Pengcheng Campaign and the Lanfeng Campaign made their promotion to army a logical step.

Considering that Zhao Yunwen's promotion had been too rapid in the past six months, and fearing that there would be no more opportunities for advancement, they deliberately slowed down his promotion.

He was demoted by one rank for shelling the New Eighth Division, and the latter threw his hat in anger. Now Zheng County is in dire need of personnel, so merits are merits and demerits are demerits.

First he was demoted to acting division commander, then immediately promoted to acting army commander. He used a combination of harsh words and sweet rewards – this was Chiang Kai-shek's way of using people.

Chiang Kai-shek was furious about the Zheng County incident, but Zhao Yunwen was in the right, and the die was cast, so he could only swallow his anger.

Zhao Yunwen has now become the de facto military leader. As long as he doesn't defect to the Communists, everything is negotiable.

Zhao Yunwen, having taken Chiang Kai-shek's pulse, put away his smile and began to get down to business:

"With a major battle imminent, no major changes will be made. Lu Ping will serve as Lieutenant General Deputy Army Commander, Xie Polu as Major General Chief of Staff, Zhang Yi as Lieutenant General Division Commander of the 322nd Division, Qiu Qingquan as Division Commander of the 323rd Division, and Wang Guohua as Division Commander of the 324th Division. The regimental units will be organized as the 643rd to the 651st Regiments. The three missing regimental commanders will be transferred from the First Army Corps."

The reconnaissance battalion was upgraded to a regiment, with Xiao Jianyun as the regimental commander. The artillery regiment was upgraded to a brigade, directly commanding a heavy artillery battalion, a mountain artillery battalion, a howitzer battalion, an anti-aircraft artillery battalion, and a supply battalion.

The organizational structure of all other units remained unchanged. The more than 6 new recruits and security personnel allocated by the command were all sent to the training camp for three months of intensive training as supplementary troops.

This time, not only three regimental commanders, but also nine battalion commanders, more than 30 company commanders, and more than 100 platoon leaders were transferred from the First Army Corps. Zhao Yunwen was to assign them all to corresponding positions.

While it was called support, it was actually a way to infiltrate the army. Chiang Kai-shek began to systematically send his own people into the Tiger Army to prevent Zhao Yunwen from running the army in a one-man show.

After hearing this, everyone cheered. All the officers above the rank of brigade commander had been promoted, and Zhang Yi and others had been directly promoted to lieutenant general and division commander, making them big shots in their respective areas.

Zhao Yunwen swept his gaze around the room, and the applause stopped instantly. The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, which showed his prestige in the military.

"Gentlemen, now is not the time to be happy. Several Japanese divisions are about to besiege the city. The Military Commission is not promoting you for nothing. The prerequisite is that you must hold off the Japanese in Zheng County and the surrounding area for more than half a month to buy time for the defense of Jiangcheng. This is a strict order."

The expressions of the crowd turned serious. These were four first-class divisions. Although the Tiger Army had been upgraded, its strength had not increased. The 649th to 651st Regiments were still just empty shells for the time being.

Because it was wartime, Zhao Yunwen did not want to disrupt the troop structure, so the three newly added regiments were only designations for the time being. Each division still only had two regiments with 6 troops, and the division commander was the same as the previous brigade commander.

Next came the deployment of defenses, overseen by the chief of staff. Xie Polu pointed to the map and said:

"Our unit is not fighting alone. There are hundreds of thousands of troops in the First War Zone to the west, north and south of Zheng County. We only need to hold off the enemy on the eastern front."

The 322nd and 323rd Divisions will guard the outer perimeter positions, deployed in a staggered manner, one in front and one behind. The cavalry regiment will be deployed on the northern front for mobile defense, with the artillery brigade providing support. The 324th Division will serve as a reserve force to defend the inner city, with the military headquarters located within the city. The civilian population will be evacuated to the west and south of the city as much as possible, and this will be enforced quickly.

After evacuating the civilians, the 324th Division converted the buildings in the city into urban fortifications, requisitioned all cement and war supplies, and provided certain compensation..."

After the meeting, the system, which had been hidden for a long time, reappeared:

[Ding dong, a new check-in spot has been discovered at Huayuankou. Do you want to check it out?]

Zhao Yunwen was delighted to see that a new daily check-in task had been triggered. It was an easy question, so he chose "yes" without hesitation.

[Congratulations, host, you have successfully checked in. Your talent value has increased by 400, currently at 800. You are 200 points away from leveling up.]

The space-time warehouse has been upgraded to 30 cubic meters, with the current usable space increased to 77.6%, and the inventory of materials is 60.69 tons.

Congratulations, host, you have gained 300000 contribution points. Your current balance is 1267000 points.

Zhao Yunwen hadn't expected the reward to be so generous; it seemed he had done good deeds. Just as he was planning to buy some equipment and supplies, Xie Polu interrupted his plans:

"Commander, news from the front: the vanguard of the 5th Division has engaged the 322nd Division!"