The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

In Hong Kong, Governor Clementi (Cecil Clementi) invites senior managers of Hong Kong banks and multinational corporations to a cocktail party. At the party, HSBC manager Andrew Christopher lamented the encirclement and suppression/counter-encirclement and suppression war that had just ended.

"Yes, China, which was already extremely poor, has become even poorer because of this war."

Christopher: "Although the government finances aren't ours, the treasuries of the Guangzhou and Nanjing governments are emptying, leaving them with less money to spend on public affairs. And as we all know, China's public infrastructure is incredibly poor, which is one of the main reasons for its poverty. I suspect HSBC will also lose a lot of business opportunities as a result."

Clementi: "But the war is over after all, isn't it?"

Christopher: "Guangzhou is about to start repaying its debt. They're only offering six-month loans. I wonder if civil servants won't be able to get their salaries paid again in the second half of the year."

Clementi: "The state of Guangzhou's civil service system is of little concern to us. Don't even think about civil servants quitting their jobs if they can't get paid. Even if the Guangzhou government's public construction funds are reduced, it won't have much of an impact. What's important to the British Empire is that after this war, the situation between China's two major powers has stabilized. Perhaps this situation can continue for a long time."

Andrew Smith, Hong Kong manager of Standard Chartered Bank, said: "Sir, they will fight again. The Empire should have intervened before this war. After all, the British Empire maintains official or unofficial relations with both Guangzhou and Nanjing."

"No," Clementi shook his head. "The Empire won't stop it. It's not that we're so negligent as to forget to stop it, but that we shouldn't stop it. We've long said that the division of China's core areas into the 'Pearl River Kingdom' and the 'Yangtze River Kingdom' is the best outcome for the British Empire."

Smith: “Hmm…”

Christopher: "But now the 'Pearl River Kingdom' has extended its hand into the Yangtze River Basin.

Most of Hunan falls within the Yangtze River Basin, right?"

Clementi: "This is the most appropriate outcome. We believe that if the 'Pearl River State' only occupies the Pearl River Delta, it will be too weak compared to the 'Yangtze River State', and the two forces will be unbalanced. However, if the 'Pearl River State' also occupies a province in the Yangtze River basin, the power of the two sides will be almost balanced. Balance means that the two governments of Guangzhou and Nanjing will exist for a long time."

Smith: "Sir, but there will be a high-intensity military standoff between their two regimes in the future, and they may fight again at any time."

Clementi: "A high-intensity military standoff means both sides will need help from foreign powers. And our country is in the most appropriate position. Fighting, yes, it could happen at any time. But if the Empire feels that the consequences of fighting are not conducive to maintaining this situation, we can prevent it."

"I hope so," said Christopher, "but now it seems the French have invaded Guangzhou."

Clementi: "The French were already in Guangzhou."

Christopher: "The problem now is that Citroën has entered, but Rolls-Royce, out of strange arrogance, has refused to enter Guangzhou. ... I'm even ready to invest in British pounds."

North of Guangzhou.

GAC-Citroen Group automobile factory.

...This car factory does not exist yet. It is just a large open space. On the part of the open space facing the road, there is a wooden sign with "GAC-Citroen Automobile" written on it.

"Three months ago, I came to Guangzhou. Guess what I saw? A wooden car. It had a wooden chassis and a wooden body. The only industrial products were the main shaft and the engine—oh, and the tires, too. Yet, this car, loaded with goods, was happily running down the road!"

"That's when I realized that China needs cars, and Guangzhou needs cars."

Albert, the special representative of the Citroën Group, was very talkative and talked incessantly about his experiences in China.

Now that Guangdong's road network is gradually being built, the public needs a lot of transportation. Imported trucks and cars are still too expensive, so some unofficial workshops are creating all sorts of kit cars, importing engines and other key parts from abroad and then making their own shells. Some use sheet metal for the shells, while others use wood, and some even use bamboo for the roofs. After all, Guangdong isn't cold, so a draft isn't a big deal; a tarpaulin to keep out the rain is enough.

