The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

Chapter 19: What, allying with Guangxi to oppose Chiang Kai-shek?

Chen Tianheng returned to China with Wang Ruofei.

Because the new director of the liaison office in Moscow, Cai Hesen, has arrived to replace Wang Ruofei.

Cai Hesen set off from China more than a month ago and arrived in Moscow on November 5. He attended the 11th anniversary of the October Revolution and then stayed in Moscow to work. Wang Ruofei and Chen Tianheng left Moscow on November 15 and rushed to the Black Sea to catch a ship.

"Director Cai, you and Sister Xiang...are already divorced, right? You don't have to hide in Moscow, do you?"

Chen Tianheng couldn't help but say something. Cai Hesen had applied to work at the Moscow Liaison Office on his own initiative. Just now, Cai Hesen said he had "self-deported."

Cai Hesen: "Commissioner Xiang and I are always at loggerheads, both in private and in meetings. This is detrimental to unity and work. There are some things I support that she opposes, but there's actually no reason to oppose them, and she should have been in favor of them anyway. Conversely, I inevitably have this tendency, too. Therefore, it's better for us not to meet or work together.

Wang Ruofei: "Old Cai, you should have focused more on your life. Have some emotional interaction with your lover, and save some money to support your family. You're not good at making money and are often penniless. How can this work?"

Chen Tianheng: "Director Cai has been writing articles and translating books for many years. How could he not be good at making money?

Wang Ruofei: "Old Cai never even negotiated with publishers for his articles or translations. I remember when he translated a book, Li Dazhao asked Hu Shi to take the manuscript to the Beijing publisher to negotiate, and they raised the fee by 30% to cover his overdue rent. But even so, he often used all his profits to support the revolution, keeping only a few coins for himself."

Cai Hesen stroked the uneven tuft of beard beside his lips and said, "Money didn't matter to me before, and it doesn't matter to me now. I don't plan to find a life partner anymore."

Wang Ruofei: "...Then you should pay more attention to your appearance. Shower and wash your face regularly, and at least shave every day. You're really unkempt."

Chen Tianheng: "Director Cai, the Liaison Office in Moscow is actually a diplomatic agency. You should frequently meet with Soviet central leaders and even Comrade Stalin.

Cai Hesen:

Wang Ruofei: "So, personal hygiene and image are no longer your personal matters, they are public matters.

After saying goodbye to Cai Hesen and boarding the ship on the Black Sea, Chen Tianheng frowned as he looked at the liner's schedule.

Wang Ruofei: "What's the matter?

Chen Tianheng: "This ship is so slow, even slower than the one I took when I came to the Soviet Union. Is it only 15 knots?"

"Not really. This Black Sea Guangzhou liner is not slow. It will reach Guangzhou in one and a half months, and the ticket is cheap.

Nowadays, high-speed cruise ships crossing the Atlantic can run at more than 20 knots, and the Blue Ribbon record has reached 27 knots, but the route from the Black Sea to Guangzhou cannot compare with the Atlantic route, and there are no cruise ships that are that fast.

Furthermore, due to the low passenger volume, the cruise ship Chen Tianheng was on was a mixed passenger and cargo ship, with frequent port calls along the way, loading and unloading passengers and cargo, such as hundreds of sacks of wheat unloaded at the port of Alexandria. This made the average speed of the liner even slower.

"This horse looks really good, tall and strong, with shiny and smooth fur." ​​Wang Ruofei saw several horses in the liner's stable.

Chen Tianheng: "This is a Soviet military horse, probably called a Budyonny. It's a cross between a Don horse, a Chernomor mare, and a British purebred stallion. Speaking of which, I've met Comrade Budyonny in Donetsk. Bring him to Guangzhou for a trial breeding. If he can adapt to the hot southern climate, we'll have a good seed for our future military horses."

Wang Ruofei: “These horses are quite different from the Budyonny horses.

Chen Tianheng: "These aren't riding horses, they're Russian draft horses, also sent to Guangzhou for trial breeding. Without them, our artillery wouldn't be able to be towed.

Chen Tianheng was certain that China would not become a "nation on wheels" within a decade or so, nor would a comprehensive road network be built across the vast Chinese land. In the future, the military's combat, mobility, and logistical transportation would still largely rely on horses.