Sometimes there is no need to even cover the car with a tarpaulin. If it rains, the driver will just put on a raincoat and run naked on the road.

Chen Yun: "These low-quality, assembled cars are now a major hazard on our roads, especially the wooden ones, which often fall apart on the road."

Albert: "I am absolutely certain that Citroën will start production in a year and provide Guangdong with a steady supply of low-cost trucks."

Chen Yun nodded and said, "As a government representative, I would be even happier if the Citroën Group could set up a plant in Guangdong to produce parts such as engines and gearboxes, rather than just building an auto assembly plant using imported parts."

"Oh, this isn't something you can do in the short term. Engines are very complicated..."

Chen Tianheng only discovered yesterday that Citroën had actually come to Guangzhou to build an automobile assembly plant, a French copycat of a Ford-style assembly line. Arriving at the scene and hearing what Abel had said, Chen Tianheng said:

"If Citroën is willing to provide the technology for engines and gearboxes, we will be able to solve all other difficulties."

Albert: "General, this is not something that can be done with just a few words. ...First of all, you don't have enough engineers and technicians."

Chen Tianheng: "Then we can open a technical school and hire your engineers." Albert: "Employ our engineers?"

"Isn't this car factory a joint venture between GAC and Citroën?"

"Yes, yes, but..." Albert said, "Can you afford the French standard for engineers? A factory producing important automobile parts is not like an assembly plant; it needs a lot of engineers."

Chapter 45, Equipment Development Center of the General Armament Department

When Albert came to China and finalized the contract for the GAC-Citroen Automobile Factory, he actually didn't know that the Armored Regiment of the Training Division was driving the Citroen P15N to wreak havoc in Jiangxi.

He simply felt that Guangdong needed cars.

When talking about foreign investment in automobile factories, we cannot avoid the Great Depression.

现在公认的大萧条起点是1929年10月24日的华尔街股灾，其实大萧条的雷不是10月24日这天全部爆炸的,有的因素是积聚到1930年甚至1931年才爆发，比如1930年6月的《斯姆特-霍利关税法》，放血放得比股灾狠多了。而在时间轴的另一端,大萧条前,也有许多关键事件可供利用。

In short, before the Great Depression, the Western economy was booming (abnormally so), and people were flooded with money, investing it in stocks, companies, and all sorts of nascent industries. Albert, upon discovering Hong Kong data showing a surge in truck imports in Guangdong over the past six months, immediately felt the need to invest in a car factory and assembly line in Guangzhou. After all, it was easy to get money from French banks.

After the stock market crash on October 24, boom, everyone was suddenly penniless.

Chen Tianheng could already imagine Chen Yun chasing Albert with a knife a year from now: "Where's the investment? Where's Citroën's subsequent additional investment?"

"Ou Mu is rich now!"

"It's okay if you don't have the money! Give me another 30% of your shares! I'll find the money myself!"

General Armament Department, Equipment Development Center.

After Chen Tianheng returned to China, he established the General Armaments Department. While other departments primarily managed the army's weapons, equipment, and ammunition, the Equipment Development Center was not. Instead, it was responsible for developing equipment development plans, conducting equipment demonstrations, and formulating equipment development strategies. Nie Rongzhen, Minister of the General Armaments Department, temporarily served concurrently as Director of the Equipment Development Center.

Dai Anlan pulled out a small, badly worn notebook and said, "I carried it with me every day during the Jiangxi campaign, writing down whatever came to mind. I'm not bragging, but the lessons learned and experiences written down in this little notebook are probably the first of their kind anywhere in the world."

Chen Tianheng: "That's right, this is the first time in the world that such a war has been fought."

Nie Rongzhen nodded and said, "Today, we have invited the armored personnel who participated in the Jiangxi Campaign to hold a symposium to discuss the future development of armored forces equipment and how to establish an equipment system."

Dai Anlan, commander of the regimental combat team temporarily organized by the teaching division, Qian Dengruoxian, the division chief of staff in charge of armored combat planning, and several armored unit commanders including Zeng Zhongsheng and Duan Dechang were present to attend the seminar.

Dai Anlan: "First, we need to solve the problem of communication equipment. I think the current communication methods are still unable to fully realize the combat potential of tanks and tracked armored vehicles."

Nie Rongzhen: "Ah... I thought you would talk about tanks first."

Dai Anlan: "In other units of the Revolutionary Army, radios were available at the regimental level, but our regimental combat team, Commander Chen, was equipped with 11 radios. Before the battle, everyone thought this number was plenty, more than enough. But in actual combat, because of the armored forces' extremely fast advance speed and high off-road capabilities, 11 radios were simply not enough."

"Not only do we not have enough radios, but the Morse code radio we're using now simply can't meet the needs of rapid field communications. We need a voice radio."

Nie Rongzhen: "You are now equipped with a light-duty mountain-mounted Morse code radio, which has been moved from horseback to an armored vehicle. It is true that sending and receiving Morse code is quite troublesome. I remember that before the war, the training division was looking everywhere for operators who could memorize Morse code."

"Yes, it's very difficult to find," Qian Deng Ruoxian said. "Even though we used plain text, if we had to copy down the messages when we received them and then look up the manual to translate them, it would still be too inefficient. Only if the telegraph operator memorized the 3,000-word code table and typed out the text directly from the original telegram, and then copied down the text as he received the call, would it be acceptable. But this walking dictionary is still no match for voice radio."

Nie Rongzhen: "A radio station for transmitting voice messages. Um, I've only heard General Chen talk about it, but I've never seen one in person."

Dai Anlan: "It's just like today's radio broadcasting equipment. The principle is the same. You have a radio broadcasting station, I have a radio broadcasting station, and a radio, and we can use the radio to communicate with each other."

Dai Anlan's words were essentially the same promise Chen Tianheng had made to them. Chen Tianheng replied, "Right now, a wireless radio station would fill a whole room. For armored units to use it, it would have to be small enough to fit on tanks and armored vehicles. Technology is developing, though, and we'll definitely be able to use this equipment within three years."

Dai Anlan: "When it comes to armored vehicles, this is the one that I have the most entries on in my notebook. First of all, the current Citroën P15N is too small."

“我们的装甲步兵连,有三个排的P15N没有武器，能搭载6名步兵,有一个排的P15N装了铁架子和一挺马克沁重机枪,但装上重机枪之后就只能搭载4个人了。这4个人还包括1名射手。这看起来像是把步兵连的3个步兵排、1个机枪排汽车化了。其实我不希望这样,这不是我理想中的装甲步兵配置，我希望的是所有装甲车都能装一挺机枪然后还能带6个步兵。”

Nie Rongzhen: "We originally purchased the Citroën P15N because it was sold in large quantities and was easy to find. If the P15N was too small, it seemed Citroën also had larger models. They currently have the P106, and it seems the P107 is coming soon."

"Pause for a moment," Chen Tianheng said. "Minister Nie, I don't want this discussion to discuss specific vehicle models or equipment types. An equipment development discussion meeting isn't a selection meeting. What we need are requirements from frontline troops, even if they're quite ambitious. Specific models will be implemented at a selection meeting or a development project approval meeting, where Li Qiang will be present."

Qian Deng Ruoxian: "In addition to having a strong carrying capacity, armored infantry fighting vehicles must also have radio equipment."

Dai Anlan: "Yes, I agree with that."

谦登若宪:“综合起来就是:新的装甲步兵战车应当配备—挺重机枪、—部电台，并搭载至少6名全副武装的士兵。这样的话战车的人员配置就是9个人:1名驾驶员,1名车长兼无线电操作员，1名重机枪射手。”

Zeng Zhongsheng: "Heavy machine guns need a secondary shooter."