The average quality of domestic horse breeds, especially military horses, is low. Even the horses used by the northern armies are of varying quality, with some good horses imported from Tsarist Russia and Japan, but the majority being inferior. In the south, such as in Guangdong and Guangxi, the quality of horses is even worse.

According to the strength of Western draft horses, a field artillery that could be pulled by two horses would require four or even six horses in China. Moreover, since the horses' capabilities were approaching the limit, the draft horses towing the artillery were extremely prone to injury and death.

When there were Soviet advisers at the Whampoa Military Academy, the Soviet Union transported a small batch of Anglo-Don horses from the country to Guangzhou. Their tall size made Chen Tianheng envious.

The existence of this batch of Soviet military horses also proved that Guangzhou was not incapable of raising and using Russian military horses. Therefore, before Chen Tianheng sent the experimental horses back to Guangzhou, two large military horse farms had already been built.

Jiashan County, Anhui Province.

The grassland stretches as far as the eye can see. Miniature lakes and ponds dot the grassland like islands in a sea of ​​green. A few cattle and sheep roam leisurely across the grass. This isn't the Northwest grasslands; this is Jiashan County in the Jianghuai region.

This place has an almost optimal pasture environment that is rare in southern China. Therefore, in 1928, the Nanjing government established the Jiashan Military Horse Farm here.

"Since the late Qing Dynasty, social unrest and the lax administration of horse affairs have led to a decline in the number and quality of domestically produced horses, and the social source of military mules has shrunk.

"In July this year, the Department of Civil Affairs reported that the number of horses in the country had plummeted from 5 million in 1912 to less than 2 million.

"Inner Mongolia and Northwest China, renowned for their horse production, were unable to sell horses to the interior of China due to transportation cutoffs caused by warlord separatism. Horse production in the Yellow River basin provinces was almost completely bankrupt.

"For centuries, domestic horses have been left to thrive naturally, without any artificial scientific improvement. Domestication has led to a decline in quality, size, and eye shape, and production and consumption have become unbalanced. Even the cheapest and easiest-to-raise Mongolian horse has seen its average size decrease from around 4 feet 4 inches to around 4 feet 2 inches.

"So... Commander-in-Chief"

Huang Wenhuan, from the Ordnance Department of the Military and Political Affairs Department of the Nanjing Military Commission, spoke for a long time in front of Chiang Kai-shek and finally threw out the most crucial sentence:

"Commander-in-Chief, the horse farm needs to purchase high-quality horse breeds from abroad for breeding so that the army can obtain high-quality military horses.

Chiang Kai-shek was visiting the Jiashan Military Horse Farm and seemed to be in a good mood. When he heard this, he asked, "How much money is needed to buy military horses?"

Huang Wenhuan: "We need to allocate $20 to purchase horse breeds. In four years, the horse farm will be able to provide the army with high-quality Western-style horses."

"Let's discuss this with the Ministry of Finance. Minister Song can allocate a special fund for this matter." Chiang Kai-shek looked out into the distance. "As for the source of military horses, we ultimately need to solve the Northwest issue."

He Yingqin: "Feng Yuxiang has once again resisted the central government's plan to reduce the army. We have repeatedly ordered him to reduce the army by 10, but Feng Yuxiang remains unmoved. Last month, we reduced the pay for the Northwest Army, and Feng Yuxiang is now threatening to withhold central tax revenues. If central tax revenues are insufficient to pay the military pay, he has also threatened to use the army to collect taxes from the localities.

Chiang Kai-shek: "If he dares to seize the region, he will be no different from the Beiyang warlords, and all sectors of the nation will condemn him. We can order his Northwest Army to advance south. Since he is unwilling to reduce the army, he does not have to do so. Just leave the suppression of the Communists to him."

He Yingqin said: "We have made a peace declaration with Guangdong, and the two sides have maintained peace for nearly a year. If we start a war now, I am afraid it will be detrimental to public opinion.

Chiang Kai-shek: "The threat of the Communist bandits in Guangdong will eventually be resolved. This matter cannot be left to the opinions advocated by scholars. We must make decisive decisions when necessary.

Soong Mei-ling: "If the Communist Party is not eliminated, China will not be truly unified. But Darling, can't Feng Yuxiang break this up?"