Qian Deng Ruoxian: "The vehicle-mounted heavy machine gun has been fixed to the gun mount, and the ammunition box is close at hand. The shooter is not too busy, so there is no need for a deputy shooter, or one of the infantrymen on the vehicle can serve as the deputy shooter."

Nie Rongzhen wrote down the "3+6" crew configuration in his meeting notes and then asked, "What are the requirements for the off-road capability and driving ability of the armored infantry fighting vehicle?"

戴安澜:“我对现在P15N的越野通行能力比较满意。这个东西原版裸车1.6吨,我们改装之后2.5吨,满载的战斗状态3吨多一点，新装甲车估计是要比P15N更重了,可能会到5吨,但我觉得,应该采用加长履带或者加宽的方式,让新装甲车的履带对地压强维持在差不多的水准。”

"Also, the driving speed should be no less than 40 kilometers per hour on the road and 15 to 25 kilometers per hour off-road."

The armored division envisioned by Chen Tianheng would probably appear as early as the early 30s. But even if it were implemented, this armored division would be the only one in the revolutionary army, as it was essentially a unit built through purchases.

According to the current development progress of various industrial sectors, by 1937, it would be great if China could produce its own trucks, or relax a little and mass-produce trucks on the premise of importing some parts.

"Tanks, alas, tanks were not used much during the battle in Jiangxi this time." Dai Anlan continued, now it was the tanks' turn.

"Of course, I'm also very clear that Nanjing didn't deploy tanks in this battle, so whether our tanks participated or not is not a big deal. Armored vehicles are invincible on the battlefield. If we encounter enemy tanks in future battles, a tank battle will naturally ensue."

"Those few Renault FT17s we have right now are purely experimental and training aids, right?"

Qian Deng Ruoxian: "Yes."

Chen Tianheng: "The biggest use of the Renault FT17 in this combat is to train the logistical support capabilities of the training divisions and regimental combat teams."

Dai Anlan: "I think the most basic requirement for tanks used by real armored forces in the future is that they must have a driving speed that can keep up. 40 kilometers per hour on the road, or at least 35 kilometers per hour, and 15 to 25 kilometers per hour off-road. This must be the same as armored infantry fighting vehicles."

"Secondly, it should be able to penetrate the enemy's tank armor, while its own armor should be strengthened as much as possible to avoid being penetrated by the enemy's tank guns."

Nie Rongzhen: "This is the cycle of which is stronger, the spear or the shield."

Dai Anlan: "Haha. Come to think of it, the armor of the Renault FT17 is pretty thin. Only a dozen millimeters. During our tests, we found that a heavy machine gun could penetrate a dozen millimeters of steel at a distance of 100 meters, so the side panels of the armored vehicles are all 20 millimeters."

Nie Rongzhen: "Well, let me make a note. If the armor plate is to be able to withstand direct fire from heavy machine guns, it must be at least 20 mm thick."

戴安澜:“大正11年式37毫米平射炮,能打穿20毫米的装甲，欧洲有不少反坦克枪也能打穿20到25毫米厚的装甲。”

Qian Deng Ruoxian: "To defend against tank guns or anti-tank guns, it needs to be even thicker. So the question now is, where in the world can we find such a tank?"

Nie Rongzhen: "I must also mention that our coalition government's current road infrastructure construction has a load-bearing standard for first-class highways that can accommodate 30-ton trucks, and a load-bearing capacity for second-class highways that can accommodate 10-ton trucks. What kind of equipment are you planning to build?"

Dai Anlan: “I haven’t thought about that.”

Nanjing.

"The commander-in-chief is furious."

"The training division, carefully built by German advisors, was destroyed and now has to be rebuilt. Even worse, the training division was crushed to death by over a hundred tanks of the Guangdong bandits."

"The Ordnance Department is conducting another round of European inspections, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is cooperating. The core focus of the Ordnance Department's mission this time is to purchase tanks. So, Zhonghan, you're familiar with the route, why don't you make another trip?"