Chiang Kai-shek: "All we can do is mobilize the Northwest Army to Wuhan. Once there, Feng Yuxiang probably won't decide on his own to attack the Communists in the Dabie Mountains. I have to issue the military order."

Xi'an.

"What? Chiang Kai-shek wants me to fight the Communists?

Feng Yuxiang was in his residence in Xi'an, thinking about how to fight Chiang Kai-shek to save his army. When he saw the telegram sent by the Nanjing government, his face suddenly turned grim.

"This is very unkind of Chiang Kai-shek. If he hated the Communist Party, why didn't he fight it himself?

Sun Liangcheng: "Marshal, Chiang Kai-shek said last time that everyone has a part in the purge of the Communists. Now that the Communists still exist in Guangdong, we are all the same and there is no time to rest.

Feng Yuxiang shook his head in disdain: "His purge of the Communists was different from mine. My main purpose in purging the Communists was to purge Russia. I simply deported all the members of the Communist Party. Besides, it is said that a large number of the members I deported were followers of the Russians, called... members of the Communist International.

Sun Liangcheng: "But if we don't do what Chiang Kai-shek says, we won't be able to sustain our military pay. The pay we already pay is not sufficient, and if we cut it again as we did last month, we'll only be able to support half the troops.

"Well,... let's transfer tens of thousands of people to Wuhan.

Sun Liangcheng: "Yes, Marshal. We have to put on an act after all. Besides, the Communist army in the Hubei-Henan-Anhui base area is said to be not that powerful.

Feng Yuxiang: "Who said we were going to attack the Communist troops in Hubei, Henan, and Anhui? After we move to Wuhan, we will contact... Li Zongren."

To this day, the Guangxi clique still controls Hubei, Anhui, and part of Hunan. The so-called part refers to the three provinces minus the areas controlled by the base.

Li Zongren was stationed in Wuhan, while Huang Shaohong and Bai Chongxi were in Guangxi.

Like the Northwest Army, the New Guangxi Clique also faced pressure from Chiang Kai-shek to reduce its military. Of course, Chiang Kai-shek knew that the troops under the New Guangxi Clique were generally quite capable, so the reduction in the Guangxi Clique's military was very small, requiring only the 30,000 troops they had seized from the Hunan Clique, who were originally from the Yunnan and Guizhou armies.

"What, a secret letter from Feng Yuxiang?

The man in front of him came from Xi'an. He took out the identity certificate given by Feng Yuxiang himself, and then took out a letter, a letter written by Feng Yuxiang himself. Li Zongren opened it and read:

"What? Lian Gui is against Chiang Kai-shek?"

Chapter 20: Pictures and Truth

Li Zongren ultimately did not agree to Feng Yuxiang's proposal to unite against Chiang Kai-shek.

Or rather, he had not agreed yet. He did not reply to Feng Yuxiang's letter (for fear of leaving evidence), but only verbally told the messenger, "Delay and wait for changes, there is room for improvement in the future."

Li Zongren considered that the time was not yet ripe to oppose Chiang Kai-shek.

In 1928, Guangzhou and Nanjing signed an armistice. During this nearly year of peace, industry and commerce across the country gradually recovered, and agricultural output also increased (although land reform was not carried out in areas controlled by Chiang Kai-shek). Moreover, Chiang Kai-shek had reclaimed the land ownership and management rights of the Chinese Eastern Railway the previous month.

Public opinion will not distinguish whether the war is between Chiang Kai-shek and the Communist Party, or between local powerful groups and Chiang Kai-shek. Anyway, as long as the war breaks out and you are the main person responsible for starting the war, then you can't expect to have an easy time.

Another factor Li Zongren considered was Guangdong.

Unlike OTL's rural revolutionary base, in today's China, the Guangzhou Revolutionary Government can actually be regarded as a local power group.

Chiang Kai-shek was in the central government, Feng Yuxiang's sphere of influence was several northwestern provinces, Zhang Zuolin's sphere of influence was the three northeastern provinces plus part of the rights and interests of Tianjin and Beijing, and the Guangxi clique was Guangxi plus northern Hunan, Hubei, and part of Anhui.

There is also a small semi-independent local faction, Fujian. The Fujianese are too lazy to fight for hegemony over the world. They are mainly concerned with defending their own home and their navy.

The Guangdong United Government controlled an area comparable to that of Fujian, but its ground forces were extremely powerful. Therefore, when Li Zongren was considering how to oppose Chiang Kai-shek, he had to consider the dynamics of Guangdong.

In his view, the best time to oppose Chiang Kai-shek was when Guangdong and Chiang Kai-shek started fighting. If Guangdong and Chiang Kai-shek had not started fighting, then the opposition to Chiang Kai-shek was not mature enough.

"Chen Tianheng!" "Commander!"

When he returned to Guangzhou, many people welcomed Chen Tianheng at the dock.

Chen Tianheng looked at Xu Xiangqian, who had just called him "Commander," and said, "Xu Xiangqian, you are the Commander now."

After Chen Tianheng went to the Soviet Union for treatment of his injuries, Chief of Staff Chen Mingren became the commander of the First Army, and Xu Xiangqian became the army chief of staff.

In August 1928, the Military Commission reorganized the revolutionary army based on the military construction situation and with reference to the suggestions sent back by Chen Tianheng from the Soviet Union.

The entire army was organized into two group armies. The First Group Army consisted of the 1st, 2nd, and 5th Armies, with Liu Bocheng as commander. Chen Mingren, commander of the First Army, was transferred to serve as chief of staff of the group army. Xu Xiangqian was appointed commander of the First Army.

The Second Army was composed of the 3rd and 4th Armies and the Kulun Independent Division, with Ye Ting as commander and Zhu De as chief of staff.

In addition to these two group armies, there is also the 6th Army of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Revolutionary Base. This was a force that was regularized and gradually formed from March to July 1928 after a period of guerrilla warfare after the Huangma Uprising. The army commander was Zhou Shidi.

When Hubei, Henan and Anhui developed to the point where they could establish field troops, Zhou Shizuoquan was transferred from the Fourth Army to the Hubei, Henan and Anhui base area in July to raise the Sixth Army.

现在广州手中有6个军、1个库伦独立师、1个海防司令部、1个工程兵司令部下辖10个工程团，各根据地有10个独立团，此外还有湘西自治运动诞生的武装部队湘西自治军，人数也超过了1万人。

The First Army was commanded by Xu Xiangqian, the Second Army by Du Yuming, the Third Army by Jiang Xian, the Fourth Army by Chen Geng, the Fifth Army by Peng Dehuai, and the Sixth Army by Zhou Shidi. The Engineering Corps was commanded by Chen Yi, and the Coastal Defense Commander was Fan Shisheng.

The Kulun Independent Division was commanded by Guan Linzheng. Guan Linzheng had studied armor and mechanization at the Whampoa Military Academy for six months, and upon graduation, he took over the Kulun Independent Division. The Revolutionary Army no longer had an armored division, and the Kulun Independent Division, named after Kulun, the capital of Outer Mongolia, was now an infantry division.

Xiangxi Autonomy was the practice of the rural autonomy movement proposed by Mao Runzhi. Without engaging in a hot war with Chiang Kai-shek's regular army, the Guangzhou United Government quietly seized the rural power of more than a dozen counties in Xiangxi.

The "Autonomous Army" born from the Xiangxi Autonomous Movement was actually quite formal. It was commanded by He Long, the former commander of the Third Division, and was formed by drawing some military and political cadres from the First and Second Armies. Its equipment was also not bad. After the capture of Hengyang, the area of ​​the Xiangxi Autonomous Movement was connected with Guangzhou, and Guangzhou could transport guns and ammunition to Xiangxi.

"The Military Commission now plans to name the Kulun Independent Division the 19th Division. Of course, we will retain the name of the Kulun Independent Division. In a few months, the independent regiments in southern Jiangxi and the Hunan-Jiangxi base area will be reorganized into the 20th and 21st Divisions, establishing the Seventh Army of the Revolutionary Army. The autonomous army of the Xiangxi Autonomous Movement is also growing, and is scheduled to be designated the Eighth Army."

Acting Chief of General Staff Ye Jianying talked about the current construction plan and development plan of the revolutionary army.

Chen Tianheng: "Is it true that the troops born from the Xiangxi Autonomy Movement have been upgraded to a field army, and all that's left is for Chiang Kai-shek to break off relations with us?"