At the Nanjing government's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, He Zhonghan originally thought that he would be assigned the position of ambassador or counselor to a European country, but he did not expect that he would have to go on another trip overseas to purchase weapons.

"Minister," He Zhonghan said to Foreign Minister Wang Zhengting, "it seems that the League of Nations has re-instated the arms embargo against us because of the anti-communist war."

"It's been lifted, and it will be lifted soon," Wang Zhengting said. "Yesterday, Britain submitted a motion to the League of Nations stating that Nanjing and Guangzhou have reached a peace agreement, which is being observed by both sides. China is no longer in a state of civil war. The arms embargo related to the civil war will be lifted once the motion is passed."

Fu Bingchang, Foreign Affairs Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, chuckled: "The British are quite nice."

"Hiss..." Wang Zhengting sensed the sarcasm in Fu Bingchang's words. "Bingchang, no matter what, opening up arms trade is good for our country. Resolving our pressing needs is most important. Of course, Britain will benefit, too. It's a win-win situation, isn't it?"

He Zhonghan: "Minister, since the motion was initiated by the British, and they contributed the most to lifting the arms embargo, I'm afraid that when my country purchases arms in the future, the British should also be given priority consideration, right?"

Wang Zhengting: "Yes. Therefore, the first stop of the Ordnance Department and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' European inspection this time is the UK."

Chapter 46: The Arsenal Still Needs to Work Hard

He Zhonghan had only three days to prepare for his new mission. Three days later, the delegation gathered in Shanghai and boarded the ship to depart.

This inspection team is similar to the last one, with Zhang Qun as the leader of the Ordnance Department and He Zhonghan as the leader of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"Director Zhang, during this campaign against the Communists, the teaching division perished. I don't think the Ministry of National Defense has given a very detailed summary of this battle."

On the ship, He Zhonghan chatted with Zhang Qun. Zhang Qun shook his head and said, "I also feel that the summary isn't detailed enough. The Ministry of National Defense only interviewed some of the officers who escaped and compiled their accounts into a report. Regarding this battle, the officers' accounts varied widely, ranging from being defeated by dozens of Communist tanks to being defeated by over a hundred. Only a few officers reported seeing a large number of Communist armored vehicles."

He Zhonghan: "In that case, it would be better for the Ordnance Department to take a look at the armored vehicles of European countries during their inspection."

Zhang Qun: "The people in the Ministry of National Defense only understand tanks, and the Ministry of National Defense budget only talks about buying tanks."

He Zhonghan: "Alas."

Zhang Qun: "Compared to Guangzhou, the Republic of China still has an absolute advantage in financial, material, and human resources. We may waste some money on procurement, but if we really start buying, we will definitely be able to overwhelm Guangzhou with our money. After all, they also bought their equipment with money."

Guangzhou.

Zhang Qun was right. Guangzhou now has to rely on purchasing to form armored and mechanized troops.

But... Chen Tianheng plans to join the "wait and see" party.

It is now June 1929, and the tanks of various countries in the world are all bizarre and horrible.

If you were to look for gold in the trash, the British Vickers 6-ton light tank might be a slightly more reasonable choice, but the improved version of the Vickers 6-ton, the T-26, might be even better.

However, the T-26 does not exist yet. If the historical line is the same, the Soviet Union is in private contact with Vickers at this time, and Vickers will soon sell a full set of technical patents to the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union will obtain Vickers' 6-ton design and make improvements to create the T-26.

Or Guangzhou could wait until the Soviet Union designed and mass-produced the T-26, and then buy the T-26 from the Soviet Union.

Or Guangzhou could contact Vickers on its own - but Guangzhou couldn't produce tanks on its own, even if it bought a complete set of design drawings.

Let Vickers produce and then buy ready-made tanks? Then the General Armament Department would have to put forward performance requirements and let Vickers develop a model specifically for China. - Is Vickers willing to do this?

Chen Tianheng wasn't so sure. If Guangzhou imported 1000 tanks at once, Vickers might agree, but he only expected one armored division, far less than a thousand.