Ye Jianying: "Yes, these newly formed troops in Xiangxi still lack some actual combat experience. It's not that they have no actual combat experience. In the past six months, they have fought dozens of battles to suppress bandits and have also eliminated many of the local landlords' militias (sometimes the militias are also bandits), but they lack regular combat experience. Let them capture a few county towns, and their combat experience will increase.

After a year, the city of Guangzhou has changed a lot.

A mess everywhere..

Now, throughout Guangdong, including the remote northern Guangdong region, farmers are spreading this saying: "No money? If you don't have money, go to Guangzhou to work.

Guangzhou is now full of high-end, high-tech precision machinery (arsenals and supporting factories) and handicraft workshops that existed two hundred years ago. With so many workers, housing is essential, and so a variety of simple, undecorated houses have appeared, row after row, expanding along the edge of Guangzhou's urban area.

The center of Guangzhou is also a mess, including the current government offices.

Both Chen Duxiu and Deng Yanda stated that the Democratic Coalition Government was not considering building an office building for the time being.

Due to the overwhelming demand for housing construction in Guangzhou and surrounding cities, Guangdong's firebrick prices have risen by 60%, and other building material prices are also rising. Building costs are higher than usual at this time, and Guangdong is still in deficit. Therefore, the coalition government has found several buildings and courtyards clustered together in Guangzhou to serve as offices for various departments.

“Commissioner Ye.

Chen Tianheng met Ye Ting, and the Central Military Commission now had five members.

"Chen Tianheng, your body has recovered so well, hasn't it? I remember that you had a long cut on your forehead, but now there is not even a scar." Ye Ting looked Chen Tianheng up and down.

"There is still a scar, but it's relatively shallow. You have to get closer to see it. Look." Chen Tianheng pointed to the left side of his forehead. If you look closely, you can indeed see the scar.

Mao Runzhi: "This year the revolutionary situation developed rapidly, but the military situation did not. We were a bit conservative.

Chen Duxiu: "We still need to address the tendency towards local conservatism. I know we are in Guangdong now, and we need to listen to the opinions of the masses, but we cannot abandon the interests of the entire country and live in isolation.

Deng Yanda: "To be honest, I'm also dissatisfied with this, even though I'm from Guangdong. Just thinking about living a good life and being content with a small fortune is short-sighted, and ultimately harmful to the long-term interests of Guangdong. This topic will need to be discussed again at the State Council meeting."

Several committee members did not talk about military issues at the beginning, but talked about "local conservatism."

The reason is that in recent months, Guangdong has finally gotten rid of the financial crisis, or at least seen the light at the end of the tunnel. The private economy has also become active, and various industries, handicrafts, commerce and even culture and art have flourished. In the words of the Cantonese, since the Republic of China, perhaps since 1840, Guangzhou people have never lived such a stable life.

The side effect of this is local conservatism: "Chiang Kai-shek can't defeat us, so let's just develop Guangdong well, and Chiang Kai-shek can do whatever he wants in that place."

This is indeed a problem, but not a major one. It's not that conservatism is wrong, but Chiang Kai-shek was bound to take action in the future. He couldn't sleep well without resolving Guangdong. Local conservatism was just wishful thinking.

Chen Tianheng briefly outlined his vision for restructuring the revolutionary army. He called for a reorganization of the General Staff, establishing a General Logistics Department and a General Armaments Department. The General Armaments Department would connect with the government's Ministry of Military Industry, establishing a contractual relationship between contractors and subcontractors. The Ministry of Military Industry should quickly release a five-year development plan—in fact, a five-year industrial development plan was also on the agenda.

Ye Ting: "If we make a good plan and build a large joint military factory from scratch like the Soviet Union's Izhevsk Arsenal in five years, then we will be no worse than the Soviet Union.

"Wait a minute," Chen Tianheng said, "The Izhevsk Arsenal wasn't built after the Soviet Union was founded. It was established in 1795. During the war, it was already the third-largest rifle manufacturer in Tsarist Russia. If I remember correctly, it's still the third-largest rifle manufacturer in the Soviet Union."

Ye Ting: "Hmm? I read that in a magazine article."

Chen Tianheng: "What magazine, which issue?